Ask Dr. Silver
The following are past questions and answers from Dr. Larry Silver on this topic.
My son has a learning disability. The numerous tests done on him at school concluded that he has language, cognition, and comprehension problems. My dilemma is that his school won't continue giving him special education because his recent achievement scores were high on the tests, yet his IQ score was low.
They told me there is no category to place him in; therefore, they have to deny continuing his special education services. I told them that his achievement scores are high because of the special education services he had been receiving. I thought having a learning disability was a reason to receive special education services. What additional information do I need so that my student can continue to receive special education services?
I share your frustration. Some school systems use a discrepancy model for defining a learning disability. The child must be a certain percentile behind what is expected for his or her IQ to meet the criteria for LD. Thus, as a child benefits from help and progresses, he or she might no longer be "far enough behind" to continue to meet the criteria for being coded as having LD. I suggest that you seek the advice of a special education counselor so that you can develop the best strategy for approaching your school.
I am the mother of a child who has learning disabilities. He is now a freshman in high school and still reads at a first-grade level. His writing skills are also compromised.
Are there any tips you can give me to help my son? I am very upset with the school system in my town and don't know how to approach them calmly to make them understand that he is facing adulthood and needs to be able to get a job, drive a car, etc. What can I do?
I am very upset to learn that your son has gone through at least 12 years of public school and is still reading at the first-grade level. How did this happen? Was he not tested over the years? Did he have an IEP?
If the school system has never been concerned and if your son has never had an IEP, I would find an attorney who knows about education law and discuss what your options are. If he has had an IEP, you need to know that the school system must continue to work with him until the end of his 21st year. During this time he could receive further help with his learning disabilities and he could receive vocational training. If you do not know about this part of IDEA, ask the principal about it.
Hi Dr. Silver,
My son forgets things in school, on the bus, in the park etc. He needs a reminder or he will forget things.
Is this related to any disability? If so, how can he be helped? Also, could it be possible that he can't process multiple tasks at the same time?
Without your son's age, I cannot be specific. But the behaviors you describe suggest that he might have what is called an executive function disorder. He has difficulty organizing schoolwork, and loses, forgets, misplaces papers and other materials. He gets to school and leaves things at home. Then he leaves school and forgets things that need to come home. He might have similar difficulties with his personal belongings (coat, pencils, etc.).
If he has executive function disorder, it might be a reflection of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Inattentive Type or it might be a reflection of a learning disability. I would discuss these problems with his teacher. If the teacher notices the problems as well, speak with the principal about the possibility of having a special education team evaluate him.
(If you want to read more about these problems, look in my book, The Misunderstood Child, Fourth Edition, published by Random House/Three Rivers Press.)
My son is 5 and is having difficulty in school. He started in a child development program last year at age 4 and had a lot of trouble learning anything. We thought it was due to his ADHD and behavior. He could not spell or write his name, did not know colors, numbers, or any of the alphabet.
This year he is doing much better with his behavior. But he has been in school for nine weeks so far and still cannot spell or write his name without assistance. He only knows three letters of the alphabet and can only recognize the numbers one to five. He has trouble gripping a pencil tight enough to write.
He is in speech therapy and has been since last year. My husband was LD in school. My son has been evaluated by the school psychologist but she thinks that even though he has attended school for over a year, he is where he should be. Should I be concerned and request additional testing for him, or is he too young to be diagnosed with dyslexia or other LD?
I share your concerns. Yes, he might be too young to meet the school requirements to be identified as having a learning disability. (Most schools use a model that requires a child to be about two years behind and he is only five.) But, there is the opportunity to evaluate and help a 5-year-old without needing to conclude why the problems exist. If testing shows that he has areas of deficit, services can be provided without the formality of testing. Speak with the principal about getting such help.
If you are not successful, you have two options. First, you could get psychological and educational testing done privately and then take the results to the school, insisting on help. Or, you could set an appeal process in motion. To do this, send your principal a letter, requesting a meeting to discuss the need to evaluate your son. The principal must call such a meeting within 30 days (based on education law).
At this meeting, request an evaluation. If the team does not agree and does not agree to informally provide services, ask for the guidelines on how to appeal the team's decision. Such a process is required by law. Then, appeal to the next level within your school system. If the principal refuses to call a meeting, comment that IDEA, the federal education law, requires that the principal call such a meeting. If he or she still refuses, ask for information on how to appeal.
(Should the principal refuse, I would meet with your superintendent of school or an assistant. Bring your notes about each step you went through and ask what your rights are.)
Good luck.
Dr. Silver,
I am the principal of an elementary school. I have an eighth grade student that has a behavior disorder. He is a great kid and has made great strides in the past few years. He is on medication and when he takes it he does well.
