Ask Dr. Silver
The following are past questions and answers from Dr. Larry Silver on this topic.
My 12th grade daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD, slow processing, and executive function disorders. Her biggest problem is that she continually misinterprets written questions, especially on tests, which she typically fails. Do you know what causes this and how to remedy the problem? She is failing most her classes because of failing the tests.
Many students with executive function disorder also have learning disabilities related to this disorder. Such disabilities might include a "reading fluency" or a "writing fluency" problem. The difficulties might result in problems with retaining what is read (thus, misreading questions or instructions) or problems organizing what he/she wants to write, resulting in difficulty knowing what to write and then writing it. If these sound like your daughter, speak to the special education coordinator about having psycho-educational testing done to clarify that she has such learning disabilities.
My son has a very hard time reading and comprehending. He is in the fifth grade and reads at a second grade level. We work with him at home, and he goes to special education classes at school; but I really think he needs much more.
He has a hard time naming items. For example, he asked me, "Mom, where is the sweeper thing?" instead of asking for the broom. Or he would say, "Do you remember the place with all the games and the mouse or rat thing?" instead of saying Chuckie Cheese. It's like his brain is not able to process what something is without describing it first.
What type of help can be offered with this type of disability? Or is this even a disability? The school did not offer a suggestion.
You should not have to wonder if your son has a learning disability or a language disability. Send a letter to the principal requesting a meeting to discuss your son. At this meeting, request formal testing to clarify if he has a learning disability or a language disability.
If the principal refuses or the meeting does not result in scheduling such testing, state that you do not agree and want to appeal this decision. (You can learn more about these steps and your rights in my book The Misunderstood Child.)
Both my husband and I work with a friend. Over the years, we've noticed things about him — very poor listening, speaking, and writing skills; poor understanding and organization of information; and poor time management, to name a few.
Lately the penny dropped with us when we noticed that he's developed quite a set of avoidance mechanisms that deflect attention from his lack of understanding or skill. In the past, he's been able to fly under the radar; but things have changed at work lately, and that's no longer the case. We're on an important project where he's in over his head. He's really struggling, the project is floundering as a result, and management is noticing.
Is there anything we can do as friends? How do you suggest to someone who is in deep denial that he may have a learning disability? He shuts down when he senses "criticism", or any kind of detection.
Your friend is lucky to have people who care about him. How did he get this far in life? How have you been able to accept his level of function or lack of function? I don't know how to break through his avoidance and get him to do something. Maybe he will have to fail and lose his job before he wakes up and realizes he has to do something. Good luck.
My daughter has been diagnosed with gluten ataxia. After some research into learning disabilities, I see that she probably also has this challenge. The professionals that work with her for the ataxia do not seem to help much in the area of LD. Have you come across other children with L.D. and ataxia? Any insight would be helpful.
I am not familiar with gluten ataxia. You should ask the professional(s) who made the diagnosis if cognitive difficulties might be associated with this disorder. The only way to clarify if she might have learning disabilities would be to have formal testing done. If testing has not yet been done, discuss this need with her principal.
My son is 6. He just started first grade at a public elementary school. He is struggling. His reading and math are not to grade level. He zones out and cannot answer simple questions.
He was read a word problem by his teacher: John has five apples and Sue has four apples. How many apples altogether? He drew 20 apples on the paper. He is on a PEP at school and goes to tutoring every Monday for an hour after school. I am worried about him not passing the first grade. What should I do?
I understand your concerns. You describe several difficulties that might suggest that your son might have a learning or language disability. If he is in a PEP program, the professionals at the program probably share a similar concern. Have you discussed your concerns with them? Usually several professionals are part of the PEP team. Another approach would be to meet with the principal of his school, requesting a meeting with the special education team to discuss what they see as his problems and what they are doing to address them. Do not lose time. Keep pushing to get clarification on what his areas of difficulty are and what can be done to help.
My son has always been the type of kid who kept himself busy, making things, drawing, music. I noticed in his high school years his marks were inconsistent. He'd do well in his writing assignments and usually the homework, but on his major tests he'd door poorly. He commented that when he was doing his SATs, there was a boy sniffling with a cold and that the noise threw off his thinking. He got a low score. He doesn't like to read books unless they have to do with music; but when he argues, I can tell he's a smart kid.
His pre-calculus course in senior year he did pretty well except for the testing, where he didn't seem to transfer the concepts he knew. Now he's anticipating college with his first year in media design. Does he sound like someone who should be tested? If so, what type of place should I go to?
