Hello all. I am new to this board and need help for my 12yo step son.
His grades are way below normal for a child his age. His grades in language, reading and science are D’s and F’s. He has problems with comprehension and verbalizing.
He is very forgetful and has problems keeping his room cleaned. Even the easiest tasks seem like a struggle to him. We must tell him repeatedly to close the back door, pick up his clothes, do his chores, etc. According to my husband, this has been going on for years, since second grade. The problems were blamed on poor education in his last school. He started out in a private school and was transferred to a public school two years ago.
My husband and I have been asking his current school to test him for several months now. The guidance counselor keeps coming up with excuses for not testing him. Right now our son is taking practice state proficiency tests. His teachers have told us that they doubt that he will pass them. The guidance counselor told my husband that these tests are more important that LD testing. Do we have any legal recourse? Where do we go now?
Thanks in advance!
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
My daughter is in 2 grade and she having trouble with reading and
comprehenion and they want to test her in three month. Our school
system have given her a tutor after school from the middle school age kids twice a week to see if the one on one will help her. Have you talk to the teacher and make an appointment with her,and stress the concerns you have with your child grades and performance. I personally would’nt talk to the guidence counsler.
Call the school and ask to speek to the school psycologist or prinipal.I personally would not given up. I spoke to my daughter teacher almost daliy untill I got help for my daughter. I hope this helped.
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
The school is not legally obliged to test until you make a request for testing ***in writing***, stating the reasons why you think testing is necessary. Keep in mind that services are usually provided only if there is a discrepancy between IQ and performance — that is, performance is much lower than IQ testing would indicate it should be.
Talking to the guidance counselor is a waste of time. What you need to do is write a letter to the principal. That will get the legal wheels moving.
Nancy
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
On a different note, especially for a 12yo, I would not wait for the school to test and remediate. By all means, request testing from the school, but don’t rely on it.
Consider getting a developmental vision evaluation on your own. See http://www.childrensvision.com for more information and to see if your stepson fits the profile for this type of problem.
Considering getting a complete speech and language evaluation by a speech pathologist. Most medical insurance will cover the cost of this evaluation with a referral from your physician. Best approach is to first find a good speech pathologist, then call their office to ask about insurance coverage. They work with insurance all the time and can usually tell you *exactly* what you need to do to ensure coverage. Among other things, this eval tests expressive language skills (the verbalizing problem you mentioned).
Consider getting a CAPD evaluation. See http://pages.cthome.net for more information about auditory processing problems.
Consider doing Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com ). Especially if there are no major auditory processing or visual processing deficits, and no severe sensory integration disorders (diagnosed in an occupational therapy eval), this type of program can be very helpful in improving attention skills, working memory, and many other skills necessary for successful academics. Another good program which is most expensive is PACE (http://www.processingskills.com ).
For comprehension, take a look at http://www.mindprime.com . The IdeaChain program there is very easy for a parent to do at home.
Nancy
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
Hi, Jez.
I know this must be overwhelming. Nancy makes some good suggestions including that at 12 you may not want to wait for the schools eval. We just had an neuro psychologist do a complete eval for our son and it cost appr $1,800. About half will be covered by insurance. Others tell me we got by cheap!
When I say not wait for the school, I’m not talking about the 45 days it takes to do the actual evel. I’m taking about the fact that, even if there is a large enough discrepancy between IQ and proformance, our schools start by doing little to see if that is enough. I think it takes most parants at least a year to figure out more needs to be done. At 12, you don’t have a year to review what the school will do and to review all the sites and type of remediation to see which ones fit your child. So you take two tacts–have the school test to get the ball rolling and see if your school can come up with some good ideas AND do a private eval for a second opinion. Others would disagree with this advice because, by law, if you don’t agree with the schools eval you can request an independant one at their expense. The problem is that it is so overwhelming how do you know if the schools is ok or not?
Anyway, the reason I dropped back into this tread was to see if you though maybe ADD (without the hyper) may be causing problems for you son? That’s a whole ‘nother issue!