He has problems with a certain teacher and I am struggling to help her understand his disorder. He does not deal well with any kind of pressure and often times this pressure is because of something that is going on at home. He is easily irritated and frustrated. He often closes himself off when he becomes agitated and won't do any work. He becomes easily worried and depressed. He does not like to write and when an assignment requires extra writing he shuts down. (We have offered a computer to type assignments, but it is not an appealing alternative to him.)
He is a very intelligent boy but this behavior is all his instructor can see. She cannot understand why he shuts down sometimes. She becomes easily frustrated and continues to single him out in front of his peers when he chooses not to work. This only agitates him further. She honestly feels that he is making a decision to act a certain way just so he is in control of every situation.
The special education teacher and I have both tried to explain the behavior disorder to her. We are unsuccessful in our attempts. What would you say to her that might help her understand that kids with behavior disorders really are not able to control themselves all the time?
May I thank you for being so sensitive to the needs of your students. My first proposal might not fit your administrative style. I would transfer the child to a teacher who does understand the child's disabilities. I would then request that the teacher he now has receive help in learning how to teach a child with special needs in a general education setting.
If this is not possible, I would assure the current teacher that she will receive supportive help from the special education program. However, this teacher must (not it would be nice if...) follow the recommendations made.
Explaining has not helped. A specific list of teaching approaches that are expected and that will be monitored might work best.
The last thing I would want is to have the child continue to suffer because of the teacher's lack of knowledge and sensitivity.
How does one find out if their child has dyslexia? I have approached the teachers regarding this and they told me to seek help outside school. Yet when I speak to professionals outside school they say it is up to the school to test the child. Can you give me advice to help my daughter before she falls any further behind in school? She is entering third grade.
Thank you,
Heather
Submit a letter to the principal requesting a meeting to discuss your child's difficulties. The principal must schedule this meeting within 30 days. At the meeting, present your concerns and ask that the school evaluate her to clarify if she has learning disabilities. The principal must respond by either agreeing or saying that the school will observe her and test her if she continues to have problems. If you disagree, you can request an appeal process.
My son of 8 years old shows symptoms of learning disabilities. At first, his teachers thought it was due to vision problems. He is wearing glasses and still doesn't show improvements.
He reverses letters and numbers and has problems with reading. He also cannot see the difference between adding and subtracting, no matter how I teach him. I don't know if I should bring him to a psychologist or neurologist.
Please help! Thanks.
The problems you describe are not the result of a vision problem. They might be the result of a learning disability. I would start with a psychologist who is skilled at doing the necessary studies to clarify why he has such problems.
Our family is about to move to the U.S. and our son is experiencing difficulty in school. His teachers have suggested a psycho-educational evaluation, which would be carried our by a British educational psychologist.
Will this report be valid and useful in the U.S. or will my son need to be assessed again at his new school? We don't want to stress our son with two assessments. We will be moving in December.
Regards,
Kelli
If time allows, I would recommend that you have someone do the psycho-educational evaluation in the country (and city) where you will be living. The results would be more relevant to the U.S. school system.
If you plan to enter your son in a public school rather than a private school, it is possible that the principal of this public school would agree to have the school's professionals do the testing.
Dr. Silver,
My 13-year-old daughter has had trouble learning, retaining, and applying information since kindergarten. She has been in a resource program since fifth grade. This year I was informed she needed to attend a special day class that is more intensive than the one she is in. I went to visit the classroom and was so surprised to find 10 6-8th graders with very low functioning ability.
My daughter is bright and social, and never causes problems in school. I feel putting her in an all-day class like this will really hurt her self-esteem. I am wondering if she could have ADHD, although the testing doesn't indicate this.
She also scored low on her intelligence test. However, she comes across as a normal 13-year-old. She is on the cheerleading team and is very good at dance and athletics. Can you please give me some advice?
Thank-you,
Heather
Your school professionals appear to have developed an IEP to address your daughter's needs. If you are not comfortable with this IEP, you have two choices.
First, you can appeal the decisions (such as diagnosis, needs, and class placement). Your school must then have another team from outside of your school review the case. Or, you can see a private professional knowledgeable in special education problems and request a private assessment. Should this professional agree with you, you can request another meeting of the IEP team and bring this person.
I have a 9-year-old son, who was diagnosed with dysgraphia and ADHD in second grade. He has a special education plan, which his teachers usually follow, but because he is in lots of special groups, math help, reading help etc., he has lots of different teachers.
