How to diagnose a learning disability?

[Erica in PA]

I'm reaching the conclusion that my 8 yod isn't just a late bloomer, but may have an actual learning disability. As I've posted before, she is extremely verbal/auditory, but her reading and writing skills just aren't progressing the way they should be. There is a huge gap between what most people would consider her intelligence, and her performance in school. When I read checklists of symptoms of learning disabilities, she seems to have most of them. So... what do I do? A friend told me about vision therapy, and dd has an appt. with a dr. there on Tuesday to see if that will help. But what else should I do? Where should she be tested for, and for what? Should I go through the public school system, or do this privately? If I do go through the public school, will we be obligated to then use their services or be more accountable to them in some way? If anyone has btdt, I would love to hear about how you dealt with this sort of issue. Any good websites with info on homeschooling children with learning difficulties would be appreciated too.

[RamonaQ]

This might be a good thing to cross-post on the "Special Needs" board. There are people there who have taken a variety of approaches seeking diagnosis, or not.

 

But to answer your question, I would personally say that a Neuropsychiatrist would be able to give you a definitive diagnosis. However, they tend to be very expensive.

[AngieW in Texas]

We did vision therapy first. The vision issues were obvious from the age of 3yo. I just couldn't get any eye doctors to do more than the standard eye chart test (and my dd could pass that easily). When she was 6yo, I finally found an eye doctor who would do more than just the eye chart. She very quickly discovered that my dd had problems with tracking and sweeping (her eyes jerked back and forth) and that she had no depth perception. Vision therapy screening discovered that she also had issues with changing focus from near to far and back again, double vision, and eye suppression. Vision therapy took 6 months. It definitely fixed her visual efficiency problems, but she still had a lot of difficulty with reading. The VT recommended that I have her tested for dyslexia because she saw a lot of dyslexic symptoms in my dd.

 

We did LD testing through the school system. That wasn't a problem at all. Their diagnosis was gifted with a severe learning disability affecting all academic areas, but strongest in reading and written expression. After doing a LOT of googling, I found that she actually has dyseidetic dyslexia. Even after VT, she still had every symptom on the list.

 

I posted everywhere asking for recommended programs and got recommendations to try Headsprout. That program was wonderful for my dd because of the exercises that worked specifically on the visual processing areas she was weak in. It also had auditory processing exercises, but those didn't do much for her because she was fine in that area.

 

After Headsprout was finished, I posted everywhere again and got recommendations to try Funnix level 2. That program worked well for her also and started right where Headsprout left off. It is actually available free for the month of January. A lot of people have had difficulty with downloading/installing it, but free is fabulous.

 

I think the testing was well worth doing. I have had my dd go back to the ps every 3 years for retesting. She's actually due to be tested again at the end of this schoolyear.

 

I looked into private testing, but it was going to cost over $1500. We had already spent about $5000 on vision therapy (not covered by insurance), so we didn't have any more to spend.

[SailorMom]

In my experience, the public school testing and services are usually a waste of time.

I would go private if you are able.

[Guest]

Your dd is still very young, and written skills often lag behind other skills for a number of kids who don't have actual disabilities. However, parental instinct is usually something worth following up. A large gap between apparent ability and "performance" (I don't like that word, but it's usually how things are expressed) skills usually merits an evaluation of some sort. VT is a good place to begin.

 

If that doesn't turn up anything useful and the problems persist or the gap widens, a full evaluation by a neuropsychologist or a private educational therapist would be a next (although expensive) step. Like sailormom, I'd skirt the public school system if possible, but that's based on my own experiences and the financial straits of the state I live in; other people have had better experiences. It's certainly cheaper to go that way. But a full-scale evaluation from a private professional -- dd took eleven hours of testing spread over several days, and I had five more hours of interviews and discussion before and afterwards with the neuropsych -- is a gold mine of information, suggestions, strategies, and detailed discussion about options for the present and the future.

[sparrow]

We had extensive testing done through our school district at no cost to us. They were enormously helpful and went so far as to say that our son would probably get superior help at home rather than at school.

 

He tested as very high functioning, but most likely on the autistic spectrum with LDs in math, written expression, and language processing. Basically, he's charming and somewhat quirky and needs a watchful eye when he writes :001_smile:. We just find the way he can learn and go with it. There doesn't seem to be any sure thing curricula with his LDs.

[sixpence1978]

I think you are on the right track with some eye testing. This is where we are starting.

 

My DD has also had some learning difficulties and we are beginning our process. I sometimes feel frustrated and that we aren't doing enough, but I am trying to tell myself that step-by-step we will get there.

 

She has only finished her 2nd week of VT, so we are still early in the game. My DH and I have decided that we will give this a go first. If nothing comes from it, then we will look more into testing privately.

 

We had briefly debated getting her tested first for LD, but then we thought that if we didn't at least try the VT, we would always wonder if it could have helped instead of just sticking a label on her at the beginning.

[Erica in PA]

This might be a good thing to cross-post on the "Special Needs" board. There are people there who have taken a variety of approaches seeking diagnosis, or not.

