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.
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.
Dear Dr. Silver,
I am 39 years old and have extremely poor memorization skills. I have taken several college courses and have failed some of the easiest of courses. For some reason I can't really grasp facts for future reference. Where can I go for help with this type of problem? All the learning disability facilities in my area are just for children. Any suggestions?
Yours Truly,
Lisa
Go to the Office of Disability Services at the college you attended (or the one closest to you). Ask for names of professionals who evaluate and work with adults.
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 am 48 and I still have the same problem I did in when I was in grade school. This problem is also the reason I didn't continue to college. When I am trying to learn (read, listen to an instructor in a class, watch a training video), I get sleepy. Almost like I'm going into at trance. I have poor comprehension and recall.
It has always bothered me and I feel like it kept me from reaching my full potential. I have many books and training materials but give up on reading or viewing them after I start.
I have a technical job that is changing at a rapid pace and this is causing me to fall behind my peers. What is this type of problem called? What can I do to over come it?
Your descriptions sound like you have a learning disability that impacts reading comprehension and possibly reading retention. You would have to have formal psycho-educational testing done to validate this is your problem. If confirmed, you can request accommodations on the job under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Try to find out who does this type of testing with adults.
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.
My daughter will be 13 in September and is going to middle school. I am very worried because she has ADHD and has a hard time making and keeping friends. She gets bullied a lot of the time. I don't want that to happen as she enters middle and high school. So how do we help her make friends, hang with the right crowd, and not get bullied?
I share your concerns. One option is to speak to the counselor who works at the middle school she will be attending. Ask for guidance and for help when she arrives.
The other option is to speak with the professional who is treating your daughter for her ADHD. Ask for a referral to a mental health professional who works with middle school students who have ADHD and social 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.
My son is 7 years old with ADHD and is in the first grade. He had a rough time this year in school and the school wants to hold him back. I just found out that my son was diagnosed with special needs. Now the school is giving me a choice of whether I want him to go to the next grade or stay in the first grade. I do not know what to do.
Your school professionals concluded that your son has learning disabilities and ADHD. He will need special education services along with the general education programs. He will also need medication to address the ADHD.
The question of repeating first grade or moving on to second grade should be based on the extent of his problems and his basic skill levels. The school professionals should make a specific recommendation and not leave the decision to you.
Should you agree, fine. Should you not, you might want to seek the advise of a private special education consultant to advise you. Without more information, I cannot make a recommendation.
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.
I have a 6-year-old son that is having trouble at school. He reads a lot of common words backwards, such as reading pan for nap or dull for pull. He can do basic math, but if the answer is 32, sometimes he'll write 23.
It was upsetting me that he was making simple mistakes because he wouldn't take the time to look at things, and then I noticed he was having trouble focusing his eyes. I had his vision tested and it's fine.
I asked his teacher if she would refer him to get tested for a learning disability. She told me the school's waiting list is about 60 days. Am I going about it the right way by getting him tested? Where do I go from here? Can my son's doctor have him tested or refer me to a testing center? What kind of test do you do to identify learning disabilities? I feel completely lost and worry that I am failing my son. Please help!
Sometimes, 6 year olds still reverse letters and numbers. If this is his only problem, you might wait a little longer. If, however, you find that he is not mastering his first grade skills (reading, writing, math), then I would not wait.
Don't discuss this with the teacher. The process is for you to write a letter to the principal, requesting a meeting to discuss your son's difficulties. The principal must call such a meeting. The school psychologist and special education person will be present. Discuss your concerns with this team. If they agree, they will schedule testing. If they do not feel testing is needed now, you will still have focused everyone on his difficulties. If in the fall he has not made progress, request another meeting.
You can always have him evaluated privately. The testing is called psycho-educational testing.
How can I go about determining if I have dyscalculia? Do you know of anyone who can make this determination in an adult in the San Antonio, Texas area? I have always had difficulty with math but now that I am in intermediate algebra in college, it's impossible.
I use a tutor two hours a week, the professor is wonderful, and I still don't get it. As they explain it one-on-one to me, it makes sense. Twenty-four hours later, I might as well be looking at Japanese writings. It does not make sense. I can't even look at the examples given to figure out a solution. A friend suggested I may have dyscalculia. I thank you in advance for your assistance.
Dyscalculia, or difficulty learning and applying math, is considered a type of a learning disability. If you have never had studies done to answer your question, you should do so now. Go to the Office of Disability Services at your college and ask how you can be evaluated for your math disability.
