MelissaMom Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Its been through a lot of what I read on these helpful boards and with the encouragement of our speech therapist, to finally seek some help for my 11 year old daughter. She has always struggled with comprehension (doesn't hear all the story, can't read between the lines, really struggles reading science or history texts, anything that isn't a story, and even then its not great). Not sure if it's just a visualizing thing (which I think is a huge part), auditory process or receptive language thing, but I finally decided to take her to our dr. basically to see if he'd give us a referral to the speech gal for an eval. I have really good insurance coverage and know it would be covered that route. Well, as great as my doc is, he was really perceiving it all as an educational issue and thought that to start she really ought to get an educational diagnostic eval done. I haven't even called my not-so-great school system (we homeschool and I did this years ago w/ my oldest and it wasn't great). And it would probably be months til they could see us. The Dr.and my speech gal gave me the name of a really respected private person and it will run about $700! She'll let us pay it over time, but that's just a lot of money for us. Also, after that, I'm not sure if I"ll be any further along to helping her than before. Would I just be better off to order IdeaChain or V/V and start there? I hate the thought of wasting money I don't have. I'd love to know your experienced thoughts on this before I move ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) Its been through a lot of what I read on these helpful boards and with the encouragement of our speech therapist, to finally seek some help for my 11 year old daughter. She has always struggled with comprehension (doesn't hear all the story, can't read between the lines, really struggles reading science or history texts, anything that isn't a story, and even then its not great). Not sure if it's just a visualizing thing (which I think is a huge part), auditory process or receptive language thing, but I finally decided to take her to our dr. basically to see if he'd give us a referral to the speech gal for an eval. I have really good insurance coverage and know it would be covered that route. Well, as great as my doc is, he was really perceiving it all as an educational issue and thought that to start she really ought to get an educational diagnostic eval done. I haven't even called my not-so-great school system (we homeschool and I did this years ago w/ my oldest and it wasn't great). And it would probably be months til they could see us. The Dr.and my speech gal gave me the name of a really respected private person and it will run about $700! She'll let us pay it over time, but that's just a lot of money for us. Also, after that, I'm not sure if I"ll be any further along to helping her than before. Would I just be better off to order IdeaChain or V/V and start there? I hate the thought of wasting money I don't have. I'd love to know your experienced thoughts on this before I move ahead. It could be visualization, auditory processing and a receptive language thing, or just one or a combination, or something else, or a combination of one or more of the above along with something else. I'm working with my son without an official diagnosis or an official evaluation, but we've ruled out some problems earlier and I'm confident that we're moving in the right direction. For my child, I don't think an evaluation would tell my anything that I don't already know or recommend doing much different. HOWEVER--It doesn't sound like you are at the point. IdeaChain and V/V cost about half of what the evaluation would cost, but if there are other things going on that contributes to the comprehension problems then those also need to be addressed. I am working with IdeaChain, and I think very highly of both IC and V/V, but I also use Barton for decoding problems (which is my son's bigger problem) and portions of Seeing Stars (for increasing his sight words and language comprehension.) When I write good things about those visualization programs on this board, I'm recommending them based on my experience that also uses other programs to adequately address any other underlying problems first or along with the visualization issues. If you aren't sure that the problems are exclusively visualization issues, then you need to get to the bottom of what else is going on and make sure that is addressed too. I guess I'm saying that while an evaluation may be expensive, it sounds like that's the place to start if you don't really know what's going on with your child. If you don't think the school district will be helpful, then find another source --a good source--to help you with the evaluation. $700 is a lot of money, and if it's money you don't have to waste, then make sure to check some references before spending it or find a cheaper evaluator who will still do a good job. A good evaluation that identifies for you the underlying problems can save you a lot of money that might be otherwise wasted on programs that don't adequately address what is going on. AND....before you spend a lot of money that you don't have to waste, I will (once again) recommend the Barton websight for their free student screening since if you think auditory processing may be a part of the problem. http://www.bartonreading.com/students_long.html That screening is how I caught the severity of my son's auditory processing problems. A previous SLP's evaluation revealed he had auditory processing problems and he went through and completed one program at her recommendation that may or may not have helped, yet my son's auditory processing problems still showed up a year later when he was unable to even pass the Barton's screening. The first level of Barton's works on auditory processing exclusively and the first few levels continue to develop it, but my son wasn't even ready for that. If you child passes the screen won't neccesarily mean that your child's auditory processing is perfect, but if your child fails to pass the