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Original poster

Teachers and Parents, please help! Please,really don't know what to do!

155 replies

TheRoundTable · 08/04/2012 18:31

Hello!

I have got a child in Year2 and even when in Year 1,her teacher complained about her 'up and down' learning. She'd understand a concept one day and be totally lost on the same, the next day,particularly in Maths. I've tried everything or at least I think so-backing off, simple games online cbeebies/cbbc,bite-sized chunks regularly,strict approach-but we come back to this point of frustration!
Some days, she solves quite tricky problems-knows her doubles which she uses to solve near doubles,finds differences between numbers,addition and subtraction in her head,so can do 67+24 or 67-24,and word problems,e.t.c.
One day,she's telling me we need 7 4x if 4 apples cost 7p each and would say two 7s are 14 and two 14s are 28 so 28p.

Some days? She's totally lost! I have tried going back to the basics over and over and over! The frustrating thing is I lose my temper sometimes and then she gets it! I can't begin to fake losing my temper before she learns? And of course her teacher can't do that,so she is not doing well at all at school. I am tired of helping her at home,because it's like we keep going round in circles,thinking we are making progress at some point and then boom! All out the window again!

I don't think she has any special needs and her teachers do not think so either...

Will be very grateful for any advice offered. Thank you!

OP posts:
silverfrog · 10/04/2012 12:24

definition of cure? or can you not be bothered?

mrz · 10/04/2012 12:30

I don't think at any point Indigo has claimed that what has worked for her children will work for every child. Her posts give hope and encouragement to others. Personally I don't know enough about the brain to say whether it is an actual cure or something that works to treat/correct the area causing problems, but I do know that brain research in recent years using MRI has led experts to totally rethink many conditions which were previously thought to be incurable. I do know as a parent that research into diet conducted by the University of Sunderland and University hospital Durham into diet allow my ADHD/ASD son to function without drugs. I do know the same diet has resulted in a colleagues ASD son who was expected never to speak/communicate/interact to enter university and perhaps more amazingly to perform in a local comedy club ...

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 12:34

my dd1 follows the Sunderland protocol too.

it has enabled her to progress from being a child who had no verbal interaction, very little non-verbal interaction, and spent her whole day rocking in a corner or scratching the wall until her fingers bled to a child who is keeping pace with her younger sister (2 1/2 years younger - dd1 reads at the same level, and is at the same level for maths). who knows where she will end up, but she is already so very far from where she started, thanks to dietary intervention and supplementation.

for some children, it works.

mrz · 10/04/2012 12:39

and I would imagine that as a parent you don't want to know why it works because all that matters is that it does.

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 12:42

yes, up to a point.

I read all the research because I am interested in finding out why it works. but for dd1 - nope, couldn't care less. we had nothing to lose by trying, and she has gained so much.

I would like there to be a definitive study highlighting (for the naysayers) the importance, but it would very much be the icing on the cake.

sometimes, all it takes is to look at thigns with fresh eyes, and try somehting which doesn't on the face of it seem all that important, and suddenly wham! massive difference.

seeker · 10/04/2012 13:01

"definition of cure? or can you not be bothered?

seeker · 10/04/2012 13:04

Op- I am sorry that this thread has become so thoroughly derailed. I suggest you start another thread- I promise not to post on it. I do suggest that you look very clear-sightedly at all the advice you have been given, do your research, and choose the bits that sit best with you and your child.

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 13:07

Seeker

  1. I am always totally upfront about which therapies have helped my children, and I would therefore recommend:
  • Tinsley House
  • Auditory Integration Training
  • retained Reflex therapy
  • cranial osteopathy

As I said in my first post, I wouldn't recommend any of those therapies to the OP yet. These therapies require a lot of time, effort and money. They are not appropriate for someone who has only mild concerns.

  1. I said dyslexia can be cured (I have never ever mentioned ADHD) - but I have never said all dyslexia can be cured. I strongly suspect it can. But I have never said that.

Everyone i know who has done all of the therapies I have done is very pleased with the results. Becarooos DSs dyslexia is the most similar to my DDs. He has done AIT, RRT and TH - and has had the exact same result as I have.

When I meet someone who has done a wide range of alternative therapies, that include a nuerodevelopnent therapy, vision therapy, auditory therapy, diet change and supplements. When I meet someone who has done all those things and their dyslexia was not cured - then i'll believe that some but not all dyslexia can be cured.

The only way you can prove that not all dyslexics can be cured is to find someone who can't be cured.

In the mean time I can find no proof that dyslexia can not be cured. None at all

All I know is that my children have made massive improvements - and therefore I know a cure is possible.

It's too early to say whether DD is cured or only vastly, vastly, vastly improved. I wont know for a few more months yet.

But given the improvements she has made (in processing speed, memory, organisation, word finding, reading, spelling & writing) it is totally reasonable to talk about cures.

seeker · 10/04/2012 13:32

I apologise for mentioning ADHD- it was the Tinsley House Clinic that says it can cure that, not you.

