A Mom’s Email

We knew from an early age that our daughter had developmental delays. She began early intervention services before she was 2 years old, in the hopes that she would “catch up.” But, “catching up” wasn’t in the cards and today she is a 5th grader and labeled as intellectually disabled.

When she was about 3 years old, I was doing a lot of research on programs that might help. One day, I came across a post in a forum for families of children with dyslexia that mentioned something called Lindamood-Bell. I had never heard of it, but the mom stated that after having her son in multiple programs, Lindamood-Bell was the only one that made a difference. My daughter does not have a diagnosis of dyslexia, but so often what works for kids with one type of learning difference will work for other kids with other differences. At the time, I knew my daughter wasn’t ready for Lindamood-Bell, but I kept it in the back of my mind. What really interested me is that the programs focus on developing sensory-cognitive processes… they help kids who think differently.

When she was in first grade, I started thinking that she might finally be ready. She had some sight words, but not even close to what was expected and she was still not really decoding words. I so wanted for her to be able to read. We take for granted the world that is open to us as readers.

I began researching Lindamood-Bell again. I spoke to educators, parents, and a speech pathologist about their experiences with Lindamood-Bell and I scoured the internet. Everyone said it worked.

I spoke at length with Lindamood-Bell center director, about whether or not she thought they could help my daughter.  She did not make pie-in-the-sky promises. She said that my daughter’s progress would probably be slower than other students, but she thought we would see gains.

So, the summer after first grade, I took the kids to the closest center for the summer so my daughter could go to Lindamood-Bell. It was a long 8 weeks. It was intensive, one-on-one instruction, 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks. About half way through, I remember meeting with the center director and crying… is this working? I cannot express how glad I am that we did not give up!

My daughter made so much progress, we went back for another summer. She has taken part in their Visualizing & Verbalizing program for comprehension and Seeing Stars for reading and spelling. And, because the programs focus on processing, she made gains in other areas as well.

Thanks so much, T.