goldenecho Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 I had been suspecting dyslexia or something like a tracking issue with his vision that has similar symptoms to dyslexia, and since we were going to a charter next year I had him assessed for an IEP (I now know they can't diagnose, but at least I thought the tests could maybe give us direction on what to do next and since our job situation was shaky at the time, decided to do what could be done for free first). They said that they don't think it was dyslexia, even though his CTOPP is low, because his Visual Motor Integration (Berry V MI-6 and VMI-6 Motor Coordination) and Symbol Translation (WISC 5 Immediate Symbol Translation & Delayed Symbol Translation) was average and his Visual-Spatial Processing was high (WISC-5 Block Design and Visual Puzzles). The person who did the test explained that he tested him with a made up symbolic language...But when I inquired I learned the made-up language was not phonetic, it was more like Chinese where every character represented a different word. My understanding about dyslexia is that it involves (or can involve) a difficulty understanding the phonetics. So, I'm sort of feeling like that's not a reason to rule out dyslexia. Am I wrong? They were not denying him services, just thought that something like ADHD or maybe even also Austism made more sense. I do think that he probably does have ADHD (Autism doesn't feel right from what I understand of it), but I don't feel like that totally explains the struggles he's been having. (Side note: He also rated poorly to everything related to audio-perception/working memory. Really, he had troubles across the board. The visual aspects were the only ones he scored high on of all the tests they took). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Dyslexia is commonly found with ADHD and/or autism, so no, that doesn't rule it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 What Story said. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 It sounds to me that they think dyslexia is linked to a vision issue. Which is an improper understanding of dyslexia. The CTOPP tests phonological processing, and since dyslexia is a phonological processing disorder, and your son scored low on the CTOPP..... I wouldn't think dyslexia is ruled out by those testing results. Did they say SLD Reading? If he has a low CTOPP and scored low on the reading achievement testing (don't think you said that he did, but I would expect that), I would think that SLD Reading would be a finding for the IEP. Could ADHD be contributing? Sure, it's possible. But ADHD does not explain away the low reading scores. I mean, they should not say, "he scores so low in reading, but we won't call it SLD Reading, because we think it's something like ADHD." He should get reading goals in his IEP. It is no surprise that someone with dyslexia might have higher visual spatial scores. It's common, actually, for visual spatial to be a strength for dyslexics, and there are many engineers and architects who are dyslexic. Although it sounds like the evaluators are not on top of their game, really, when trying to evaluate dyslexia and reading disorders, I think you should consider and ask more questions about why they mentioned autism. If they think autism might be affecting his ability to access his education (determining whether there is a disability that prevents a student from accessing his/her education is the WHOLE POINT of the IEP process), then they should be either running tests for ASD or paying for an outside expert to run them. Seriously. This is the law. They have to run evaluations if they suspect a disability. And there has to be a reason they mentioned autism. They may be seeing things that you have not identified yourself as red flags. I would follow up on that. There are people right here on the LC board who have fought to get their school district to acknowledge autism in the IEP and have had to wage major battles. If the school itself is bringing it up as a possibility.....it's worth considering pushing for more testing, is all I'm saying. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 I agree that there is potentially more to the story. You might also consider an ocular motor exam with a developmental optometrist (usually COVD is the credential you want) and also consider hearing/auditory processing screening (in a booth if at all possible). Working memory troubles go with lots of things, but if they think his problems were specific to it being auditory, then it might be something you need to look into. I am trying not to read too much into the information--vision (including ocular motor exam) and hearing screenings were a significant piece of the puzzle with my kids even with other things going on as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 OMG...wow. No. Dyslexia has NOTHING to do with vision or visual processing. nothing. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Also, this video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Quote OMG...wow. No. Dyslexia has NOTHING to do with vision or visual processing. nothing. Ugh. She also mentioned low visual motor integration scores, which is what prompted my comment. But thank you for pointing out that my lack of connection could be super misleading. I meant to tie it together and, instead, left the transition out completely. OP, low Beery scores can be related to ocular motor issues (which often stem from retained primitive reflexes). And it goes down a rabbit hole from there--not a contentious one on the boards, but more of a finding a good therapist one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 A low CTOPP score by itself suggests dyslexia. Though “low” can mean different things, it can be hard when it’s lower and seems lower than other things, but isn’t below a certain number they look for. Then there are other things that can be often associated with dyslexia. The other things are things that can be associated with dyslexia. Or can have overlap or be associated with ASD. On ASD if there’s nothing in a particular test they mention, but they brought it up, I think ask what was noticed. There might be some things they noticed that they aren’t going to mention unless you ask, because it’s not appropriate I guess, if it’s the kind of things where they can see and recognize things but it’s not their speciality. Or they can notice things that could go in one direction or another, and it’s not their specialty to say which direction it is. Still it would be good to know why it was mentioned. The same for ADHD. Its really easy to get used to things, think they are a personality trait, or for kids to act differently away from home. So it’s good to ask what they noticed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I was looking for something else and found this newsletter, which has information from the Eide's on visual processing. It was interesting because it talks some about how the vision therapy for dyslexia myth is a problem, but that there are real issues that can exist with vision on top of dyslexia. Additionally, the newsletter interviews a developmental optometrist about vision issues she looks for, why she looks for them, how they relate to school tasks, etc. http://lynnhellerstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2-E-newsletter.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 In that vein, I'm finally reading the Visual/Spatial Portals book, which has instructions for retained reflexes, basic VT, etc., and it's good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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