Dr. Hive: What should I do with her?

[matilda]

I have concerns about my dd8, and I am not sure what to do, so I have come to the hive. Here are her issues. Will you tell me if she is within the range of normal or if I need to pursue other testing? She has a very bright younger brother who has always been stepping on the back of her academic heals, so I have never known whether she has an ld, or if she is just normal compared to ds. I realize that I am looking at the possibility 2E and not dealing with problems like some of you wonderful parents, but I don’t know who else to ask.

 

 

1. - Her ps teacher last year had her tested for gifted since my other dc were also tested. The difference between her verbal and non-verbal scores was 25 pts. Non-verbal was higher. I asked about the possibility of 2E in the IEP and the district rep didn’t want to discuss it.

2. -She cannot spell. We have tried writing, verbalizing, sand writing and every other sensory option I could think of and nothing is improving. (Here are some examples from her writing today: exsiding, choclot, presants, wile, opning.)

3. -Decoding skills are normal. Reading comprehension skills are low. Not as bad a spelling but she still struggles with this.

4. -When I tell her to do something, she repeats the instructions to herself and will often repeat them to me to make sure she has them right.

 

 

Other things: Her handwriting is fine and she can write good stories. Her math skills are also on level. I know that I could take her somewhere to be tested, but I don’t know where to start, and I don’t want to spend the money if I am just an overreacting parent.

Thank you!

[momtotkbb]

The easiest and first place I would start would be to ask your pediatrician for a referral to an audiologist for a complete eval to rule our any auditory processing or hearing difficulties.. You have a couple clues here to look at --she repeats your oral directions and the large discrepancy bet/ verbal and non-verbal IQ. Also, it's not uncommon for kids w/ auditory processing deficits to be poor spellers - think about it --they don't hear/process all the sounds.

 

Based upon that determination then you would need to decide if you think any further eval would be necessary to see if there is the presence of a learning disability. For me, I would probably go ahead w/ a complete eval - but not everyone feels evals are needed for hsers if you are aware there are weaknesses and you are working to address those. But, I would start w/ the auditory eval.

[PeterPan]

Just so you know, there are actually numerous people on the SN board with 2E kids, meaning you're in the right place. We don't seem to fit in anywhere else, so we're here. :)

 

Especially given that you think she's 2E, I would get some evals. My dd didn't have the issue yours is having, but pursuing auditory sounds good. Did the testing the ps did show any issues with working memory? Beyond that, just start reading, reading, reading. "The Mislabeled Child" by the Eides is good. "When the Brain Can't Hear" about auditory processing is good. All the places we've been have screened for other things too, so once you take the plunge one place, they can kind of steer you to the next. But I'd definitely listen to your gut. You're not being over-reactive.

[matilda]

The easiest and first place I would start would be to ask your pediatrician for a referral to an audiologist for a complete eval to rule our any auditory processing or hearing difficulties..

 

I will work on finding an audiologist first. Thanks.

[matilda]

Did the testing the ps did show any issues with working memory?

I don't know how to tell if there were working memory problems from the results.

 

Beyond that, just start reading, reading, reading. "The Mislabeled Child" by the Eides is good. "When the Brain Can't Hear" about auditory processing is good. All the places we've been have screened for other things too, so once you take the plunge one place, they can kind of steer you to the next. But I'd definitely listen to your gut. You're not being over-reactive.

I requested these from my library. That will be a good place to start. Thanks.

[ElizabethB]

She could also just have problems from sight words if she was taught with sight words, my remedial students have problems like that and spell like that. They appear to decode well, but then have trouble with nonsense words.

 

You can take some diagnostic tests on my website, the MWIA and the New Elizabethian Test.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

 

If she was taught without sight words, she may have dyslexia or a hearing problem or some other underlying problem.

[rafiki]

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[matilda]

She could also just have problems from sight words if she was taught with sight words, my remedial students have problems like that and spell like that. They appear to decode well, but then have trouble with nonsense words.

 

You can take some diagnostic tests on my website, the MWIA and the New Elizabethian Test.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

 

If she was taught without sight words, she may have dyslexia or a hearing problem or some other underlying problem.

 

Thanks. I will look into this. I taught her using phonics before she went to ps, but then once she was in school, they used a combination of methods. This is a good angle to look at.

[matilda]

From what I was told by our NP is rules changed in 2004 so potential (IQ) is no longer taken into consideration. As long as the child is scoring average or above, the spread in scores or scatter doesn't matter to public schools. The child can be just a point into the average range and not qualify for any help. They also need to drop below and stay there for awhile before they will qualify, then they only qualify until that area goes back into the average range. This is very frustrating for 2E parents.

 

Have you talked with her and asked her how she learns best? Look at what subjects she enjoys, what goes well and think about why.

 

HSLDA has some good articles on struggling learns too.

 

In our case we scheduled their NP evaluations, had a 5 month wait, felt we had to do something, had a Vision exam, ended up in VT, finished the week of their NP evaluations, and it's just led to one evaluation (ST, OT, CBT, APD, etc.) after another (times three). It's been VERY expensive and after six months, I burnt out physically and mentally. Plan on $500 out of pocket for each evaluation and $100 per therapy session it adds up quickly. The drive to and from disrupts routine which with these kids is so important. Our lives were far from normal. We've put everything on hold and I've gone back to following my instinct. I'm thankful to have the NP report, but the rest I could have done without. Just be careful about opening up a can of worms or alphabet soup.

Wow, that gives me a lot to think about. I feel so naive about all of this. I will look into all of the resources you mention. Thank you.

[GingerPoppy]

I have no experience in this area to answer your questions, but I did want to say that I find the spelling examples you gave to be perfectly normal spelling for an 8 year old.