Need to know my rights for further testing

[BMW]

My son had testing done a year ago - the full range, complete testing both educationally and phsycho-analysis testing. The school district does these tests every 3 years. These tests have him listed as ld for dyslexia and adhd.

 

My challenge is that I want an accurate IQ test done and don't think that is reflected in any of these tests - or if I am reading test results wrong, for someone to explain to me what I want to know (which is IQ related). I want to best help my son.

 

We pulled him from public school for his emotional well being. I want to know and understand his test scores, etc.

 

I have an IEP meeting today. I've already asked and been told that the district will not test further until 2011. I just want a new IQ test given.

 

What can I do? Who would I turn to, or who would I confront? What are some ways I can phrase my request that will get me what I want? It has been my understanding that if I disagree with test results, I can demand further testing or that testing be administered by a different professional. How does one do that?

 

I would just drop it and bide my time, but I think I am struggling with this son over IQ issues. My suspicion is mild retardation. I need to understand this to do my best job with him. It affects us daily. I know I should have patience teaching any child with ld's and I do try... but I think I need to know this so that I know when to push him forward and what he is capable of... Am I wrong in that? How do you know when a child is capable of more or when they just aren't that capable?

 

Thanks,

 

Bee

[lionfamily1999]

Bee, you could get his IQ tested yourself. If the info. you want is only for your own use, why not?

[Mom22ns]

If you want another IQ test, you can request one, but you cannot force the district to pay for it. You can go and get one yourself and then they must consider the results along with any results they already have. At least that is the way it works here.

 

The good thing about doing it with an outside professional is that if they get results you like, you share them with the school and ask them to consider them, if not, you don't have to share them at all :tongue_smilie:. You are in control. You have to foot the bill, but it can be worth it to have the person working for you instead of the school. That means they must explain their results to you, answer your questions, etc. The school employee is only going to provide what the school wants and that may or may not be the most useful information for you.

 

Debbie

[Paz]

I just recently had testing done with dd so I am not an expert by any means but here are my thoughts. I would think if you had the complete testing done through the school system that the IQ testing would be part of that. You should be able to look through the testing or have the school psychologist or whoever did the testing let you know what the IQ came out to. My thoughts are that when dealing with a child who has LD's such as dyslexia and ADHD the IQ that they come up with may actually be lower that expected. Part of the testing depends on their ability to answers questions and do work quickly. I know my dd works very slowly and that affects the test scores. Maybe others here will have better, more complete answers for you.

[Laurie4b]

There are a couple of issues in your post:

 

1) You absolutely have a right to have the test scores explained to you in a way that you understand AND to have the complete test scores. (Make sure you have not just descriptive labels like "average" but standard scores and percentile rankings.)

 

2) I know of no right to additional IQ testing sooner than 3 years. If they did not do IQ testing the first time and you suspect mild MR, then you probably do have a right to the testing. You would need to make a written request asking that they evaluate your child for MR. However, my guess is that the IQ testing was done. I don't know how one would determine an LD without it. Additionally, I would also guess his IQ did not fall into the mild MR range, but was above that. Typically, with a child with an IQ in the mild MR range, that would be seen as the cause of the reading problem. They would not give an additional diagnosis of dyslexia.

[BMW]

Thanks, Laurie. I understand your ideas... I am pretty sure the dyslexia is very well founded - it's been very obvious over many years. But the mild MR I am seeing is more of processing, common sense and... there's no other way to put this, but he can be very "stupid"-ish. Now, I was blasted once for saying that, that I am his teacher and how could I say such as thing and would I say that to him, etc. I am saying that the boy is lacking intelligence... I live with it and see it. He has a lot of incapabilities. And one thing that bugs me is that he is often showing his tongue... his mouth hangs open about 70% of the time, with his tongue showing and it's... just not right. I want answers, but don't seem to have them. I will study his test results. I do have copies of all of the tests. I believe, though, that those administering the tests did so with a bias and also knew that his mom had died a couple years ago and they chose to see a boy "hurt" by life and not the boy I am working with each day.

 

Gosh, I hope this doesn't upset anyone. Really, I am not meaning to hurt anyone, I want to help my son.

