Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
frustrated with evaluations and child care issues
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="SRL" data-source="post: 44374" data-attributes="member: 701"><p>Most of the time a diagnostician will come away with a first appointment with at least a general sense of what areas to narrow down the diagnostic search. The fact that after two appointments she still hasn't narrowed that down and is putting so much weight on one teacher's observations suggests that a couple of things could be going on. </p><p>1) As you mentioned, she's not seeing what you are experiencing. That's not at all unusual since most kids behave differently in a clinical setting BUT she should be taking your observations and concerns seriously. If you haven't already, go to our FAQ section and find the parent report. Work through that and see if there's any significant info that is missing. Make sure you have done your job in communicating the seriousness of the problem</p><p>2) Your child may have something neurological going on but is presenting atypically. We'll see this sometimes for instance with Autistic Spectrumy kids whose social skills are better than what would be expected. A good diagnostician should be able to deal with this scenario though. Likewise, sometimes we'll see kids who have symptoms coming in from multiple causes and it clouds the diagnostic picture</p><p>3) Sometimes kids will present with very difficult behaviors but fall short of any one diagnosis. In this case your doctor's report needs to be very clear and include recommendations because it's harder to get services for a child who lacks a diagnosis.</p><p>4) I hate to mention this possibility but keep it in mind. Sometimes we've seen doctors even at this level that don't take parents seriously for a variety of reasons. Once we had a mom come through here who was very young who couldn't get anyone to listen to her for that reason. She was articulate and knowledgable about children but her age kept getting in the way of getting anyone to take her seriously. Hopefully you have a doctor who is focusing on the child and not the parent but I mention it just in case.</p><p></p><p>Double check the forms you filled out at the developmental pediatrician. Do not authorize them to send a copy of the report directly to the school district. Get a copy sent to you, and if you agree then send a copy to the school district. This is especially important when the diagnosis isn't clear because how the report is worded could prevent getting needed help. </p><p></p><p>What to expect at the school evaluation: that can vary. The first meeting is to determine if testing is needed, and if so, what kind of testing. Then followup appointments are scheduled and those can vary considerably depending on the district. Some districts do a team evaluation where they meet with the child at home or at a school setting and do the full works on the same day. Others will schedule seperate appointments for the different specialty areas. Often for first evaluations screening tests are done as opposed to using actual diagnositic tools. If you really suspect an area such as language processing push for full scale diagnostic tools because those will yield a fuller and more acurate picture. Once the evaluations are completed you will meet again with the whole team to determine eligibility. If the child qualifies usually a seperate followup meeting is scheduled to formulate a game plan including placement, interventions, and goals. </p><p></p><p>That is how the process is supposed to look. Nowadays some schools are taking some short cuts to get children into services more quickly but there are some disadvantages to the quick route.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SRL, post: 44374, member: 701"] Most of the time a diagnostician will come away with a first appointment with at least a general sense of what areas to narrow down the diagnostic search. The fact that after two appointments she still hasn't narrowed that down and is putting so much weight on one teacher's observations suggests that a couple of things could be going on. 1) As you mentioned, she's not seeing what you are experiencing. That's not at all unusual since most kids behave differently in a clinical setting BUT she should be taking your observations and concerns seriously. If you haven't already, go to our FAQ section and find the parent report. Work through that and see if there's any significant info that is missing. Make sure you have done your job in communicating the seriousness of the problem 2) Your child may have something neurological going on but is presenting atypically. We'll see this sometimes for instance with Autistic Spectrumy kids whose social skills are better than what would be expected. A good diagnostician should be able to deal with this scenario though. Likewise, sometimes we'll see kids who have symptoms coming in from multiple causes and it clouds the diagnostic picture 3) Sometimes kids will present with very difficult behaviors but fall short of any one diagnosis. In this case your doctor's report needs to be very clear and include recommendations because it's harder to get services for a child who lacks a diagnosis. 4) I hate to mention this possibility but keep it in mind. Sometimes we've seen doctors even at this level that don't take parents seriously for a variety of reasons. Once we had a mom come through here who was very young who couldn't get anyone to listen to her for that reason. She was articulate and knowledgable about children but her age kept getting in the way of getting anyone to take her seriously. Hopefully you have a doctor who is focusing on the child and not the parent but I mention it just in case. Double check the forms you filled out at the developmental pediatrician. Do not authorize them to send a copy of the report directly to the school district. Get a copy sent to you, and if you agree then send a copy to the school district. This is especially important when the diagnosis isn't clear because how the report is worded could prevent getting needed help. What to expect at the school evaluation: that can vary. The first meeting is to determine if testing is needed, and if so, what kind of testing. Then followup appointments are scheduled and those can vary considerably depending on the district. Some districts do a team evaluation where they meet with the child at home or at a school setting and do the full works on the same day. Others will schedule seperate appointments for the different specialty areas. Often for first evaluations screening tests are done as opposed to using actual diagnositic tools. If you really suspect an area such as language processing push for full scale diagnostic tools because those will yield a fuller and more acurate picture. Once the evaluations are completed you will meet again with the whole team to determine eligibility. If the child qualifies usually a seperate followup meeting is scheduled to formulate a game plan including placement, interventions, and goals. That is how the process is supposed to look. Nowadays some schools are taking some short cuts to get children into services more quickly but there are some disadvantages to the quick route. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
frustrated with evaluations and child care issues
Top