Teachers, best way to help DD learn to read?

[UtterlyDone]

DD is 6, year 2.

No books coming home from school due to covid. They have an online system for reading but it’s just a generic one for the entire school so not sure exactly what level they should be pitched at plus DD has some slight eye sight issues so too much concentrating on a screen is causing headaches and frustration (she’s under the hospital for this but covid put a halt to them helping her…)

They do ORT scheme and she finished in March still on Pink 1 books which had 1 or 2 words per page but not much else. She is incredibly lazy, so will remember the story from when it’s been read to her but not attempt to read – to add context she’s also known to complain of pain in her knees and hips which means her teacher tells her to sit out of PE (she has a condition that causes pain in her joints and her consultant for that has told school if she says she’s in pain she’s to sit down and rest and school won’t risk her injuring herself and/or invalidating insurance so she just sits out), she will moan about pain to be carried to school and has been known to strop for up to 45 minutes in one place when I refuse, she still refuses to even hold a pencil in school (I can get to colour at home and she can write the first bit of her name but flat out refuses at school, punishment doesn’t work because it’s usually stopping her from doing precisely what she doesn’t want to do like golden time as golden time is just a film or screen time atm)

I read to her every night but she doesn’t even look at the pictures or words because she knows the story. If I buy new books either daddy has it or the teachers read it at school. She won’t help me pick books, if we go to the library or bookshop she’d rather stare out of the window at the trains or traffic she tells me to pick anything.

School are thinking she might have dyspraxia and/or dyslexia which is holding her back, they don’t think ASD as she’s very social and not just in a mimicking way both I and school have seen her walk up to other children and start chatting about things, she was talking about holidays when she heard her friend had been to the beach for example (“I’ve been to the beach on holiday but my favourite holiday was…” she couldn’t remember the place name but described it in great detail).

So how can I encourage my lazy child to at least try and read? They can’t test her for Dyspraxia and Dyslexia until year 3

My ds has mitochondrial disease which wasn't diagnosed until he was 10. Before that he just had all sorts of random symptoms that were seemingly unrelated. One of the symptoms was painful joints. Another was dysgraphia where he complained that writing with a pencil was painful and made him tired. He started reading later than the other children because reading gave him headaches. The issue wasn't actually learning how to read, it turned out to be that the had weak eye muscles so his pursuits and saccades were not good (this is the ability to follow along a line and then move diagonally down to the next line of writing) because his eye muscles were too weak. This can improve with exercises and with age (part of the reason that children in Italy and other European countries are not taught to read until they are 6 or 7. By the time DS was 8, he was the fastest reader in his year. However, even now at 19, if he's sick or tired, he has to switch to audiobooks because his eye muscles get weak and he can't focus. Perhaps your dd just doesn't have fully developed eye muscles, joint tendons. And hopefully she doesn't have mitochondrial disease like my ds.

My dd has dyslexia and preferred to read graphic novels and picture books until she was 8 or 9. Although she was perfectly capable of reading more advanced books, it was just tiring for her. She is now 18 and at University studying philosophy, and skipped multiple grades and english was her best subject.
Please don't call your dd lazy (even as a joke) because she's not reading or moving at the same pace as the other children. There is almost always a medical reason for kids who are like this and they always get called lazy and it's really disillusioning for them. Google Henry Winkler's stories about discovering that he was dyslexic as an adult after a lifetime of being called lazy by his parents.

Asd can mean social even overly so
Boundaries may be off . so she starts talking about holidays on hearing the word beach ... but are the social cues there? Is she talking at or talking to and listening? What you describe doesnt rule out ASD look up ASD in girls.
So dont rule out getting ASDassessment.
Reading will come but she needs the right motivation. What is she into? Characvters /programmes /films?
Pain may be real but yeh she may hsve seen andearned it s a good excuse to get out of things
Smart.
Sounds like few things going on.
Has shehad full assessment by educational psychologist with various assessments vineland etc?
Why the focus on reading?
Maybe ORT doesnt do it for her try something else? Something linked to her interests? Make a book about her holidays with her
With language at her level. Let her type a story herself.
With hand pain then typing or voice to text might be her future to show her abilities.

And dont carry her. Get a maclaren major pushchair /special needs three wheeler or wheelchair given she has diagnosed condition .if she says joints hurt stick her in the chair.
Not sure why you dismissive of her pain tho of course she might be milking it sometimes.

