Out of Pocket Testing for 5 year old

[princessmom29]

Our district isn't assisting us as of yet. I've have written letters and talked to the principal via email when I registered him about my concerns. I had requested a teacher who I know to be very good with children like my son. I was turned down for that request too. I think his teacher is good but I think the class may be too large for his needs.

The teacher commented to me that he rarely participates in classroom conversation. I have to get frustrated at that because of the fact that he is very hard to understand at times. Shouldn't she get that??? My son will only engage in real conversations with people he knows will understand him.

We are going in tomorrow for flu shots so if we get to actually see the doctor I will try to discuss this with her again.

It is fairly common to wait until the end of K to do this kind of testing. It gives the school a year of experience with the child and a year of information gathering to allow for a better evaluation of the child. It is really important that the child be looked at over time and evaluated in terms of progress as well as the delay they are experiencing

It is better to get the Testing done thru the MEDICAL system Not the school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diagnoses change over time and the Medical will willing help.

School sometime do not even use medical people to do the testing and the result right or wrong will be there for 12 grades No matter what you do or say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have the Medical community do the testing, the school never has to know the results and can't label your child as throw a way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can bring in prescriptions as to how the School Must teach your child!!

Not have the teacher tell your child they are just too stupid to learn and never help them, True story, and the child believed it for 6 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it costs more. But If I could have know how the school and the teachers would treat my child(tears) I would have sold everything! Gone hungry! Just to change everything, and Made it Better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a teacher and I resent the implication here that all teachers label disabled children as stupid or throwaways. I DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I care about all my kids and do my best to help them. You have obviously had issues with someone, but don't tar all of us with the same brush! I think that the evaluation porcess that our system uses is better than the medical evaluations for young children because it looks at all aspects, physical, mental, social, cognative over a period of time.

 

[h518may]

Just a thought, but by getting him tested outside of the school you may want to get him help outside the school.

I have two kids with sensory processing. Remember the school system only cares how the child is doing at school, so if there are problems at home the school doesn't really care. I have a DD that was just tested with the school system, she is aging out of early intervention. So the school said that she qualifies for one hour a week of speech, 120 min. of OT a semester, and some hours of a resource teacher. But what none of this testing showed them is that her speech seems to stall without the weekly OT. I know that I will not change there minds, so she will be getting speech, and OT outside of the school system. We will be using insurance for outside therapy.

I thing the school system is a good avenue, but they can only do so much.

Good Luck, I know how hard it can be to try and give your children the help they need.

 

[westjones]

My DD has problems when she was young and didn't learn to read until late and has many years of speech therapy. At the time, we homeschooled, and I had her tested at the local university in the speech and hearing clinic (they found that she had Auditory Processing Disorder).

I can't say how much the testing would cost at a university because it was free to us (since my husband works at the university), but you it may be an option if you have a university near you, and perhaps it is less expensive than other places.

DJ

 

[lindsmom]

It is better to get the Testing done thru the MEDICAL system Not the school

Diagnoses change over time and the Medical will willing help.

School sometime do not even use medical people to do the testing and the result right or wrong will be there for 12 grades No matter what you do or say

If you have the Medical community do the testing, the school never has to know the results and can't label your child as throw a way

You can bring in prescriptions as to how the School Must teach your child!!

Not have the teacher tell your child they are just too stupid to learn and never help them, True story, and the child believed it for 6 year

I know it costs more. But If I could have know how the school and the teachers would treat my child(tears) I would have sold everything! Gone hungry! Just to change everything, and Made it Better!!

I'm very sorry that your child went through that. It's not acceptable for ANY school to behave that way, although there certainly are people who still DO act this way.

Even when you have Medical evals done, to develop an IE plan (Individual Ed), you need to work with the schools. It isn't enough to have a doctor say "this child has _____ " . The doctor cannot prescribe how to teach that child. The schools need to work with the diagnosis.

And to keep the diagnosis a "secret" from the schools does the child an injustice in the long term, even if it is to "protect" him or her from being labeled.

 

[mmouse1239]

Having been a special education teacher for 24 years, I can't imagine why a previous poster has suggested not sharing a medical diagnosis with the school. I need to know what kinds of limitations/abilities my students have so that I can help them the most that I can. For example, if there's a PDD or Aspergers diagnosis, I know that those kids have trouble with some social situations, loud noises, changes in routine, sarcasm, etc. For the most part, I have become pretty good at diagnosing those things on my own...just from my observations, but the more information that I have, the more I can help a child. As for throwing a child away, as that obviously disgruntled person mentioned, I take offense. Most teachers surely aren't in this job for the money...we're here because we have a desire to help children. Keeping information from schools with regards to the children they educate only hurts the child, nobody else. People who believe that they know more and can do a better job do have the option of homeschooling....I wish some of them would exercise that option.

