How do you get the school to help a teenager who is acting out?
My son is 15. He was diagnosed ADHD & Dyslexic in the fourth grade. My biggest problem is that I feel like the schools are against me. We didn't get any help until junior high. By that time, my son was so frustrated that he began to act out. I am currently trying to learn the steps to take to fight the schools to get the help he needs and deserves.
Should he be tested again to see if anything has changed? Or does the diagnosis just remain the same? We had outside testing done. Otherwise, I would not even be asking because unfortunately, I don't have much trust in the school system. I believe that they try to give out the least amount of help as possible. This web site has been a wonderful source of education for me. My biggest fear is that I will have a son that quits school because he gets frustrated just like I did when I was young.
Thank you for answering all of these questions for all of the people that have the same issues as mine, but some in different areas. Please just remind people that they are their children's voice and that they need to help them.
Kelly
I share your anger that your school system did nothing until he was frustrated and acting out. You need to do two things as a first step. Act now before he does give up. First, go to your family doctor and ask that a report be written confirming the diagnosis of ADHD. Then, send a written request to the principal of his school, requesting a meeting to discuss the need for updated testing and the probable need for an IEP.
If you put this request in writing, the principal must respond by calling such a meeting. If ignored, contact your Superintendent of School and complain. I would encourage you to take your own educational consultant to this meeting. You and your son have rights. Sometimes you have to remind the school system that this is true. Good luck.
(December 2008)
Can a teacher place a child in a resource room?
I am a self-contained special education teacher in New Jersey. I would like to know if I can place my students in a resource room setting for subjects such as reading or math. In other words, I might teach this student reading, language, spelling, science and social studies and he might go to the resource room for math. Is this legal?
You must request a meeting of the special education team. In New Jersey, this is known as the Child Study Team. This is the group of professionals who will reflect on your concerns and answer your questions.
(December 2008)
How does a parent handle a child who misbehaves in school but is well behaved and happy at home?
My eight-year-old son has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He has been taking his medication but still has bouts of behavioral problems. He has also been evaluated with learning disabilities although over the past three years the evaluations have not been consistent.
He has learned to manipulate to get out of situations he does not want to be in. For example, throwing temper tantrums worse each time to get sent home from school. As soon as he walks out of the school, he is a totally different child - well behaved and happy. How can I tell when his behavior is manipulative and when it is due to his anxiety?
It is important to differentiate the cause of the behaviors; however, the interventions are the same. I would suggest that the first step focus on why school is stressful. If he has learning disabilities, these should be clear on formal and current testing. You should not have to suspect. If your school system is minimizing or avoiding recognizing LD or treating the LD, seek outside help. If the cause of the behaviors is the frustrations and failures caused by his LD, an important focus will be to provide the necessary remedial interventions plus classroom accommodations.
Next, I would try to clarify the anxiety and depression. Are these problems only present during school time but not seen on holidays or summer? Are they present all year long? Has he had problems with anxiety or depression for many years or is it only recent? You might need the help of a mental health professional to clarify if the anxiety is secondary to the academic frustrations or are the cause of the academic difficulties.
Your son is yelling for help. He is desperate enough to act out in order to get out of school. Please act quickly to figure out the reasons and the best interventions. (first, does he have LD; is he below grade level in skills; second, are there other reasons than school to explain his behaviors.)
(October 2008)
What should be done for an underemployed adult with a learning disability?
In second grade, my son was held over and got his first private Ed Evaluation at SUNY, which diagnosed him as dyslexic. He had a resource room and vision training at SUNY. His behavior and verbal ability was better than average, but his reading and math especially continued to plummet as the work advanced. He struggled through an alternative high school, attended N.Y. Film Academy and excelled. He did internships for a few years which did not lead to steady employment.
His academic struggles have negatively impacted his life. Currently, he is a substitute paraprofessional in the day and a substitute janitor for the Board of Education of New York. He loves children and would love to teach; he has 15 credits from KCC, but failed the CUNY Assessments in Math and English. He has friends and socializes, but it's hard to get into a serious relationship when you cannot realize your full career potential because you don't have the tools to succeed in college.
He is now 27 years old and, unless something changes for him, he'll have to settle for a mediocre "job." Even civil service tests are a challenge for him. He scored a 70% on a Transit Authority Painters Test. Help! The system has failed him and countless others.