However, I do think you said that you had cured your child of Aspergers? Or am I wrong about that?

And I have severe concerns about using sentences like "dyslexia can be cured" when what you mean is "some children with some sorts of dyslexia can see some improvements under certain circumstances"

mrz · 10/04/2012 13:36

I think Indigo has already answered the dyslexia query but I have never said all dyslexia can be cured. I strongly suspect it can. But I have never said that.

neither has she said her son's Aspergers has been cured

CarrieMoonbeam · 10/04/2012 13:58

OP - I feel for you too. I do hope you will be able to decipher some valid advice from all this.

As for me - well, this is my first foray into Mumsnet and quite frankly, I am disgusted that such a forum is allowed to exist in this form. I am all for people sharing views, ideas and experiences but it seems to me that some people very quickly become blinkered and refuse to countenance any other opinion than their own. Some posts are simply shocking - and in any other walk of life would be regarded as a form of cyberbullying.

I will be de-registering from Mumsnet - a shame, because I, unlike some I have encountered, have a very open mind and have already learnt much that I will put to good use in my professional life. However, I refuse to be associated with people who simply use it as a glorified soap-box in order to expound their own opinions. I know they exist - I knew that before.

Thank you to all of you who have offered support and information.

seeker · 10/04/2012 14:00

If you read the sentence "dyslexia can be cured" would you not think it meant "dyslexia can be cured"?

The Asperger's reference was on another thread.

Big claims need big evidence. I would hate anyone to be misled.

seeker · 10/04/2012 14:03

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face, carrie- You have had a run in with one person! Give mumsnet a bit more of a chance than that.

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 14:07

seeker, I would read it as part of the conversation it was - do you often read posts (or parts of posts) in isolation?

I think Indigo is always upfront about what she has tried, and how it has helped. but taking comments out of context is not helpful, and I suspect done deliberately to inflame the situation.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:09

I think when some precedes dyslexia can be cured with I believe it means that in their opinion it can be not that it is an incontestable fact. Indeed some would argue it can't be cured because it doesn't exist ...

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:12

If Carrie is such a sensitive soulseeker, that Indigo's opinions have led her to be disgusted then she will never survive the real vitriol that can be displayed on MN.

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 14:16

Tinsley house does not say it can cure ADHD (the daily mail once used that as a headline - but as with most DM stories it was not accurate)

Unfortunately I haven't cured DSs Aspergers yet. He is about 95% better than he was but not cured yet. Nor has he finished TH yet. So I'm still expecting lots more improvements.

He is still more anxious than he should be.

As I explained I don't mean some kids can be cured in some circumstances.

I really do mean all kids can be cured if you treat all of the underlying problems that are causing the symptoms which are labelled as dyslexia.

Which underlying problem do you know of that can't be treated?

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 14:21

Carrie - I am truly sorry that I have upset you do much. That was not my intention.

I wanted to talk to you about SEN (and other things). But like you said, my RL experiences has shaped my view on life.

CarrieMoonbeam · 10/04/2012 14:26

Thank you seeker - but I can't see any benefits. I can get information I need from other, much more reliable sources!

It's not just one person - from looking at other threads and posts, there are many, many users out there who have the same sort of agenda. If people keep listening and responding then these users are getting the audience they crave - and which in turn perpetuates their misguided belief that there is no other view than their own.

In e-safety education, we tell children not to post anything online that they wouldn't say face-to-face. Does that happen here? I think not! It would be hypocritical of me on so many counts to continue to use Mumsnet. I applaud the idea of parents supporting each other - but it is something which, like all similar e-forums MUST be monitored strictly. And this, sadly, does not seem to be the case.

Mrz - 'real vitriol'?? I rest my case. And for the record, I am not a 'sensitive soulseeker' - wouldn't last 2 minutes in my job if I was.

Indigo - try to engage your brain before you hit the 'send' button. That's another thing we teach children in e-safety.

Thanks seeker, for your support.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:36

Carrie I was told to p* off at the weekend because I said something that another poster disagreed with something another teacher had done which I tried to justify ... so yes there is real vitriol not just a difference of opinion as you experienced on this thread.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:37

that got muddled
Carrie I was told to p* off at the weekend because I said something to justify what another teacher had taught that another poster disagreed with ... so yes there is real vitriol not just a difference of opinion as you experienced on this thread.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:38

and for the record soul and seeker should have been two words as my post was directed at seeker

seeker · 10/04/2012 14:39

IndigoBell, you did not say "I believe dyslexia can be cured" you said "dyslexia can be cured"

Very different things.

CarrieMoonbeam · 10/04/2012 14:42

I'm sure there is real vitriol! My point is, would that person have said that to your face? Possibly not? I do not want to be part of something where that sort of online behaviour is condoned - or worse, marketed as 'supportive', particularly as I spend my life trying to teach children (including my own) to adhere to a certain moral code. I find that sort of behaviour grossly offensive - and I'm no prude. But I'm no hypocrite either.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:44

Yes I think they would and much more

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