Dyslexic Daughter upDate

In my normal style of dealing with anything I have acquired books about my daughter’s 2 new conditions.

I can’t read them yet.  When I find a subject stressful I find when I try to read about it the words swim & hurt my head (more than usual).  I often read by mentally spiraling the words so I read in clumps not words (my daughter Alex does this too but we don’t know how or we’d teach it) but I can’t use it on information that scares me.  But I own them and  for some reason I am inordinately soothed by ownership of the right books.

I intended to contact the school but put it off, then Tash went to a rehearsal at the school the day before school restarted and told her deputy principal all about it.  So she contacted me; she was as always at SVACS supportive and caring.  I let her know that I hadn’t received the official report, just a verbal diagnosis (and unofficial, confidential to the doctor test results).  As I thought we are in limbo until the official report goes through official channels.  We agreed we didn’t need a new meeting until after the report because we had already agreed on our unofficial plan.   A very generous plan its a fantastic school.  It is called Swan Valley Anglican Community School .  But from the sound of it she’s going to need a lot of support/therapy especially the first year so fingers crossed the various government agencies can help.

Meanwhile we have bought a voice recorder.  This way she can record her ideas.  Even writing short notes is such a massive undertaking I’m scared she loses her ideas, forgets them in the mechanics of producing writing.  It’s nice and light and we got her a microphone/headphone set.

The school has agreed to her using the recorder at school but she has to negotiate with each teacher.  I’ve also updated the card she has for new/substitute teachers; from Autistic with learning difficulties to Autism, Dyslexic and ADD.  See below, sorry I don’t remember were I got the pictures:

In a way it’s a good thing the diagnosis came in the middle of the year when we get our bonuses.  I was brought up in a house with two good incomes and it is still natural for me to try to solve problems by throwing money at them.

We are looking to get her a good second hand camera and letting her vlog.  The Psychologist suggested You Tubing is good for her problems and it has been her main ambition for the last 3 years, along with being a contestant on a reality talent search.  She has the disjointed sense of reality of a person with Autism; she’s scared to be alone but she thinks she can handle TV fame.

Fortunately; thank you Google, she is too young to get a google or You Tube account on her own.   Yah!  She has now accepted that we will have to monitor her on the web.  She won’t believe us, her parents or grandparents that she needs supervision because she is a precocious twelve year old.  But she obeys real world rules because she is autistic.  So she is going to go on You Tube with us having veto on the material she posts and we can monitor feedback for trolls and creeps.  Now we are only left with the ongoing problem of explaining to her why she has not yet been picked up by a talent agent.

Anyway with therapists and educators poised we are moving step by slow step towards dealing with Tasha’s challenges.

Thanks to everyone who has sent those comforting messages.