Psych Ed testing - provide previous tests or not?

[joensally]

Hi there, I've been mulling over something and I'm hoping for thoughts and opinions.

DS is having a new psych ed battery done next week. We have no history with the psychologist et al so they don't know any of the background. They have requested all previous testing/reports of any variety. I have a binder , but I'm considering not sharing any of it. DS has made huge strides and I'd kind of like to see what unbiased/uninformed testing yields.

The purpose of the testing is to properly set up accomodations in school for next year, particularly re gifted and written output. DS has SPD, dysgraphia, motor planning/gross motor issues (mild), vision issues (mild). He meets the criteria for ADHD, but I think that's a behavioural manifestation of the SPD and vision issues as it does not occur across contexts and does occur when on sensory overload. We did a psych ed at just 5 for school planning and it was not complete due to lack of cooperation on his part and a significant statistical discrepancy among scores disallowing a FSIQ conclusion (whether this was due to lack of cooperation or LD or typical gifted scoring I don't know).

So I have the past psych ed report, two OT reports, two letters from pediatricians, school reports, developmental optometrist reports. I feel like these provided us with road maps to get to where we are now - we've provided lots of supports, he's almost 8 and he's made dramatic progress. I worry that the psych and his group being "informed" by past reports will view his current status through those lenses, and I wonder if it will lend bias that works against DS. I'm interested in where he is and the supports he needs now, not where he's been.

Now that I've typed that last sentence, I don't know if this makes any sense at all! Please share any thoughts you may have.

[purslaine]

I might be honest and see where it goes.

Tell them you have reports, but you want to see what they think the issues are.

I may share reports after the testing and consultation if they have sound reasoning for wanting it.



I am going through something similar now, but with health issues. My son got a diagnosis of something after a 5 minute evaluation, and now whenever I recant the story to medical professionals they latch onto it and want to look no further.

My sister had a similar thing with her autistic son. He had a diagnosis of autism, and the doctors did not want to look any further, even though there were strong reasons to believe autism was not the full story.

edited to add: I know this is lousy advice, and they probably have reason I do not know about for wanting the old files, but I would be tempted to withold the files for an unbiased opinion as well.

[vocalise]

I just recently had to make this decision before ds's (9) psych ed eval. I went with my gut, and handed over his evals from age 5, but only *after* meeting the chief psychologist and getting some feedback from others who had knowledge of her.

My overall feeling was that she wasn't the type to be biased, so I produced copies.

[eepster]

You could call them up and tell them that you have various past test results, but would like them to evaluate your DS without being colored by past dx that were done at very young ages, first. However, some of those issues you mentioned such as the vision problems may influence your DS's ability to preform some tasks and result in inaccurate results. For example they might be able to provide larger print versions of some of the test if they know about his vision problems, or they may have him do some sections verbally b/c of the fine motor problems. I would call and ask if you could meet with the person who will be looking at the old test to talk over your concerns.

[deminc]

I agree with eepster. It depends in part on your goals. DS1 recently has a retest as part of his dyslexia screening. Both the new tester and I are surprised to see how different it was from the one done a year ago. His VS score dropped dramatically, while his verbal score went up. Overall the spread between his VS and verbal score is now 40points apart. A year ago it was a 15point difference with VS being the higher, though his highest and lowest score was about 25 point spread.

We had move on to the dylexia screening because the eye center told us his vision is cleared, to go on to dyslexia screening. Well, after the dyslexia screening - the tester thinks it unlikely but would not commit and recommends a review in 2 years' time - I finally found a developmental vision therapist (COVD certified), and we found that his vision issues, which was noted a year ago but was not overly significant given the format of the preschooler test he took last year, are still unresolved! Now I've sent the new information back to the dyslexia center and they are having to review their report.

So in ds's case at least, having his previous reports to compare support my belief that he still has unresolved issues. He is considered above average in class and in the testing (even for dyslexia), but I KNOW he is having difficulties and having to put in an inordinate amount of effort at home. Having the old reports for comparison and reference helped to get the various testers and teachers to reconsider their positions.

[joensally]

Thank you for your feedback, ideas and experiences.

Kathy, you helped clarify what my concern is. There's a history of professionals wanting to assign ASD labels to DS. I would love to see a clean professional analysis of where he's at today.

I work in the child social work field and I've too often seen professionals with a particular hammer in hand, which makes them consistently see the same nail, or diagnosis (ie ASD, mental health etc). I see bias far more frequently than I see lack of bias (and I don't mean intentional or evil bias, I mean human nature). The rationale of wanting to see past reports is to see what's been ruled out thus far, as well as what's been ruled in. DS has changed a lot and while I understand why and how the past conclusions were arrived at, I think a whole lot of it was developmental and some past issues are resolved.

I will absolutely share the SPD and vision stuff with them, along with some behavioural cues. Whenever we've seen a specialist I've put together a 1-2 pager that summarizes what they're going to interview for (preg/birth history, developmental timelines and quirks, interventions, previous assessments etc). I will share that as well, along with a few other documents they've requested. This psych group was recommended to us by a giftedness expert and so I'm optimistic that they're familiar with asynchrony and unusual developmental progression.

I'm nervous and excited as I'm really hoping this will a) go well and b) provide a good road map for next year. Thankfully DS is looking forward to it as he enjoyed the experience last time.

[joensally]

Originally Posted by deminc

I agree with eepster. It depends in part on your goals. DS1 recently has a retest as part of his dyslexia screening. Both the new tester and I are surprised to see how different it was from the one done a year ago. His VS score dropped dramatically, while his verbal score went up. Overall the spread between his VS and verbal score is now 40points apart. A year ago it was a 15point difference with VS being the higher, though his highest and lowest score was about 25 point spread.

We had move on to the dylexia screening because the eye center told us his vision is cleared, to go on to dyslexia screening. Well, after the dyslexia screening - the tester thinks it unlikely but would not commit and recommends a review in 2 years' time - I finally found a developmental vision therapist (COVD certified), and we found that his vision issues, which was noted a year ago but was not overly significant given the format of the preschooler test he took last year, are still unresolved! Now I've sent the new information back to the dyslexia center and they are having to review their report.

So in ds's case at least, having his previous reports to compare support my belief that he still has unresolved issues. He is considered above average in class and in the testing (even for dyslexia), but I KNOW he is having difficulties and having to put in an inordinate amount of effort at home. Having the old reports for comparison and reference helped to get the various testers and teachers to reconsider their positions.

That's interesting! DS sees a dev optometrist so I feel like we have a good handle on that aspect and I had him rechecked recently in preparation for this. I have been wondering if DS perhaps has some stealth dyslexia so I'm glad that the psych group is doing extended testing with DS that may further tease out any additional learning complexities.