I was wondering how you go about finding a specialist who can evaluate specific Learning Disabilities. My son had the normal school evaluation, but I think he has something more specific going on, like visual processing problems or someething. I think he may even be gifted/LD but I think the school would laugh if I said that. He has a wonderful personality, very verbal, excellent vocabulary, well-liked, cute (does some modeling, which I am going to try and pursue more for self-esteem). He started kindergaten and just doesn’t get the whole number and letter thing. REcognizes some, but has a very hard time with it. I can give him a spoken word and he can tell me the sound it starts with with no problem and sometimes even the letter name, but I can put a letter from his name even in front of him and he looks at it like he’s never seen it before. Anyway, thought maybe a private evaluation would be good. How do I find someone? I’m in Minnesota.
Re: Getting private evaluation
I have a fundamental difference with Mary MN and it is this: Dyslexia is considered to be “A Neurological problem with an educational solution.” The reason for Dyslexia is a different brain structure which has been well-documented by very current research. You can read some of that research on this site as well as on interdys.org, the International Dyslexia Association’s website, and many other places on the web.I would suggest a complete diagnostic work-up including either a clinical psychologist’s or a neuropsychologist’s involvement (and a Wechsler Intelligence scale WISC-III or WAIS-III depending on the age). An objective test should also be included to either rule in or rule out any attention deficit problem. Naturally, the complete WJ-III (Woodcock-Johnson III Psycheducational Battery) which was designed to fulfill the requirements of IDEA, and any other tests that are indicated. An example might be speech and language tests, vision, etc.A good place to look for a professional is to go to www.iser.com and click on your State to see who is listed. Finally, I would suggest that you go with a multidisciplinary team whenever possible. That way you get a really broad perspective rather than a narrow, one discipline look.
Re: dyslexia versus processing def.
A question—I have read the research defining dyslexia as you do. Are there other “conditions” that present like dyslexia but have other causes? My son appears to have classic dyslexia, but certainly has well documented visual and auditory processing problems (by a host of people—slt, audiologists, psychologists, OD, OT).: I have a fundamental difference with Mary MN and it is this: Dyslexia
: is considered to be “A Neurological problem with an
: educational solution.” The reason for Dyslexia is a different
: brain structure which has been well-documented by very current
: research. You can read some of that research on this site as well
: as on interdys.org, the International Dyslexia Association’s
: website, and many other places on the web.: I would suggest a complete diagnostic work-up including either a
: clinical psychologist’s or a neuropsychologist’s involvement (and
: a Wechsler Intelligence scale WISC-III or WAIS-III depending on
: the age). An objective test should also be included to either rule
: in or rule out any attention deficit problem. Naturally, the
: complete WJ-III (Woodcock-Johnson III Psycheducational Battery)
: which was designed to fulfill the requirements of IDEA, and any
: other tests that are indicated. An example might be speech and
: language tests, vision, etc.: A good place to look for a professional is to go to www.iser.com and
: click on your State to see who is listed. Finally, I would suggest
: that you go with a multidisciplinary team whenever possible. That
: way you get a really broad perspective rather than a narrow, one
: discipline look.
