I am Hope my daughter is 12yo in the 7th grade, we live in VA. Stephini has always had a difficult time in school, she had a 504 beginning in grade 2 through grade 4 somehow the division lost her in the paperwork, now 3 years later we have yet another 504. the school division continually states she has ADHD but not 1 of her medical evaluations reaches those conclusions. (including psyche)however we have dyslexia in the family, according to the division she is not eligable for an IEP just accomadations and not remediation. she is on a 3.9 reading level, 5.9 written lang.she has failed all state tests each year, my daughter can barely read and write, but the division does not believe it is a problem to be 3 years below grade level since in eligability it was said the average native born american holds a 5th grade reading level. i have little to no experience in this area, can someone please advise me on the best approach.
Re: help please
Hi Hope,
Welcome!
First, it would be important to know how they determined your daughter ineligible for services. Did she have a full case study done including the WISC (or another standard IQ test) to contrast with an achievement test (such as the WIAT, possibly). We would want to compare the two to see what’s going on. That would be the first step in determining whether a learning disability exists.
Second, ADHD is a medical diagnosis. Therefore, if a medical professional (your pediatrician or a psychiatrist) did not make the diagnosis, the division could possibly be in violation of the law by having such a statement in her records.
There is also evidence that ADHD typically does not exist alone; especially when you are seeing signs of other things lacking academically.
If you suspect learning disabilities, and it is obvious that something is going wrong due to the family history, reading/writing level and state testing results, you should request that a full case study be done.
If it already has been done, it might be worth posting the scores on the board here. You will get some very helpful advice from those who know how to interpret the testing. You might then get the “bigger picture” of her struggles.
Losing paperwork is unacceptable and the excuse of the “average born American has a 5th grade reading level” should be relayed to the district superintendent or administrator. Any professional that would use this as rationale for your daughter’s achievement deserves to be fired.
agree w/little lulu m
post results of tests if you have any-we have people on board who are whizzes with this stuff
It sounds like they are giving you the run around-BIGTIME
What do YOU think about the ADHD? If you think she may have the condition and the same psych has evaluated her each time, you MAY want to try another professional. My son has ADD, inattentive only-medication helps him tremendously but he is super well behaved and not “in your face” ADHD at all. Im sure he could have seen a different professional and received a different dx.
Re: help please
Hi Hope,
I, too, live in Virginia. My son has inattentive ADHD, an auditory processing disorder, and a non-verbal learning disorder.
It really sounds like your school system is giving you the run-around. What they are telling you does not meet ANY law in existence. You and your daughter have very specific rights under the law.
The first place to start to get an understanding of the laws that do exist for children with learning difficulties is wrightslaw.com. I went to one of their special ed law seminars yesterday - I’m not an expert, but I do know some of the ins and outs.
Little Lulu was correct. Write a letter to your school system requesting a full range of testing for your daughter immediately. The Wrightslaw sister website fetaweb.com has a good set of letters that will help you do this.
Once you get that testing, post the results here, but also look at fetaweb.com again to see how to interpret the testing results. From the information your school system has already given you, it sounds like they will prevaricate and delay, and use almost any tactic they can to deny your child services. But the law IS on your side.
I think Lily asked you where you live. Do not answer that question on line. If you chose to e-mail her privately, please feel free to do so. Also, if you want to e-mail me privately, please feel free to do so, and I will help you get started, I’d be happy to review your letter requesting testing, etc. My e-mail address is [email protected].
Good luck, hope to hear from you!
Lil
Re: agree w/little lulu m
following are the scores as i have them.
W J III date 5-28-02
B reading SS 87 AE 9-3 GE 3.9
b math 101 11-10 6.3
w lang 99 11-4 5.9
appl prob 107 13-0 7.6
r fluency 87 9-4 3.9
i disagreed with the committee for a 504 believing a full scale would help obtain an IEP for remedial action but
WISC-III 6-14-02
VIQ 107 PIQ 107 FSIQ 107
info 10, sim 7, arit 15, vocab 9, digit span 15, pic com 11, coding 8,
pic arr 13, BD 12, OA 11,
wide range achievement test (same day)
reading GS 4B SS 85 % 16
spelling GS 4E, SS 90 % 25
math GS 6B, SS 99, % 47
after this eval i asked about an IEP for some assistance for Stephini but all they said i could “Get” was accomadations, i really need to know what i’m saying before i get them mad again, i had a terrible time getting stephini’s brother his services he has Autism, and the division mis classified him and refused to hear from anyone other than the current staff, so right now i am on the outs with our division.
thanks Hope
Re: help please
Hope,
if they do not believe she qualifies for an IEP,did they specificly explain why in writing to you? This is part of your right as her parent. Is the term ADHD used in her educational files? If so,why? Again you have the right to an explanation.
If they lost her paperwork and this was three years ago,when was her last educational evaluation?
I teach in Virginia, Hope. Please tell me what county you are in?