should I seek an evaluation?

[Lots of boys]

Hi, my oldest ds is 9 and just finishing 3rd. He has always been really bright, quick to catch on to things etc. He spoke early and clearly. He learned to read in ps (he went to ps for k and 1st) and seemed to do fine. He has always struggled to read out loud and hates to do so. When he reads to me he struggles with keeping track of where he is and he skips words or messes up word order in a sentence (he might read Peter said "Look!" as "Look!", Peter said. He seemed to be doing fine with his silent reading until this year. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to be read to and has wonderful comprehension when listening to a book (while I read or through audio books). However, now that books at his grade level are starting to get longer and the print is smaller, he is struggling. He says he can't remember what he reads when he reads to himself. He says it is too hard to read longer books. He struggles with spelling and writing too. He has a fantastic memory so he can often memorize how to read or spell a word he uses frequently, but any new word he struggles to sound out and has trouble spelling. Last week he spelled loudly two different ways (on the same paper): Loldy, and lowdy. He struggles with writing as well. He still reverses b and d a lot and ALWAYS has to check when writing (we gave him a little hand trick to keep them straight which helps but really slows him down because he has to check every time). His handwriting is really bad despite using HWT for three years and working with him on it a lot. He forgets how to space things correctly, forms letters from the bottom, can't stay on a line well. Like I mentioned above, he has a great memory for facts and information (loves history and geography) and I wonder if this has gotten him through reading and spelling up to this point. Do you think it is time to look for an eval for him or do you think he may outgrow some of these issues?

[PeterPan]

Get his eyes checked. COVD is where you find the right kind of eye doc.

[RamonaQ]

It sounds like you are wanting more help and understanding. So yes, I would seek an eval.

[Black-eyed Suzan]

 

I could have written this post about my almost 7 year old. :lurk5:

[Lots of boys]

Thanks. I am finding it hard when there is no feedback from others or no way to compare how he is doing (i.e. teachers at school, etc. ). We brought him home from school after 1st grade because he hated it and his teacher was convinced he had ADHD and I think he generally just drove her crazy :cursing: He could sense the teachers exhaustion with him and he loathed going.

 

Overall he is doing much better at home. He is happy and sleeps and eats better. He still groans about doing any school work but I just don't know what is normal or typical for this age (he is my oldest). He really struggles to read out load, read longer books, do any math that requires more than one step etc. I have him on a waitlist for an eval but the waitlist is about 6 months so I guess I have lots of time to decide whether to have it done or not before then. It will also give me time to see how he progresses in 4th grade beginning in the fall.

[PeterPan]

I have him on a waitlist for an eval but the waitlist is about 6 months so I guess I have lots of time to decide whether to have it done or not before then. It will also give me time to see how he progresses in 4th grade beginning in the fall.

 

 

For a psych eval or a vision eval? Yes I'd get on the list for the psych eval, but in the meantime I'd get his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist. A number of the symptoms you described with the tracking, etc. are vision issues and easily correctable. One can have *both* adhd and vision problems. ;)

 

COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist. Regular won't do. And happily, you can get into a dev. optometrist pretty quickly, which means you can at least get some answers on that side.

[Lots of boys]

For a psych eval or a vision eval? Yes I'd get on the list for the psych eval, but in the meantime I'd get his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist. A number of the symptoms you described with the tracking, etc. are vision issues and easily correctable. One can have *both* adhd and vision problems. ;)

 

COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist. Regular won't do. And happily, you can get into a dev. optometrist pretty quickly, which means you can at least get some answers on that side.

 

For a EduPsych eval. I live in a small province in Canada and I was only able to find one OP that was on the COVD list in our province - very far away. I'm not sure how to proceed on the vision issue. He definitely does better with larger print books but he also complains that he can't remember the content of the book if he reads it. He has fantastic comprehension if listening.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I'd definately get his vision checked.

[ElizabethB]

Yes, screen for vision with a covd doctor.

 

But, if he got sight words from school and memorizes words as wholes easily, it could also be problems from sight words.

 

Give the MWIA, the NRRF grade level test, and my New Elizabethian Test from my testing page. If there is a slowdown of more than 15% on the MWIA or missed more phonetic than holistic words, follow the instructions on my how to tutor page.

[PhotoGal]

How well does he read an easier book? Does he still mix up the order of the words and have trouble remembering what he read? What I'm wondering is if struggling to read the book is making it hard for him to focus on what is happening in the story. The fact that he comprehends read alouds and audiobooks well is great (so he is able to picture the story in his mind as he listens). For font size, one thing I did last year for a little while was get his reading books on Kindle and enlarged the text. This helped him until he was ready to read smaller text. It was also less intimidating than seeing pages of text at a time.