And agree with sofia
Dont call her lazy
If you know the story you wont bother reading ..
Make up stories she will not ever have seen. With complex kids you need to think out of the box. What motivates her?
What would she forget her pain for?

@Embracelife

Asd can mean social even overly so Boundaries may be off . so she starts talking about holidays on hearing the word beach ... but are the social cues there? Is she talking at or talking to and listening? What you describe doesnt rule out ASD look up ASD in girls. So dont rule out getting ASDassessment. Reading will come but she needs the right motivation. What is she into? Characvters /programmes /films? Pain may be real but yeh she may hsve seen andearned it s a good excuse to get out of things Smart. Sounds like few things going on. Has shehad full assessment by educational psychologist with various assessments vineland etc? Why the focus on reading? Maybe ORT doesnt do it for her try something else? Something linked to her interests? Make a book about her holidays with her With language at her level. Let her type a story herself. With hand pain then typing or voice to text might be her future to show her abilities.

No Ed Psych Assessment school said they can't do it until year 3, I'm looking at applying for the EHCP myself but by the time I've applied, appeal the initial rejection and got an appointment she'll be year 3 anyway so I don't know whether to wait.

She hates screens as they give her a headache so she couldn't type. School have a computer room but it's not used more than occasionally until year 3 so she's never really been on a computer. She has a tablet but puts it down without prompting after 10 minutes or so, she's really not bothered and I don't think it would help her given her eye problems.

She likes sylvanian families and does make up stories for them. She loves singing. School don't think ASD, she seems to listen to conversations (has selective hearing with me mind you) and she does talk to her friends, they seem to genuinely be her friends, school have said she plays with others on the playground but tends to follow not lead although will lead if told to or wants to play a particular game.

Focus on reading is coming from school, they think her writing and maths will come on if she can actually read and understand what's written.

@Embracelife

And agree with sofia Dont call her lazy If you know the story you wont bother reading .. Make up stories she will not ever have seen. With complex kids you need to think out of the box. What motivates her? What would she forget her pain for?

I'm not great at making up stories, but I will try.

Motivated by food mainly and sylvanian familes.

Nothing really makes her forget the pain apart from calpol.

We don't qualify for a special needs pushchair as she can walk. I can't afford to buy one as even secondhand they're £200+ which is a months food for me and DD. I'm a single parent, I work but have limited earning potential due to her appointments.

I was pushing ds in dd's buggy when he was 6 or 7. The basic MacLaren was strong enough to hold him.

My ds has a blue badge now since there are days where he can't even walk because it's too painful or he's too tired. But there are days where he can skateboard all over town. It doesn't mean he's manipulating. By the way, I find that ibuprofen works far better than calpol for joint pain.

Have you tried a filter for the laptop? Ds was typing all his assignments by the age of 6 or 7 and it was a really effective solution for his handwriting issues.
Also, audiobooks (you can check them out of the library for free) work really well for kids with vision issues.

You should be able to get her eyesight test for pursuits and saccades even at her age. My ds was tested at age 3 for vision issues which is when we first were told about the eye muscle issues.

She’s had eye tests but they show her vision is fine, she’s waiting on patching and/or operation but they’ve been delayed by covid.

I have a pushchair for her that can take her weight but it won’t last much longer.

I’ve been told not to give ibuprofen, she can’t have it anyway as she’s allergic but I’ve been told by her consultant for her muscle condition that it’ll make it worse.

Ger hee consultant to write a lettere to get pushchair.
Claim dla
Get onto the cerebra guides and associaion foir her condition
Ask locally e g thru a special school for someone passing one on

Sylvanian damilues
Great
Write simple stories style of ORT
Clwar writing is fine if you dont have printer
She needs to be motivated

Hide a character write down the clue
"On the table "

@Embracelife

Sylvanian damilues Great Write simple stories style of ORT Clwar writing is fine if you dont have printer She needs to be motivated

Hide a character write down the clue
"On the table "

I love this idea thank you, she has a spelling list of mostly tricky words so I will use that too. I will do a little treasure hunt with simple written clues with her favourite characters.

I'm not a teacher nor have children with additional needs, bit have had a big of success with making reading a game using ideas from this site phonicsfamilycom.wordpress.com/ . My kids have enjoyed the role play ones particularly, e.g. having a teddy bears (or Sylvanian) picnic where you write a menu for each animal and they have to find the right foods.