Yes, the system has failed him. I agree that something must be done now. Find a professional who understands LD in adults. An updated assessment will help to clarify if specific interventions might help at this time as well as whether better compensatory strategies can be developed. This assessment will also help to clarify what career/job potentials he might have and what types of training might be needed.
There are programs to help adults like your son and laws (American's with Disabilities Act) to help in the work situation. Perhaps you could contact the programs that assessed him as a teen and find out where you could go to get help for an adult with LD.
(October 2008)
How can I help my daughter who has lost all of her former friends?
My daughter has lost all of her good friends. She claims it is them and not her, yet I am not so sure. Do I step in and call her friends to see what is wrong, or do I ignore this and hope that she will get some new friends? She is ADD and OCD and is a smart, beautiful young lady who has zero confidence in herself and always sees faults with everyone else.
Tracee
You note several possible reasons why your daughter might not have successful social interaction skills. Her ADD, OCD, and lack of confidence might be the issues. Start with the school counselor. Ask that he/she observe your daughter and speak with her teachers. See what you can learn. Observe her when she is with other kids and try to clarify why these kids react the way they do.
If she has ADD and OCD, she is probably under the care of one or more professionals. Seek their thoughts on the problem. She might need to be in a social skills group therapy or in another program that helps her understand her behaviors and how they impact on others.
(October 2008)
What's wrong with a child who throws tantrums, refuses to listen, and can't concentrate?
I am worried about my five-year-old grandson. He refuses to listen, has trouble concentrating, throws tantrums, and asks the same question over and over. He is very bright, cute, funny, imaginative and loves to be the center of attention. He doesn't sit still if there is external stimuli. I literally can't take my eyes off of him. He doesn't know boundaries. He doesn't sit to eat a meal. The doors have to be locked from the inside, he may decide to visit the neighbor or go on a journey. Two years ago, I thought it was a phase, but it is getting worse. It's as if he has no control.
Please help!
Jackie
The behaviors you describe suggest a possible Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Have your grandson's parents explored this possibility with their family physician? If not, you might suggest that they do. If they are resistant, ask them to learn more about this disorder. Have them check the ADHD Basics section of LD Online, ADDITUDE and CHADD.
(October 2008)
My child went on ADHD medication and is now depressed. What now?
My daughter, who is now 7 years old, has been diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia, Motor Function delays and Executive Function disorder. This diagnosis came after about four months of testing and evaluation. The ADHD diagnosis came as a surprise, not just to us, but to her teachers and specialists as well. They just didn't see it.
The plan of action included continuation with what we are already doing and medication. We tried the medication and were told we would see an immediate change. The medication did nothing other than make her depressed. She is known for her sweet personality so the change was obvious. We tried other meds with the same result.
I am wondering if she has been misdiagnosed. She is now reading and writing through the help of a specialist as well as at home. She is also doing well with math. She is still struggling with her ability to stay focused and follow directions (ie. if I ask her to face me she will turn around with her back to me). At this point in her treatment, do you have any advice as to what I can do next? Thank you, in advance, for you time and consideration.
I would trust your observations and judgment. It is possible that her inattention is the result of her learning, motor, (and probably language) disabilities. If so, medication may not help; remedial tutoring, OT, Speech-Language will help. I suggest that you hold off on trying medication and give the interventions a chance to help. If the professionals working with her feel that her inattention is a major concern, you might want to have her reassessed by a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist to explore why the medications did not work and to find if other interventions might help.
(October 2008)
How can you get the school system to help a child who is doing well now, but needs intervention to prevent failure next year?
My son is 10 years old and soon to start the fifth grade. In early 2007, he was diagnosed with mild learning disabilities, specifically with a phonemic awareness deficit and short-term memory deficit. It was also suggested that he perhaps has some trouble with CAP, but that no one in this area does this type of testing. His public school can do nothing for him because his intelligence was at a low-average to average level and compared to his academic output, there was not a significant gap between the two.
He makes a few A's, mostly B's and some C's. He loves to learn new things about the world; however, he is increasingly frustrated with the demands of higher elementary school. He is doing as well as he is in school because I work with him so much after school. His teachers try to help in the class as much as they can, but with almost 30 kids, it is impossible. I am concerned that he requires so much help now and wonder how we will get through middle school next year when the teachers won't be so helpful.
