RE: o/t Finally, a learning disability has been identified!

[fivegonefishing]

 
I never thought I would be glad to receive a report saying my child has a learning disability.  We got a verbal summary of Sam s assessment tonight and it was determined she is moderate to sever ADHD that is being addressed with meds, an above average IQ excelling in math, science, vocabulary, grammer and mechanical thinking and a written outpput deficit learning disability.  Shesh, this is exactly what I ve been telling the doc s and teachers for a couple years now!
 
 Now where I live we will have an IRPC to obtain an IEP which basically means an individual education plan will be formulated to fit her needs.  She s a kid who thinks outside the box so because a professional dx d her with this LD the written compents of her education will be wide open for her to learn!
 
 I m so glad; everything I ve been thinking and feeling for the last couple years has just been validated.  My kid is as smart as I think she is, now she can start showing everyone else!
 
 Tammy

[tlhdoc]

 fivegonefishing
Glad you found out the problem.  Sorry there is a problem, but now things should be better for him.

[AustinBoston]

 fivegonefishing
As a parent of an ADD child (now 19 and in college), I can tell you that a correct diagnosis is only about 5% of the battle.  But the rest of the battle is impossible to win without the diagnosis.
 
 Austin

[cooncreekers]

 fivegonefishing
[] oh i just knew everything would work out! of COURSE she`s real smart, all these kids are, they just march to a different drummer!

[iwantapopup]

 fivegonefishing
I have been in your shoes.  My oldest is 22 and when she was in K, the teacher realized she was having problems but she didn t tell me until the end of the school year and it was my first child, I thought she was doing ok.
 
 1st grade turned into a battle with the teacher with me insisting she be tested because she was having so much trouble reading.  We changed schools in the 4th quarter of that year and 3 days after being in a new school, new teacher, etc.  I get a message from the teacher saying wondering where her school records were because she was lost in the classroom.
 
 The following year she was finally tested and she is language impaired.  An IEP was written, she was placed in a special language classroom and she started making progress and finally learned to read.  I too felt relief when my concerns were validated.
 
 Even with an IEP, I ve had to fight along the way to make sure either it was being followed, etc.  all the way through High School.  My daughter was great at math and science but she is still a poor reader, can get thoughts crossed and at times has a hard time expressing herself verbally.
 
 I m sure your daughter will soar with the right enviroment in which to learn.  They come up with ways to help LD kids compensate in areas they need it.
 
 Go give her a hug from all of us!

[fivegonefishing]

 fivegonefishing
Thanks Linda[]
 
 Tammy

[farmer]

 fivegonefishing
Tammy
 We know what you mean about being glad that your child has a disability.  Our 3 year old was recently diagnosed with social anxiety and selective mutism.  We have been asking our peditrician about her " extreme shyness"  for a year and had gotten nowhere until we saw an article in either Parent or Child magazine about selective mutism and realized that was what our daughter has.  Now we are in the process of having an evaluation and formulating an IEP with the school district.
 Best wishes
 Farmer

[SheBantam]

 fivegonefishing
I know how important that diagnosis is. Jeffrey was thought to be ADHD, but Raymond did not want him " labled" .  The school district mad it so hard on us, because we did not want him on meds.  Finally Raymond relented after I showed him that we could get him some relief at school.  Again, the school put such pressure on us to put him on meds, that after 5 years of fighting them, we did.
 
 It still is not easy, he is not motivated, and we have to keep after him, I did a term paper for Psychology in college several years ago on the ADD/ADHD Child.
 I recognized many of the signs were what I went through as a child, and still deal with.
 
 Jeffrey still gets in trouble at school, he still does notdo his classwork or homework. The teachers do not want to follow the 504 plan because it is too much work or they just do not feel it is necessary. They tried to take all the considerations away this year and refuse to acknowledge the compomise that the School District Superintendent s office wrote up. The refuse to sign the addendum to the 504 as they feel that it is too much for us and the superintendent s office to make them make sure that Jeffrey s assignment book is signed by each teacher each day and if there are no assignments that also needs to be initialed. That is too much work.
 
