Where to go next?

[Abecedarianmama]

My son is 6 and a half years old, and we have been struggling with basic kindergarten concepts, so we had him tested by a psychologist. They came back that he is developmentally delayed, and his scores showed that he was borderline mentally retarded. We are doing a speech,physical and occupational evaluation, and the speech therapist thinks he has auditory processing delays. I am also taking him to developmental eye doctor to test for visual disabilities. We are switching to math u see, handwriting without tears, and earrobics for kindergarten and restarting in January. Does anyone have any other suggestions for me? Any other tests to get a more clear answer than developmental delays? Suggestions for school?

[ReneeK]

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction. My dd8 was also considered borderline MR and developmentally delayed. I just had the testing done a few months ago. In the beginning they said that she was developmentally delayed when we started to notice things when she was 2. We are finally getting more answers after all this years.

 

I wasn't happy with just a developmentally delay diagnoses. I wanted to know why. After too many Dr. visits from this specialist to that one. We went to a genetist and found out she has a chromosome deletion. That could be another thing to look into just to make sure you are covering it all. Follow your gut-you are your child's voice. If you have good therapist they can be a good resource.

 

We love MUS, HWT, they have been a good fit for my daughter. We also use AAS. I pretty much have to tweek everything and make it Multi sensory for her. It's never dull but she is coming along slowly.

[Ottakee]

You might want to see a neurologist or geneticist if you want more of a "medical" answer for the delays. Sometimes there is one, other times there just isn't. A medical diagnosis though can open the doors for therapy, Children's special health care services, etc.

 

For reading, NOTHING beats http://www.3rsplus.com or http://www.iseesam.com in my mind for getting a child to start reading. It worked with my borderline daughter as well as my daughter who is quite cognitively impaired. It was slow going but the books are set up to go nice and slow which makes it easier for kids. They just need to learn just a few sounds in order to start reading.

 

Math U See worked here some but once they were ready for it, I LOVED Christian Light Education---we used it lower than my kids age/grade level but it worked well and taught them in small steps. ACE was great for 1st grade science/social studies, etc.--again done at an older age but they enjoyed it.

[SailorMom]

I highly recommend a detailed workup with a neuropsychologist, and a trip to the neurologist.

Also - don't worry about any IQ numbers they may throw at you - IQ tests are very inaccurate for kids with some issuesw (like dyslexia for example). Don't let a number get you down.

I was told my son had an IQ of 80 when he was in 1st grade because of those tests by a school therapist..... when a neuropsych did the testing the score went up about 50 points. He admitted, though - testing is not very acurate or always predictive of quality of life.

Hang in there.:grouphug: