Hi - I’ve been working with a third grader 2x weekly on reading (she also has a tutor who does homework with her). She’s in a small private school that supposedly caters to children who need a ‘small setting.’ She is currently reading on a mid-second grade level (when I started with her Oct. of last year she wasn’t recognizing letters consistently). While I’m not an evaluator (I do have a M.S. in Sp. Ed., specializing in LD), she presents with all the ‘classic’ LD issues - letter reversals (though she rarely does that any more), late to read, immature handwriting (which is also markedly improved), distractible, etc.
Here’s the question. The school is pressuring the parent to have the child tested. The mother is reluctant, because she doesn’t understand what the school hopes to gain with testing. Everyone working with the child concurs that she most likely does have some learning issues. The question is what can or would the mother be doing differently based on test results - i.e. the school placement seems appropriate, there are supplementary services in place (the mom won’t ‘subject’ the child to speech or O.T.). The mother is delaying the testing, and keeps asking my opinion. I’ve told her that I do feel her child has learning disabilities - and then she asks again, so, what would she do differently, and should she be worried. I’ve told her not to be unduly concerned - after all, her child is making steady progress. On the other hand, I don’t see that a full eval can hurt.
(I’m also concerned that there may a poor match between this year’s teacher and the child - the child cries frequently about how ‘mean’ the teacher is, seems very stressed out - the work doesn’t seem to match the grade level in general [third graders reading and summarizing New York Times articles as current events homework?] and of course, what’s with pressuring the mother?)
Opinions?
Re: Testing?
I would say that the main benefit would be to insure that appropriate remediation was taking place. For example, if she needs a multi-sensory structured language reading program, then that would need to be pursued if you are not already doing that. I personally prefer private assessment over public school assessment if the parents can afford it because the private ones are often so much better.
Janis
Re: Testing?
Also public school testing has been known to get the kid out of special ed services. It happens either honestly (the tests aren’t really that good or the tester isn’t so great) or not so honestly, using tests that kids tend to score high on to cut down on spec ed services. And yes, I know someone this happened to.
—des
Re: Testing?
My point is that of course we don’t know the entire story, but this child is NOT in public school and is not receiving public special ed services; private schools are not required to do anything special to indentify or remediate students with LD or other needs. This parent may not want to lose her placemnt at this school by labeling her child.
Re: Testing?
Exactly my point. Private testing means the parents have total control over who sees the results. They may just need to use the test results to make sure the outside tutoring is appropriate for her needs.
Janis
testing
the school wants her to get tested through the local public school district. The mother wants to go the private route, if she tests at all. The school keeps pushing public school district - I think it’s in hopes of securing funding - in our district, if the child’s in private and she’s entitled to resource room, the district pays for the teacher - hey, the school can’t possibly be pushing public school testing for the quality, right ;)
My question is if I should be pushing the mother to get the testing done asap. (If she goes it’ll be for a general eval, and nothing likely to pinpoint a specific approach.) My feeling is that yes, this child does have learning disabilities, and I don’t see what is to be gained with the acquisition of the label. (I do suspect that the school would like to say ‘we can’t service children with special needs’ - though they have many kids with special needs whose parents were attracted by the small class sizes, the school would like to buff its image somewhat.)
Re: Testing?
If they want to keep her at the school, and if her LD’s are easily identifiable without testing, and they are going to use private remediation anyway, then I suppose there is no urgent need for formal testing. Does she have a reading disorder? if so, what are you using to remediate?
Janis
Re: Testing?
One area that should get checked out by the parents is developmental vision delay, which can present with all the problems you mentioned. The advantage of getting this evaluation is that, if this is an underlying problem, vision therapy and cognitive training can often fully remediate — especially if started early. The parents should check out http://www.childrensvision.com for more info and http://www.covd.org for board-certified developmental optometrists who can assess for this.
Actually, the same applies for auditory processing problems, speech and language issues, and gross/fine motor issues in that, when accurately diagnosed, early intervention will remediate more fully than late intervention.
Nancy
Re: Testing?
I’m looking at this from another angle. The testing should pinpoint where the problem is and should be helpful info for anyone working with her. Beyond that is the issue that at some point, and I believe earlier is better, if the child has a learning disability, she needs to understand it, how she learns differently from other children, etc. We know an LD doesn’t just go away, and you don’t outgrow it. Hopefully, with all this intervention, her academic skills will continue to improve, but a learning disability impacts other aspects of a persons life. By the time kids are in the 4th or 5th grade, we want them to understand the nature of their disability so that they are able to advocate for themselves. carol
testing
Schools pressure parents to have their children tested for many reasons and all their own. Some schools use the testing results as the ‘wedge’ to get the child out of the school. Some other schools like mine take the results and file them away and no one reads them.
This mother sounds as if she’s not emotionally ready yet to have the information testing might offer her. I’d stress the positive in the child as you are doing and simply tell her many children who are tutored do also get tested but that it’s her decision to make. I’d leave it at that.
Good luck.
Are you advising these parents to self-pay for expensive testing that may yield results that the private placement may not be able to provide? Is this a way to gentlly suggest that this child is not appropriate for this school? What would the school do differently(ie at no cost to the parents)? I would suggest that the parent might meet with all the teachers, staff, etc. and discuss the child’s difficulties, and what the concerns really are…will the school keeep this child regardless of her progress?? Perhaps you will also advise the parent of rights to request a full eval. from the local public school system…and see what happens.