mctlaw
04-11-2012, 09:48 PM
We recently had DS (just turned 6 and in K) undergo a battery of tests by a Psych D. The main concerns were anxiety, auditory processing, and possible ADHD.
Clinically the psych. did not really want to diagnose him but does feel he needs some interventions to be successful at school, so in the diagosis category she wrote "Rule out ADHD" and "Rule out GAD." She thinks he'll do much better next year both in terms of anxiety and attention with a more effective teacher (his kindy teacher is horribly disorganized which exacerbates his issues). She gave written recommendations for classroom interventions but her primary concern is his inability to take a timed test; i.e., he knows the answers, but does not recognize the urgency presented in a timed test whatsoever.
She advised me she thought it was really too early to tell re: ADHD - he could have mild ADHD or just have a case of 6 year old boy. She did not think his axiety rose to the level of needing clinical treatment (and she does CBT, so I guess I am encouraged b/c wouldn't she offer this service and earn income off of us if he really needed it?). So, she wants us just to follow up in a year or as needed.
He did score low on processing, I think auditory was worse but visual was not great either. She does not think we need to do anything on that right now. I had previously spoken to an audiologist friend of mine who said many kids will outgrow auditory issues plus it is difficult to run the tests done by audiologists before ages 7-8.
Interestingly, his teacher still has him marked in the lowest group for reading (I've posted about this teacher before) and since I have been home tutoring him in this for about 6 months I thought he has really improved. Though, crappy teacher has not recognized any improvement yet in his reports. So, I felt somewhat vindicated that the psychologist says he is performing a grade ahead at reading and several other areas :)
I do have some questions but looking for general feedback as well.
I guess I need to approach the school to set up accomodations at this point. I'm not concerned about the remainder of this year but want to make sure he gets testing accomodations by the time first grade testing starts. I am aware I may have to go through the school testing process before getting them (the accomodations). I did not institute this first because I did not want the K teacher to have any part of this process due to my distrust in her interests. I have had to complain about the teacher and in response, the school has bent over backwards to make sure I am satisfied, so I am not expecting major problems in getting an agreement for accomodations from the school. I am looking for some basic information as to what to expect in terms of an IEP or 504 and maybe some reading recommendations so I can be properly educated and armed with information.
Plus,I just want to learn about special education advocacy in general, as it's a legal niche I want to learn about for professional reasons as well as the obvious personal reasons.
Also, I am looking for any BTDT with the issues with timed testing and how you may have helped your DC overcome this issue.
Thanks for listening and for any advice.
Clinically the psych. did not really want to diagnose him but does feel he needs some interventions to be successful at school, so in the diagosis category she wrote "Rule out ADHD" and "Rule out GAD." She thinks he'll do much better next year both in terms of anxiety and attention with a more effective teacher (his kindy teacher is horribly disorganized which exacerbates his issues). She gave written recommendations for classroom interventions but her primary concern is his inability to take a timed test; i.e., he knows the answers, but does not recognize the urgency presented in a timed test whatsoever.
She advised me she thought it was really too early to tell re: ADHD - he could have mild ADHD or just have a case of 6 year old boy. She did not think his axiety rose to the level of needing clinical treatment (and she does CBT, so I guess I am encouraged b/c wouldn't she offer this service and earn income off of us if he really needed it?). So, she wants us just to follow up in a year or as needed.
He did score low on processing, I think auditory was worse but visual was not great either. She does not think we need to do anything on that right now. I had previously spoken to an audiologist friend of mine who said many kids will outgrow auditory issues plus it is difficult to run the tests done by audiologists before ages 7-8.
Interestingly, his teacher still has him marked in the lowest group for reading (I've posted about this teacher before) and since I have been home tutoring him in this for about 6 months I thought he has really improved. Though, crappy teacher has not recognized any improvement yet in his reports. So, I felt somewhat vindicated that the psychologist says he is performing a grade ahead at reading and several other areas :)
I do have some questions but looking for general feedback as well.
I guess I need to approach the school to set up accomodations at this point. I'm not concerned about the remainder of this year but want to make sure he gets testing accomodations by the time first grade testing starts. I am aware I may have to go through the school testing process before getting them (the accomodations). I did not institute this first because I did not want the K teacher to have any part of this process due to my distrust in her interests. I have had to complain about the teacher and in response, the school has bent over backwards to make sure I am satisfied, so I am not expecting major problems in getting an agreement for accomodations from the school. I am looking for some basic information as to what to expect in terms of an IEP or 504 and maybe some reading recommendations so I can be properly educated and armed with information.
Plus,I just want to learn about special education advocacy in general, as it's a legal niche I want to learn about for professional reasons as well as the obvious personal reasons.
Also, I am looking for any BTDT with the issues with timed testing and how you may have helped your DC overcome this issue.
Thanks for listening and for any advice.