I am so disappointed of my son

[sisi1977]

I'm a Single mom with a 7 years old son, my Husband passed away when my son was 6 month old. my son is 7 years old and in the First grade but the way that he speaks is like a 4 or 5 years old, English is our second language but he can't even speak his native language ( farsi ) properely . he was born in the United State but he was out of country for most of his life , we have returned to US about 7 month ago but he can't speak english at all. I took him to the speech therapy but it didn't help. he can't consentrate at what his teacher is teaching . I have talked eith his teacher and she said that he is the only child in the class that can't spell or say the sounds of the words . I had some research through the Internet and i came up with something named DYSLEXIA . I want to know if my son is a Dyslexic child or not and if the answer is yes ,is there any treatment for it?

Thank you

[teddybears4ever2]

I know you said that an SLP didn't work, but how much of a try did you give it?  They will not be able to help overnight, but over time they will learn.  You need to make sure that he understands what is going on around him, or get him the help he needs.  Have you ever had him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician?  That might be a good start, and yes there are children out there that have trouble learning their native language, just ask my sister Diva2317. She knows more about this than I do.

[sisi1977]

Thank you so much.

[littlebit667]

If he does have a reading problem like dyslexia there are things that can be done to help him.This is one write up about help:

Treatment
Every person with DRD requires a different strategy. An individual education plan should be created for each child with the condition.

The following may be recommended:*
      Extra learning assistance, called remedial instruction*
      Private, individual tutoring *
      Special day classes

Positive reinforcement is important as many students with learning disabilities have poor self-esteem. Psychological counseling may be helpful.

[margypops]

He sounds like he is a great boy and a joy to you I understand your concern, and meeting with a psychologist and the teacher is the way to go and get him on track..let us know how he is doing as he progress's ...good luck

[sisi1977]

Thank you for your responds , Actually my son is in the ELD classes ,there are 5 other persian kids in his class with a same english knowledge but they can read and write english by now but my son can't  say a word, he can spell the words but he can't read a word, sometimes i teach him for example one word and ask him to reapet it 20 times but when i ask him the same word he forgets it in less that 10 seconds .even his teacher says that he is so slow following what i teach in the class. on the other hand he is very kind and friendly , he always shares his toys with other kids, he loves to dance ,he is not shy at all. i'm having a meeting with his teacher and the school psychologist by next week to talk about his problems. Thank you for your support.

[margypops]

I agree with Sandman ,English is very hard to learn, and I think private tuition will help him ,a teacher will come to his home on a regular basis to help him .Once children start to learn the language it picks up very quickly..I understand your concern and wish you well

[Sandman2]

    Dyslexia is a reading problem.  I don't think that you or your teacher have an idea about how hard it is to learn English.  English is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.
    It is even more difficult if it is not spoken at home.  Is it?  The best way to help him is to expose him to English at home and on TV.  There are two reasons I can think of why he can't concentrate on what the teacher is saying.  One is something like ADD, the other is because he doesn't understand what she is saying.  I am betting that he doesn't understand what she is saying.  I don't know what city you are in, in California - but typically due to the large spanish speaking population - many districts have special programs for non English speakers.  He should have been classified as ESL - unless you put down he was an English speaker.
   I do worry about your statement that he cannot speak Farsi properly.  But  is that comparing him to other kids of his age group or what you think he should be doing?  And most studies I have seen, show that bilingual kids are not as fluent until maybe middle school and then rapidly catch up.
    He should be able to get special help.  Let the teacher know that English is not his main language.  Also make sure you use English at home as much as possible.  Hope this helps!