I am returning to school to finish my master's degree and will not be available to help him as much. His counselor said we might need to retest him in middle school if his problems become worse because by then, he might be more than a few grade levels behind instead of the one he is now. He would then most likely qualify for special education and an IEP.
It doesn't end here...my son also was born with congenital heart defects and almost lost his life this past year due to his heart issues. However, with everyone's preserverance, he has recovered wonderfully. The point is, my son wants to lead a full life, but that full life may be shortened unfortunately by his medical condition. I can't let him get two or more levels behind. He wants to go to college and do so much more.
Is there anything else that I should be doing? What else can I do to help him? Anyone else I should contact? Any tips on how to help him be a successful reader, speller and writer? Why must my son get two or more grades behind before anyone will help him? It frustrates me and disgusts me to no end that our schools are failing the kids that need them the most.
Anyone can teach a bunch of straight A students. You know, the ones that don't even need a teacher and would do fine on their own. To be a true teacher they must be able to connect with and teach our kids who are having trouble in school; that is the true art and science of teaching. The trouble is finding one of those rare teachers.
Thank You,
Tina
Your son is lucky to have you as his mother. You have been there to help and you are not ready to accept what the school is saying. It sounds as if the school is saying that only if you stop helping him so much at home and you let him fail, will he be eligible for help.
Public schools often use a "wait to fail" model for providing help. "Your son has to be two standard deviations behind before he is eligible for services." This is wrong, but it is not uncommon to be used to avoid services. If you can afford to do it financially, seek a comprehensive private evaluation. Get another opinion on where he is and what he needs. (If you cannot afford to do this, seek out a private educational consultant to review the school evaluations and to advise you.) Start an appeal process and use good consultants to help you fight.
You need to be an informed and assertive advocate for your son. Seek help from a private consultant to help you do this. (Ask friends who they have used. Or, go to the website of Learning Disabilities Association of America, then click on your state, which is on the left side of the site. Find out the name of the State chapter of this organization. Contact them and ask for names of advocates in your areas.
Good luck and don't give up.
(October 2008)
What are some symptoms of language-based learning disabilities?
My seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder over a year ago and had great difficulty with reading and writing. We took her to a Speech Therapist and Tutoring to learn Phonics. She has shown tremendous improvement and is reading and writing pretty well and almost at grade level.
I have noticed that she still has difficulty during reading and writing with mixing up b & d as well as m & n. She also continually starts writing sentences in the middle of the page, writes really big at the beginning of a sentence and toward the end of the page the letters get smaller and smaller. Two months ago when re-tested, her Auditory Processing skills were improved to a normal level.
What do you make of the writing problem, it is constant and her teachers and I have to work with her one on one to ensure she starts each row on the left side. Could this be a form of dyslexia? What kind of specialist tests for something like this? Please help. Thank you very much.
Your daughter has a language-based learning disability. This means that she has difficulty using phonics when she reads and writes. Often, children with these problems also have difficulties in visual and motor skills as well. They have all of the problems with writing that you note. The label does not change. But, there is a need to expand the help beyond phonics-based tutoring. Speak with the person/team working with your daughter for advise on what more to do.
(September 2008)
How can I help my child who is well-adjusted socially in school, yet not doing well academically?
Our fourth grade daughter is dyslexic. She was diagnosed in second grade. She attends a private, independent school where she has attended since Kindergarten. She is happy and loves her school, which has a reputation for academic excellence. We pay for additional tutoring every day by an aid. She is progressing, but she is definitely not in many academic areas on the same level as her class mates.
She will attend there next year in the fifth grade. We have been told that as a consequence of her poor writing skills (due to her dyslexia) that this school will not want her in the sixth grade, even though they go through to the eighth grade. Our question is, do children do better mainstreamed in the arena where they are happy and have their social structure and their friends, or in another school. We would like our daughter to remain at this school. Thanks for your consideration.
Elizabeth
From your comments, I am concerned that this private, independent school is not equipped to provide the necessary special education tutoring and accommodations. Special education tutoring requires a very skilled person who has been trained to work with students who have learning disabilities. It is not done by an aide who probably just goes over again what was done in class.
I would go back to the person who tested her in second grade. Ask for an update, showing where she is now. Use these results to identify the type of special education services she needs. It may be that this school cannot provide what is needed. Please do not wait until the end of eighth. She will be so much further behind if something is not done now.
