Testing for a learning disability

[snowbeltmom]

My niece is 8 years old in 3rd grade in public school.  She has an end of September birth date and just made the cut-off when she started K.  However, what my brother and sil did not realize at the time was that 99% of the kids with summer birthdays in their district wait a year before starting K. (In fact, she would have missed the cutoff in my district by almost two months. We are in the same state).  As a result, my niece is more than a year younger than many of the kids in her class.

 

Her reading skills have always been behind where they should be according to grade level.  Last year, her teacher was convinced she had a learning disability and wanted my niece tested.  My brother and sil went ahead with the testing, and the teacher was surprised when no learning disabilities were present.

 

My brother received an email from my niece's current teacher this week.  While my niece is making progress with her reading, this teacher also wants my brother to agree to once again have my niece tested for learning disabilities.  My brother and sil are reluctant to have my niece tested again because she was tested last year and none was evident. 

 

He asked me my opinion on whether they should agree to the testing again.  My niece is able to read a passage and answer the multiple choice comprehension questions.  She has difficulty writing responses for a passage she has read.  

 

Is it possible that there is a learning disability that testing last year did not reveal, but testing this year would?   My inclination is that my niece is working at an age appropriate level and that the expectations of the teacher/school district are the problem, not a learning issue on my niece's part. 

 

If you have read this far, thanks.  Based on what I have written, would you have the testing done again this year?

[OneStepAtATime]

What type of testing was done?  Through whom?  If it was through the school and the school is not trained to do multi-level detailed testing then the test results may have been useless, to be honest.  We had testing done through the school.  One child they pointed us in the wrong direction.   The other one they told us there was no learning issue.  Wrong on both counts.  We had to seek an outside source before we finally got answers.  

[snowbeltmom]

What type of testing was done?  Through whom?  If it was through the school and the school is not trained to do multi-level detailed testing then the test results may have been useless, to be honest.  We had testing done through the school.  One child they pointed us in the wrong direction.   The other one they told us there was no learning issue.  Wrong on both counts.  We had to seek an outside source before we finally got answers.  

 

The testing was done through the school.  I don't know anything about the type of testing that was done.  How do you go about finding an outside source?  Should my brother and sil contact the pediatrician? 

 

[Indian summer]

I think there are some LDs that can be confused with immaturity so they don't show up until gr3+. That's what I've been told anyway, I have little experience with this though.

[wapiti]

They could try asking the ped, though personally I don't have a lot of confidence in ped referrals in this area.  Word of mouth is a good way.  A local university with a neuropsych department is another option.  (There are psychs and neuropsychs.)  We found our ed psych by word of mouth, but the person is also listed on public websites of local gifted schools as an approved tester for admission tests.  Our local children's hospital unfortunately does not have a good reputation for LD testing.  I'd probably start by googling and by asking around to any friends who may have done testing.

 

With the potential for reading issues, I'd also rule out developmental vision issues with a COVD optometrist.  That's typically quicker and much less expensive than the psych eval; I'd do that while waiting for the psych appointment.  I'd start with a regular annual vision checkup with the COVD and discuss whether a full developmental vision eval is warranted.

 

Another angle may be language testing with a speech and language pathologist, though some neuropsych offices do that testing in-house, I think.  (yes, the options can get confusing.  I'd start with some sort of psych testing, i.e., IQ and achievement testing, as well as a vision checkup.)

 

Regardless of what type of testing the school did, they would take those test results to the psych/neuropsych.  If enough testing was done, maybe all they need is a second opinion on the results.  School psychs vary widely on the quality of the analysis of the results.

[geodob]

Their is actually a great deal of development, between the ages of 96 months and 108 months.

Also the pace of developments varies from child to child. So that a typical 96 month old, will be anywhere between 90 and 102 months in development.

If your niece had started school a year later?

Would she then be reading in the top half for her grade level?

 

 

[snowbeltmom]

Their is actually a great deal of development, between the ages of 96 months and 108 months.

Also the pace of developments varies from child to child. So that a typical 96 month old, will be anywhere between 90 and 102 months in development.

If your niece had started school a year later?

Would she then be reading in the top half for her grade level?

 

Yes, if she had started school a year later, she would be in the top half for her grade level.  Even now, she is in the top half in math for the current grade she is in.  I told my brother that my initial  thought is that the issue is that she is now being compared with kids quite a bit older than she is.  However, I don't know enough about this issue to offer any more than that, which may not be accurate.

 

Thank you all for your replies.  I am seeing my brother later today, and will relay these posts to him.

 

[PeterPan]

Yeah I'm with geodob.  I'd grade adjust the child and see if that resolves the problem.  It's not like this goes away as an issue.  What was her IQ when they did the testing?  They should think through how it positions her for high school and competitiveness.  (getting her grade level and performance to match her ability)

 

So is this teacher saying LD (reading disorder, math, disorder, etc.) or SN (adhd, blah blah)??  Sure something could get missed.  My dd is very bright and has had evals.  Just depends on what the school psych ran, how thorough the testing was, etc.  Did they get a formal write-up?  Were there IQ score breakdowns?  Did they look at attention and run a CTOPP or other tool for dyslexia?  Adhd is *not* technically an LD, so I'm trying to figure out what the teacher is suggesting on this.  It *is* true that girl adhd looks very different from boy adhd, but I still would have thought the psych would have caught it.

 

If you get the scores and want to post them, people could help you read the tea leaves.  Or what they could do is take their results to a private psych and pay for an hour to consult and get them interpreted.  

[kbutton]

It's very hard not to compare kids to what seems to be real in front of your eyes--the kids who are extremely tall for their age might be thought as being slow because they look older, for instance (happens to my cousins). Thorough testing will compare your niece to kids her age, not to her class. OTOH, if the standards are appropriate, and she is behind, being compared to older children might mean she's being identified with an LD at an earlier point than many kids are identified, and that is a good thing. Many kids have to fall way behind before anyone notices or seeks more information.

 

Just some thoughts. My son was one of the youngest in his class when he was in school, and the comparisons can be exasperating at times. And we now know that comparisons by age are moot no matter what since the nature of his issues are developmental, not IQ based or related to most types of academic achievement.

[snowbeltmom]

When I see them today, I'll ask if they received any hard data from the evaluations.  My interpretation on what my brother told me is that the teacher just said that nothing came up on the tests they conducted.  My brother and sil regret sending her to K and would not make the same decision if they had a "redo."  I suggested the possibility of pulling her out for a year and homeschooling and then sending her back with her age peers the following year.  However, they don't like that option because my niece has a lot of friends in her classroom and likes her public school. 

 

ETA: The teacher thinks she might have a reading disorder.  She is having no trouble with the math curriculum.

[PeterPan]

Then get her eyes checked first.  COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist.  Won't hurt anything to get them checked, and you never know.  Definitely get feedback on the prospective eye doc, because they vary.  In general though, you should be able to make a regular appt with the dev. optom. and ask them to *screen* her for the developmental stuff.  Won't cost any more than another eye doc, but it will see if there's anything going on with vision to explain what the teacher is seeing.