New neuropsych results -- very low processing speed

I can’t respond to your question of whether your town/city would pay for an LD school; with those largely average/low average achievement scores and average IQ it seems unlikely unless other circumstances are present. For comprehension, I would wonder how much age appropriate literature(is he in 6-7th grade?) your child is reading and discussing in class? How does he do on state testing? Also, I wonder if a review of his ADHD would be helpful. I have an 8th grade son with slow processing(not commenserate with his IQ) and he has had to learn to adapt as he is in reg. ed. Nothing we’ve done has really changed his slow writing and math computation, although his reading rate has increased with lots of practice.

You might want to try PACE for improvements in processing speed. The program incorporates a metronome into its exercises to gradually increase speed on the tasks. Website is http://www.processingskills.com

The PACE program is usually done in 12 weeks, with the child meeting with a provider for training three times a week for an hour each time. The child would be expected to train at home with an adult (homework exercises) for three to nine hours per week also.

Nancy

Look into Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing for reading comphehension. It is possible that this program might also help his expressive and receptive language issues.

http://www.lblp.com/programs/conceptimagery.shtml

My son 17 also has low processing speed. It is a credit to you, your son and the LD school that his acheivement scores are as high as they are. As you were told a Full-Scale IQ would be meaningless because of the disabilites. Because he has both the expressive/receptive language problems and the low processing speed his IQ is greatly depressed by these two deficits. Unfortunately, because districts are looking for the ability vs. achievement descrepency he is not going to qualify for LD. He might qualify under the Speech and Language and if you search the regulations you will find that the IEP of a child should address all areas of need.

I’m just another parent,

I’m not a lawyer but my understanding is that you can only hope to have a private placement paid for after the public school has failed to provide a free and appropriate education. Then you would be required to give the school written notice of your intention of placing your child in a private program before removing him from public school.

Wright’s Law is the place to go for accurate special ed legal information.

If it was you then you don’t have a chance of getting them to pay considering his scores are within the range of normal, there is a split but his scores are overall WNL. If he was placed by the public school and now he is scoring within the normal range it sounds like he can be mainstreamed back into public education in a least restrictive environment with appropriate accomodations and would not need the more restrictive setting of the LD school.

The public school must offer FAPE, it may not be the LD school but that is all they legally are required to offer.

We have seen clear increases in processing speed with a combination of Interactive Metronome and Neuronet. Neuronet is not widely availabe but Interactive Metronome is. I would do IM before PACE, which Nancy recommends. We did not have great success with PACE but we did it when he was young (8) and before some other therapies that in retrospect should have been done first. IM operates more at a motor level than PACE and that is where my son’s processing issues originate.

We also have found that overlearning is critical. We spent a whole year doing multiplication tables (bouncing on ball and all sorts of activities). It made a huge difference is speed of doing math.

Beth

Other than processing speed, his scores are in the average range. You might have trouble getting private paid for, he is range.

Processing speed is hard to change. Try some ideas from other posters and let us know, will you please?

Thank you all for your replies. I think the Interactive Metronome program is one I would like to try with him to try to improve his processing speed.

I plan to keep him at the LD school as a private pay ($25,000 a year) if I don’t get funding (which sounds unlikely). He was in a public school in DC for the first three years of elem. and I had to supplement their program with hours of private OT and SL just to keep him at the bottom of his class. It was very hard on both of us.

I don’t think his achievement scores would be anywhere near where they are if he had stayed in public school. In his current school, the children have a variety of strengths and weaknesses and he has developed so much more self confidence since he sees that he is able to do some things better than other kids, and he is more willing to accept that he has weaknesses in areas. I believe the only reason he is doing so well are the small classes, the high ratio of teachers to students, and the individual attention he receives, along with the social skills work and psychotherapy he receives during the school day. He is incredibly shy and socially awkward but each year becomes more socially appropriate with his peers.

As far as funding goes, I probably should have kept him in public school for another year or two without any private therapies and let him hit rock bottom. But I couldn’t do that to my kid.

Mom of Cartoonist,

Are you still in DC? Because of the very constrained circumstances of DC schools, parents of LD children tend to be far more successful there than in other areas in getting the school system to pay for private schools. In the past this was pretty much the only way of serving these kids in DC. They have clamped down on this in the last couple of years, but it is far from clear that all schools are equipped to deal with LDs. (In fact it is far from clear that anywhere near a majority of the schools are equipped to deal with non-LD kids, but that is another story.) From what I know (knowledge a bit dated) you could possibly get private school accommodation based on PDD and language LD. It would definitely be worth your while to consult with a lawyer to get an assessment of what your chances are of getting the city to pay.

Mariedc

Hi Marie,

Thanks for your message. I have seen your posts in the past and noted that we are from the same area. I’ve gone through due process hearings twice and lost. Too complicated to explain. But I’m gearing up for a third time around. I think I might have a shot this time, but we’ll see. It’s so sad to see the state of DC’s public school system. It has only gotten worse in the past decade.

I have been on both sides of the Due Process fence. Your own testing shows scores within normal limits and that means you would probably be wasting money with attorney’s in trying to build a case that has no merit and didn’t you say that you lost twice before?

Your funds are successfully being used in your son’s best interests at the moment without tying them up in a legal battle that will just lead to more heartache and frustration. for not only your son but your family as well.