 

[StillPinballFamily]

Just a thought, but by getting him tested outside of the school you may want to get him help outside the school.

I have two kids with sensory processing. Remember the school system only cares how the child is doing at school, so if there are problems at home the school doesn't really care.

This is another one of those things the school district would just *love* for parents to believe - that their responsibility begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. - and don't even think about summers!

Not true.

Schools have a responsibility for the child's education and their social and emotional growth too. Many of us have been able to successfully advocate for home services and year-round services to help our children - "generalize the skills they are learning in school to their lives outside school" - these are the magic words. This can be a tough battle in some states/areas, but it shouldn't be.

We also are now blessed with school administrators and teachers who "get" our son (PDD/hyperlexia...on the autism spectrum) and after 6 years in the sped system are in a good place where our child is valued and cherished and we all celebrate his achievements and agonize over his set-backs. We are very lucky to live where we do and have needed to become assertive and well-educated in his disabilities and educational issues. And to have met many other parents on this road who were a bit farther along than we were who were hugely helpful to us - and now it is our turn. As it will be yours.

P.S. I cannot imagine EVER hiding a medical diagnosis from a school. That is very sad and troubling. In our experience, the more the school knows about a child, the more they should be able to help. I'm sure there are horror stories though about abuses of this power and information. Disturbing.

 

[zachsmomie]

It is fairly common to wait until the end of K to do this kind of testing. It gives the school a year of experience with the child and a year of information gathering to allow for a better evaluation of the child. It is really important that the child be looked at over time and evaluated in terms of progress as well as the delay they are experiencing


I am a teacher and I resent the implication here that all teachers label disabled children as stupid or throwaways. I DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I care about all my kids and do my best to help them. You have obviously had issues with someone, but don't tar all of us with the same brush! I think that the evaluation porcess that our system uses is better than the medical evaluations for young children because it looks at all aspects, physical, mental, social, cognative over a period of time.

I am another teacher who doesn't believe that any child is a throw away or stupid. I really think the majority of teachers feel this way! I agree that our evaluations are very in depth. Teachers see children for 6.5 hours a day 5 days a week. The pediatrician doesn't. It makes a difference.

I also have K students who are just learning a few letters and some who are reading in the same class. It's a matter or maturity, interest and development. Reader or non-reader it's ok because it is acceptable in Kindergarten.

Something for the OP to consider. You do have rights and you can insist on testing but you should be aware that testing for a 5 year old and testing for a 6 year old are dramatically different. Many school systems will not identify a specific disability code before age 6. This means your child, if he has needs, would ge a code of developmentally delayed. He'll get services but they won't be what you are anticipating probably. Often times, repeating kindergarten (for an extra year or exposure and maturity) helps and also allows the child to mature for testing that can be more specific. That may be why the teacher is not pushing for testing right away. your mother instinct is a good thing to follow and should not be discounted but neither should the experience and education of the teacher/school system.

As far as it costing more money, that isn't a factor. Most schools have the special educator/speech/resource people already in place. If anything, identifying a child generates additional income from 3rd party billing.

Please don't lump all teachers together and please have an honest talk with the teacher and principal. Tell them how you are feeling and ask for their advice and their professional opinion. Give them the information about his clothing and his shoes. Stuff like that doesn't seem important but it can be huge.

 

[cinnamon-sugah]

Just my 2 cents worth... If you believe your child needs testing, do not take no for an answer. This is truly one of those cases where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you do choose to have outside testing done, I also have to echo what others have said about not hiding the diagnosis from the school. Most teachers truly want to help kids in any way that they can and the more information that we have about your child, the better we can help them.

 

[tink2dw]

IE plans where some of the teacher attended and said ya, ya, and never ever even attepted to to change anything ever. And the teachers who never attended because they know they would never follow the IE plan anyway.

That was the help we got at school.

 

[semo233]

A unique perspective here; I am a certified counselor (which means an advocate for my student), a relative of a special ed student (aunt) and currently a behavioral therapist working with special ed students.

The education of ALL children is a team effort. It requires cooperation and coordination between all parties. Most professional educators DO care about what goes on at home because it greatly influences what goes on at schoo....I find it even more true for our special ed students.

