Before sharing more of our twists and turns, I want to express how much I appreciate all the wonderful people that have crossed our paths during Parker’s school years. We have continually been blessed with an incredible group of teachers, friends, and staff at our school! I couldn’t ask for better people to be surrounding us.
So where does a person go when they are looking for answers? There's nowhere better than the world wide web! I was lucky to stumble across a site that talked about the 37 characteristics of Dyslexia. http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm As I read through them, I was amazed at how many traits and behaviors I saw in Parker, 27 out of the 37. At this point, I was determined to learn as much as I could about Dyslexia.
My next question was, "Where can I get help?" I kept coming back to the same site listed above. There is a book on the site, The Gift of Dyslexia, by Ronald Davis. Once I had my hands on the book, I had it read in a couple of days. I then contacted, Cyndi Deneson.,a Certified Facilitator and Supervisor-Specialist licensed with the Davis program, located in Edina.
Parker and I met with Cyndi. She did a couple of assessments with Parker, which confirmed the possibility of Parker struggling with Dyslexia. The next step was for Parker’s dad to meet with Cyndi and me to go over the assessments and to explain the program. Much to my surprise, Parker’s dad was on board. He felt that he could relate to much of Parker’s struggles because he too struggled with many of the same things as a child. There was no question in our minds that the Davis program would be beneficial for Parker.
I feel considerably lucky that I stumbled upon the Davis Program, but with my excitement, there have been some detours along the way, many feeling like roadblocks.
One detour that has presented itself is getting a diagnosis and the need for a diagnosis. This has been more difficult than I ever anticipated. The primary reason for wanting a diagnosis is so that Parker would be eligible to receive accommodations at school after completing the program.
About 4 weeks ago we met with our pediatrician, I explained the struggles that Parker was experiencing and asked if she could give us a diagnosis. (During our appointment with her she brought up the possibility of ADD. I mention this now because I plan on sharing more of my thoughts and feelings about ADD at another time.) She was unable to help us and referred us to a Child’s Psychiatrist. Yesterday, Parker had an appointment with a Child Psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asked what our goal of meeting with her was. I expressed to her that our need of a diagnosis was to receive accommodations at school that would support the Davis Program. She said that it is very difficult to diagnosis Dyslexia and that she would have to refer us to a specialist. (She too brought up testing for ADD.) She proceeded to tell me that the waiting list to see a specialist was out at least 6 months. I told her that I needed something by next week because Parker is scheduled to start the Davis program then. She thought with the information that she had gathered from us that she could come up with some diagnosis possibly of depression and/or anxiety due to learning difficulties and that this would at least open things up at school for the possibility of some help.
Having experience in the education field, I knew there would be some hoops we would need to jump through, but certainly didn’t anticipate it to be quite like this. I have a different appreciation for all the parents out there who are strong advocates for their children!
Next Monday, Parker starts the Davis Program. YEAH!!!  My goal is to keep a daily blog of our journey about our week at the Davis Program and explain more about the program.