Thanks for the info. Our local childrens' hospital requires a neuropsych for APD diagnosis and advised us to go through the local school district to pay for it. I couldn't understand why a neuropsych would be necessary to diagnose this.

Does diagnosis of an auditory processing disorder typically require a neuropsych evaluation?

Because of this, you may find that reliance on a single program will not be sufficient. One of my children has a math LD and in his case, none of the programs we have used has provided adequate repetition for him to understand and retain the material. As a result, I've ended up using pieces of multiple programs as well as supplements and manipulatives to get the job done. I use Katherine Stout's Maximum math as a topical guide to keep us on track. If Teaching Textbooks appeals to you, why not give it a try? It may be just what you need. If not a perfect fit, consider using it as a "spine" and supplementing with other materials if need be.

Hi! Chiming in here, because I have a 12 yo daughter with the same profile. She sees a pediatric psychiatrist who specializes in autism spectrum disorders. He has prescribed Luvox and Clonidine. This has been the most successive treatment thus far. I agree with the other posters about avoiding the typical ADD treatment of stimulants such as Ritalin. Previous doctors prescribed stimulants for her - the OCD symptoms were exacerbated and she developed a facial tick. Under the present regimen, her focus and behavior have improved remarkably and with no noticeable side effects. I just spent the morning working on math with another one of my children who also has ADD, so I understand how difficult it is. Have you checked out specific teaching methods for right brain learners? I've found a lot of these techniques are really helpful. Also, if you try to keep the lessons short and varied, (not necessarily varying the topic, but just the method of presentation), you might find that she learns just as much, if not more, with less stress involved for both of you.

Rather than following a packaged curriculum, I customize their reading according to their particular interests, but also include books about topics that they might not be naturally drawn to. That way, they get a good balance of topics. If you're finding prepackaged programs move too slowly, this is one way around the problem. Combining Charlotte with Waldorf - the methods have many similarities, although Waldorf follow a slower timetable, emphasizing physical development rather than intellectual development in the younger years. I just pick the aspects that I like and ignore the rest. If you read a Waldorf teacher's manual, you can use the ideas to customize your own program. You might check out the Christopherus Homeschool website. They have some interesting materials (although laced with anthroposophy, which you can easily ignore). Charlotte and Waldorf both rely on time blocks for activities throughout the day. This works well with toddlers in the mix (even those who won't nap!:)) Handcrafts - I started out with the Waldorf suggestions, but once again, the activities eventually morphed into very different ones. Eg., recorder playing turned into bagpiping, knitting little scarves morphed into making Barbie ensembles, etc. The writing book I was referring to, which would fit very well with Charlotte/Waldorf, or any approach, really, is called the Complete Writer, by Susan Wise Bauer.

And you probably are as well. :) I read somewhere that within a family IQ's tend to range within 5 -10 pts. of one another. We're finishing our 12th year homeschooling and I've tended to follow a Charlotte Mason/Waldorf methodology. Lots of books, playing outside, hobbies, crafts, etc. It's worked well and tends to help diffuse the hyper-intensity common in "gifted" kids. I've noticed that the language arts/history education seems to take care of itself when they read a lot. Whenever I tried to used structured programs, we never seemed to finish them (too much repetition, too confining). I do use structured programs for math and science in high school, or perhaps a college text book for writing, but only as needed (with the exception of one of my children, who is extremely dyslexic - he follows a very structured program, because that's what he needs). Have you looked at Susan's book of writing instruction for the younger grades? If you combined that with lots of reading of interesting books, that would probably be enough. I have a child the same age as yours, who somehow learned to read on his own (I didn't realize until he began reading the junk mail to me with amazing accuracy.) So far, I've just been having him play, read to his little sister, and do some work in the Singapore program, but nothing very formal. Children like that learn so quickly that there's no need to stress out about curricula, particularly when they're young. I've never had my kids formally tested, except for the ones with learning disabilities. But I was tested in school, labeled "gifted" and I could see similar traits appearing. One of the main reasons I appreciate homeschooling is that they can each develop at their own rate without being labeled. My older kids have taken achievement tests, SATs, etc. and their scores have been exceptional, so in their case, a "laid-back" approach to homeschooling hasn't done them any harm, and I hope it's helped them to become balanced individuals, rather than too focused on one area, ie. academics.

It's an IEP book with accompanying software. Very thorough and easy to use. http://www.ieps.net/index.htm

What are your favorite programs?

How about Design-A-Study, Maximum Math? http://www.designastudy.com/products/mathematics.html This book is useful in planning for kids who don't fit into the typical mold. I also find sticking with one curriculum somewhat limiting. I dip into various curricula, depending on the topic I want to teach and the way it happens to be presented in a particular book. If I had to pick one program, I do like Singapore for the younger grades.

Totally agree with this. One of our kids also required treatment at a very young age. I'm assuming your child is on the autism spectrum since you mentioned seeing a DAN doctor. We went through a lot of trial and error with medications through various doctors until she began seeing a psychiatrist who specializes in medication management for autistic spectrum kids.

Also Linguisystems and Pro-Ed.

