HOD for special needs, praise.

[water2wine]

We recently had our dd tested for her learning disabilities and some other issues. Along with that testing she had her IQ tested extensively in all categories. Her IQ is very low. She has cerebral palsy. She has many learning issues. All the results were very close or just slightly above what I would have guessed except in two areas. And we are talking everything else is 3-5th grade level at age 14, but she was off the chart in two areas. The tester was really perplexed. Just never seen it before. She tested on grade 13.1 for oral comprehension ie read aloud and narrate back, sound familiar. And the second area she tested high was following directions in a sequence. There she was 10th grade level. They were a little shocked at the results but they knew I hsed and so they asked what do I do. The answer was easy. I used HOD, teaches narration and comprehension as well as following a sequence of directions. Apparently it does it very well. So well that she surpassed what would be expected for her IQ level by far.

One of the big things about HOD for me is that it allowed my dd with CP to learn above her capabilities. I would have guessed that she would be higher in those two levels because of how HOD works, but honestly she should not be on high school level for anything. I am especially pleased because those are two very important life skills, especially if you are learning impaired. Thought I would share to encourage anyone that has a child with LDs and is wondering if HOD will do the trick. The answer is yes. It works very well with learning delays.

[lmercon]

That's just wonderful! I love HOD for my severely dyslexic ds. He is sooo intelligent, but not able to read above a first grade reading level. HOD allows him to learn at his ability level without requiring reading to get there. I just have to read more material to him. He has great listening comprehension and narration skills as well. I'm so glad it's working well for you too!
Laura

[birchbark]

Very interesting!

[psreit]

Thanks for that encouragement. We are in our 2nd year of HOD. I trust the outcome will be positive for our dd, who has CP (hemiplegia).

[homeschoolmumNZ]

That is wonderful! I SO wish I had known about HOD before as I would have tried it with my older kids and it may have helped my son in particular who struggles with aduditory processing etc. He is 16 now so probably too lae to get much benefit even if I do a year or two with him now. But I am going to be using this with my youngest.Thanks for sharing your amazing news!

[water2wine]

Thanks for that encouragement. We are in our 2nd year of HOD. I trust the outcome will be positive for our dd, who has CP (hemiplegia).

Same as my dd's CP. Not that it means they are affected the same way but she has the same type of CP.

[water2wine]

Thanks for that encouragement. We are in our 2nd year of HOD. I trust the outcome will be positive for our dd, who has CP (hemiplegia).

Same as my dd's CP. Not that it means they are affected the same way but she has the same type of CP. I think the CM ways really work well with kids that have language issues as far as processing. Just to be able to get the information that they could never take in on their own is huge.

[countrymom]

Wow, that is a praise! Very interesting.

[LynnH]

That is a praise and very interesting. We are having the full neuropsychological testing done on my ds with CP at the end of the month. I have no clue what it will show. I know he has learning glitches, but I am not sure what they are. I do know that HOD has improved his auditory listening skills.

[water2wine]

That is a praise and very interesting. We are having the full neuropsychological testing done on my ds with CP at the end of the month. I have no clue what it will show. I know he has learning glitches, but I am not sure what they are. I do know that HOD has improved his auditory listening skills.

I almost did not do the IQ because we were looking at different issues and I thought I knew that information. But the way a neuro psy will do it really does give some information. I learned some things about how she performs best that has led me to change how we do math and LA a bit. The other thing is when they link IQ with learning levels and where they tested for disabilities, you really can tell if they are "on target" for reaching their full potential. I really found it fascinating and quite helpful. There are two things I think that it is not going to tell you. The first is what God's purpose is in their issues and that heavily influences where they will be in life later. The other is talent. To me talent is a whole other kind of intelligence so I really feel like my job now is to really help my dd find those things.

I think you will find on this level of testing you are going to confirm some things you already know, find out you are doing a better job than you thought, and potential have some light bulbs go off for you. Overall it was really helpful for us. Not for the labels but for knowing how to help her best and for helping me to understand better where she is at. I think it will help you to pin point exactly where learning issues are in a sort of general sense and as a hser you are going to know how to accommodate that so much better than ps ever would have. You will truly have hsing validated highly. Praying your son's testing is a blessing for your family.

[water2wine]

Just thinking about this a bit more and wondering if this does not say a lot about ps education. Maybe pser on average do not follow directions well and are not as good as narrating as our HOD hsed children are. So that really any kid using HOD and CM ways is going to have an advantage in that area. At any rate it really does validate how we are teaching her with HOD. We are exactly able to cover her weakness and play to her strengths. So that really is a huge blessing. Really already way sold on HOD for the long haul for all my kids, but it is nice to see the fruits in our child that needs it the most. On the flip side I have seen my oldest who is on the other end of the spectrum excel as well. So it really does work for the more "gifted" (whatever that means ) and the challenged kid as well.

[LynnH]

Water2wine,
Thank you so much for your prayers and your post. It has really blessed me today. The decision to have all the testing done on him has been a tough one. I finally decided that finding out this information won't change that fact that he is fearfully and wonderfully made by God, but it might give me some insight in to things. One of the main things I am needing is to know when to push him and when to realize he is doing the best that he can. I am hoping these tests will give me a little insight in to that and help me figure out how to accommodate things for him. I think it will be fascinating to see how everything lines up. Of course as you said the tests won't tell me what plan God has for his life and how God is going to use his disability for His glory.

[water2wine]

I finally decided that finding out this information won't change that fact that he is fearfully and wonderfully made by God, but it might give me some insight in to things. One of the main things I am needing is to know when to push him and when to realize he is doing the best that he can. I am hoping these tests will give me a little insight in to that and help me figure out how to accommodate things for him.

Exactly!

[tjneary99]

Praise God, thanks for sharing.

[my3sons]

That is a praise! I think that you are so right water2wine - these areas are taught so well in HOD, and your dd is doing awesome with them! PTL! I also know you do a wonderful job of balancing encouraging your dd with expecting enough from her. I think she is doing so well, and I'm glad you had the testing done as it just helps give good information. I think you really hit the nail on the head that these 2 skills are life skills that are excellent to have. They affect so many, many areas of life. Oral narration is helping my dc be able to express themselves well orally, relay messages accurately, delve into books deeply, and discuss what they have read well. It also helps them make connections galore. I would even go so far as to say it is helping them be comfortable in social situations, as if a book or movie they have read or seen comes up, they almost naturally go into oral narration mode, and that just makes the conversation flow easily. Following step-by-step directions is helping my dc put together toys, follow the steps to cook or bake from a recipe, do chores properly from a chore chart, build things for the house (i.e. shelves), use manuals to troubleshoot things like properly hooking up a DVD/VCR player to a TV, complete handicraft projects like building wooden structures, even following directions I've given on a markerboard (something I commonly do when entertaining for their b-day parties, as we blessedly have a lot of family that attends and much needs to be done). Thanks for sharing this, as it is such an encouragement!

In Christ,
Julie