I cannot be specific based on the information you've provided. What have the school professionals been concerned about over the years? Yes, formal psycho-educational or neuro-psychological testing would be helpful in clarifying some of your questions. If the results are not helpful, he should be evaluated by a mental health professional.
My son was administered the Woodcock Johnson tests at the end of fifth grade and again at the end of ninth grade. His scores declined in 6 out of the 9 subtests. Most notable were decreases in the Broad Written Language (down 8 points) and Written Expression (down 12 points) subtests. Is this pretty unusual? Do you have any idea of what could be going on here?
I share your concern. I do not have enough information to generalize an answer. Discuss your concerns with the professional who did the testing or with a private educational consultant.
My son has struggled in school his whole life. I have tried to get him tested for learning disabilities but cannot. My son is now in the 11th grade, and the high school psychologist agreed to test in December.
We met in the middle of March to discuss the results, and she said his test results showed that he is capable of doing the work. She said an average score was between 85 and 100, and most all of his scores were in that range. But when she started reading off some of the result categories, they were all academic tests (i.e., algebra, reading comprehension, etc). This was not what I expected; I thought learning disability testing was something more abstract.
I'm wondering… what kind of educational testing should I expect the school to use in determining whether or not my son has a learning disability?
A comprehensive assessment should consist of an intellectual assessment and an educational assessment. Perhaps you can get a copy of the studies done by the school and seek a second opinion from a psychologist experienced in doing psycho-educational or neuro-psychological assessments.
I have a 6th grade student that is functioning on a pre-primer level. She recognizes letters but does not know all letter sounds. She can copy sentences and paragraphs from the board; but when asked to write, she has no word formation.
She uses "chunks" of letters and often puts spaces to create "words" and uses punctuation. Yesterday, she wrote: "deu dreus als kit petip fim dea yan et jit on a u ej and seu tok a uejes sosi of lr ret and seu yor hr sos: snd seu uod hafr kefmbakand sue" in response to the question: "What happened to Dorothy's house when the cyclone hit?"
I am trying to help her; but when we have success, she seems to forget everything just minutes later. I have never seen this before, and I am wondering how I can get help for this child. Thank you for caring.
This student needs a full psycho-educational evaluation to clarify why she is having these problems. If you teach in a public school, suggest that the girl's parents request from the principal that a comprehensive evaluation be done. If you teach in a private school, advise the parents that they can request such studies from the principal of the public school she would have gone to. I am going to guess that studies have been done but that you have not been provided with the information known about her. If true, ask to review her records.
Is it true that IQ remains the same after age 5? In reviewing my daughter's school psycho-educational assessment reports, she's received two pretty different IQ scores. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was used at age 11: score of 87. And the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was used at age 17: score of 70.
Would two different types of tests produce two different scores? If so, how can we know at what level she is truly performing?
IQ tests measure basic intellectual abilities. However, parts of these tests also measure skills that are expected to be present at specific ages. Also, the format for the Wechsler and the Binet is different, possibly measuring different basic skills/abilities. I would suggest that you sit down with the psychologist who did the most recent testing and ask this professional to clarify the differences in IQ scores.
My son is 9 years old. His teacher questioned whether he has an auditory processing disorder. The school is going to test him shortly but everyone tells me I should have it done privately instead. It is not covered under insurance.
If his school tests him, is there a specific or more thorough assessment that I as a parent could ask for? Thanks.
Speech and language therapists evaluate for a possible auditory processing difficulty. Most health insurance companies will pay for this assessment. But you should also discuss your concerns with the principal of his school, and request that the school's speech and language therapist see your son.
How can I get an assessment or evaluation for a child who has turned 4 but can only say three words? I think he is too old for the Babies Can't Wait program.
Under the public law, IDEA, every public school program must have a Child Find program to evaluate children ages 3 to 5 who appear to be delayed in any area of development prior to entering kindergarten. Speak with the principal of your neighborhood school about how to register for Child Find.
My fifth-grade son failed two subtests for auditory processing. I do not know if we are dealing with ADHD. We have tried ADHD meds and he says that he can hear the teacher better.
Is there any evidence to indicate that ADHD meds would impact auditory processing? Everything I've read seems to indicate no, but he insists that is the one difference for him.
You ask good questions; however, I cannot be specific. You need to sit down with the person who diagnosed him with an auditory processing problem and ask these questions. Usually, such an area of difficulty would interfere with reading skills and writing skills (e.g., spelling).
