Posted by Stacy in NJ on 16:52 Jan 17
In Reply to: Question #2-Not sure what to call this posted by Quiver0f10
There are really alot of component parts that need to work together for reading to take place. Decoding, or sounding out words, is one part. Another, equally important and less understood, is automicity, or the automatic retrieval of whole words. Decoding is linked to phonemic awareness, the ability to pull apart and put back together the SOUNDS of words. It is believed that retrieval is linked to memory.
Some dyslexics struggle with one or both of these skills. The fact that your ds can decode well -- sound out words consistently-- probably means that he has reasonably good phonemic awareness. That leaves the retrieval issue. How is his memory for math fact? Easy to learn or a difficult task? How is his vocabulary? Does he use filler words, or have a hard time finding the right words sometimes? Does he say things like, " I put the stuff on the thingy, you know that stuff"?
Dyslexia is from the Greek meaning - to have difficulty in aquiring language. You mentioned he is already in speech therapy. Is this for articulation or receptive/expressive issues?
How you describe working with him actually sounds excellent. I think you should continue with the program (SWR) with him as long as you continue to see reasonable improvement. Resonable improvement means he's learning and retaining weekly, not that he takes off reading in 3 months. Consistency is everything. My one BIG piece of advice is to add in repreated reading for fluency training. This mean setting up a simple system to read and reread material daily until that material is read with ease and fluency. Get a little box or basket put the books (Bob books or whatever he's reading now) into the basket and have him read and reread them. Since you have a large family :-) why not have him read the same book to several of your older children each day?
Just so you know, my now 10 yods (11 in April) was unable to read even a simple Dr. Suess book at the age of 8. Every word was sounded out and it was torture to listen to. Now he's reading grade appropriate chapter books with enjoyment and great comprehension. For him, learning to read was a long hard slog. There was no instant moment where the switch flipped. He's had to work hard at every step of the process.
HTH, Stacy