Learning disabilities? Help!

[ReadingMama]

We were told today that my son has reading, math, and spelling learning disabilities. We already knew that his handwriting is delayed compared to other kids his age. He has some visual processing difficulties and fine motor delays.

We're just completing our first year of homeschooling. We've been pretty relaxed this year, trying to undo the school anxiety that began while he was in PS kindergarten. I'm worried that the reason the psychologist thinks he has serious learning disabilities is really just because we aren't following the traditional curriculum for a first grader. They base the diagnosis on IQ testing versus achievement testing (which is standardized.) His IQ is high, but his achievement or performance isn't up to where they think it should be based on his IQ. The doctor said he's very bright, but also very learning disabled.

How do you know if it's really a learning disability or if it's more due to not being on a traditional scope and sequence? I'm feeling insecure about the job I'm doing homeschooling him, because two years ago when he had achievement testing, he was in the normal range (66th percentile) for reading and now he's in the 19-25th percentile. Is that because we haven't been working as hard as most schooled first graders on reading, or could it be that dyslexia doesn't show up in achievement testing at 5, but does at 7? His math achievement scores were consistent both times (13th percentile) even with him being in school at the time of the first testing and homeschooled at the time of the second. As far as having trouble spelling, we haven't even worked on spelling!

I think he probably does have some learning differences. His dad does. But I wonder if the "severity" of them has more to do with us not following a traditional curriculum, since the achievement tests are standardized for first graders who are probably almost all schooled with a similar course of study.

Please help me work this out in my mind!

[frogguruami]

My guess (and that is all it is) is that a low reading score is more due to the fact that you are not following the traditional scope and sequence. I really wouldn't worry about reading yet. He is only 7. DS2 is 6. He would be considered LD in reading also. He has an insanely high IQ so he may even be considered severely LD in reading. I have chosen to allow him to pick up reading in his own time. My theory is that as long as he is making forward progress I don't mind.

If you are concerned you can try to find a homeschooling friendly teacher, preferably a homeschooler themselves, and ask for an assessment. That will give you a better and more unbiased idea of where he is. I would ask your homeschooling group or state homeschooling association if they have any recommendations.

[UUMom]

First, I do want to say that I believe true LDs absolutely exist.

However, I think we walk a crazy road whe we start saying 7 yr old boys have massive LDs like this.

I did not test your child, so I do not know what they saw. However it is not at all unusual for perfectly healthy and normal children to not spell well or write well at age 7. This is very common at this age. Espeically for little boys.

I would get an independant consulation to give you more concrete information. I would not test through the schools. And unless your pedi has training in LDs, I am not sure how much credance I would give to everything he is saying on this topic. (Not that I am saying he doesnt have a clue. I don't know. But is he a cognitive specialist?) If there is a Children's Hospital near you, you could check with the cognitive development folks and set up an evaluation. They will not look at scope and sequence curric, they will evalute him independantly of those school goals, which vary wildly in schools across the country.

I am not saying your child doesn't have 'issues' that may need addressing, I am only saying spelling and writing well is not something very many young boys do super- well at at age 7. It's not uncommon for children this age to not read at all...and still be perfectly 'normal' .

[ReadingMama]

The testing was done privately by a child psychologist who specializes in ADHD and LDs. According to the achievement test results, my son is behind about a year on the core subjects (as if he were 6 instead of 7, or if he were just starting first grade rather than just completing it.) Maybe this wouldn't be something they'd worry too much about if his IQ were low average or something. But his IQ is above average, so they expect him to perform above average on the achievement test as well.

I read something online that said that normally it's not considered a problem unless the child is two years behind. But this psychologist said that if there's a 15 point difference between the achievement test scores and predicted scores based on IQ, it meets most school districts' criteria for an LD. What's bothering me is that she said he is "very learning disabled." If she'd just said he has some dyslexia and some dyscalculia, I don't think I'd be as freaked out.

[frogguruami]

<getting up on soapbox> IQ scores are a big PIA for kids. They get these high scores and then are immediately expected to score high on EVERYTHING they do. An IQ score is a measure of ONE thing. There are so many other factors that go into learning. Desire, development, exposure to things, etc. If a child is not exposed to things, or is exposed to things that are not the "norm" (which is the case in a lot of homeschooling families, meaning we don't necessarily follow the same schedule as the school) then they are going to be "behind" according to the "norm". If a child has not developed emotionally and socially (and boys develop in those areas slower than girls) enough to focus their energy on school or learn those things that require those traits (like language) then they are going to be behind the "norm". It is just insane to base all things in a child's world on their IQ score. <getting off soapbox now>


That wasn't directed at you specifically, just the widely accepted belief that an IQ score is the most important thing to look at.

I am curious, if you don't mind sharing, what is his IQ score? With my own children I have noticed that the higher the IQ score, the harder it is to get them interested in the "norm".

I would also like to say that he is a "year behind" in today's school system. Wouldn't that have made him a year ahead when we were in school??

ETA: I just re read my post and it sounds a bit harsh. It TOTALLY was not meant to be and I hope no one takes it that way. I have chosen not to edit it because I really don't know how else to say what I said.

[Ruthla]

Who is this "they" that's expecting certain things of your DS? Why are you getting him all of these evaluations if you're planning on HSing him anyway?

My understanding is that these evaluations help the school to figure out what to do with him- does he need extra help in reading or to be put in the advanced class? But if you're teaching him at his level anyway, why do you need the label?