I am not a parent but my younger sister, who is in first grade, is having difficulties with reading and other basic skills. Today our older sister went in to talk with the teacher and the teacher told her that our younger sister is going to be in special ed for the rest of her life and that it is likely that she will not be going to college. I guess they are teaching her life skills at the school and they do not look at the homework that she is doing.
This aggravates me because it seems like they are just setting her up for failure. I read an article about one student who said that it is better for these kids to be challenged and placed in mainstream classes — he was placed in special ed second through eleventh grade and once they did put him in mainstream it was a lot more difficult to transition. His was a success story, but I completely agree students should be put in mainstream classes earlier. I would just really appreciate your input on this situation because I do not want to see my little sister fail.
Your younger sister is fortunate to have you as an older sister who cares about her. I do wonder why you and another sister are involved. Where are your parents/guardians?
It is essential that the parents request a meeting with the school principal and school professionals. What studies have been done to support this teacher's comments? A child cannot be placed in special education without studies to support this need. AND, no decisions can be made without the parents' consent. First, speak with your mother and find out what she knows. If there are no formal studies or no official meetings, this teacher needs to be confronted about such comments. If there have been such studies and your mother has not shared them with you, ask that they be discussed.
I teach early childhood special education and have a student who is pretty good at identifying numbers, but is not identifying letters or showing much interest in emergent reading. He likes books and looking at the pictures or singing the songs, but not identifying letters or sounds.
The child is 4.5 years old. His speech is good — he has received SLP therapy and his receptive and expressive language are both high. Could any of this difficulty in expressing letter knowledge, but not number knowledge, be an early sign of dyslexia? Is it perhaps just a matter of being 4 and not wanting to answer the questions? Also, his parent had a learning disability as a child — could this be genetic?
Thank you!
The problems you describe could be the initial clues that this child might have learning disabilities. The fact that he needed language therapy adds to the possibility of this diagnosis. If this child is in your class, it suggests that he is already seen as in need of special education services. The current approach would be to try remedial interventions and see how he responds. If he does not respond, then formal studies might be done.
Hello Dr. Silver,
I have a 5-year-old boy that had craniosinostosis surgery when he was 3 years and 9 months old. Next year he is going to be in kindergarten but he can't talk well - he can say words but not sentences. He does not know his colors, numbers, or letters and he is not interested in learning. He has short attention span (2 or 3 minutes at most). I'm really concerned. Please advise.
You should be concerned. Have you discussed your questions with the professionals who have been working with your son? Given your descriptions, I suspect that you have had evaluations and services since he was three. If not, you should know that you are entitled to a full assessment and services from your public school. Discuss this with the principal of the school where he would attend for kindergarten. Don't stop asking until you get your answers.
My 6-year-old son was evaluated in 2007 by a neuropsychologist. She determined that he does have the precursors for dyslexia and what appeared to be the beginnings of it. I then had him evaluated for dyslexia and pre-screened for the Barton Reading and Spelling System. He is very intelligent and is reading above grade level. He can write, but it takes him time. His school refuses to believe he has dyslexia.
Where can I find more information to prove he has dyslexia even though he can read and write?
Your child was tested when he was in preschool. The results were based on levels of expected performance for that age. It may be that what was seen as a weakness then (precursor), improved with maturation and is not an issue now. You say he can read and write at grade level. So, he does not appear to have any deficits that might suggest dyslexia at this time.
It is difficult to use these data to assess if he has learning disabilities. I suggest that you stop pushing for a diagnosis (dyslexia) and ask the school to help clarify if he has any problems at this time.
Hi Dr. Silver,
How early can a child be tested for disabilities? I have a 6-year-old boy who is now in first grade and struggling with reading. He reads below grade level and is unable to comprehend what he reads.
When he was in kindergarten, I was told that something was not right, but they didn't know what it was. So, in first grade I have been pushing the school. We are now going to do testing for learning disabilities. They said that they do not think anything will show up because of his age and that they will recommend retention.
This is so frustrating! He currently has B's in everything except reading, in which he has a D and sometimes an F. Is it too early to tell?
If your child is struggling with reading, testing should clarify why and how best to help him. If he is doing well in all other areas, retention may not be recommended. He might continue on to second grade but receive remedial help for the rest of this year and for next year. And, if you wish, you can supplement this help by getting the right private help over the summer.
Don't let your fear of retention stop the school from clarifying why he is struggling with reading. Only with this information will the appropriate interventions be clarified.