Please let me start by saying that state laws differ and school systems differ, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!

Talk with the Student Services department (some systems call it special ed) and get the answers to your questions. Many posters here have made good points, but you need to find the answers behind what you have been told. You have the right and the option to have testing yourself. Some testing is not done until a certain age or the school certainly might want to give him a chance to succeed on his own. Pediatricians' or any outside specialist's evaluations should be shared with the school.

Many schools have a process you must go through (a previous poster listed some for the state of Delaware). Know it and follow it.

In my experience, be open to hear what the school professionals have to say, know your rights and the rights of your child and if you really feel that you are not being serviced the way you/your child should, don't ever give up!

Homeschooling is tough. It will be important for your child to learn with and from other people for generalization and socialization to occur. Working with your child to reinforce his school work would probably be best for both of you...even though I realize I don't even know either of you.

 

[Calliaz]

I would try an occupational therapy evaluation first. It sounds like it might be sensory processing disorder. My insurance paid for the evaluation and treatment. Once you have a diagnosis, it may be easier to get help through the school district.

 

[HelloChum]

http://www.ldonline.org/ldbasics/signs

Also I am no expert...but

He was a late talker and has a major speech articulation delay. He has been in speech therapy since he was 3. As far as learning basic numbers and letters, he doesn't retain anything that is taught to him. The children in his class are starting to read, he can only identify a few letters and sounds.

He may be dyslexic...

This is from LDONLINE:

What are the signs of dyslexia?
The problems displayed by individuals with dyslexia involve difficulties in acquiring and using written language. It is a myth that dyslexic individuals "read backwards," although spelling can look quite jumbled at times because students have trouble remembering letter symbols for sounds and forming memories for words. Other problems experienced by dyslexics include the following:

Learning to speak
Learning letters and their sounds
Organizing written and spoken language
Memorizing number facts
Reading quickly enough to comprehend
Persisting with and comprehending longer reading assignments
Spelling
Learning a foreign language
Correctly doing math operations[/COLOR]


My DS also was a late talker, in speech at 3, had a bear of a time remebering his colors and letters. In 1st grade, a very astute spec ed teacher picked up the large disparity in his great math ability as compared to his language processing deficiency when doing a a full ed. eval. for his IEP exit evaluation for speech. He received 1 on 1 tutoring 4x/week for reading and now in 3rd grade is an accelerated reader!! Best of all...he thinks and knows he's a great reader and loves reading!!

If you do get a dyslexia diagnosis...an excellent book is Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. It is a great resource.

Another great author on LD topics is Mel Levine.


As one poster put it, google will be your best friend...so true!! Read everything that you can get your hands on!! You are your child's Number ONE Advocate!!

Good luck with everything!!

 

[pweyl36]

My I ask what problem do you think he might have? He's in kindergarden right? Is he in public or private school? As far as reading they usally dont start that untill 1st grade. Both of my kids last 2 still have problems about how there shoes don't feel right . My youngest had speech problems,He could not talk. So his ped sent him to child find(its in de,just ask your ped to referr
you,Its free)But I would just see if maybe he just needs a little help w/school work.But if you really think he has a problem Dr bean at wilm neurology is great.My oldest son saw him form k-12th grade for tourettes and adhd. Just pm me if you need or have questions.

 

[acooper]

Hi! I am an Exceptional Children's teacher in North Carolina, but the law is the same for where you are. The poster Lindsmom was right about a parent's right to an evaluation. Your request should not be that big of a deal though since your child is already an EC student with a category of SI. All you need to do is request additional testing, and you have a right to that. Make sure you ask for a parent rights handbook and it will explain everything in simpler terms. (Sometimes the laws are difficult to understand as they are written.) I would definitely go through with the testing at the school. Then you can do what you want with that information. He may qualify for additional services from the EC teacher. Good luck!

 

[Julia M]

Another special educator here, chiming in........

First of all, even if a parent requests an evaluation, it's not required for the school district to do it. They are required to RESPOND to the request. The response may be, "here's an assessment plan, we'll do the testing". Another response may be "no we won't test, and here's why". That response is referred to as a PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE letter and is a much confused aspect of special education.

Our district qualifies children from the discrepency model (as do most districts) ANother model is Response to Intervention (RTI) The reason the staff may not want to do the evaluation is they know, if a child is just in K, and is even learning some letters/numbers etc, it's unlikely the child will qualify (Frustrating, I know-remember-we didn't write the laws!)