 Even though you ahve the diagnosis and an IEP or 504 depending on is it is a handicap or a disability, some school districts try to get around the plans.
 
 Also be aware that if the school district cannot provide the needed help for your child, that they have to foot the bill for a private school that can help you child. They will try to tell you that is not true, but you can find lots of information about your rights on line.
 Good Luck with your school district. Some are better than others.

[PI]

 fivegonefishing
Our son was also diagnosed with ADHD. We wanted the meds to be the last thing. So we had him evaluated with a psycologist( preferably not the school s) and that is where we got the diagnosis.We went to counseling for behavior management( ours and his) because sometimes the way we were parenting does not work with these kids. We had to find some other way of parenting. We did end up having him on meds. After a while he did not want to go downstairs to the nurses office before lunch and be labled. He is a very smart kid -just learns differently.I do agree with Paula though., you have to stay on top of things.We worked very closely with the school and we still sometimes felt like things were not happening. He wasn t being considered as having a disability and if we didn t push he would have fallen through the cracks..finally we got an ED plan. He graduated from high school and went to school for 8 weeks to learn how to install show quality sound systems in cars.  He is a neat kid at 24 and is working for my husband in my husband s business. He is also back in school to get his installers liscense. He is a thinker, has common sense, is funny, is artistic and can do just about anything he puts his mind to. If it is something he wants...he is VERY motivated. It is not always easy but he is a joy to have around.
 Don t mean to rant and rave but I understand what you are going through.
 Just stick with it. Good Luck!  PI

[missteri]

 fivegonefishing
farmer,
 Good luck with your child with the selective mutism.  A friend of mine is going through that with his son, now in Kindergarten.  He still won t talk to the teachers, but they will occasionally see him talking to the other kids.  You are lucky you have gotten it diagnosed so early.
 
 

[DBGCAMP]

 fivegonefishing
Tammy (and SheBantam - Paula?),
 
 I have (and still am) walking in your shoes.  Our daughter was dx d with ADHD at the end of Kindergarten.  We are lucky and have a very conservative MD.  Although we did put her on Ritalin, he prescribed the lowest dose for her size and recommended only using it for school as this is where the symptoms manifest most often.  We have done placebo tests over the years to determine whether the med is still necessary.  As she has grown, we obviously had to up her dosage - it was very apparent when this needed to be done.  She is currently on a once a day med and it seems to be working just fine.  Unfortunately, many of the teachers still believe this will solve everything, but it will not turn the child into the perfect student.
 
 Although she was dx d in K, we did not have a formal IEP in place until she was in the 4th grade.  I did not even know this was an option for her until I talked to a friend of mine who happens to be a special education teacher.  The best piece of advice she gave me is that you have to DEMAND what  you want from the school and put it in writing.  All these programs cost the schools money, so if they can get away with not providing it they will.  When I asked for testing for an IEP I was told by her 4th grade teacher that she did not have a disability and therefore was not eligible.  However, In NYS ADHD is considered a disabilityand falls under the category of " Other Health Impaired"  and most definitely qualifies a child for an IEP.  The difference between the IEP and the 504 plan is that following the IEP is MANDATORY by state law.  The teacher cannot decide it is too much work for them - they have to do it.!   Needless to say, she has had an IEP since the beginning of 5th grade.
 
 Paula - we also had the teachers signing our daughter s planner daily.  It makes a big difference - keep fighting for that.  The teachers kept telling us that they were trying to teach her responsibilty by having her complete the planner on her own.   The behavioral  psychologist that examined her this past year stated that her responsibility is to complete the work assigned.  It is our responsibility as the adults to make sure she knows what the assignments are and hold her accountable for completing them.  Another thing that really helped was to get an extra set of books at home.   It is very hard for her to remember everything that she needs to bring home to complete the assignments, so this is one less thing she has to remember (besides, it saves her back!).  
 
 Sorry for rambling on.  I hope some of this has helped - even if just to let you know you are not alone!  Good luck!
 
 Diane