My daughter was tested last year in the 3rd grade. Her tests showed that she had an above average IQ with testing discrepancies anywhere from a negative -18-28 on the written expression/Reading Comprehension, Basic Reading, and Reading composite areas on the test. Math was not a problem for her. The evaluators thought her low scores were due to ADD. I’m starting to think maybe she was not diagnosed correctly.
She has always struggled with reading and writing. Studying for spelling takes so much of our time. She will sometimes pass her spelling tests but that is after hours of studying. She does not remember the words the following week. She misspells simple words and messes up her vowels. It’s hard to understand and read what she writes due to spelling errors. Reading is getting harder and harder for her now. She used to be able to keep up. I end up reading a lot of her material to her at home so that she can comprehend what she is reading. Her teacher gave her a fluency test at school and she scored under 4th grade level.
She is not on any medication for ADD and so far none of her teachers have noticed her having a hard time focusing. She is a very hard worker and a non complainer.
I feel that she is such a bright and creative child and that as the year goes on she will fall more and more behind. She does have a IEP to help with written language and get’s help for 20 minutes a day in the morning.
Her Dad is dyslexic. They both make very similar spelling mistakes. Both are strong at math concepts (but no so much with remembering math facts).
Should I have her tested again? Will the school do that since she was just tested 7 month ago?
Thanks!
Misdiagnosed? What should I do?
lovemy3,
It isn’t so much as having a misdiagnosis but it may be due to the fact that you haven’t explored the Inattention piece. I say this because I have been where you are now about 8 years ago with my own daughter, the atttention can have a HUGE impact on their ability. Chances are she is one of the sweet dreamy ADD-Inattentive girls. They can hold it together until it becomes too much for them and then they will just give up from the frustration of trying and knowing that they don’t get it like everyone else.
Once we started meds with my daughter she was able to make progress with her remediation and what just killed me she said. “Mom, things make a lot more sense now.” I just about wanted to crawl into a hole because I had been in denial so long about her issues. Now she is 18 years old, and is attending college out of state. She called me last week…said…”Mail me my meds mom!! I only have 9 more days left!” She knows she needs to take her meds to be at her optimum. Like Beth’s son…she has come so far, and it has been a very long haul. Please take the time to explore inattention as it may be what is happening.
Take care!
If you would like something more comprehensive than the school’s testing you can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (at public expense). This can give you a more accurate idea of what is going on with your dd.