(September 2008)
What should a teacher do with a defiant child?
I have an LD student who is oppositionally defiant. Academically, he is quite capable of doing his grade level curriculum other than reading. The problem is motivating him. I have created a separate Behavior Intervention Plan for his behavior, but this particular student just does not care what he does or what rewards or consequences are attached to his plan. He ends up spending way too much time in "time out" not learning anything other than his General Ed teacher gives him strikes to place him in "time out" and out of her classroom.
In the student interview, he told me nothing motivates him, he hates school, doesn't need school, won't do his work no matter what, and wants me, his special education teacher, to leave him alone. Any suggestions before he ends up suspended from school as a third grade student? Anything you can suggest will be helpful. Thank you in advance.
Regina
After 40 plus years of practicing Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, I have yet to meet an eight-year-old who did not want to please his parents and teachers. Most kids hate school if they cannot perform at the level required. The question is not why he is not motivated. The question is what is keeping him from being successful. The oppositional behaviors and avoidance are his way of not doing tasks that either are too hard or that he is unable to do.
Don't join with the teachers and "blame the victim." Request formal testing to clarify why he is having difficulty. For more on diagnosis, see the LD OnLine section of Evaluation/LD Testing and my article What Do You Do If You Suspect Your Child Has a Learning Disability.
(September 2008)
Is it dyslexia when our three-year old can't identify letters and numbers?
Greetings Dr. Silver,
While our three-year-old seems age appropriately advanced in all other areas, she cannot identify letters/numbers. For example, we have been reviewing the five letters for days now and she cannot accurately identify more than two consistently. We have used flash cards, hand writing them, utilized her favorite books, etc. to no avail. Should we be doing anything at this stage? We are concerned about dyslexia or some other LD we are not familiar with. Many thanks!
It is not uncommon for three year olds to not recognize letters and numbers. I suggest that you hold off on these exercises for now and just have fun with her. If you have other reasons for being worried about her having dyslexia, speak with your family physician about having her assessed.
(September 2008)
Is it necessary for a psychiatrist to contact the parents of an adult to make a diagnosis of learning disabilities?
I was seeing a psychologist, and he recommended that I have an Adult ADHD assessment with a psychiatrist. I met with a psychiatrist, and after an hour-long session of explaining my "symptoms," he thought I should continue with testing. He also asked to speak with my mom regarding my childhood behavior. While this is understandable, given the relationship with my mom, I said that I was not comfortable with that. He said that instead I could give him a few of my report cards, which I did. I was then given two tests, one that was for attention testing and one was more of a personality/behavioral profile.
At the end, the psychiatrist (who was very rude and condescending) told me that the report cards did not have enough comments written on them, so he could not make a diagnosis without talking to my mom. He never gave me the results of the tests, except to say "one test did show some attention problems." He did not discuss any options for help with me (behavior modification, counseling, etc.)
I am so frustrated! When the psychologist first mentioned ADD and I read up on it, I felt like something clicked, and I felt like there was an explanation for the rapid-fire of thoughts that goes through my brain sometimes! I thought I was going to get help, but now I just have a big bill, and I don't know where to turn.
I'm 28 years old - can a general physician or someone else help me, without consulting my mom? I understand the need to establish ADHD behaviors in childhood, but the relationship I have with my parents just does not make this an option. Do you have any recommendations of how I could still get help?
I cannot explain or justify the actions of the psychiatrist. To make the diagnosis of ADHD, it is necessary to show that the behaviors present as an adult (hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity) are chronic and pervasive. Chronic means that they existed before age seven. If the patient is comfortable with the suggestion, the psychiatrist might speak with a parent to confirm that the problems are chronic. Teacher comments from elementary school might help. However, if you did not want your mother to be contacted, some other way of confirming the chronic nature could have been tried. The psychiatrist might have had to rely on your memory. "I remember being like this in grade school or middle school."
Don't let the doctor-patient style of this psychiatrist prevent you from getting help. Yes, you can speak to your family doctor. Or, you could seek another psychiatrist. Often a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (who also sees adults) is the best option since he or she would be very familiar with ADHD.
(August 2008)
What does the diagnosis "globally delayed" mean?
A friend has a four-year-old who is very behind in his learning. She recently had him tested and was told he was globally delayed. Speech was at nine months, large motor skills at 18 months. Where can I find out more information on what is meant by globally delayed. Her support base of friends would like to better understand so that we can help any way we can.
