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Originally Posted by carmel23  I would be careful relying on the school for a gifted assessment if the school doesn't play that game.
A private school can simply say, "we can't meet the needs of your child," in the case of a learning disability, or worse, say they will but not actually do it. Private schools are good at marketing, and part of that is telling you what you want to hear.
Also, be careful relying on school psychs for any meaningful gifted assessment. In many cases even if a school psych will give an individualized test once the child reaches a 'gifted' score, they stop counting. Unless they are experienced with gifted kids... they may reach 130 and stop there.
I've been through both the TAG testing and ID and then the special ed route with an IEP. Our situation is unique in that we aren't in a traditional public school, but one that allows a lot of flexibility and everyone is viewed as an individual learner. We have the same teacher this year as last, so there is no waiting to be assessed, etc.
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It's true, i'm not sure how all of it rolls out when it's private school. I do know that it's the law for public and
private schools to accomodate learning disabilities, should the child have one. Also, the OP stated she has no real resources for getting an evaluation outside of the school, and I do believe that it is law (in the us) that the school (regardless of whether the are public are private) has to accomodate for this themselves. Free of charge. The school still has to assess your child's specific learning needs, even if you have a diagnosis of a learning disability. But one isn't necessary. it may not be the best of ways to use the school to do it, but it's something for now. (if it's even necessary for the OP. She may feel it's not.)
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| I would be concerned if a teacher told me they were still assessing my child this far along in the school year. That sends up huge red flags, how can you child be learning if they are still being assessed?! |
i'm not sure if this is relating to my post or not. I had the assessment set up late. i didn't know what to do or which way to turn, and just recently figured it all out. better late than never! and besides, the assessment itself helps the to find the child's learning styles, and they can start implementing techniques to help them in class before the assessment is even over. the assessment process at least lets the teacher know that other people are on top of it, and keeps her on her p's and q's regarding that child (if she wasn't already before) and has also calmed the issues we were having in the classroom.
also the assessment process with the school is a longer process than ones done by your own personal care provider.
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Originally Posted by joensally IIRC, OP's DD has no indications of an LD. I think  she's likely very, very gifted in a very ill-fitting situation. My son is 2E and tested EG recently. The school had known he was gifted before, but this latest testing is being taken much more seriously and has opened some opportunities. He isn't the high achiever type at all, and is an extremely divergent thinker. We HS'd gr1 as there was no way he would thrive in worksheet land, and then have found an alternate program for him which works overall. It doesn't "challenge" him, but he's interested and engaged (group work on open ended projects, interactive learning, emphasis on arts and creativity).
I see the stakes being really, really high with really out of norm kids - those early messages can be so supporting or so undermining.
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There may be no learning disability. I was taking context clues from the OP's post about the teachers trying to "stump" her last year, as well as considering whether or not this is an ongoing issue.
If it is an ongoing issue, then it's something that needs to be addressed, whether it's a learning disability or not. Over here, learning disabilities and gifted needs are handled much the same way anyway. It's all a special need that your child has, either for mor advanced work, or help understanding how to do the work.
the OP may not need to take it this far, but if she has a gridlocked teacher like I did, who is labeling her kid wrong because of it, and it's stressing her kid out, then there are steps she can take to get straighten out the matter, regardless of her financial situation.
and, i dunno. i think constant misunderstanding of the directions and a need for very literal instructions IS a learning "disability". i don't like the word, because it's not a "disability", but it is a need for something different to be done specifically with your child for them to succeed with their work. a learning "disability" is something that causes the child's true grasp of the concept and depth of intelligence to be masked, and their grades are not reflecting their true grasp of the knowledge. I kind of thought the description of the OP fit the bill.
it could be something as simple as the teacher coming over to her desk after she has passed out the work, and making sure she understands the instructions, and correcting her if she is doing it wrong. and if the teacher won't do that, then other people need to make her. that's what the guidance counselor is for.
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