I disagree with the above advice to get more tests from more places that are outside of the school system. I don't think he needs more testing. I think he needs to be accepted for who he is and how he learns, no matter what the other 7yos are learning in school. Just learn with him and he'll do fine.

[UUMom]

I don't think we should be test- happy. However, if we do have children tested, we need to trust those doing the testing. I wasn't sure if the OP did. Sometimes we need reassurance, and sometimes we need to act. In order to decide our course of action, or non action, we need to have the best, most trustworthy information possible.

[ReadingMama]

We had the testing at 5 because our developmental pediatrician thought my son might have a mild autism spectrum disorder. He presented like a child with Asperger's, but with better social connection and social use of language. The test results at that time showed a profile more indicative of Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), but since they don't diagnose NLD until after a couple years of school, and our doctors consider NLD to be on the very mildest end of the autism spectrum (which is controversial), they just gave a tentative diagnosis of PDD-NOS and recommended getting a re-evaluation at 7 to get a more definitive diagnosis.

So we had the testing this time to get that more definitive diagnosis. Again the results indicated NLD and he did well on tests that kids with Asperger's usually struggle with, so they ruled out Asperger's. There are reasons for testing, but it's not something I feel the need to do over and over now that we know what the diagnosis is.

I'm just posting to try to figure out if he's so "behind" by standardized achievement tests because we didn't follow a standard scope and sequence this year or if he really has serious learning disabilities like the psychologist said. I don't want him to be labeled as "severely learning disabled" if it's just that we focused on other things this year (science topics, social skills, learning to love to learn again, lots of me reading to him, field trips, etc...)

At this point I feel that he probably does have some learning differences, but I don't think they are severe. I think we're just going at our own pace and aren't spending hours every day on the three Rs like kids in PS are.

[4evermom]

FWIW, I doubt my almost 6 yo has any learning disabilities, but I also doubt he would do well on any tests for them. He doesn't write or draw at all. I don't expect him to start reading for at least another year, maybe two. He does do simple arithmetic (addition, subtraction, and multiplication) orally. He does seem to know all his letters and sounds and has for a long time. He has some sight words in context. So reading skills seem to be at a plateau but math skills took a little leap over the winter. If he had been in school, he would have been forced to do pencil work and would be doing some writing (and hating it!) and possibly a little reading.

[captivatedlife]

just so you know...

IDEA was reauthorized recently and the criterion for diagnosing ld's have also changed. many schools / professionals are not yet using them because they are waiting to see how each state individually interperts them.

I (as a special ed. teacher) love the new requirements. It's based on something called response to intervention(google it to learn more- it's very indepth) and it really sees how a student works. Basically, if he's still learning, at a pretty good pace, in ps, I wouldn't qualify him. (but I don't know your son, jmo)

I wouldn't qualify a hs student on the basis of an IQ achievement gap unless I know that the family had followed a curriculum. Even then, I'd be hardpressed to qualify a 6-7 year old. That age is SOOOOO hard to test. It's all but impossible. When we have to qualify one so young, we really use data to make sure the tests seem correct.

And if he is truly learning disabled - well you want to remember that that is really a misnomer. He learns differently. a lot of students don't learn well when the information is presented in a auditory manner.... but learn great with a visual. Or kinesthetic. So the curriculum needs to be adapted to fit their learning styles (try finding a ps teacher willing to do that. My biggest problem....)

Good luck, feel free to pm me if there's any way i can help

[ReadingMama]

Originally Posted by captivatedlife

I wouldn't qualify a hs student on the basis of an IQ achievement gap unless I know that the family had followed a curriculum.

Thanks for this insight. I'm going to talk to the psychologist who did the testing and let her know that we didn't follow a traditional curriculum this year. My husband said I didn't make that clear at our appointment with her last week, so she's probably not taking that into account.

Whether or not he has some LDs, we'll go at his pace in our homeschooling. I believe in waiting for readiness. I can see the logic in that things can be learned more quickly and easily when you wait. But I'd like to make sense of the test results and I want to know how to help him when he struggles.

[seekermage]

I could have written this post word for word, only my dd is in ps, atleast this is her last year at this point. We will he homeschooling next year in hopes of helping her reading and math. She too tested with a superior IQ but she is having problems with reading and math and was labeled ADHD and with developmental dyslexia. I dont totally agree with the label and just feel that she thinks differently. She is very bright and smart, yet she cannot read and has a hard time spelling. My SIL suggested reading the Indigo Children and mentioned it adressing issues like this (I havent read it yet) but it sounds a lot like our kids. That basically todays generation of children think and learn differently then we were taught. We are going to try homeschooling in hopes of finding a way to help her acheive the greatness we see, but the ps is unable to reach. I wouldnt be horribly concerned with his issues unless his ped is. As you said you are being very relaxed in teaching him. some kids just dont test well among other things. Hang in there mama, it sounds like you are doing what is best for you ds.

[ReadingMama]

Awww, thanks! I really needed to hear that. And it sounds like you are going into homeschooling with an awesome attitude. I particularly liked this sentence in your post: "We are going to try homeschooling in hopes of finding a way to help her acheive the greatness we see, but the ps is unable to reach."

What I've learned from this thread is that test results are only test results. A doctor's opinion is only an opinion. What we do with the results and opinions are completely up to us. I need to remember that and not get freaked out whenever "experts" start throwing labels around.