There are other questions to ask this person. What two tests did he fail and what does this mean? Did you do any other studies to see if he has areas of learning difficulty? Push to get clarification.
Dr. Silver,
I would love some advice on how to help my daughter.
At this time she has had no formal diagnosis of a learning disability. She is now in second grade and it seems she struggles with everything. I work a lot with her and try to help her understand things, but she never seems to quite "get it."
It now results in tears, frustration, and her thinking she is stupid and hating school. With the huge amount of work we do at home she has managed to be passing her classes, but I don't know that she is really learning.
She barely passed on into first grade because she was having a lot of problems in reading and was behind. That summer I sought the help of a friend who tutors kids in reading using a program that is supposed to be great for learning disabilities. With her help and a lot of work at home, we got her to grade level in reading.
All of her teachers so far have said that they can't quite put their finger on it — she is very hit or miss with things. One day she seems to know it, but then the next she doesn't. She still reverses letters a lot in reading and spelling. I have been told that she should grow out of this — but when?
At this time she struggles greatly with math. She seems to not understand how numbers work. My 5-year-old is able to do a lot of the work she can now do, because of just overhearing all the work I do with her. This is sending up a red flag to me. I know the schools are hard-pressed for the funds to do a lot of what is needed and I hate to waste their time. But that being said, I want to see my daughter get help and not have to work so hard if there is something we can do.
Unfortunately, the problems have not been bad enough for a teacher to say we need to test, but I wonder if I slacked off at home if they would be. It is a terrible place as a mother to be feeling like you need to let your child fail so she can get noticed.
Should I push the school into testing? Do you have any suggestions in helping me figure out what is going on? Thanks for any help you may be able to give.
I share your concerns. From your description, your daughter might have a learning disability. You are correct. By spending so much time with her each night, she appears to be doing better than she really is. Yet, you do not want to take away this help and have her do poorly just to show the school what you mean.
She should be evaluated. A psycho-educational assessment would be best. The first step is to submit a written letter to the principal, requesting a meeting to discuss your concerns with your daughter. The principal is required under education law to schedule this meeting. The classroom teacher, principal, school counselor, and special education person should be present. Share your concerns, using as many examples as you can. Be sure to explain just how much work you do each night. If the school agrees, they will do a formal assessment.
I need to warn you. Most school systems will not evaluate a child until the end of third grade. It is only then that they show enough of a discrepancy to meet their criteria for doing an assessment. If so, you might explore if it is possible to have these studies done privately and then take the results to the school.
Good luck.
I was diagnosed with LD in math and reading when I was in eighth grade. Recently, my daughter has had problems with reading and writing. She is 6 years old and I was just wondering if LD is passed on to offspring.
There is a strong family pattern for learning disabilities. I would encourage you to keep a close eye on your daughter. If she continues to struggle, ask the school to evaluate her for possible learning disabilities.
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.
I have a 12-year-old daughter who has shown signs of dyslexia for the past six years. She was finally tested and diagnosed through our school this year.
I also have a 15-year-old daughter who will be going into the tenth grade and is very concerned about also having symptoms of dyslexia. She has always been in honors classes and is presently in all AP classes for next year. She works extremely hard to make A's, but struggles with spelling and her handwriting has been bad in the past (although it is improving).
She always gets a bad grade when she has to write an essay. She says she struggles at putting her thoughts together, etc. She also had trouble in geometry — she had to check the formulas over and over because she transposed numbers very easily.
She is very concerned about having to take the PSAT and SAT and worried she'll get a bad grade on the essay portion of the test. She took the SAT in seventh grade as part of the Duke Talented Identification Program and scored very well except on the survey part.
What can I do to get her tested? Considering she makes A's in honors classes, I doubt that the school district would readily test her. This is the problem I had with my youngest daughter. She compensated well and we had tutors, and it would take us hours to do homework, but she would make A's. It wasn't until this year, when she didn't pass the standardized mandated Texas test and was failing, that the district finally tested her.
You are correct that formal testing would be the only way to clarify if your older daughter has a disability. It might be that she has learning disabilities that are reflected in a different way than with your younger daughter.
Since she is doing so well in public school, I doubt you could get these studies done there. You will have to find a private psychologist (or diagnostic team) to do the psycho-educational testing. The results will help you find out what your daughter might need. These data would be required if you requested accommodations for the PSAT or SAT.
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,
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.