Made The Neuropsyche Appointment For easy child

[Bunny]

I called today and got the first appointment that I could - October 23rd! Yikes!! I knew I would have to wait a while, but I was hoping to at least get him in over the summer. At least this school year is just about over and by the time the testing rolls around the new year will have just begun.

 

[pigless in VA]

Good for you, Bunny! I still haven't be able to reach a human by phone. I may have to drive down there and be a nuisance.

 

[TeDo]

Glad you got the appointment made. I called in May for an appointment and their first available one was the day before Thanksgiving (yea, November). BUT, it was well worth the wait. In my opinion, the longer the wait, the better they are at their job since they are so in demand. I know it's a pain to wait but......

 

[Bunny]

Heck, I was just glad to get an appointment!

 

[Ktllc]

I'm glad you have a date, something to write on the calendar. Sometimes, all you get is "we'll call you when you move up the waiting list".
What is going on with easy child anyway? I must have missed something.

 

[Bunny]

What is going on with easy child anyway? I must have missed something.

He has been having trouble in school all year long and the school has poo pooed me all along the way. I asked at the beginning of the year that he be placed in remedial reading and they just kept telling me that he didn't qualify. Then, finally, at the end of February he failed something called a Dibbles test and because of that they placed him in reading assistance. I asked for academic testing to be done, and they told me that there is nothing that they will offer him because he's so "solidly average" and will "never be anything better than a C student". To say that I was not happy would be an understatment. I'm really grasping at straws and I'm trying to rule things out. The school says he's just lazy. He's obviously trying to avoid doing the school work, but I'm trying to figure out if there is a real reason for it.

 

[Ktllc]

Wow, I see. Good for you for not just taking their word on it. Thumbs up.

 

[InsaneCdn]

and they told me that there is nothing that they will offer him because he's so "solidly average" and will "never be anything better than a C student". To say that I was not happy would be an understatment. I'm really grasping at straws and I'm trying to rule things out. The school says he's just lazy. He's obviously trying to avoid doing the school work, but I'm trying to figure out if there is a real reason for it.

been there done that.
If difficult child is completely off the rails, somehow (more often than not) there is help.
But major struggles, not working to potential, hidden disabilities?
It's all "attitude" as far as school is concerned.

The problem may not even be any one thing, but rather a combination that, taken together, IS major.

 

[Bunny]

been there done that.
If difficult child is completely off the rails, somehow (more often than not) there is help.
But major struggles, not working to potential, hidden disabilities?
It's all "attitude" as far as school is concerned.

The problem may not even be any one thing, but rather a combination that, taken together, IS major.

That's exactly right, ICD. He's a good kid in the classroom. He doesn't display bad behavior, he doesn't complain, he's quiet, he listens to the teachers. It's like that old saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil"? He's not the squeaky wheel in the classroom. As long as he sits in his seat and doesn't say anything (probably because he doesn't quite know what the problem really is) the school is never going to help him. They are going to continue to say that he's lazy and that since he does well in school but not at home the problem must be me (his mother) because I am the "only difference" between school and home.

I was talking to difficult child's psychiatrist about this and he went ballistic when I told him that was what I was told. He thinks that in some ways easy child is behaving exactly like difficult child. Behaves well in school, but all of the behaviors and problems show themselves here at home.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Get him tested for Auditory Processing Disorders (APD). Full spectrum of Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) - not just the classic "central auditory processing disorder" that affects how we process spoken language. Things like auditory figure ground are almost always missed... and almost always a HUGE problem. The kid doesn't "get it" - because they actually can't pick out what is being said over the background noise... and classrooms are horribly noisy (the best ones are horrible... the rest are unspeakably damaging). To make matters worse, they may be able to hear on Monday, or for part of the morning, before the mental effort to do so burns up all their mental energy, and they become... "lazy". NOT. Burned out? yes.

 

[Bunny]

I spoke to an audiologist about the Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) testing, but he said that he wants the neuropsyche evaluation done first in case they find anything there. I'll have that done when the other testing is over.

Oh, and the kid who is never going to be better than a C student just came home with a notice that he got a 90% on his math final, which counts twice for their math grade for the third trimester. This is where I get so confused. He got a 90%, so he obviously can do the work. Why can't he, or won't he, do it when he's home?

 

[InsaneCdn]

Why can't he, or won't he, do it when he's home?

Burnout. If he is dealing with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) or Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) plus Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)... it's BURNOUT. 100x any level of burnout you can imagine.

Basically, if he's anything like my difficult child... he has NOTHING left in his "tank" by the time he gets home. He does his best to hold it together at school, but that is already so far beyond limits that... everything else IS impossible.