My son, age 6 will soon start 1st grade. He is at risk for learning difficulties due to having apraxia of speech. He is going to an OG reading center near home this summer. He knows his letters, most sounds and just a few sight words. He prefers to write upper case rather than lower, fine motor skills are hard for him. He also sees a speech pathologist and OT during the school year. The tutor has said that he is sometimes distracted during the sessions. When I ask about ADD, she said he is a candidate, the school can test…. I will talk to his first grade teacher this fall. I don’t want to scare her but how do I best voice my concerns? What is the best age to have testing for LD, ADD for a kid like him? Since reading/writing is hard for him, how can it be determined what actually causes his distraction (and avoidance to do any of that type of work at home)— LD, ADD, or both?
Unfortunately I’m not new to this, my experience with my daughter, age 9 has taught me that evals for ADD can be extremely subjective. Her first, and second grade teachers input determined she did not have ADD (did Conner’s rating), yet fourth grade teacher rated her very much so (however her subsequent long-term sub in 4th did not..). We did try ritalin which perhaps helped a very small degree, but had side affects so discontinued. My dau struggles with reading as well, but is making slow steady progress, goes to the reading center, and resoure room at school. I’ve realized with her there is no magic or quick cure.
I sometimes feel overwhelmed, or disheartened, or wonder what I have done wrong. But I will never give up. Thanks for any input.
Marla
Re: 1st grader
As far as the teacher rating scales, definitely use it as only a piece of the puzzle.
My older son was in middle school with 8 different teachers this past year, they each did a rating scale and while he showed few symptoms in the classes he did well in, one teacher who taught 2 of his classes (he had trouble in her classes reading and math) saw many symptoms. He was on ritalin, I was trying to determine how well it was working. The special ed teacher and I decided it might have had more to do with getting used to a new teacher(he moved to her class a week before Christmas break) , and the classes being split in the middle by lunch.He had her for the same time period on odd and even days, math on even and reading on odd, this school used a block schedule.I figure he was probably being distracted by hunger, and thinking about the lunch period(and his friends) instead of math and reading.
As far as your son having add, my older son was dx at age 6 by the doc, the teacher never mentioned it at all. I had brought him in because he was getting his behavior card pulled for not paying attention, I asked for a hearing test for him (normal), he was then referred to devel. ped who then dx the add.Also CAPD from the speech therapist at the hospital.He did not have behavior problems per se, very quiet and shy. Just not there mentally in class to learn.He was having a terrible time learning the alphabet connections, was expected to learn 30 words a week and was getting f’s in lang. arts and c’s in math.Once on meds, he was making c’s in lang. arts and a’s in math.It has taken a long time to catch him up from this school, but he has and is doing very well.
My younger son has adhd, I didn’t bring him in until 2nd grade although I was pretty sure he had it by age 4. I asked his kgarten and 1st gr. teachers, he had some problem with talking and constantly needing to use the bathroom(probly the only legitimate place to get out of his seat and go to :o) )but for the most part they were able to handle him ok, he has had no academic difficulty. His 2nd gr. teacher had personal experience with adhd and about mid year was noticing some difficulties with his attention(math signs and copying from the board) so I took him in and had him eval.and was positive. He does well on ritalin also, an A B, honor roll student, but out of control at home without his meds, just all over the place and a real motormouth.He can turn tv into a physically interactive medium!
My best advice is to advise the teacher about the difficulties you already know about and let her know you are willing to help out, keep a high profile in the school(friendly ya know) and keep the comunication ongoing. Hopefully there won’t be any surprises that way.I would think then the teacher can help to figure out if it is truly attention or avoiding things that your son finds to be too hard for him.I noticed that my kids got a lot more good attention when the staff saw me at the school on a fairly reg. basis(pta, field trips, teacher helper, etc.) and got to know me a bit. It really helped when it came time to request the child study meetings, we were already on a friendly note and I was able to get all that my kids needed(spec. ed for my oldest in 4th gr. and speech for my youngest in 3rd) without any of the problems I have read about on this bulletin board.I hope this has helped, best wishes to you.
First of all, while I can understand your frustration with your difficulty in finding a cause that can be fixed, it does not follow that you are doing or have done anything wrong. I think, on the contrary, that you are being quite responsible and caring. And you are right sadly- the checklists are subjective to a certain extent- not completely, but an individual’s tolerance for certain kinds of behavior affects the results. That is why they should be completed by more than one individual- a couple of teachers for example, or a teacher and a paraeducator, as well as the parents. The Connors has a youth self report also.
Testing for specific learning disability at your son’s age is tricky because he is young and his cognitive development is still happening with such leaps and bounds. This makes IQ testing, which is part of the process, somewhat inaccurate over the long haul. You can probably get a good picture of what his profile is TODAY- but it may be substantially different in 6 months- the same way he will LOOK substantially different in 6 months- recognizable but different.
If you have good speech and language testing- and it sounds like you might- that is generally far more sensitive to learning issues at his age. In fact the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Score has a fairly high correlation with IQ scores for young children. I would certainly talk with the teacher, share the services he has been getting and your concerns. I might even ask for achievement testing to be done in reading and math- it does not sound to me as if his skills are too far off what most 6 yr. olds are able to do and it would be good for you to have the information. (teacher too) It is unlikely that you will scare the teacher- most are pretty resilient:) and you will help your son by keeping good communication open.
Robin