I am really having issues getting them to positively reinforce him. I fight with them all the time and it is just the same thing over and over — he gets a new teacher who is supposed to follow his IEP and instead they make fun of him or belittle him because he does not learn the same as other children. I am so sad and frustrated, I want to just follow him around and stop anyone who hurts him, but I can't do that.
Is there anything I can do to help his beaten self-esteem? Or maybe a different way to approach the teachers? He is just a little boy and he learns a little differently than others. I have had teachers use him as an example, saying things like, "If you don't do your homework, you'll end up like him." They have told him, "If you don't stop making your letters backwards, you will never have a job or a drivers license." Any help or advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Shelly
If your son has an IEP that clarifies your sons disabilities and the services needed, do not tolerate any teacher acting the way you describe. Keep a log of each occurrence. When you have enough examples, request an IEP meeting to discuss your sons progress. At this meeting, present your log and ask that this issue be addressed.
If your son has a 504 Plan, based possibly on the ADHD, follow the same process. Here, you would request a 504 meeting to discuss his progress.
Do not allow this to continue. But, you must document, document, and document. If your only data is from your son, see if you can get validation from another student, an aide, or someone else.
Dr. Silver,
I really hope you can help steer us in the right direction in seeking help for our daughter. She is in the 5th grade and has been tested as gifted (IQ of 135). She goes to a private school and is in a gifted pull-out program (one day per week), which she loves.
She is struggling mightily this year with organization. Her grades are just OK, but her effort is definitely lacking. She is not working up to her potential.
She says she is trying her hardest, but her teacher thinks that she does not use her time wisely and does not listen attentively. Her desk is the messiest in the class and no system of organization has seemed to help her. She generally does her work but often "forgets" to turn it in. Her handwriting is awful. I constantly have to remind her to head her paper and mind the margins.
I am at my wit's end with trying to get her to be more organized and responsible, and always give school her best effort. I should mention that she also suffers from anxiety. She has been in therapy for two years and is currently being medicated for it. The anxiety seems to be under control.
I don't know what else to do to help her or what kind of professional to turn to for help. I would love any advice you could give me. Thank you so much for your time and attention.
Respectfully yours,
Andrea
Most of the difficulties you describe suggest what is called executive function disorder — difficulty with organization of materials, tasks, and time. She also appears to have a fine-motor problem that is affecting her handwriting. It is important that the reasons for these problems be clarified.
She will need a psycho-educational evaluation. The results will explain why she is underachieving and what to do to help her. You are in a private school; however, you are entitled to services from the public school system. Meet with the principal of the public school she would have gone to and request that she be evaluated. The principal must schedule a meeting to discuss your daughter's difficulties. If the principal denies your request for such studies, you may have to have it done privately.
Do not wait until she is in middle school. Her problems will only become worse. Have her evaluated now so that the right help can be introduced now.
Hello and thank you for such a wonderful resource! I am a former teacher and school psychologist. I'm currently providing supplemental reading instruction and trying to advocate for my second grade niece.
She has a long history typical of a child with a specific learning disability or dyslexia. Her language development was slow, particularly with regard to articulation. Letter and number recognition was difficult and her general phonemic awareness still has not been mastered in spite of consistent and systematic reading instruction for the past six months. She has trouble expressing herself with the appropriate vocabulary and word sequence.
When she reads, besides the usual misread words, she still confuses b and d and she often substitutes synonyms for words (i.e. house for home, mom for mother, dumb for stupid, etc.). Independent homework completion is impossible because she cannot read the directions accurately.
She was retained in kindergarten and now is receiving extra small-group reading instruction at school three times a week. Even so, the school has yet to initiate communication or collaboration with her mother or me. The only reason we knew about the extra reading group was because it was mentioned during parent/teacher conferences.
When her mother asked if it might be time to refer her for a special education evaluation, they said she could request it but probably wouldn't get it because her daughter's problems aren't that bad. I'm concerned that all the help my neice has received will ultimately prevent her from qualifying for special education because the school only uses the discrepancy model (and she may be too young to show a significant discrepancy).
Is it enough that a student's mother and advocate suspect the presence of a disability to get the special education evaluation? I've worked in three different states and never heard of a school denying a parent request for an initial evaluation.
Also, can I, as her advocate, make the case from the vantage point of Response to Intervention that she has a learning disability? Or should we stop helping her and let her fall further behind in order to access the services she needs at school? We cannot afford a private evaluation and because I'm not currently employed, I don't think they are going to take my opinion too seriously. I hope you can help!
First, please do not stop helping her. She should not have to experience any more pain than she is experiencing already. I suspect that she is in a school system that waits until the child fails third grade before they do any testing. Why? As you mentioned, they use a discrepancy formula to determine if a student has a learning disability. And, the student has to have failed third grade before he/she is far enough behind to meet this discrepancy. I hate this "wait until you fail before we will evaluate or formally help" you strategy.