Dyscalculia Guidance, Dyscalculia Toolkit, The Landmark Method for Teaching Arithmetic, LiPS, Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing, Wilson Reading Program, Rewards Intermediate, Teacher Created Resources, Academic Therapy Publications/High Noon Books, and EPS math workbooks.

Offering up a prayer for you - how horribly disappointing! It seems like the system has broken down when the cost of an undergraduate degree has become practically out-of-reach for many people in the middle class. Even more painful to have what it takes to get into MIT and not be able to close the $$ gap. We're experiencing the same problem - child #1 (of 7) had very high SAT scores and has been offered presidential scholarships to 2 selective private colleges. But he's not considered eligible for any financial aid except the federal student loan ($5500/yr). With that, the gap is still over $19,000, with no way to close it. The tuition for state college is only about 1/5 that cost. There was a time when students could cover the cost of an undergraduate degree at a private college by taking out a student loan, a part-time job, and perhaps a grant or scholarship. Not any more.

I have several "gifted" children also, and they are definitely more challenging to raise. They need far less sleep than the average person, and are intellectually voracious and driven to an exhausting degree. They tend to be more exacting and more explosive than the other kids in the family. From what I understand (and have observed in my extended family), high IQ's are frequently linked with higher-than-average emotional intensity. So in a way, high IQ's can be a double-edged sword. I think it's important to teach them, especially as they get older, how to understand and handle their own emotional intensity and learn to be as balanced and as resilient as possible.

Just a guess, but maybe start with grade 4, so you could concentrate on the thinking processes the program aims to develop, rather than on the additional task of reading words that might be difficult or unfamiliar? The books for grade 4 are: A-Sentence by Sentence, B-Sentence by Sentence and Multiple Sentences and C-Multiple Sentence, Whole Paragraph, and Paragraph by paragraph. Unfortunately I don't have grade 5 to compare them with, but I do have grade 6, and the format is the same. The difference is in the vocabulary, sentence complexity and the degree of detail. I really like these workbooks a lot. They incapsulate the info in the manual into a practical lesson format. We're using them for the "verbalizing" part (my son has a language disorder but doesn't seem to have problems with visual imagery). They've been really effective in helping him organize and communicate his thoughts/images. The cd I have is the blue one - grades 3-6. Unfortunately I find that I have to sit with him at the computer while he's using it. :tongue_smilie: I like it for the additional reinforcement and also for auditory practice. Hope this helps.

That's wonderful. Having an outside "teacher" can really improve motivation. And in the case of those of us whose dealing with kids with multiple issues, a much-needed rest. :)

Tricare Standard. We also have a child with Aspergers, and her treatment is covered. ASD seems to be in a special category with regard to Tricare. They also would cover a speech evaluation at Childrens Hospital if it is part of a battery of tests including medical ones, but not the therapy (unless the underlying cause is autism spectrum disorder, disease, injury or hearing loss. We'll find out today if there is any hearing loss (I doubt it, but I may be wrong). If so, they'll cover speech therapy.

Thank you. I think this will help. He had a double ear infection at 3 mo followed by a number of other infections until he was 4 or 5. Clearly a medical issue.

Yes, this is very true. I had been doing the majority of the writing for my 10 yo, and accidentally stumbled on a tactic that seems to be really helping with the dysgraphia, particularly with the writing of numbers. I would ask him how he would solve the math problem (or have him dictate a sentence to me or whatever) then write his out the work for him with a colored hi-lighter, after which I would have him trace what I had written. I don't know if was due to the repeated tracing impacting his motor memory or just to the sheer repetition, but suddenly his numbers have actually become consistently neat, uniform and quite legible. And he has become far less resistant toward writing. As a veteran of just about every handwriting program on the market, I was really amazed at the improvement wrought by this cheap (cost of a hi-liter) program arrived at through utter desperation. Maybe you could give it a try.

Wow, you have generous insurance. Our military insurance is very limited in its coverage of speech therapy, etc., and no education-related therapies seem to be covered. Could you tell me what the APD testing entailed? Tomorrow is our first appointment, going through an ear specialist for an initial screening. What other types of assessments are required to make a diagnosis?

Unfortunately my insurance won't cover this either. Did you find that the cost for the therapy was worth it? How long was it required? Two of my kids are dysgraphic and therapy for both would really add up quickly.

I got them from Gander Publishing: http://www.ganderpublishing.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1

The manual provides an overview and instructions for applying the method up to whole page imaging and writing - you might want to get it later if you like the program after trying out the workbooks. In the grade 4 workbooks, the focus is only on more basic two-sentence imaging. The V/V computer CD (an animated format that provides further practice) combined with the workbooks would be a good value for your $$.

Hi All, I'm wondering how much I might expect to pay for the following: - CAPD testing - Dysgraphia testing to document for SATs - speech therapy for stuttering, cluttering and articulation of "r" sounds, mainly - what is the cost per hour? Also, a question for those of you who tutor special needs kids - what do you charge per hour?

I bought it from Gander Publishing, along with the training tapes, and once I got the hang of it, it wasn't difficult, just extremely boring, haha! But wonderfully effective where nothing else had worked up to that point.