I have a Question

[Hound dog]

Grandson Alex, soon to be 8 in June, was "diagnosed" mentally retarded by the sd. K says they evaled him and this was their conclusion. She is working on getting him a neuro-psychiatric evaluation as even when he was here as a baby/toddler I suspected autism.....and she is totally in agreement due to current behaviors. And I figure neuropsychologist will catch any other learning disabilities he has.

Some of this is my own curiosity, some is due to the fact she's going to try for disability for him for both services and the much needed extra income.

My question is......would social security deem a "diagnosis" via school system as a true diagnosis?

There is little doubt the boy has severe learning issues. He is in the 1st grade for the second time after repeating kindergarden. (should be in at least 2nd grade, poss 3rd grade) He's in Special Education. Has an IEP. But still can't read, add, subtract. He just learned to say his alphabet at xmas. So obviously there is a delay going on. I don't think he counts either.

Now this child has so totally stolen my heart it's unreal. (hard to discribe, but very much due to being "special") But when I talk to Alex on the phone or when he sends me school work or drawings via mail.........I do not think of an almost 8 yr old child, I think of one younger than Darrin who is 5 yrs old.

My Mom instincts based on what I knew when he lived here up to 18 mos, and experience with Travis, plus history makes me think he is very very much like his uncle Travis only in a more severe form. I wouldn't be surprised if he's Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Tourette's Syndrome,Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), CP with a few others added in. The cerebral palsy stems from K dropping him repeatedly as an infant (newborn/up). We saw evidence of this during his infancy and I even made an attempt then to have it diagnosed.

So, do you think she'll have to wait until the neuropsychologist evaluation to have any hope of the SSDI? I was hoping it would be a way to get him more services as the school isn't doing much except the Special Education.

 

[SRL]

My gut level says there would have to be a medical diagnosis and info online keeps repeating something to the effect of letters from doctors, hospitals, clinics.

I found the gov site which lists the forms, requirements, etc. but the pertinent forms were out of order when I clicked on them. Here's the link so you can look later.
http://www.ssa.gov/online/#Other

 

[Hound dog]

Thanks. My gut also told me a school diagnosis wouldn't be enough. I'll check out that link.

 

[Janna]

The problem with this, it sounds like, is they did basic IQ testing (WISC maybe?) and came up with an overall IQ score. From that, they are possibly giving the indication for the MR diagnosis?

D's IQ score came back a very low 72. That's borderline MR. But, it came back that way because when they tested him, he didn't *want* to do the work. His ADHD was in high gear, he was manic - whatever it was. So, it may make him *look* to be almost MR, but he's not even close.

There can be big differences between developmental delays, learning delays, learning disabilities and MR.

Also, I've never taken a school psychologists diagnosis for anything. In fact, all of the testing/placements we've done for D in school have all been the IQ/learning type stuff, because both psychologists made it very clear D was "completely out of the area of their expertise" - and we had to get psychiatric evaluations/referrals for what we need with the Axis I on it.

Yeah, I'd definately do the neuro but that's just me. I'd be surprised if SSI gave disability based on the school.

 

[Marguerite]

If there is any language delay (and with a suspected diagnosis of autism, chances are there IS language delay) then be aware that it's highly likely that the "retarded" label is pessimistic.

difficult child 3 "failed" his first IQ test done when he was 4, because he just didn't have enough language skills to understand the questions (and therefore respond to them). We were told he was "borderline" (as in "borderline retarded", they just didn't want to say the "R" word). However, he has since tested as having an IQ in the mid 140s.

Big difference.

I'm not saying thta this boy is a closet genius. But if he is slow to learn because he is still trying to learn communication, then he could make up lost ground later on. The secret is - help him learn to communicate, language is vital. Work on that first as a priority and then you will have the tools to help him learn academically, afterwards.

Marg

 

[BusynMember]

I don't trust school district testing either. My son tested at 72 and 75. When he had private neuropsychologist testing he tested at 107, which makes A LOT more sense. Also, his testing was impeded because he's on the autism spectrum and conventional testing for him didn't work when he was very young. The results were skewed due to his disability. He is now 15 and repeatedly on the honor roll to high honor roll. He does get some Learning Disability (LD) help, but he's still pretty bright. I would want to test him to see what's going on--I prefer private NeuroPsychs. I wouldn't put much stock in what the school has to say. The price is right, but ya get what ya pay for too.