Barb
Thanks to all
Thanks to all of you for the great advice and info!
We did make a request in writing. Since the school will not cooperate , I think we will be looking into having an outside moderator do the testing.
I just feel so helpless and torn! We know something is wrong, but we don’t know what it is. We feel badly about punishing him when his room isn’t clean, when he fails to follow directives, or he brings home a bad report card……..we have no idea as to how to go about redirecting him and reinforcing things so that he comprehends and completes his tasks….I know that the earlier sooner we have him tested and find what his weaknesses are, we can get him the help and education he needs and deserves…..
have a great night everyone!
ADD
Yes, we have thought he may be ADD. He definitely is NOT hyper :) But he does lack motivation and the ability to comphrehend things. Minor tasks seem so difficult for him. He has problems with verbalizing things. He cannot concentrate. he starts a task but rarely finishes it. He forgets to bring home things from school. He forgets about assignemtns. Friends have said that he is just lazy . That is not it at all. It is not a behavioral problem.
He mixes up letter when he reads or writes. His vocabulary is extremely limited.
I will keep you posted as to what happens with the school!!
THANKS!
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
Since you made a request in writing, did the school then turn down your request in writing? If not, they may be in violation of the law.
If you click on the “LD in Depth” section of this website, click on “assessments”, and then click on “Understanding the Special Education Process: An Overview for Parents” you may gain a better understanding of the process and what the school should be doing.
If they are being obstinate at this early stage, though, you can be pretty sure they are not going to provide adequate services without a fight (and probably not even then). Many families cannot take the stress of arguing with the school or going through the legal process. It’s often much easier to get your own evaluations and do your own direct remediation.
Nancy
getting testing
That anyone could blame forgetting to shut doors and keeping one’s room tidy on ‘poor education at the last school’ is ridiculous. His current school is trying not to take any responsibility for your son and his problems.
Put your request in writing as others have suggested and try to get in touch with other parents in your school whose children have been identified as having learning differences. Find out what services they’re getting from the school district. And know the state testing is NOT more important to your son’s well-being than the educational diagnostic testing they should have already done.
Also run all this by your son’s pediatrician to glean what advice you can from a professional close to the family that you trust.
Good luck.
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
Hello I am new to this whole internet thing but I am looking for some help or suggestions for my five year old son who is having alot of trouble in kindergarden. He is having trouble with numbers, letters, sounding out words, etc… I have done everything I know to do . The school he attends says that if they test him for anything that it will be three years ubtil they can do it again, so they want to wait until he is in the third grade to do anything, the are giving him speech therapy, which has helped alot but he needs more so thats why I’m here anyone with anything to help will be helpful. helpless
Re: Testing your child for learning disabilities
Helpless, you need to start a new thread with your question, so that more people will see it.
You might want to start by getting an occupational therapy evaluation. Once you find a good one, call the occupational therapist to ask about getting an evaluation that includes assessment of sensory integration. Usually the OT can tell you what you need to do to make sure your medical insurance will cover it (referral from your physician, etc.).
This evaluation may give you some clues about possible underlying problems. A private eval is usually much more comprehensive than the eval’s they provide at school.
Another thing you may want to do is get a complete speech and language evaluation by a private speech pathologist. Again, first find a good one, and then call their office to ask about medical coverage. Usually insurance will cover this eval, and even provides some private therapy sessions (although these are seldom adequate).
Have you asked the school *in writing* to evaluate your son? Schools are not legally bound by a verbal request, but legally are required to respond to a written request (although that response may be a denial of your request). It’s worth a try. Put in the request letter the specific reasons why you are worried about your child’s progress.
Nancy
Hi, Jez.
I’m just passing though, I’m no longer a regular poster here but I know others will be posting helpful facts soon.
If you request IN WRITTING that the testing be done it needs to be done within a certain number of days. No ifs, ands, or butts.
You may wish to visit Wrightslaw site. I forget the address…a search for Wrightslaw or Peter Wright should bring it up. Also www.schwablearning.org also has many articles and a nice board.
Good luck!