new DD w/speech dyspraxia & LD???

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

Hi everyone, I am new here and have an 8 year old with speech dypraxia and poss LD? I have read through all the getting started basics here and wondering if my daughter has LD (she fits a lot of the items).
Should I approach her school first to see what they recommend (she is already on an IEP because of her speech and having reading/writing/math problems)? Or do I go through a doctor? Does getting a diagnosis of LD really change anything? She already has an IEP so would this actual diagnosis change her IEP.

I am just seeking some answers from anyone else in my shoes. Anyone with children with speech issues that overlap with LD?

Thanks for any help!! Sarah

Submitted by scifinut on Fri, 10/05/2007 - 12:51 PM

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While my dd doesn’t have speech issues, she does have a very complicated picture of issues. It took years to unravel all of it.

I would definitely talk to the school if she is having issues beyond the speech problems. You can ask to have her retested for LDs. Ask that she be tested in all functional domains.

If she does have LDs her IEP will likely be added to with things to help those areas. It should not effect her current speech program.

Submitted by Kathryn on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 9:17 PM

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Hi there,

I think I’m wearing your shoes! Or maybe you’re wearing mine…. or both!!!

My daughter, also 8 (Feb/99) has a language disorder which has affected her speech/language as well as reading, writing and math. She has been receiving help since age 2.5 and on an IEP for school. She receives speech therapy at school, but this year we added private speech and language therapy which I take her to during school hours and then bring her back to school since the school does not provide what she needs. She also goes to resource room for reading, writing and math help. The private SLP said she may be dyspraxic, but has never been diagnosed with that. It’s always been called “SLI (speech and language impairment)” on the IEP. The private diagnosis is “expressive language disorder”. The dyspraxia question comes in when she cannot say what she wants to say because we know it’s all up there in her head, but when the pressure is on, the dyspraxia becomes more obvious. It’s more word retrieval issues.

Go for the private diagnosis and bring it to the school and ask them to give you whatever help your daughter needs and try to be specific with what you want and be prepared to explain why in case they argue with you. Sounds like she is already getting help with speech and if she is behind in other academic areas then she should be getting support in those areas as well.

Keep us posted and please ask if you have more questions because you never know who else has the same situation!
Kathryn

Submitted by mommyloons on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 6:20 PM

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HI. MY SON 10 1/2 HAS BEEN GOING TO SPEECH THERAPY SINCE HE WAS 2 1/2 THROUGH OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. AT 6 HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD AND UNSPECIFIC LANGUAGE BASED DISABILITIES. HE HAS AN IEP AND WE BELIEVED THE SCHOOL WAS DOING A GOOD JOB. UNTIL 4TH GRADE. AT THE END OF 4TH GRADE WE GOT AN ADVOCATE WHO READ OVER THE IEP AND OBSERVED MY SON IN CLASS. WITH THAT SAID SHE SUGGESTED PRIVATE SPEECH. WHICH WE BEGAN IN JUNE. AND DISCOVERED THAT HE HAS DYSPRAXIA, AND A RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DISORDER TO NAME A FEW. DURING THE EVAL BY THE PRIVATE SPEECH THERAPIST SHE NOTICED THAT HE DOES NOT MOVE HIS JAW CORRECTLY WHICH CAUSES THE ARTICULATION PROBLEMS. WITHIN 3 WEEKS HE IS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND AFTER WORKING WITH HER 1 ON 1. I DON’T PUT MUCH CONFIDENCE IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. WE JUST HAD HIM EVALUATED PRIVATELY FOR A BATTERY OF TESTS BECAUSE NEXT YEAR HE IS GOING INTO MIDDLE SCHOOL AT THIS TIME HE IS READING AND DOING MATH AT AROUND A BEGINNER 3RD GRADE LEVEL. WE LEARNED THAT HE IS DYSLEXIC, HAS DYSGRAPHIA, EXPRESSIVE AND RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE DISORDER. ADHD WITH EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DISORDER TO NAME A FEW. I WOULD HAVE YOUR CHILD TESTED PRIVATELY TO SEE IF SHE HAS ANY LD’S. YOU CAN THEN TAKE YOUR RESULTS TO THE SCHOOL AND GET MORE SERVICES. I KNOW THAT WHEN I GO TO AN IEP MEETING AT OUR SCHOOL IT IS SO RUSHED BECAUSE THEY HAVE SO MANY TO DO I DON’T THINK THEY TAKE THE CHILD INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE TIME. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

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