[Ottakee]

Have you seen the doctor about the tongue hanging out, etc.? Can he breathe through his nose with his mouth closed? Some kids that have overly large tonsils/adenoids can't breathe through their nose normally and thus have their mouths open to breathe. An ENT could help you out there.

 

Do you have any test scores you could share with us? That might help as well.

 

If you have medical insurance, see about seeing a neurologist or developmental pediatrician.. They could be helpful and refer you on to other testing if indicated.

 

I have 2 with MR so I understand what you are saying.

[Paz]

BMW, it may be helpful for you to have the testing again to get another assessment. I don't know really know how that works with the school. I do know that with dyslexia, processing issues are very common. My dd is bright but it takes her many times to get a concept. She had a difficult time learning her colors, days of the week, and she still mixes up the months sometimes. When I ask her questions, she answers slowly and doesn't always know the answer but if she is engaged in causual conversation she can talk and explain her points well. Multiple choice and True and False tests are extremely difficult for her. I don't know about the tongue showing thing? My dh and ds sit there with their mouths open when they are watching TV or concentrating on something. I always thought it is because they can't breathe through their noses. :001_smile:

[BMW]

I just spent the morning studying the reports from son's testing. They would not state an IQ because there were too many discrepencies in the results (??). They did go over each test and discussed what areas he was in normal range and where he was below. There's one paragraph that discusses his inability to process information and a statement of his below average intelligence. So, don't shoot me, that is why maybe some days I feel like I am trying to teach a rock. But, my son is very inconsistent!!! Other days he processes better and makes good choices and his work is closer to age appropriate... It also speaks in somewhat of a circular reasoning. Meaning, it will say in one paragraph that his lacking intelligence is caused by his learning disabilities. Then it will be reworded in another paragraph that it is not clear if his lack of processing skills is caused by lower intelligence. Anyway, those are my rewordings, the way it sounded to me.

 

I guess all in all, I know that I have a son who displays serious adhd when siblings or other children are around (when he is home alone with me, his adhd symptoms can disappear), he has to hear things to learn and he has significant dyslexia and dysgraphia... and I think there's some sensory integration challenges as well.

 

Our insurance will not budge and pay for anything because they consider it "social" not medical. The school district will not re-evaluate right now. It is not in my budget to pay for another opinion at this time. I think I'll have to just prepare myself mentally each day to offer him lots of patience and accept who he is and where he is at... I just keep hoping that if I work with him enough, I can help him overcome some of these challenges. I don't want him to change in personality or who he is, I want him to rise to greater abilities for his future. I just don't know what that looks like.

 

Thanks for listening.

[BMW]

Oh, I forgot, the evaluation also had him at a age level of 6 years, 7 months (he took the test when he was 10 years, 5 months). Now, that I do believe! That is the boy I have with me every day - extremely immature and not very capable of common sense... lacking self control and impulse control.

[Ottakee]

That would likely fit with a mildly mentally impaired child.

 

Oh, I forgot, the evaluation also had him at a age level of 6 years, 7 months (he took the test when he was 10 years, 5 months). Now, that I do believe! That is the boy I have with me every day - extremely immature and not very capable of common sense... lacking self control and impulse control.

[Laurie4b]

Do you mean that they wouldn't give any IQ, or that they wouldn't give a full scale IQ? A full scale IQ is not valid when there is a wide discrepency between the four main subtests: Verbal, Perceptual Reasoning, Processing, and Working Memory. When there is a wide discrepency, it makes more sense to treat each area as its own category. For instance, say a child had a verbal IQ of 80 and a perceptual reasoning score of 121, with working memory and processing around 90. It would not really tell you anything of use to say his IQ was 100 (dead average.) It is much more accurate and useful to know that particular child will struggle with reading and writing, but be good with math and mechanics than to say that he is "average." If that's what you are meaning , then the numbers that you do have for the 4 subtest areas are fine to use. If however, his test performance was such that they didn't think the test was valid, then you would actually have a case for retesting the IQ by the school system. If you do have the scores for the 4 different areas, to test in the mild MR range, the standard scores would need to be less than 70.

[BMW]

Thanks, I will look at is closely again.