Not only is he dyslexic, he is dysgraphic. His grade first quarter was 76, however his current grade is 48. He really is struggling to keep up, hates the class, and is begging to be allowed to quit. He is, however, a really smart kid with all other grades in the 90s for honors classes. He decided to take the second year of Spanish, knowing colleges really want at least two years of foreign language.
I have spoken with his guidance counselor, before school started, who suggested he take it, and drop within 5 weeks if he couldn’t handle it. Obviously he has missed that cut off. It was suggested he could try American Sign Language online. How bad will it look if he drops Spanish at this stage, in 9th grade? Should he stick it out, with the resulting drop in GPA? I will of course be talking with counselor again. I am meeting with the teacher today so we can figure out what he needs help with, and I am thinking I will have to get a tutor. I am very sure though that he will continue to have a low grade in this class that is making him miserable. What should we do?
I feel your pain. My DS is in 8th taking Latin. It has been an up and down experience. I know I will be hiring a tutor to help him through his second year.
Latin, Chinese and Sign Language are recommended by my school for Dyslexic children.
Another option might be CS programming languages. There has been some discussion in my state about allowing CS languages to count as foreign language credits. Texas requires 2 years of language credit to graduate. This is tough for dyslexic students, but I don’t know how colleges would consider CS languages.
My friend’s son finally finished his Spanish credits via an online course. You might check that option.
Yes, that is an option too. I am wondering if there is cause for,concern come application time though. How bad is it for a kid to withdraw from a class? No doubt it will be explained by the counselor whenthe time comes, but is it a really bad move to consider this?
I have DS who is a senior and going through the whole college apps process. So I get your concern.
I don’t know. If your DS has a 48, it is possible he could fail Spanish and not receive credit. I think a withdrawal is better than an F. Colleges surely know that foreign languages are very hard for dyslexic students. My DS can’t distinguish the sounds in English very well…I think he can learn to speak a language conversationally but being graded on correct spelling would be a disaster.
You might even call a well respected college counselor in your area and ask how to handle this issue. You could pay for an hour of his time to come up with a game plan. Maybe it can be addressed on the Common App and won’t hurt his admission chances. But in lieu of a foreign language, your DS will need to take challenging courses.
I may be dealing with this question next year. My DS is very smart but his grades tend to be all over the place.
@ucbalumnus, you always seem to have great ideas and I know you know much about foreign language. Can I impose upon you for your opinion?
Many selective colleges strongly advise applicants have 3 to 4 yrs of foreign language, but at the same time they know it can be difficult for kids who are dyslexic. I do know some kids who took no language in college, but were admitted to selective schools. There were some schools that did say up front it would be an issue, but with the help of their guidance counselors, they found colleges that were willing to overlook it and even got a surprise acceptance from a school where they thought it would be an issue.
The foreign language requirement drives us nuts too. Hope you get some answers.
ETA: if they accepted programming languages my DS would be all set.
Just wanted to say I feel your pain. My dyslexic son had to drop Spanish. In the end, everyone agreed it was for the best. He also has auditory processing disorder. He had always planned to go into the military though, so it was less of an immediate concern. Now he’s talking about college when he finished his commitment, so at some point, he will have to figure out how to deal with a language class! Good luck!!
I’m not sure the most selective will see CS the same as FL. In the latter you’re also exposed to the culture and some context, plus reading and writing. I wonder how he’d do with the language CDs you can check out of the library. (find the ones that aren’t exclusively focused on travel.) He can then show that, despite the class format issues, he took on the challenge. It would be a note in Addl Info.
There’s a difference between this pre-college prep and whether or not a kid continues a language in college.
This is so difficult. I know he can do better than he currently is, but I also think we are flogging a dead horse. If he completes the class, he will scrape by with a C, possibly. If he drops it and does Sign Language online, that does count as FL, but will it also look bad? For once, I really am clueless as to how to best proceed.
I do know some kids who took no language in college
meant to say took no language in high school
Personally, I think you need to stop worrying about how it might look, and do whatever you think is best for your son moving forward, be it tutoring or pursuing ASL instead of Spanish or whatever.
The good news is that he is only in 9th grade so you have a little bit of time to figure this out. Definitely talk with the GC. Going forward, I don’t think the ASL looks “bad” per se. In fact it’s kind of interesting imho. But I’m not a college admissions expert.
Sometimes it seems to me that schools just want to see certain boxes “checked” and they’re not overly concerned with whatever particular language you happen to study (excluding programming languages which I do not think fits the bill currently).
Will it look bad for a dyslexic kid who does well in other classes? I think not. And your GC is working with you. I might say drop that baby, try the CDs, then see if he gets to a point later in hs where you want to try again and think he can manage differently.
My son has dysgraphia and some auditory processing issues and struggled so badly with Spanish. After 2 years in middle school, he switched to Latin. Big difference - it’s not taught 'sounds like" as Spanish is, where he really couldn’t hear the differences between the words. He’s enjoyed Latin a lot more a done better. Still not his best subject, but one he could succeed in, unlike Spanish. Do what’s best for your son - the college thing will work out.
I really regret not pushing for Latin for my younger son, instead of Spanish. Let my husband talk us into that, thinking it would be useful in southeastern FL. Huge mistake.
Older son took Latin and didn’t seem to have to work that hard at it.
Some students are able to get a waiver to exempt them from foreign language. Has your son been tested? Does he have an IEP or any accommodation? I would contact the school special ed office to discuss this ASAP. The most important thing is to figure out something that works for your S. If it is ASL online, be glad we live in a world where that is an option.
In terms of “looking bad” for college, I think if you disclose the reasons why he chose the ASL route that it should not be an issue. Unless he is gunning for the hyper-competitive Ivy level schools, I don’t think it will be a problem, but of course you can talk to your guidance counselor about that.
And as an aside, my S had learning issues growing up – he went to a fine college and grad school, found a career that is geared toward his strengths and is doing great. I found that sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to get these kids through an area that plays into their weaknesses (you should have seen my S and geometry – I shutter to think about it again). If ASL works, then you should be congratulated for finding a solution.
@happy1, he is not exempt because he tests too highly. In fact, last year his IEP was removed and he is now on a 504. Latin sadly is not an option at our schools. He has met the one year requirement for the state, and he knows most colleges want two years of FL.
I am sure he will not be interested in Ivy schools. He claims, at the moment, that he wants to study business. Of course we want him to go to the best college he can go to, where he will be happy and get a great education. He regularly says he will just go to the UK, because he knows he can graduate in three years and they won’t care about language as long as he does well in his main areas of study. He also says he is “not doing any of that Master’s stuff.” He cracks me up! Anyway, I am already thinking colleges with no core curriculum. University of Rochester, here we come?
@Lindagaf My S studied business and has done very well (now in this third year working, living in Manhattan etc.). He went on for a one year master’s degree only because in accounting you now need 150 credits to become a CPA. For many students the upper level classes are harder, but for my S once he got through his school’s liberal arts core, it was pretty clear sailing. Sounds like you have a good plan. I think it might be worth a call to someone in the school’s disabilities office to revisit foreign language given that he has documented issues and it is now shown that his issues are causing great difficulty in this one area – but also I think ASL would do the trick. Just get him through this requirement IMO. It really sounds to me like you are doing a great job and staying on top of things – it makes such a difference in the outcome for these kids who are smart but need some extra support. Best of luck to you and your S.
Many schools ‘recommend’ rather than require language and this is one of the reasons why. If you want to confirmc this, call your local state U admissions office (assuming they are one of those that ‘recommend’ x years) and talk to someone in the admissions office there. They can tell you exactly what their policy is for students with a processing disability like your S.