Anyone had any dealings with CENTRA dysexia support centres?

[anynamesleft]

We're looking at dyslexia support and have come across these people who offer a one to one computer based support programme ( I think their system is called IDL).

Has anyone heard any (good or bad) reports of them???

Many thanks

... OK, so that should read dyslexia rather than dysexia!

Looks interesting, but there's not enough info on the website for me to understand how it helps with dyslexia.

I'll download the lite version this weekend and have a play :)

I suspect it will help with mild to moderate dyslexia - and not help with severe dyslexia.

How old is your DC, and how 'bad' are they?

It claims to: Use sight, sound, speech and touch in a multisensory learning tool

So I stick with my initial thoughts - will help mild or moderate problems, and not help severe problems :)

Depends what you've already tried whether it's worth trying this......

What have you already tried?

Hi Indigo,

I'm interested in finding out more about it for my partner who has dyslexia but is relatively high functioning (in terms of literacy etc) and my 5yo son who has moderate symptoms (certainly not significant enough to be statemented).

I'm imagining that any (free of charge) help from within the school / adult ed systems will be focused more on people with profound needs??

Who gives a dx for dyslexia?

Debbie - an Educational Psychologist does. For £400 - £600 they'll tell you what you already know.

AnyNamesLeft - it's not that simple :)

You don't need a statement to get help from school. If your boy struggles with learning to read and write he will get lots and lots of help from school.

There are 2 approaches to dyslexia.

1. Trying harder to teach kids to read and write.

These methods use synthetic phonics or multisensory methods.
This is the type of approach centra uses.
This is also the approach school will use.

If you child can learn with extra teaching, then there isn't really much of a problem there.

For a 5 year old I really wouldn't recommend centra. If you want to do a 'learn to read' approach I'd start with Bear Necessities

However if your child really has dyslexia, 'overlearning' won't help, which leads to the 2nd approach to dyslexia.

2. Addressing the underlying problem that is causing the dyslexia.

There are (at least) 4 underlying problems that make it hard to learn to read or write - all of which can be cured.

a. Leaky gut. Digestive problems like leaky gut can cause 'foggy brain' and 'poor memory'. Going gluten free can solve it!

Read the GAPS diet for more info.

I have had the most amazing success with this, and would recommend everyone rule this out.

b. Auditory problems.

This is complicated, there are lots of subtle auditory discrimination and processing problems that make learning to read or write impossible.

Again I've had huge success with Auditory Integration Training. I've just started Earobics too, and it's too early to tell if it's helping or not - but I think it is.

c. Vision problems.

Again, an optician can say your eyesight is fine, when it really isn't.

The only place to get a proper eye test is at a Behaviour Optometrist

d. Retained Reflexes.

Complicated to explain, but babies are born with reflexes (like the startle reflex, and the sucking reflex) which are meant to disappear. If they don't disappear then your brain won't work as efficiently as it should.

I've written some more about what works here:

www.dyslexiaadvice.co.uk/treatments.html

But basically I recommend you work through my list and find out what is causing your son's problems.

My DD has very severe dyslexia and she has all of the above problems. After doing:

• The GAPS diet
• Auditory Integration Training
• Retained Reflexes Therapy
• Vision Therapy
• Earobics

I am very close to curing all her problems now. And fully expect her 'dyslexia' to be gone in a few months by the time we have finished all these therapies.

I've also done the above list on my DS and his 'dyslexia' is now cured.

Your son is only 5, so you have time to do what I've done and actually address the underlying problems which are causing his difficulties.....

Or, you can just do Bear Necessities and hopefully teach him to read.

Thanks Indigo, there's obviously heaps more to this than first appears. Would any of these approaches work with adults or only for children who're still developing?

Yes, some of this works for adults (or is at least marketed at them :) )

If you message me where you live, and what kind of budget you have to spend I might be able to make more specific more recommendations.

Indigo,

Child with issues did the WISC test. Test results give scores but no diagnosis. Her mum now suspects some mild Dyslexia.

Am thinking should WISC or the EP have diagnosed dyslexia?

Indigo, to specify, issues were why is the child falling behind. No specific issues were raised other than a possibility of ADD.

Debbie - a dx of Dyslexia is worthless. There isn't even one defn of dyslexia - there are dozens.

In essence you qualify for a dx of dyslexia if 'despite adequate teaching you still struggle with reading and / or writing'

So all it says is you're having problems - which you already knew.

Some EPs like to dx dysleixa, some don't.

A dx of dslexia won't help your DC or your friends DC. It won't help your child learn, and it won't help school know how to teach him. It won't tell school anything they don't already know.

You don't get a dx of dyslexia from doing the WISC test, or any other test.

The only thing that can be useful as an EP report which says how clever your child is......

Indigo,

""The only thing that can be useful as an EP report which says how clever your child is......""

Made me laugh :)