B
Bunny
Guest
The long version of the diagnosis is: learning disabled, cognitive disorder not otherwise specified.
Basically what this means is that if you ask easy child to tell you a story he can come up with a great one, including all kinds of interesting details and descriptions that make it really good. He's got a great grasp of language. Now, ask him to write that same story and he can't do it. His brain seems to work differently. It's one of the big reason that he has such a huge amount of trouble with spelling. He can't get the information from his brain out onto the paper.
I asked why this didn't come up when the school district did their testing in the spring and the psychiatrist said that it's because he's now in 3rd grade (he was in 2nd when the school testing was done) and when they do the testing in 3rd grade they have to write an essay, which is what brought his scores down.
I'll get the written report in about two week (although he said that if I become a squeaky wheel I will get it earlier) and that my next step is to contact the school and request another CSE meeting. He thinks that an IEP needs to be put into place which allows easy child several things. One is that when the kids take written tests that easy child be given time and a half (if the kids get an hour for the test, easy child should get and hour and a half). He also thinks that there are some tests that easy child should be allowed to take orally rather than have to write them out, like history. He can tell you that Columbus discovered America in 1492, but he might not be able to write it out. I asked if a spelling test could be done this way and he said that he didn't think that they would allow it for spelling. (I asked if the point of spelling it to learn to spell the word or write the word and his answer was, "Yes!", meaning that the point is pretty much both.)
This makes ALOT of sense to me. There were many times last year when we would pound spelling words into easy child's little head. He could spell them to us perfectly, but he would get a 50 on the test. We just didn't get it. Now I understand why. He could spell the words. He just couldn't write them.
I asked if he thought that auditory processing testing should be looked into, but he feels that that is not the problem. He feels that the main issue is this cognitive issue. The psychiatrist did say that he sees some ADHD symptoms in him, but that it's not to the point where it really should be written down as a diagnosis. That may change as he gets older. It's something to keep an eye on.
In many ways, I feel vindicated. I've been saying since the start of 2nd grade that something was not right and that he was having trouble. The answers that I got from the school district last spring ("He's lazy. He's never going to be anything better than a C student and I need to change my expectations of him.") were of no help. He has a GREAT teacher placement this year and I know that she is more willing to work with me as a partner than his teachers last year were, so I'm hopeful for him.
Basically what this means is that if you ask easy child to tell you a story he can come up with a great one, including all kinds of interesting details and descriptions that make it really good. He's got a great grasp of language. Now, ask him to write that same story and he can't do it. His brain seems to work differently. It's one of the big reason that he has such a huge amount of trouble with spelling. He can't get the information from his brain out onto the paper.
I asked why this didn't come up when the school district did their testing in the spring and the psychiatrist said that it's because he's now in 3rd grade (he was in 2nd when the school testing was done) and when they do the testing in 3rd grade they have to write an essay, which is what brought his scores down.
I'll get the written report in about two week (although he said that if I become a squeaky wheel I will get it earlier) and that my next step is to contact the school and request another CSE meeting. He thinks that an IEP needs to be put into place which allows easy child several things. One is that when the kids take written tests that easy child be given time and a half (if the kids get an hour for the test, easy child should get and hour and a half). He also thinks that there are some tests that easy child should be allowed to take orally rather than have to write them out, like history. He can tell you that Columbus discovered America in 1492, but he might not be able to write it out. I asked if a spelling test could be done this way and he said that he didn't think that they would allow it for spelling. (I asked if the point of spelling it to learn to spell the word or write the word and his answer was, "Yes!", meaning that the point is pretty much both.)
This makes ALOT of sense to me. There were many times last year when we would pound spelling words into easy child's little head. He could spell them to us perfectly, but he would get a 50 on the test. We just didn't get it. Now I understand why. He could spell the words. He just couldn't write them.
I asked if he thought that auditory processing testing should be looked into, but he feels that that is not the problem. He feels that the main issue is this cognitive issue. The psychiatrist did say that he sees some ADHD symptoms in him, but that it's not to the point where it really should be written down as a diagnosis. That may change as he gets older. It's something to keep an eye on.
In many ways, I feel vindicated. I've been saying since the start of 2nd grade that something was not right and that he was having trouble. The answers that I got from the school district last spring ("He's lazy. He's never going to be anything better than a C student and I need to change my expectations of him.") were of no help. He has a GREAT teacher placement this year and I know that she is more willing to work with me as a partner than his teachers last year were, so I'm hopeful for him.