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Parenting a Child with LD or ADHD

gifted / LD assessment - Boston / New England ??


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Joined: Jun 17, 2008
Posts: 5
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Posted Jun 23, 2008 at 9:03:03 AM
Subject: gifted / LD assessment - Boston / New England ??

Greetings.

I'm the father of a bright, articulate, quick-witted 11-year-old boy who, despite significant efforts, completed the Grade 6 school year with a solid C- in the core curriculum, notwithstanding some reasonably high WISC-IV scores (VCI 136, PRI 121) and, in some cases, a knowledge of and an aptitude and passion for the subject matter.

Can anyone recommend any Boston / New England-based practitioners or services which could assist us in assessing whether a disability might be impeding our son's progress?

Thanks kindly.

- Richard

http://oldWithoutMoney.com

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Mandi
Joined May 05, 2008
Posts: 407
Location:From Boston MA Presently in Brandon MB

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Posted: Jun 23, 2008 6:12:38 PM

I would avoid Ned Hallowel. From my personal experience.... Ummm i dunno if he is still in the Boston area though. There used to be a couple that ran a school called Willow Hill out in Sudbury MA. They were pretty much given the boot i think the school is still there but i am not sure. I know it was for a while. I am not sure who runs the show now.

When i started there it was a goddess sent. It went bad though when the couple i mentioned before, in a desperate effort to save all children started letting in kids with serious violence issues rather than LD. Their intent was great their methodology.... not so hot..... But they have been gone to my understanding now for many years partly for that reason. I think the school did continue and became once again far more focused on LD. You might want to check it out. They might have some advice for you there. You also might want to look into ablechild.org because, they have some interesting alternative views many of which are quite good. They also might know who can help you.

If it were me, i would not be too quick to test and label my kid. Because these labels follow you a long time. They can in many cases be very damaging in a large number of ways and most people who study these children that are labeled kinda forget we are human beings. Their papers have been known to even compare our brand of intelligence to that of the average dog. It is horrible!

Please also know that i was one such child like your son myself. I am fluent in 6 languages today, i am happily getting married in july, i have worked in my field and am presently studying again. I am a dyslexic epigrapher. I have a deep understanding of western and ancient greek music notation and my jobs when i am done studying will mostly lie in translation of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs and hieratic script. I have worked some in the field though more geared towards a better understanding of human evolution already. I am happy, but it took a looong time to get here after being labeled and mistreated for having a learning disability by the system presently in place and by people who lack any real understanding of the actual stuff related to my learning disability.

Many forms of LD example would be ADHD, lack any scientific credibility as the studies done allegedly proving the existance of this LD do not seem to really show the full study or publish it. Usually this is to hide bad science so to speak. However, in many cases studies debunking it publish every cintilla of evidence and methodology. There is no organic evidence for much of this stuff and all tests for it are solely subjective and based on over analyzing a child's behavior. 2 experts could watch the same interview of the same child, and they could come to totally different conclusions. That is a hard core fact. Your son sounds bright i wouldn't worry too much. Thank you most kindly for not freaking out and and losing your marbles over simply feeling the need to ask the question. It isn't the worst thing in the world if your son is a bit like me. After all, it is not like i am the anti christ or the next hitler.

The only other thing i can think of is to try a Dr. Wieder in Newburyport.... He is not a bad fellow at all. One of the few honest experts i know. One of the few who really knows anything at all about what they are doing. He has been of much help to me in the past. He should still be in Newburyport, i saw him not even a month ago. He is great. If he can not get to the bottom of it trust me, there is no one on this planet that can. Best of luck to you and to your son. Protect him so he doesn't end up going through some of the harder parts of this. But i am sure you will... again good luck.

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expatCanuck
Joined Jun 17, 2008
Posts: 5

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Posted: Jun 24, 2008 2:35:18 PM

Mandi -
Thanks for your thoughts.

I can assure you that I'm in no hurry to 'label' my son, and have resisted it for many years.

That said, given the difficulties which we're having with the educational system (e.g. - time-bound tests, being marked on time-bound classwork, the lack of a clearly documented, *detailed* curriculum, goals or standards (something that would benefit *all* students), I very much want to afford him the protections/accommodations which legislation can provide (e.g. - IEP, 504).

Regrettably, the system requires a label before affording such protection.
[Modified by: expatCanuck on June 24, 2008 03:34 PM]

http://oldWithoutMoney.com

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Mandi
Joined May 05, 2008
Posts: 407
Location:From Boston MA Presently in Brandon MB

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Posted: Jun 24, 2008 6:23:11 PM

You know best about your child not me. I don't even know your kid. What i do know is growing up with a label. You sound quite reasonable and i am sure you are going to make the best decisions froma rationa mind set and i am glad to see you are not another parent terrorized and freaking out and making a decision based on terror. It sounds like you have a good understanding of things. What one's chid needs one's child *Needs* it is a parents job to make sure a child gets that. Wish my folks had aproached it like you are.

I hope i have been of some help with some of my suggestions as well... If not i am sorry there isn't more i can give you....

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demarti
Joined Jun 15, 2005
Posts: 84

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Posted: Jun 30, 2008 5:23:20 PM

Who administered the WISC? Did they also give your son an achievement test? (ex. Woodcock Johnson?)

The WISC can tell you alot about your child and if a disability may be a problem. You need to get a copy of the subtest scores and looks for 'scatter'. You may be surprised in that there are some subtests that he scored amazingly high on and others not so good.

This article (long) on LDONline can help you understand how to 'read' those test scores and identify the scatter.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6026

Your son already shows some scatter in that he has a 16pt split between his verbal IQ and performance IQ,verbal being stronger for him. This isn't too terrible a split, but most kids would only should like a 5pt split. (my 2x dd has a 30pt split!)

As his verbal IQ is fairly high, I would not suspect a language processing problem, but he may have some difficulties in some area of visual processing, as indicated by his performance results. (his subtest scores could pin point this down).

You also want to look at his digit span score and processing speed score. My nonLD son has very high cognitive abilities, but he has very slow processing speed and it has impacted some areas of his academics (although not manifesting until late middle school/HS). If these scores are causing him the struggles, there are programs that can help improve both memory (digit span) and processing speed.

Regardless, you son is still in the very high IQ/gifted range. Many kids diagnosed with ADD/ADHD have discrepancies in their digit span and/or processing speed. But you may also want to consider that gifted kids portray many similar traits as ADD/ADHD. Suggest doing a google on 'gifted kids' to get a better understanding of what it means to be gifted.

Sorry, I don't have any resources to refer to you in Boston/New England. If in fact his performance subtests do show some signifcant scatter, you may want to consider a developmental optometrist (must be developmental - not a regular one)and/or an OT.

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Mandi
Joined May 05, 2008
Posts: 407
Location:From Boston MA Presently in Brandon MB

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Posted: Jul 01, 2008 12:57:03 AM

Yes, and once you have done that make him pee on a stick to make sure he isn't pregnant! After all that can also affect one's brain and functioning....Seriously.... This is all totally subjective this testing. If you want an accurate test demand to be shown the organic evidence from his brain of how it is different.

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