My 2 sons, ages 15 and 10 both have trouble reading. Due to this, they are having trouble with all of their classes. They are both in resource classes at school, have tutors and work with us at home and this does seem to help but not enough.

I have asked their teachers if they think they have dyslexia or something like that and they don't think so. I can't help but think there is some reason for their lack of skills.

Where can we go to get them tested? Is there some sort of agency that will do this for free or a low cost?

Thanks for your help!

Didn't the school do any testing to determine the root of their learning disability? Seems like they would have had to if they are going to resource. If not, ask them to do it. They are obligated to test your children if you ask. Many states will also test for dyslexia. I think your best bet is working with the special education department at their school.

You haven't mentioned anything about talking to your kids.

I realize they are now teenagers, however, they are the only ones that can tell you how they really feel about what they are learning. Whether they actually 'get it' and are not interested, or that they 'can't get it' and just give up.

Surely there are signs at home, pre school, elementary that can provide some clues.
- trouble holding a pen,
- squinting at board / tv
- hard of hearing,
- misunderstanding what people say
- impatient
- tuned out
- visual vs oral
- conceptualizing difficulty
etc.

Review their homework assignements, help study for tests, these too would assist in understanding potential problems - if any exist.

If you have any older take home paper from previous years, take a gander.

...for the time being, talk your teens and see what their asperations are, and help understand the connection between school and those asperations.

I thought my 8 y/o son was doing poorly reading, but he is actually much better than I was led to believe. He is LD in reading and math. I felt the school was expecting him to be an obedient little mouse and it wasn't working for him or his learning style, so I just took him out and we're homeschooling. Have you thought about your kids' learning styles at all? Any ADHD?

I've done battle with the school my 10yr old is in since 2nd grade. Finally I found the child advocate in my area and ---I finally have a Section 504 plan in place, so my child is getting the extra services from school that he needs. But that person can also direct you were to go and what to do to help your child. Good luck - I know how frustrating it is to see your child struggle. If you haven't already requested for the school to have your child tested...I'm pretty sure you can... and they have to.. check out the laws in your state. Where I am and with the No Child Left Behind Law..the school is responsible for educating the children. I've spent $$ and still do on private tutors, but there is only so much we can do, the school needs to step up and jump in to help.

Good Luck

My son was just diagnosed last year with dyslexia and ADD. He is 8 and is in the 3rd grade. In 1st grade his teacher told me he was having difficulty in reading. I asked her about information on a tutor for him and she said he'll be fine, continuing to report to me throughout the year that he was having this problem but I didn't need to worry. In 2nd grade he was finally tested for dyslexia and was found to have this disability, he was placed in a MTA class or special-ed. This year, for the first 3 week's all his teacher did was complain that he wasn't paying attention, doing his assignments, not reading well or taking any AR test as requested, and bad scores in math and spelling!

I finally asked her if my son was in the wrong class! At that time it was discovered that he was in the wrong class and none of his testing from the previous year had been referred to his 3rd grade teacher.

After all this, I learned that his teacher has had dyslexia her entire life. Also, she moved him beside her desk because she had the same disability. Why did she not recognize his disability and why was the information not passed on to her prior to the beginning of school this year?