[Lots of boys]

How well does he read an easier book? Does he still mix up the order of the words and have trouble remembering what he read? What I'm wondering is if struggling to read the book is making it hard for him to focus on what is happening in the story. The fact that he comprehends read alouds and audiobooks well is great (so he is able to picture the story in his mind as he listens). For font size, one thing I did last year for a little while was get his reading books on Kindle and enlarged the text. This helped him until he was ready to read smaller text. It was also less intimidating than seeing pages of text at a time.

He tends to read smaller, shorter books much better.

[PeterPan]

For a EduPsych eval. I live in a small province in Canada and I was only able to find one OP that was on the COVD list in our province - very far away. I'm not sure how to proceed on the vision issue. He definitely does better with larger print books but he also complains that he can't remember the content of the book if he reads it. He has fantastic comprehension if listening.

 

 

Well the last person we had here from Canada who said the COVD doc was too far away went with something closer and ended up not getting the results. I'd make the drive. If he needs therapy, go just once a month or every other month. They can give you lots of homework and make it work.

[Lots of boys]

_{I will give them a call and see what the eye Dr. says over the phone. Any suggestions as to what I am asking for? Developmental eye exam? :) This is all very new to me. He has had a regular eye exam and his vision is fine according to a local clinic. The drive to the one on the COVD list is 2 hrs plus away. I checked out their website and there is not mention of them having some sort of specialty in with children?}

[PeterPan]

Well you do need to take some time and look at their website, see what they actually do. A developmental optometrist is going to be able to do extra screenings during a regular exam, OR they can do a full developmental vision exam. They're actually two separate exams. A regular exam is the cost of a normal yearly exam, but they can *screen* for things like convergence, focusing, etc. and tell you if you *need* the developmental exam. In a developmental exam, they'll go through lots and lots of tests for developmental vision, visual processing, screen for other things that may need to be dealt with (retained primitive reflexes, bilaterality issues, etc.). The coolest thing they do is with the visagraph using infrared goggles, where they actually track eye movements as the dc reads a passage. So with their tests they can tell you definitively if there's a vision problem causing his reading. You'll actually see it happening.

 

The thing becomes how much they do it, how good they are at it, etc., just like with any doc. So obviously take your time, do your research, talk with them. I think COVD probably has info on their website. We go to a very large optometry practice where many of the optometrists get the dev. optom. training and are in COVD. One is a fellow, the others are not. They all see adults as well as kids. So you're really just going to ask questions and see what they do there. Since you're driving that far, talk it through with them. That's not cool to drive 2 hours and then repeat. If they can schedule the regular and develpmental back to back, that would be an option. Ours did the dev. exam and just used the results of the regular exam from another doc for that portion. If you haven't had the regular exam in a while, I'd do the while shibang with the dev. optom, just because he's likely to be a better doc. Ours is amazing and awesome, super awesome at astigmatism (what dd, ds, and I have). So I can't promise, but our dev. optom. is better than the regular was.

 

Just talk with them and see what they've got. You know the other thing you can do is email them. I was able to email one of the docs at our practice through the link from the COVD website, and then she put me in contact with the lead therapist to talk with. We corresponded quite a bit before we ever went in. I think they're very open to this, so avail yourself of it. It's convenient for them and lets you get answers straight from the person rather than going through a receptionist who may know very little. And as far as what you're saying, just say what you told us (bright, some things in school work not right, this is his age, these are his symptoms, cleared by a regular optomet but friends suggested a dev. optom). Then they're going to ask when your last vision appt was and help you sort it out. But that way you can get your questions answered upfront. You'll probably have a lot of them. :)

[PhotoGal]

Hmm... Maybe step back the reading level of his books for a little while. It may be that they are a bit beyond his independent reading level (usually defined as 97% correct). If he is getting stressed by the reading level being too high, that may be the reason his comprehension is going down. I think it would be better for him to comprehend well a book that is easy to read. Then just gradually bump up the reading level and see how it goes.

[PhotoGal]

As for evals, if there isn't a COVD nearby, you could have an ophthalmologist give him a check up. They should be able to tell you if his eyes are working together or if he is having trouble tracking. They probably won't recommend vision therapy (that a COVD would), but at least it might let you know if there is an issue there. For writing, you can get him evaluated at an Occupational Therapist. Are you thinking it might be dyslexia/dysgraphia? I'm guessing the EdPsych can help with that. Some tutoring centers and clinics can do testing that doesn't officially diagnose, but can tell you a bit of what is going on (strengths/weaknesses). But if you are taking the summer off, I would probably wait for the EdPsych visit. In the meantime, keep the audio book level high and let him read slightly easier books - wherever his comprehension seems to still be good.

[Lots of boys]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the advice. I will call or email the COVD Dr. and see that they say. to the last poster - I am a little concerned it might be dyslexia and /or dysgraphia too so I am going to go ahead with the eval for that as well. You ladies are a wealth of info. Thanks!