screen might help you catch one part of her problem. Before investing in any program, I suggest that you need to know what the problem really is. It doesn't sound like you know that for sure yet. Edited January 8, 2011 by merry gardens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Thank you so much for your helpful advice, Merry Gardens. Lots of wisdom there:) I have not read/seen much about Barton, but will definitely head over there in the next day or so to do the screening. I've always wondered about it from an auditory processing standpoint. She was late to talk and very jumbled sounding for a long time. When she finally started homeschooling, sometimes she would phonetically write words down (like 5 and 6 year olds do), but I was often amazed the 'extra' sounds she put in there and realized she must be hearing some things wrong. For instance, 'sister' was "stister." I may also, just to be sure I've explored all the options, contact my PS just to see what hoops they require and how long the wait might be. If anyone else has experience with this (educational diagnostic evals.--both private or public), I'd love to hear from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 You might also read about verbal apraxia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhjmom Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I don't know if you have already had her hearing evaluation, but I would highly recommend that you see a pediatric audiologist and ask for a full hearing eval. They should do this as part of an auditory processing eval anyway, but thought I would mention it. Sometimes it is easiest to start out ruling out the easy answers. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I don't know if you have already had her hearing evaluation, but I would highly recommend that you see a pediatric audiologist and ask for a full hearing eval. They should do this as part of an auditory processing eval anyway, but thought I would mention it. Sometimes it is easiest to start out ruling out the easy answers. :) I agree with this. She may literally not be hearing everything. I would ask for a complete eval, not a screening. Some hearing losses are subtle and may pass a screening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 I will check into getting a full hearing eval......I wouldn't have thought of that. And I don't think verbal apraxia fits the bill with her, but thanks for mentioning it. I'm exploring every avenue at this point.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Is there a comprehension problem when you read to her? If not, it is probably a decoding problem, not a comprehension problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Have you read "When the Brain Can't Hear" I'm sorry, I keep bringing this book up. Auditory processing isn't just about not hearing the sounds. A child can do very well in phonemic awareness, decoding, and yet have impairment of auditory function such as associative deficit. Said child would certainly pass the Barton screening test. I'm am one who is not in favor of evaluations and labels. However, in certain situations, like capd, it is best to know which type, if any, your child might have symptoms of because the way to remediate is different for each type. CAPD was covered by my insurance. A child can pass the hearing test very well and still have issues as described in said book. Even when testing for CAPD, not all audiologists are alike. You would want an indepth evaluation as done in said book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 One reason to get an eval is to establish the paper trail needed for accomodations on the SAT, ACT, in college, etc. It's harder to get them if your first real eval is near the time the student will be taking the test. At age 11, you are closer to that point than you might think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 We did the Barton screening and she passed with ease. She has comprehension problems whether I'm reading or she's reading. It's worse, IMO, when it's non-fiction material. Although with fiction, she still can't read between the lines or often make the appropriate inferences. I just left a message with my PS yesterday and am curious to see how long their wait is. But I would like to see about getting an eval for CAPD or at very least a full hearing eval. That's the first I've seen that book mentioned and will have to check into it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'm excited....I just reserved When The Brain Can't Hear from my library. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 One reason to get an eval is to establish the paper trail needed for accomodations on the SAT, ACT, in college, etc. It's harder to get them if your first real eval is near the time the student will be taking the test. At age 11, you are closer to that point than you might think. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Melissa, I'm glad you found the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 I spoke to the Special Ed director from PS today and she was very nice and is going to have a diagnostician call me. Also mentioned that they might want to do an eval with their SLP. Not sure how long the wait will be, but I was pleased that at least I wasn't just sent a bunch of papers to start on ;) I won't hear from the diagnostician until Tuesday at the earliest, but after that I will get back with my pediatrician about getting dd in for a CAPD eval and a full hearing eval. In the meantime, I'm going to start reading that book...hope its ready for me at the library tomorrow :) Thanks for all the help and suggestions--very helpful! There's so much to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Just got a call from the PS diagnostician yesterday and dd is going in for the 1st part of the eval on Wednesday. I was thrilled that we got in so fast. She's also a SLP, so she'll be able to do more evals if needed. So thankful I'm not spending big bucks on this. :) will update when we get some answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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