 

But to answer your question, I would personally say that a Neuropsychiatrist would be able to give you a definitive diagnosis. However, they tend to be very expensive.

 

Thanks, I forgot about the special needs board! I will cross-post there.

[Erica in PA]

We did vision therapy first. The vision issues were obvious from the age of 3yo. I just couldn't get any eye doctors to do more than the standard eye chart test (and my dd could pass that easily). When she was 6yo, I finally found an eye doctor who would do more than just the eye chart. She very quickly discovered that my dd had problems with tracking and sweeping (her eyes jerked back and forth) and that she had no depth perception. Vision therapy screening discovered that she also had issues with changing focus from near to far and back again, double vision, and eye suppression. Vision therapy took 6 months. It definitely fixed her visual efficiency problems, but she still had a lot of difficulty with reading. The VT recommended that I have her tested for dyslexia because she saw a lot of dyslexic symptoms in my dd.

 

We did LD testing through the school system. That wasn't a problem at all. Their diagnosis was gifted with a severe learning disability affecting all academic areas, but strongest in reading and written expression. After doing a LOT of googling, I found that she actually has dyseidetic dyslexia. Even after VT, she still had every symptom on the list.

 

I posted everywhere asking for recommended programs and got recommendations to try Headsprout. That program was wonderful for my dd because of the exercises that worked specifically on the visual processing areas she was weak in. It also had auditory processing exercises, but those didn't do much for her because she was fine in that area.

 

After Headsprout was finished, I posted everywhere again and got recommendations to try Funnix level 2. That program worked well for her also and started right where Headsprout left off. It is actually available free for the month of January. A lot of people have had difficulty with downloading/installing it, but free is fabulous.

 

I think the testing was well worth doing. I have had my dd go back to the ps every 3 years for retesting. She's actually due to be tested again at the end of this schoolyear.

 

I looked into private testing, but it was going to cost over $1500. We had already spent about $5000 on vision therapy (not covered by insurance), so we didn't have any more to spend.

 

 

Thank you for the information!! I was shocked by your mention of the vision therapy price! If it's even half that for dd, there is no way we will be able to afford that. I'm hoping that it's either much cheaper here, or that our insurance will pay for it.

[Erica in PA]

In my experience, the public school testing and services are usually a waste of time.

I would go private if you are able.

 

If we can possibly afford it, we'd like to go private as well.

[Erica in PA]

Your dd is still very young, and written skills often lag behind other skills for a number of kids who don't have actual disabilities. However, parental instinct is usually something worth following up. A large gap between apparent ability and "performance" (I don't like that word, but it's usually how things are expressed) skills usually merits an evaluation of some sort. VT is a good place to begin.

 

If that doesn't turn up anything useful and the problems persist or the gap widens, a full evaluation by a neuropsychologist or a private educational therapist would be a next (although expensive) step. Like sailormom, I'd skirt the public school system if possible, but that's based on my own experiences and the financial straits of the state I live in; other people have had better experiences. It's certainly cheaper to go that way. But a full-scale evaluation from a private professional -- dd took eleven hours of testing spread over several days, and I had five more hours of interviews and discussion before and afterwards with the neuropsych -- is a gold mine of information, suggestions, strategies, and detailed discussion about options for the present and the future.

 

Yes, it's that gap that really bothers me too. In addition, I have been working on phonics regularly with this dd since she was four. I do not know of anyone else whose child has been consistently worked with on phonics and sight reading for four years, and still can't read more than a level 1 reader. There are also other things she does that seem unusual as well. My gut tells me something more is going on here.

[Erica in PA]

We had extensive testing done through our school district at no cost to us. They were enormously helpful and went so far as to say that our son would probably get superior help at home rather than at school.

 

He tested as very high functioning, but most likely on the autistic spectrum with LDs in math, written expression, and language processing. Basically, he's charming and somewhat quirky and needs a watchful eye when he writes :001_smile:. We just find the way he can learn and go with it. There doesn't seem to be any sure thing curricula with his LDs.

 

That's great that you had such a good experience with the school district. Our finances might dictate that we must use that option. I hope ours will be that positive as well!

[Erica in PA]

I think you are on the right track with some eye testing. This is where we are starting.

 

My DD has also had some learning difficulties and we are beginning our process. I sometimes feel frustrated and that we aren't doing enough, but I am trying to tell myself that step-by-step we will get there.

 

She has only finished her 2nd week of VT, so we are still early in the game. My DH and I have decided that we will give this a go first. If nothing comes from it, then we will look more into testing privately.

 

We had briefly debated getting her tested first for LD, but then we thought that if we didn't at least try the VT, we would always wonder if it could have helped instead of just sticking a label on her at the beginning.

 

Yes, I'm unsure about which to do first, the testing or vision therapy. I just kind of jumped into the v/t because a friend told me about a good local place, and that seemed easier to start with than lots of general testing. At the same time, I don't want to waste time and money on the v/t, only to have testing further down the line reveal the real problem to be nothing vision related.... so, I'm not sure which should be first.