Re: Getting private evaluation
Others have given good advice…I’ve learned that the best thing to do is educate yourself, as no-one will know your child better than you do. I would like to recommend two good sites: www.wrightslaw.com (especially the article on understanding tests) and www.dyslexia.com (the site supported by the Davis Dyslexia Association.)My son sounds just like yours, and you might be interested to know that the Davis Dyslexia Program’s “Symbol Mastery” portion is largely involved with making clay models, both of the letters themselves and also models that dyslexics use to give themselves a visual picture of a word…this program was developed by Ron Davis, a severe dyslexic who has had wonderful results in teaching other dyslexics to overcome their underlying problem.I only found this program a few weeks ago, but there are many others on the forum part of the site that could help you learn how to help your son. My son is also a talented clay modeler — since we began working with clay intensely last fall, for the same reasons you say, self esteem, I have noticed a huge improvement in his drawing. This is one of the reasons I am going to try this program, which you can do yourself or through registered, trained providers.I recently read Thomas West’s “The Mind’s Eye” which will give you some insight into the way your son’s brain works — Ron Davis called his book “Dyslexia: The Gift”, and both books will explain why. Good Luck!: I was wondering how you go about finding a specialist who can
: evaluate specific Learning Disabilities. My son had the normal
: school evaluation, but I think he has something more specific
: going on, like visual processing problems or someething. I think
: he may even be gifted/LD but I think the school would laugh if I
: said that. He has a wonderful personality, very verbal, excellent
: vocabulary, well-liked, cute (does some modeling, which I am going
: to try and pursue more for self-esteem). He started kindergaten
: and just doesn’t get the whole number and letter thing. REcognizes
: some, but has a very hard time with it. I can give him a spoken
: word and he can tell me the sound it starts with with no problem
: and sometimes even the letter name, but I can put a letter from
: his name even in front of him and he looks at it like he’s never
: seen it before. Anyway, thought maybe a private evaluation would
: be good. How do I find someone? I’m in Minnesota.
I would start with a developmental vision exam. If you’re in the Twin Cities, I can personally recommend Janyce Moroz at A Chance to Grow in Minneapolis. Otherwise, go to http://www.covd.org to find certified developmental optometrists in your area. A developmental vision exam is ***not*** the same as a regular eye exam, and tests many different aspects of visual processing.Aside from the developmental vision exam, I would advise getting a complete speech and language evaluation. You can request this from the school (make the request in writing, cite your concerns, and specifically request the LAC, SCAN and CTOPP. You can find out more about these tests at the “LD in Depth” section of this website, under “assessments”.). A better route might be to get this eval from a private speech and language pathologist. We asked our GP for a referral, and with the referral our medical insurance paid for it. This way we were able to choose the best SLP we could find, and we avoided all school bureacracy.I would also suggest getting a copy of Reading Reflex by McGuiness and giving your son the tests in the book. This will tell you if he has blending or segmenting difficulties.The problem with going to a “LD specialist” is that typically they aren’t able to test for the underlying problems causing LD. For example, an education specialist or a psychologist can tell you that he has visual processing problems, but can’t tell you why. If you do want a complete exam, probably the best thing to do is to get a complete neuro-psychological workup at a children’s hospital with a team that specializes in these evaluations. The U. of M. would probably be a good place to go. This kind of eval can involve 2 or 3 days of appointments, but is usually pretty thorough (although may not include developmental vision exam, and you would want to ask if CAPD eval is included).A CAPD eval is a good idea. You can find CAPD audiologists at http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ Of the ones in the Twin Cities area, I can highly recommend the one associated with the U. of M. My neighbor took her son to this audiologist, and she did a very thorough eval. The reason I recommend a developmental vision exam first, rather than a CAPD eval, is that your son’s problems seem to be more typical of visual rather than auditory processing deficit.Mary: I was wondering how you go about finding a specialist who can
: evaluate specific Learning Disabilities. My son had the normal
: school evaluation, but I think he has something more specific
: going on, like visual processing problems or someething. I think
: he may even be gifted/LD but I think the school would laugh if I
: said that. He has a wonderful personality, very verbal, excellent
: vocabulary, well-liked, cute (does some modeling, which I am going
: to try and pursue more for self-esteem). He started kindergaten
: and just doesn’t get the whole number and letter thing. REcognizes
: some, but has a very hard time with it. I can give him a spoken
: word and he can tell me the sound it starts with with no problem
: and sometimes even the letter name, but I can put a letter from
: his name even in front of him and he looks at it like he’s never
: seen it before. Anyway, thought maybe a private evaluation would
: be good. How do I find someone? I’m in Minnesota.