Quad Shot Academy Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I put this on the special needs board too, but am very interested in feedback from here also because her siblings are gifted. My 7yo is really struggling. I keep going back and forth on whether testing will matter. Will I get any helpful information in how I teach her? I am willing to keep trying new approaches and new curriculums, so will the evaluation help? Are there therapies other than vision therapy that will make a difference? Where do I go for an evaluation? There is a Brain Balance center right down the street. I have a call into the local Children's Hospital to see how much that costs. Many homeschoolers in my area use Anna's House. I think she has a theory on retained infant reflexes and uses therapies that address the brain's cortex. She does not give official diagnoses, but supposedly fixes the brain. Or do I go with the highly respected Gifted Center in my area? Her siblings are profoundly gifted, so I guess there is a chance that she is, and a LD is holding her back. Would they give better info? Honestly, I feel like she has a low IQ though. I feel like nobody is home most of the time. Then, I wonder if she is just normal and I expect too much because of her siblings. Should I do a CAT test first and see what the reality is? Some days she does well and she has been making progress overall, but other days are just a train wreck. Monday, she was drawing pictures of 0+1 and got it wrong. (She knew all of her addition facts 6 months ago, but suddenly forgot them. Some days she still knows them.) Today, she was supposed to be reciting a bible verse, that we have been working on every day for 3 weeks. She knew most of it yesterday, but not today. So, I started saying it and she was supposed to repeat it back to me, but she kept changing the words and saying things that were not even remotely right. Then, we were doing her speech therapy and I would say, "m, n, o, p, q, _." She was supposed to say R. Over and over, she forgets to say R and keeps saying M. She is the happiest, most co-operative child and she tries so hard. It is not a behavior issue. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utkallie Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I would give my right arm to be able to take my kids to a Brain Balance center or Anna's house. We have nothing like those here! Both of my kids have special needs and my DD (now 4) was identified gifted at 3. I also suspect DS (2.5) is gifted based on similarities to my DD. If I had not had my DD IQ tested, I have no idea how long it would have taken me to figure out that a lot of her difficulties are related to problems with auditory processing. I also love that I figured out this early that she is a strong VSL. DD's IQ test was part of a behavioral evaluation so insurance actually paid. I think I would do Anna's or BBC first so that the info from there can be taken into account when IQ testing is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deacongirl Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I would get a neuropsych eval. with a dr. experienced with gifted kids. It seems clear that would be the first step. If her siblings are gifted it is likely she is as well, and the neuropsych eval will give you the information you need to identify LDs etc. I am not familiar with Anna's House or a Brain Balance Center. Is there any actual evidence to show that whatever they are doing is effective, other than anecdotal? I wouldn't get the diagnosis from a place that has a financial interest in your continued business personally. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracyomalley Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 At 7 and in a family of gifted sibs, I would get full psyched testing, with an experience tester who can look at Intellectual disability (low IQ), versus LDs with normal or higher IQ, and recognize the difference... Just out of curiosity, did this child struggle to learn to walk, talk, sit, listen to stories, engage in imaginary play, color, etc? Just as we all know that gifted preschoolers are usually obvious even before they start reading/doing math, taking CAT tests....kids with true intellectual disability are also....and kids who "seem smart" when younger, but stuggle academically are usually those with LDs. Knowing "how" your kid learns really helps with homeschooling...having a 2E kiddo, who I finally got tested at age 9, I can say that it continues to help me help him.... Sensory Integretion and other therapies can help kids too, and may be good additional stuff, but with a kid who is stuggling as you describe, it would help you as educator to have a good sense of potential (of course that's only a small part of long term acheivement) and learning style/difficulty. Erin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 Just out of curiosity, did this child struggle to learn to walk, talk, sit, listen to stories, engage in imaginary play, color, etc? Just as we all know that gifted preschoolers are usually obvious even before they start reading/doing math, taking CAT tests....kids with true intellectual disability are also....and kids who "seem smart" when younger, but stuggle academically are usually those with LDs. She has always been very creative and an artist. She loves, loves, loves to listen to books on tape. She is very interested in science and history. She is my only one who does not like TV unless it is a science show. She has always had a very long attention span, except for TV. She is co-ordinated and would be a green belt in tae-kwon-do but we are holding her back for a few months. (It boggles my mind that she knows 40 step patterns, but can't remember the sight word "a" or rotely recall 1+0.) But she was speech delayed from age 2 and her vocabulary has always seemed low compared to my other kids. Everyone has convinced me to get a full eval and skip the other therapies for now. My husband is worried about the eval being a part of her medical records so he wants to avoid Children's and do it privately. I have a few calls in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkermamaof4 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 We just got an evaluation from Brain Balance for our ds6. Best thing we've ever done. I can't wait to start but we have to wait till summer. The testing is only $295. But they negotiated a group rate bc/ we had enough families willing to get the testing done. I think it is a great way for you to start. They did a 1000 patient study that is remarkable. It is the only thing I've heard of that can solve the problem permanently. Are there are places they say they do this? Our friend just finished the 1st session with her dd. They still have one to go. I am excited to see what their dd is like after session 2. They felt strongly that our ds will only do one session. They sell a book. You could start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 We ended up having her tested by a SLP who did the Woodcock Johnson and many other little tests. I was waiting to get the full report before I posted, but the general rundown is that she has a high IQ, is dyslexic and does not have an understanding of temporal things. Temporal things include: yesterday, tomorrow, left, right, before, after and sequencing. This includes a lot more than I ever realized. She still doesn't automatically read or write from left to right; she doesn't remember steps in sequences for how we sound out words. She recommended Lexia, a bunch of apps and that I do Barton with her. I was planning on hiring a tutor, but she was encouraging me to do it myself. She is really enjoying Lexia and it seems to be working on exactly what she needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thank you for following up. It sounds like you are taking some difficult news and using it to help make better informed choices about your daughter's education. Big hugs for your whole family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thank you for following up. It sounds like you are taking some difficult news and using it to help make better informed choices about your daughter's education. Big hugs for your whole family! I guess I don't take it as bad news, because I thought the news was going to be much, much worse. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I guess I don't take it as bad news, because I thought the news was going to be much, much worse. ;) :) That's why I said "difficult" not "bad". I read The Gift of Dyslexia a long time back. I should go back and reread it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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