Globally delayed is a general term used when the developmental delays found involve more than one major area. Examples might be cognitive, language, motor, psycho-social, and interactional.
(August 2008)
If your child does the work when he chooses to do so, might they still need special education?
I have a six-year-old ADHD son with a learning disability. At school he does not complete the work as he knows how to do, thus making it look like he does not understand the work or is further behind. If he is given the right reward, he will do it. Otherwise, he does not. The IEP team wants to move him to a special education class because they feel he can't do what is expected of him. He can do it when he chooses to do it. Can you offer any help or advice?
The key question is your observation, "He can do it when he chooses to do it." Think about what you do with him. Does he do the work when you insist or does he do the work when you sit down first and make sure he understands what to do? What role do you play with him to be sure that he "does the work"? You might be helping by compensating for any problems. In general, with a first grader, I would encourage you to listen to the IEP team. They are basing their suggestions on formal testing plus hours of classroom observations and efforts.
(August 2008)
If a nine-year-old suddenly starts having trouble focusing in school, is it ADHD?
My gifted nine-year-old, who is an advanced reader, writes and illustrates stories, finds patterns and relationships in math problems, and likes to have theological discussions, has suddenly started having extreme difficulty focusing in school. For example, his teacher often saw him staring off into space for long periods of time during standardized testing and his gifted teacher said that on a recent assignment he wrote only 12 words in one hour without one complete sentence!
He still has all A's in classes except for Science, in which he has a low D. Lately, the Science assignments have been done on your own during center time while the teacher helps small reading groups. The gifted teacher has mentioned the possibility of ADD since this seems to go beyond occasional daydreaming and reminding him to focus really isn't cutting it.
Do I ask the school to test him? Do I take him to our pediatrician or ask that his office's psychologist test our son in some way? Should I go first to an eye doctor since he recently mentioned seeing double at times? Where do we start? I would like to look into this before he goes into fourth grade next year (known to be harder and faster paced).
ADHD is a neurologically-based disorder. Key to making the diagnosis is to establish a chronic and a pervasive history of the behaviors noted. That is, if inattentive, there needs to be evidence of inattention/distractibility since preschool or kindergarten. And, these behaviors should be noted in most situations (home, school, with friends, on vacation , etc). If the problem of focusing "suddenly started" at age nine and seem to be related only to "difficulty focusing in school," other possibilities need to be considered.
I would start by meeting with his teachers and other school professionals to explore what might be the cause. Ask that someone come to the class and do observations to clarify when this problem is present and to explore for possible causes. Don't rush to have further studies done until you have more observational data.
(July 2008)
What can an ADHD teenager do who feels like their parents see only the bad things they do?
I am 14 years old and I have ADHD. I have had it all my life but it only started to become a real problem in 8th grade. I started to slack off and my grades dropped. I knew it was because I was not paying enough attention in class, but I can't help it. So my parents just made my suffering worse by making threats. I was not going to go back to my school if my grades didn't improve, or I was going to go to military school and never see my friends again. It just all made me feel worse.
My parents just emphasize all the bad things that I do and just make me feel like I want to die or something. They have no idea that I feel this way. The only person that does know is a trusted teacher. I am not sure how to cope with all the built up sadness and anger towards myself for not being the perfect child that my parents seem to want me to be.
I have a younger brother with mental disabilities and all their attention seems to be on him and less on me. I feel like they don't even notice the little good I do. They only seem to see the bad that I do.
Nikki
You are struggling and I am glad you are trying to get help. You mention several problems: (1) You are struggling in eighth grade: (2) your parents appear to be responding with punishment and criticism rather than responding by trying to figure out why you are having difficult; (3) your brother sometimes gets most of your parent’s attention; and, no one appears to realize how much you are hurting emotionally. I am glad you are seeking help. You are fortunate to have a trusted teacher.
You need help from people at school to work with you and with your parents. Start with that trusted teacher. Maybe show this teacher my comments. The two of you might know a school counselor or special education teacher who could be asked to help.
First, many students with ADHD also have problems with organization and with what is called executive function. They have problems organizing their materials (notebooks, papers, reports, homework) and they have equal problems organizing the information in their head. They might read well but not remember what they have read. They might know a lot but have difficulty organizing this information in order to write and answer to a question or to write a report or paper. If this sounds like you, further educational studies might clarify your problems and then clarify how to help.
