Christianity Oasis Forum

[angel27]

Just a note, this is my area of expertise. Please if you have any questions about kids or adults with learning or behavioral challenges, assistive technology or learning strategies, I will do my best to help. God has given me a wonderful blessing to be able to provide help and support to kids and their parents.
Thank you Jesus for your wonderful grace.

[Timothy]

Thank you angel27

Here is one for you:

My son knows his right hand from his left hand.
But when it comes to anything in front of him such as
his paper work or key board, he has a hard time with
what is right and left on the paper and key boards.

How can we help him to discern the left side of the key board
from the right side?

We tell him "righty needs to do some work too."
His CP effects his right hand so he favors his left,
but his right hand is full functional, but hurts sometimes
when over worked.

thanks,

Timothy

[angel27]

Great question. For the keyboard it is as easy as color coding. You can get little stickers and color code the keys that should be hit by the left and right. then put the same color dot on his right and left hands.
Could you be more specific regarding the paper? Why does he have to distinguish between the left and right of a paper? What task does he have to complete? This will help in my advice.

[Timothy]

Great idea for the keyboard, thank you angel27!

As for paper:
If given a blank piece of paper and told to do a task like write his name or
draw a picture for example. He will always start in the lower right corner,
start in the middle of that space and go towards the right.
Then he will carry it to the upper right section again starting in the center and going
to the right. Then to the lower left section of the paper starting about
the center of the paper and going to the left. He will leave the upper left portion almost untouched.

He will often start a jigsaw puzzle from the center and work it out from
there again going in the lower right to the upper right to the lower left and
then to the upper left. Even after having done most of the first three
quarters of the puzzle, he will have the hardest time finishing it, in the upper left.

When given a list of math problems he will start at the bottom of the page
and work his way up.

When asked to write his name at the top of the paper he will start it at the
center and go towards the right.

When asked to read words he will often look at the first letter, and sometimes
at another letter in the word and will just guess at the word.
His mom has been working with him on reading and he has improved much.
But mostly with direction, sometimes verbal, sometimes with a
finger, sometimes with a piece of paper to cover up the following lines.

He gets about 5 words a week to practice. These words are words he
uses in his normal vocabulary or are necessary words such as his
street and city. They are not just random words. They serve some
form of practical purpose to him. They get incorporated into the weeks
reading assignment, some kind of very short story.
When asked to spell a word the first time ( having it written out and in front of him )
he will get the first letter right, then goes to the end of the word,
uses the last letter, then uses the rest of the letters seemingly at random.

After a weeks worth of practice he usually gets about 4 out of the five
right. The wrongly spelled word is pretty close, being off by a letter
or letter blend, like f for ph.

Oh, and here is a good one:
His old school says "dyslexia" is not a word. It has no meaning.
They do not teach children how to overcome or how to deal with it.
At the new school, the teachers just rolled their eyes at that notion.
Reading skills are in his IEP for this coming school year.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Timothy

[angel27]

Timothy,
Sorry I have not responded to this post or posted the websites that I was going to post for picture supports. I live in FL and we have had a horrendous week of rain and flooding due to Tropical Storm Fay. My office was flooded and our email and internet was down so I can't get to some of the material I was going to share. As soon as I can access the info, I will address your concerns.

[Lionhearted]

Hi Timothy:

my son experienced the same thing (its a struggle for alot of boys, as they are usually, not always, but mostly) tactile learners, which means that they nead to "touch" "handle" or "be moving" when they learn; i know this because i'm the same way (some girls have it to); also, slightly "auditory" as well, which means i need to be moving ... for instance, i move/pace or walk, or dooodle when on the phone (drives my family crazy)

with my son i turned all his work into a moving exercise, for instance when i was teaching him to read ... i used 8 1/2 X 11 sheets of paper with a big letter on each, he had to actually 'pick up' (and that's the key) and place it where it would start; when you read the word 'c a t' you don't start at the right side "t" (tu sound), its not a "tuuuu a c" ... as he got older i moved to small tactile objects, (such as recipe cards) and followed the same pattern; or you can place letters on the floor and have him physically move his body to the correct letter/direction.

another thing, you know boys are usually logical thinkers ... most men will use N, S, E, W in giving directions, but women will use landmarks and left and right....

a way to over come this might be through geography and using the direction markers ... as long as he knows his alphabet already.

i believe the key is to figuring out his way of intake and process and then go with that.

above all, what i learned with all my extra work and time i had to put in with my son (now 21) it gave us sooo much extra and varied experiences together, that we grew very, very close in the process .... i see that it was a blessing and an opportunity that God gave me

hope you find this encouraging
robyn