Actually, your child does not sound like a child with Asperger's syndrome at all, but rather, a child with phonoligical processing difficulties with impact his phonemic awareness skills (a key skill in learning letter-sound correspondence), along with some sensory concerns.

Good Luck to you. The special education world can be difficult to navigate. I recommend, if possible, to get hooked up with a parent group for support, as well as your school PTA. (WHY??? because human nature being what it is.....it's harder to turn down helping a child when mom is a friendly face at the school)

Remember, once a child meets eligibility, they are open to additional services to support success. So a child can receive RSP with a SLI eligibility.

julia

 

[torinsmom]

My I ask what problem do you think he might have? He's in kindergarden right? Is he in public or private school? As far as reading they usally dont start that untill 1st grade.

I am a PreK/K teacher with NC public schools and yes, students ARE expected to read in Kindergarten. Right now, I have 8 out of 10 kindergarteners reading at least phonetic words, and the level they need to get to seems unattainable for some of them. Kindergarten is definitely not playing with blocks and tracing letters and numbers nowadays. Not only do they need to read and know numbers up to 100, they need to be able to listen to a passage and write it down.

OP, I am assuming this is your child's first year in public school? Have they done any types of intervention at all? We have to meet to do a Personal Education Plan(PEP) and then try interventions. If that doesn't work, we move to a Student Action Plan(SAP) After several months of that, we can then move to requesting testing for the child if things are still not going well. So it can take many months to get the ball really rolling. It seems like a waste of time, but especially with K kids, you may find interventions that work without testing. In 9 years of teaching this age group, I have only had 3 kindergarteners evaluated.

My son was tested in 1st grade and didn't qualify for any services. When he was tested again in 4th grade, he qualified in 3 areas. When kids are younger, the norms are not so clear cut. What seem like quirks when a child is young often develop more in the later elementary grades. Good luck getting your son the help he needs! Just keep supporting him and stay on the teachers/principal to get things moving in the right direction.

Marsha

 

[amyy]

Since your child has been receiving s/l therapy he should have some sort of "plan" . In Maine, and I believe everywhere, your child has a re-eval meeting every three years so he would be due this school year. The date should be listed right on the plan-in Maine they are called IEPs. Maybe find out who your child's case manager is and ask for a meeting. In Maine it would probably be the SLP. A lot of extra testing probably won't cost the school anything as they already have some of the staff on their payroll.

I would look into the OT sensory piece even if you have to pay for it yourself. I am not saying the school won't pay for it.

Good luck.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I am def. not qualified to diagnose anything, but he has the same symptoms of my friend's 6 yr old who has Sensory Integration Disorder. She was a late talker with very poor articulation once she did talk, is late in learning to read, is very particular about clothing bothering her (can't wear things she deems scratchy, turtlenecks, bell sleeves, and will chew on sleeves that are too long or pull of any beading on clothes). You didn't mention this, but she also does not dress appropriately for weather. She'll go barefoot in the cold or put on a sweater in the summer and not notice her body's reaction to it. She also forgets her lunch box and gloves, etc all the time and needs a chart that helps her remember.

She has been in speech since preschool and was referred to a specialist through her school in k'garten, but my friend was lucky that the teacher recognized something was wrong, even though she's a very social and happy child.

The specialist diagnosed her with SI, but the school and her insurance won't pay for the therapy. Apparently, the therapy is very effective and rapid in children and consists of such things as light weight lifting activities and other exercises. The specialist was kind enough to draw up a schedule of exercises and activites for my friend to do herself with her DD, which she does. She also still gets speech and, since diagnosed, has an aide in the class at her disposal. I have already noticed a HUGE improvement in her speech in the last year and she is starting to read words and now knows all her numbers and letters.

I would bring up the thought of SI with the pedi (you can always just put in a call) and with the teacher and principal and ask for a referral.

 

[amyy]

I don't know about a diagnosis of SI but the following author is one of my favorites on the topic. Easy reads.

http://www.out-of-sync-child.com/

 

[pweyl36]

I am a PreK/K teacher with NC public schools and yes, students ARE expected to read in Kindergarten. Right now, I have 8 out of 10 kindergarteners reading at least phonetic words, and the level they need to get to seems unattainable for some of them. Kindergarten is definitely not playing with blocks and tracing letters and numbers nowadays. Not only do they need to read and know numbers up to 100, they need to be able to listen to a passage and write it down.

But in de at least in my school distract (Christina) they start at 1st grade.