Second, ask this teacher to go with you to the school counselor to discuss how best to bring your parents on board in an effort to help you rather than to make you upset and angry.
(July 2008)
Can LD be unrecognized until a student goes to college?
Is it possible for a learning disability to go unrecognized until a student first enters college? I struggled intensely my freshman year of college to keep up with the readings and writing papers. It is difficult for me because the vocabulary I tried to develop over the course of high school seems like it has left me. I used to memorize vocabulary words and use the thesaurus a lot in high school to help me but it seems like new and complex vocabulary words don't stick.
I am also a very slow reader and the ideas and concepts I'm trying to understand are difficult to remember after reading. It seems as though I can't quickly process the information. I end up highlighting passages like crazy and going back to re-read them again and again. It makes it difficult to remember what was read and summarize it.
It is also difficult for me to do mental math which limits my computational skills. All of these struggles actually led me to become so frustrated that I attempted suicide. I am now in recovery for depression and anxiety but still wonder if all of my academic problems are directly related to depression only.
Most people are telling me that since I was never diagnosed with any disability earlier in life, it would be impossible for me to have one. But I definitely remember struggling in high school to keep up with my peers. School was pretty much my life. Are there any tests which could be done to investigate this further?
I am sorry to hear of your problems. First, may I comment on your emotional difficulties. Anxiety and depression might be the result of adjusting to college or to the frustrations resulting from poor academic performance. However, more often, they are the current expression, maybe more intense, of a chronic problem. That is, I suspect that you have had periods of anxiety or depression since childhood. It is critical that you continue psychological help beyond getting through the acute phase.
Yes, it is possible to have learning disabilities and not be recognized until college. There are several possible reasons. Perhaps a parent or both parents provided much support with homework and projects during school, covering up any areas of difficulty. You might have gone to a school that cared enough to adapt their teaching to fit your abilities to perform or that provided much support and assistance during school. You graduated with a sense of competence that might not have been there.
What ever the reasons, meet with someone in your college's Office of Disability Services. Arrange to receive the necessary testing to either document your learning disabilities or to clarify other possible problems. Based on these findings, seek appropriate help plus accommodations.
Note from LD OnLine: For more on diagnosis, see What Do You Do If You Suspect Your Child Has a Learning Disability. For more on the social and emotional problems, see Social and Emotional Problems Related to Dyslexia. Good luck.
(July 2008)
How can a first year special education teacher learn more about how to document special education services?
This is my first year as a special education teacher. I am finding the paper work overwhelming and frustrating. I am so busy with the paperwork I have little time to work with my students, my classroom aide does most of the one-on-one. There is so much more to special education than even I knew as a five year classroom aide.
How do I understand the results of diagnostic testing? And after I understand the test, what does that tell me about what to actually do with the child? I did not have any training in how to give or even understand the results of any testing.
At the moment, I am trying to understand the WISC III and Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement results for a student who appears borderline. How can I understand it so if I can show that he needs special education services with my documentation ? Is there a book or something you could suggest that will help me in the future?
I cannot help with the overload of paperwork. This is a common complaint by special education professionals. The problem is that your school system must now document everything (time spent, materials used, base line, progress markers, plus IEPs).
Let's think about your second question. You probably have a non-categorical degree in special education. Thus, you may not have had training in diagnostic testing and how to use the results to develop an intervention strategy. I agree that it is essential that you learn this. There might be books that you can read. I am not familiar with this literature.
Options. Do you know any other professional within your school system who knows how to do this? If so, see if he/she might suggest readings or help you learn. Second, check with the nearest University that has a Department of Education that offers a degree in special education. Find out who on faculty might be able to help you.
Note from LD OnLine: Visit our Tech Expert section to see Dr. Tracy Gray's response to the same question.
(May 2008)
When is the earliest that a child should be assessed for a learning disability?
I have a 4-and-a-half-year-old son. I have recently been through two assessments with a pediatrician. One says says he has learning difficulties and the other says he comes somewhere under the Austism Spectrum Disorder. I think there is a possibility of dyslexia. Could you advise me what the minimum age of a child is to assess for dyslexia?
Marisa
The earliest clues of a possible learning disability might be noticed in preschool. Formal testing often is not done until first grade.
(May 2008)
