In a few days I will meet with the head of the psyc. department at our University to evaluate my son for a possible learning disability. I would like to have some insight as to which tests are most suitable in uncovering a specific learning disability.
If I might describe him, perhaps someone could be of help: His overall intelligence, analytical skills and expressive language is very mature for his age of 7. However, he has a general problem with directionality, left/right orientation, poor writing -spatial skills and is beginning to struggle in the second grade. Writing and far-point copy are laborious. Although his math skills ‘were’ strong, double digit and vertical applications are beginning to cause confusion and dismay. He has been extensively tutored at home by me in the area of phonemic awareness and has pretty good decoding skills. His reading is accurate, but not entirely fluent. He recently scored average in reading and high in math on his SAT test. His listening skills and both short and long term memory are superb and he shows no signs of hyperactivity which generally trigger referrals for evaluations.
Our school district sees nothing wrong and postpones testing kids so we are getting a private evaluation. I have viewed the list of psyc. tests and was leaning toward requesting the following: WISC III; WJ-R; TOWL-III; DTLA-4: LET-II; and VMI-4. I am unsure if I have covered all the bases or am requesting too much. Which tests would be most helpful for uncovering his area of need and hopefully getting him services?
Re: Which Psyc. tests are best for evaluations?
Greetings Claymom,
To follow-up on Mary’s comments, the test that is usually done to rule out visual perceptual (non-motor) problems is the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-Revised (TVPS-R). This test evaluates visual discrimination, memory, spatial-relationships, form-constancy, sequential-memory, figure-ground and closure. My daughter tested well in the visual motor area so her regular optometrist didn’t pick up on any problems. We saw a developmental optometrist and had the above test down which revealed problems with visual memory, visual sequential-memory and visual closure which can adversely affect academics.
Blessings, momo
Re: Which Psyc. tests are best for evaluations?
I have two suggestions- one is that you ask for the WJIII if they have it. It is a far more comprehensive battery than the WJR and the norms are more recent. Two, I would also suggest an evaluation by an occupational therapist to look at visual motor/ spatial integration/midline stuff- they will know what to suggest. Make sure they look at postural strength and control as well as fine and graphomotor issues.
Robin
Re: Which Psyc. tests are best for evaluations?
Please tell me what PACE is & how it is used to improve reading skills? I have 2 grandsons(13 & 8) who struggle with reading. Am looking for anything I could use to help them. I’m a retired elem. teacher. Planning to start Hooked on Phonics next week. Am thinking I need to convince my daughter to have the 8 yr old tested for learning disability.
Re: PACE and reading, etc.
Hooked on Phonics usually is not helpful for children with learning disabilities. I would return the game and get a refund!
The first approach to try in terms of remediating reading is the book, “Reading Reflex” by Carmen & Geoffrey McGuiness. This book is $16 at most local bookstores and is ***excellent***. The first half explains the research and philosophy of the approach, and the second provides step-by-step lessons for tutoring a child in reading. Many parents have had success with this approach and I highly recommend it.
Most children, including LD children, will make good progress with Reading Reflex. For some, this is all that will be necessary.
The “LD in Depth” section of this website has great information about how to get testing through the schools. Look in the “assessment” and “IEP” sections.
There are some areas, though, that schools are not equipped to test. I often recommend a developmental vision eval (incudes about 20 tests not done in a regular eye exam), and sometimes a CAPD eval (specialized testing of auditory function). These tests are often covered by medical insurance. If you want more information, I will post websites that include search engines to find specialists by geographic area.
A good home-based program to use in conjunction with Reading Reflex is Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com). Audiblox is a cognitive training program that develops a wide variety of skills. It requires 1/2-hour per day of one-on-one with an adult 5 days a week for the exercises. You need the book, video, and a starter kit of manipulatives (about $80).
PACE (Processing and Cognitive Enhancement) is another excellent cognitive training program that is considerably more comprehensive and intensive than Audiblox. However, it costs about $2,200 per child if you go through an outside provider. It’s possible to get trained yourself, which can reduce costs, especially for multiple children. Website is http://www.learninginfo.com
In short, my recommendation is to return Hooked on Phonics. Invest the money instead in Reading Reflex ($16) and Audiblox ($80). These are the two most effective, inexpensive, approaches I have found that help a wide variety of children.
If a child has a lot of writing reversals, it’s a very good idea to get a developmental vision evaluation. If a child has trouble following multi-step verbal directions, then a CAPD eval is a good idea.
Mary
Wow! This is going to sound totally off-base to you, but what I would recommend is an evaluation by a developmental optometrist. Although it could be something else, the problems with directionality, left/right orientation, poor writing, lack of reading fluency in spite of intelligence and good instruction, difficulty keeping math problems lined up, all raise red flags to me for developmental vision delays.
A developmental optometrist performs about 20 tests of vision function over and above a regular eye exam — things such as speed of focusing, ability of eyes to work together (binocular fusion), field-of-vision, tracking, gross and fine saccades, etc. You can find certified developmental optometrists in your area at http://www.covd.org
My daughter had problems similar to what you describe (except she didn’t have the good instruction in decoding skills!). Turned out she had severe developmental vision delays. Vision therapy brought her visual efficiency skills up to age level. However, she then needed cognitive training (we did PACE, http://www.learninginfo.com, although Audiblox is another good program) to develop visual processing skills — including directionality, short-term visual memory, visual sequencing, etc.
Ask the psych for tests of visual processing. Try asking also for across-the-board testing of cognitive skills acquisition. If everything seems fine except those skills associated with vision, that’s probably the source of the problem.
Our daughter was able to learn to read but lacked fluency. Vision therapy at age 9 corrected the major developmental vision delays, but it wasn’t until she was 6 weeks into PACE that we saw dramatic improvements in her reading fluency. PACE has a lot of exercises that develop automaticity of visual processing (tracking, sequencing, short-term memory) — the very skills necessary for fluent reading. Anyway, dd went from reading at a 2nd grade level with 1.8 STD below the norm in rate and accuracy before PACE, to reading at a fluent 4th/5th grade level at the end of 12 weeks of PACE. During that time she got no additional reading instruction — all of the improvements were due to improved visual processing skills. (We followed up PACE with Phono-Graphix to provide advanced decoding and word analysis skills.)
Unfortunately, most professionals have either never heard of developmental vision delays. It’s outside the area of expertise of most psychologists and educators (not to mention most doctors and most opthalmologists!).
Mary