My son has a learning disability...

[Mermaid02]

... we went to see a child psychiatrist today. She said there is a "20 point spread" in Jack's IQ scores. Technically this qualifies as a learning disability. She went on to say that Jack is almost too smart though- because even with his diagnoses and disability he still performs within the average range (when he has the potential to be far above average) so he won't qualify for special services at school.

I feel good that he isn't below average- but I feel awful that he isn't performing up to his potential. This really doesn't seem terribly fair. We will ask for an OT evaluation and a 504 plan... but the dr. is pretty sure they will deny him.

This is really "greek" to me and I don't understand a lot of it.... but I'm trying. Anyone else out there have a child with ADHD; Anxiety d/o, nos; mood d/o, nos ? All of the above or any part thereof??

Post here or pm me if you like.

 

[missypie]

My DS14 has Asperger's syndrome, ADD and is gifted, so even though he gets an IEP, there is always at least one person at the meeting every year who wants to discontinue any special services...so I can relate.

What we have discovered is that there is special help available for "normal" kdis, too. Unless your school district is just terrible, it probably has all kinds of help available, too.

For example, if a "regular", well behaved kid with no diagnosis of anything is failing math, a "math lab" or after school teacher tutoring may be made available to the student. If child with no diagnosis of anything is having a hard time with his parents' divorce, counseling may be available.

You may have to be creative and persistant, but I bet that the right type of help exists in your district....you just have to find it.

 

[LBAK]

My DD now 19 was diagnosed with ADD, dyslexia and auditory processing problems but her IQ is in the above average range. There was a 33% discrepancy between her IQ and her performance scores so she was entitled to services. I fought for her services and I got her into a trade school in our district and she did wonderful. Keep fighting and get what you are entitled to. Good Luck!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Hang in there. I know you will be a great advocate for your child. A 20 point spread seems large enough for services. I would keep fighting on that one.


My DS has 28 and 31 point spread and is considered servere. His high IQ makes his discrepancy so enormous. He missed qualifying for math by 1 lousy point. He was denied services for math. Here students have at least a 15 point discrepancy to qualify for services. Every county is different.

My son had ADD and does well with Concerta. No problems there.

Try to find an LD Association in your area. Parents of LD children will be an invaluable resource for you. You learn as you go. There is a great website, www.allkindsofminds.com, by Dr. Mel Levine. LD children really are special. I wouldn't trade mine for anything in the world. He thinks in such a creative way that it is amazing.

Good Luck,

Lori

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I'm aware of your plight and am going through it myself.

My sister's son has a 40-point spread for reading (because of dyslexia) and was denied services. She has filed a formal complaint to the school district. She wouldn't know how to deal with all the red tape if she wasn't a special ed teacher in a neighboring school district.

For me, my daughter is extremely tempermentally sensitive...to the point that I've taken her out of traditional school and am homeschooling her. Her performance was outstanding (92nd percentile, nationally) on her standardized tests....but had to be held by a teacher if the kids were in a noisy assembly. She falls apart when there is too much to look at, something is touching her, or the volume is loud. I understand Occupational Therapists help these children with exercises that help them organize the stimuli so they can cope with them. However, because she isn't failing in school, she doesn't qualify. I am going the route of private psychologist referrals for Occupational Therapy.

Long story to make a point. School districts are hurting financially, and the goal of special ed services is not to strive to help each child reach his/her potential...their goal is to help the majority of kids pass school.

I think it's wrong and short-sighted because many of the kids who have some learning deficits in their younger years go on to become mediocre members of society because they believe they can't do any better. Many of them also later drop out of school or turn to drugs and/or alcohol to help them cope.

My advice to you is to FIGHT IT with everything you've got. And if you still aren't able to get services provided, go with a private psychologist who will do psych testing for referral to private services. Sometimes private insurance will cover these services. If it doesn't, you may be able to qualify for other county/state services.

Good luck to you!

 

[Karel]

How old is he? And, maybe I'm being dense today, but what is "d/o,nos"? I feel that is should be obvious to me but I'm missing something.

I'm not sure how Maine Sped laws work but why did you go to the psych in the first place? Was it recommended by someone in school? Have you talked to a child study team about testing?

Do you feel he's failing in school? I don't think most people work up to their potential, and it doesn't mean at some point he won't 'work up to his potential'. Maybe he just has to find something he really wants to do. Part of it is on him to be ambitious and work hard.

