for a neuropsychologist evaluation? difficult child#3 has had a neurological evaluation AND a psychological evaluation but I was going to schedule a neuropysch. I started thinking about it and wondered if it was too soon and I should wait until he is in kindergarten. Any ideas,comments??
Is 5 yrs. old too young?
- Thread starter nlg319
- Start date
BusynMember
Well-Known Member
No age is too young. I wish I'd known about NeuroPsychs before my son got into kindergarten. I would have had an evaluation at that time.
Stella Johnson
Active Member
My difficult child was 5 when she had one. I don't think it's too young at all.
Steph
Steph
Marguerite
Active Member
difficult child 3 was 4 when he had his first thorough evaluation. So was easy child 2/difficult child 2 (and all HE found was a genius IQ). With difficult child 3 - it was at a multidisciplinary centre and they gave us a very pessimistic prognosis, which he has been giving the lie to ever since. But their diagnosis - spot on.
Something to bear in mind - he probably will need (and get) numerous assessments over the years. They shouldn't be too frequent or too close together because otherwise a kid simply gets good at doing well on these tests and you get a false picture. However, an initial diagnosis can always help with understanding and getting support. Just keep an open mind and do not let it limit your child, if the child clearly seems more capable that you've been led to believe.
Similarly, don't push a child harder than they are able to manage. We have an organisation here called Family Advocacy, they've given us useful advice. But when I was trying to get difficult child 3 access to some alternative to mainstream, I found this organisation has a big blind spot - they believe that all kids regardless of disability should be accommodated in mainstream and any attempt to move away from mainstream is undermining their "grand design". They got quite hostile with me, until I finally worked out what the problem was. And while I firmly agree that all kids should be able to have ACCESS to mainstream, it has to be recognised that it's not always the best place for them. Otherwise, why do we have wading pools? Larger pools which have a shallow end? Where do the babies go? Or the older kids who are scared of water, or who have difficulty swimming? If they are given access to an easier alternative, they are going to be better able to make the move to the 'big' pool when they have acquired the skills they need, in a gentler, safer place.
From what I have seen on this site, it seems to be a fairly common thing in both the US and Australia - a private evaluation is likely to be more detailed and perhaps more 'honest'. A school evaluation always has some value, but you need to have access to the extra detail sometimes which school evaluations rarely do. We were able to take a school evaluation, though, and use it to springboard into a more detailed private one without having to duplicate a lot of the testing. It CAN work in tandem, but if you've already had a private evaluation done the school will thank you, you have saved them time and expense. This all helps your child get help that much faster.
And it's good to know all this, BEFORE the child starts school, so the school can be ready.
Marg
Something to bear in mind - he probably will need (and get) numerous assessments over the years. They shouldn't be too frequent or too close together because otherwise a kid simply gets good at doing well on these tests and you get a false picture. However, an initial diagnosis can always help with understanding and getting support. Just keep an open mind and do not let it limit your child, if the child clearly seems more capable that you've been led to believe.
Similarly, don't push a child harder than they are able to manage. We have an organisation here called Family Advocacy, they've given us useful advice. But when I was trying to get difficult child 3 access to some alternative to mainstream, I found this organisation has a big blind spot - they believe that all kids regardless of disability should be accommodated in mainstream and any attempt to move away from mainstream is undermining their "grand design". They got quite hostile with me, until I finally worked out what the problem was. And while I firmly agree that all kids should be able to have ACCESS to mainstream, it has to be recognised that it's not always the best place for them. Otherwise, why do we have wading pools? Larger pools which have a shallow end? Where do the babies go? Or the older kids who are scared of water, or who have difficulty swimming? If they are given access to an easier alternative, they are going to be better able to make the move to the 'big' pool when they have acquired the skills they need, in a gentler, safer place.
From what I have seen on this site, it seems to be a fairly common thing in both the US and Australia - a private evaluation is likely to be more detailed and perhaps more 'honest'. A school evaluation always has some value, but you need to have access to the extra detail sometimes which school evaluations rarely do. We were able to take a school evaluation, though, and use it to springboard into a more detailed private one without having to duplicate a lot of the testing. It CAN work in tandem, but if you've already had a private evaluation done the school will thank you, you have saved them time and expense. This all helps your child get help that much faster.
And it's good to know all this, BEFORE the child starts school, so the school can be ready.
Marg
