In one week, Zack will have finished his first year at The GOW School, which specializes in language based learning differences. In one year, we have watched him grow from a self-conscious, unsure, insecure boy into a confident, well-rounded, smiling young man. He is so proud of what he has accomplished (and rightly so) and no longer thinks of himself as a stupid kid who just can't learn.
If you've ever been in our position, you know what I'm talking about. Watching your child struggle, day in and day out, through 7 years of academics, breaks your heart. Yes, we are lucky because he is healthy and able bodied. I know that things can always be worse. But, as a Mother, it is gut wrenching to watch your happy, bright boy slowly lose self-worth because of something beyond his control.
For parents of an LD child, the "system" can be difficult, at best. Well-intentioned educators, psychologists and administrators offer one-stop-shopping solutions for an LD child, regardless of what they really require. This is not their sinister attempt to deny your child access to resources- although that is certainly how it feels. School systems, simply, have not recognized that language based disabilities make up the majority of their LD population.
Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin. Schools refer to Dyslexia an SLD (Specific Learning Disability) and define a Learning Disability as a disorder in one or more of the basic processes involved in understanding spoken or written language. It may show up as a problem in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, or spelling or in a person’s ability to do math, despite intelligence. The National Institute of Health's studies show that 80% of students with an LD have a form of Dyslexia, yet only one in ten students with Dyslexia get appropriate special education services. How is that possible that 80 students out of 100 have dyslexia, 8 of them are serviced with appropriate programs while the other 72 are placed in programs that don't address their needs, or ignored completely? Why is the majority of a school's special education funding devoted to programs that are destined to fail? It's mind boggling!
In our case, Zack has an above average IQ, but great difficulty matching sounds to symbols. When something is presented to him, orally, he remembers things very well. However, he has so much difficulty with decoding text that meaning is lost; Once he gets through decoding each word, he has forgotten what the string of words said and can't tell you anything about what he has read. He also has great difficulty with note-taking because he does not have automatic recall of spelling, and can't reasonably sound out a word/string of words while continuing to listen to the teacher. In addition to those struggles, he lacked executive function/organizational skills. One teacher referred to him as a "nutty professor" running down the hall with papers appearing to jump from his being as he moved.
So, once we realized that his school was unable/unwilling to implement a program that would be effective, we elected to move Zack to Gow. The tuition at Gow is not cheap. It is, in fact, quite expensive and, for most families, unattainable. For Zack's first year at Gow, we took a gamble. We chose to spend the boys' college funds on ONE year at Gow, in hopes that we would be in a better financial situation, or eligible for more aid when the next year rolled around. Within a month, we knew that our gamble had paid off. Unfortunately, the return on that investment is not a financial one and we now face paying for another year, and then another after that, etc. with the goal of keeping him there through High School graduation.
I am humbled when I contemplate finding the money for another year. The school has been generous with financial aid, but the balance owed would still be half of my net income. Our families have also been very generous, but they are also of limited resources. As I macabrely joked with admissions; I am running out of rich relatives who might leave me an inheritance.
So, this is where I need some help, folks. I cannot bring myself to ask people for money, directly. However, I CAN bring myself to ask for fundraising ideas, or contacts/connections to people who might be able to offer help, in any capacity, in our endeavor to keep Zack where he belongs. I would do anything for him, and am at a loss. Please repost this blog on your wall so that your friends see it and pass it on to their friends, etc. With that act of good will, I have to have faith that we will be connected to someone who can help. Heck, we will even sell "ad space" on Zack's forehead for the right price! (kidding!)
Please consider helping us with a posting chain. It won't cost anything and has the potential to make a HUGE difference in a young man's life.
xoxo
Becky