I don't think they can deny him a 504 plan. That's probably the best thing to do for him. The teacher(s) might feel better having one - knowing there's a set plan of action to help him.

 

[Christine]

My cousin's son had this same "spread" that you discuss. For years they thought he had mild ADD; however, none of the ADD treatments really seemed to work. My cousin then took him back for more testing a few years later. After a year of different testing and meetings with doctors, they determined that he had "Executive Functioning Disorder." This is not like ADD but often shows the same type of symptoms. She did not discover this until he was a junior in high school and his grades were poor for years. During his senior year, she got him in with a "coach" that works with Executive Functioning Disorder. It was not cheap, but this coach gave him the skills to workaround this and his grades came up so well in his senior year.

But, apparently, one of the hallmark signs is a spread on the IQ test. This is always noteworthy when they see this. My son has ADHD and he does not have the spread.

 

[stm61]

they have to have the difference between ability and actual achievement to qualify for services as LD. I thought 20 pts was enough to qualify. If I follow correctly, you had your own dr do the testing. Request a full work up from the school child study team, he may score differently with a different tester. Also, he may have a bigger spread when he's a little older as his achievement may drop when the work gets harder. I feel for you. I have a 12 yr old ds in 7th gr. He scores 140 IQ, which is gifted range here, but is LD in all area's, receives resource rm for reading and math and inclusion class for science and social studies, and is also ADHD. He still gets teachers, not to mention parents of other kids, who act like he's mentally slow because of his labels and who will not believe he can have an IQ above avg. Hang in there. Look for an advocate group, they can often get services that aren't offered to parents. If all else fails, get a lawyer who specializes in school problems.

 

[twocjsmom]

Hi! I'm a school psychologist giving my 2 cents...

You may want to look into eligibility categories other than LD for your son. If the symptoms of his diagnoses result in a marked impairment of functioning the classroom, he may be eligible under the Physically Impaired (here in DE it falls under the Other Health Impaired category). I have placed several students with ADHD and other such diagnoses into sped under this category. One thing sto remember with the testing is that it was done under prime conditions... minimal distractors, one to one attention, etc and I often find that the acheivement results end up reflecting the optimal level of performance, and classroom performance is often lower. If you wnt more info on this classification, let me know.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Good wishes, Mermaid.

 

[winniedapooh]

How old is he? And, maybe I'm being dense today, but what is "d/o,nos"? I feel that is should be obvious to me but I'm missing something.
QUOTE]


Not dense at all
DO= Disorder
NOS= Not otherwise specified.

 

[golfgal]

Probably not in the same league, but DS10 has some fine motor issues and things like handwriting are very difficult for him. He is a hard worker and an A student (high A like 99% was his lowest grade last year) and when I asked about getting help for him they basically laughed at me when they saw his transcript. I told them just because he was a good student didn't mean he doesn't need help in some areas. I got no where. His teacher last year mentioned that his work was pretty sloppy and I asked her to watch him write. She agreed that he had some "issues" there, but what can we do? He does better typing so when he needs to start writing papers, etc, that will help. For now, we know he is doing the best he can and he probably won't grow up to be a surgeon.

 

[lewdyan1]

Sounds a lot like my DS. He has a learning disability, but is gifted. His 'label' for IEP purposes is Gifted LD. He is also diagnosed ADHD and General Anxiety Disorder. We just recently went off of Prozac, but are still on Concerta for the ADHD. I had no problem qualifying for an IEP based on the Gifted LD or with the ADHD. My DD is also Gifted LD and is on an IEP. Both of the kids have always been on the honor roll, but that does not mean that they don't need accomodations. They both are in regular/Gifted classrooms with in-class accommodations.

If you have any questions or need suggestions, please pm me, I have done a lot of research and I also work in ESE classes.
Good luck!

 

[Mermaid02]

So many of your replies have similarites to my child.

My son has problems writing (fine motor).... at the beginning of last year a neuropsychologist recommened an OT evaluation (among other things). The school did one and denied my son services. We went to see an OT on our own and she said, "In 2 or 3 years they will decide it's a problem and give him services."

My son is not "failing" school but he could do better. I don't think we should have to wait years to see if he gets it on his own. The beginning years are important, just because his work is average doesn't make it okay.

Thanks for all of your replies!