Have her parents send a formal letter to the principal requesting a meeting to discuss their daughter's academic difficulties. This request must be in writing. The principal must schedule the meeting within 30 calendar days. The principal, appropriate school professionals, the teacher, and parents should attend this meeting. (You can come as well.) At this meeting, her parents should formally request testing to find out why their daughter is struggling. If the school agrees - great. These studies will be done and then shared with the parents.
If they do not agree to do testing at this time, have the parents say, "This decision is not acceptable to us. We wish to have the minutes of the meeting reflect that we do not agree. And, we would like to be informed of our right to appeal this decision." The school must comply with these requests. Prior to seeing someone within the appeal process, seek help from a private educational consultant on what to say.
Good luck. Your niece is very lucky to have you for her aunt.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What do you think about cognitive skills training programs for improving attention, memory, auditory and visual processing, logic and reasoning? I recently heard great things about a program called "Learning RX" (that is the newer franchise name, the original, sister program is called "Pace").
It sounds fantastic and they published pre- and post-test scores that show an average of +3 years gain in cognitive skills that were below age level, using the Woodcock- Johnson lll cog. skills test. The speech-language pathologist who owns the Learning RX franchise near me told me that she has used many programs, including Lindamood-Bell and Fast Forword and this program gives phenomenal results in a much shorter time (six months) and across a broader range of skills. I'd love to know if this kind of training is recognized as valid by experts in the field of learning disorders. Thanks so much.
There are so many well-meaning and probably well-trained individuals who what to help our kids. My advice to parents is to do as much research on what is known vs what is claimed before using any, much as you would if you needed the best specialist for a serious medical problem.
Step One: Fully clarify what learning, language, and motor disabilities currently exist. This data would be found in the formal psycho-educational, speech-language, or occupational therapy evaluations. Then, discuss the needs clarified in these studies with someone who can integrate the full picture and develop the best interventions. Your speech therapist might be excellent. However, much as you would if you family doctor told you that your son needs an operation, you might want to get a second opinion.
My son is six years old and appears to have a language disorder. We have not ruled out an auditory processing disorder because of his age, but have noticed some red flags for ADHD. He has an amazing memory and is a very visual child. He also is already reading on about a second grade level and is interested in doing simple math.
He starts kindergarten soon - how is he going to get an appropriate education when his development is so uneven? What can I do to make sure he is keeping up and being challenged? My child is both "gifted" and delayed - it seems the school system may not recognize these two together. I need advice.
First, might I comment that six-year-olds, especially boys, often develop unevenly. Their language and/or motor skills might be more advanced than the other. These differences often resolve themselves by age seven.
However, if you are concerned, I encourage you to meet with the principal of the school he attends. Present your concerns. If you have speech-language or other evaluations, provide a copy. Ask that the principal schedule a meeting with his assigned teacher and the appropriate special education team at his school. Discuss your concerns with this group and ask that they respond to your concerns.
Should the principal have a “wait and see” attitude, suggesting that you wait until mid-semester or later and you do not want to wait, you might want to get more information on his inconsistencies from the speech-language professional to present to the principal.
My seven-year-old son is in the first grade for the second time. Per his teacher and principal, they are encouraging me to have my son tested. I do not have a problem with having him tested.
My problem is this: all I'm hearing from them is he needs to be on a prescription drug. I can not see how a prescription drug is going to help him with his problems. After reading some of the articles LD OnLine has, I totally agree that he definitely has a learning disability, but the school system can not tell me why this requires prescription drugs.
I will do anything in my power to help my son develop. I will not shove prescription drugs down his throat until I understand how this will help him. Can you explain this to me?
Rebecca
Rebecca:
Good for you. School staff cannot tell a parent to put their child on medication. The question might be the one you raise. Are his academic problems the result of a learning disability, of ADHD, or of both.
If your son has been hyperactive, inattentive, and/or impulsive since early preschool, you might discuss ADHD with his family doctor. If the main issues relate to difficulty learning to read, to write, to putting thoughts on the page, and to learning basic math and/or relate to his ability to understand oral instructions or reply orally, formal testing is needed to explore for a learning disability. Request such testing.
Many school systems will not test children until the end of the third grade – a “wait until they fail” model. If this is your son’s school philosophy, you might need to have the testing done privately.
Go slowly and clarify the problems before starting treatment. What your school staff is doing is similar to a physician saying, “Your child has a stomachache. He should have his appendix out.” No – first you learn what is causing the stomachache and then you recommend treatment.