Help needed - setting priorities for IEP mtg.

: I think several people around here do understand test scores, if you wish to post them.Just be advised, in most cases you will get the “Chevrolet” of remedial programs rather than the “Cadillac.” You may also find some parents here who can suggest outside programs they have invested their time and money in that will help, if you are of a mind to do that.Pattim is very knowledgeable and so if Robin, plus some others. Post away………..

: I would be interested in this info also…… Had a terrible meeting withe Director of Spec ed…. Thanks.

PASSWORD>aaI221mi7wL3IWhat do they mean? Is she reversing letters? Does she have tracking or focusing problems? I can help you with auditory processing issues but visual processing isn’t my strength. Post the scores and what they said and we will see what we can come up with.. You may want to check out Writing Better IEP’s by Barbara Bateman. You need to spend some time reading as you said you need to educate yourself. That is what I did and this way I felt I could be a team player instead of going along with the crumbs they were throwing to try and fix the problem. Patti

I can’t help with the IEP, except maybe direct you to the “LD in Depth” section of this website which has a number of articles on different processing problems, how to get what you want from IEP meetings, etc.What I want to say is that, if your daughter tests as having serious visual processing problems, you really want to take her to a developmental optometrist. Visual processing problems are very often the result of visual efficiency problems — delays in development of basic eye skills such as teaming, focusing, etc. — which usually respond well to vision therapy. This was the case with our 8-1/2yo daughter who was reading at a preschool level. In her case, vision therapy helped bring her sensory vision skills up to age-appropriate levels, but we still needed to follow up with PACE (http://www.learninginfo.com) to bring her visual processing skills up to par.You can find certified developmental optometrists at http://www.covd.org. Although this exam is far more extensive than a regular eye exam, medical insurance will usually cover part or all of the cost.Incidentally, our highly respected opthalmologist deterred us from this course for quite awhile. He’s a great surgeon and I still use him for dd’s eyeglass corrections, but he doesn’t have any training in developmental vision.IMHO vision is the first thing to get checked out, auditory processing (eval by an audiologist who specializes in CAPD) is second. Basically schools can screen for these problems, but they are not qualified to actually evaluate and assess in depth and make recommendations about therapies.Mary: Hello all. Our school just completed a 3 month team evaluation on our
: 9 y.o. daughter, and during the IEP meeting, as the specialists
: started rattling off the myriad of learning disabilities they
: discovered, I realized that I was out of my league and could not
: participate at setting goals when I didn’t understand all the
: disabilities and what appropriate remedies or interventions would
: be. We postponed the second half of the IEP meeting for another
: week, and has been rescheduled for this Tuesday.: In addition to some auditory processing problems, which we had
: suspected, we learned that she has a very serious visual
: processing problem, which apparently is having a major impact on
: her learning. I would like to be an active participant in her IEP,
: but I’m not even sure where to start. Where do I go to determine
: — based on her test scores — what she needs to remediate. And
: with children who have a host of disabilities, how does one
: prioritize? Is there anyone reading this that understands test
: scores that might lend assistance in prioritizing for this
: upcoming IEP meeting?: Stymied, and greatful for any advice you might have! Barb

Patti, the test results came as a surprise to me, especially in the area of visual processing. I had suspected the auditory processing, because the school had referred her to an audiologist, and she had significant problems with the dichotic listening test, and her right ear appeared to be twice as strong as her left. But the visual processing took me for a loop, however it explains a lot about why she’s having such trouble in school, particularly in math.What I need is for some expert to take a look at her test scores and say, “OK, here’s what you need to ask for at your IEP meeting.” Most importantly, she needs blah blah blah, next, blah blah and finally, blah. But where do I find such a person, and fast?Since she seemed to have so many disabilities in so many areas, I’m afraid telling me I should “read more about it” is like telling me to go get my masters in learning disabilities over the weekend — I wouldn’t know where to start. I certainly intend to read anything and everything about all her LD’s, and I sure appreciate the links, but this won’t help me bring anything intelligent to the table on Tuesday during her second half of the IEP meeting.That said, if I were to post her test scores, would I post them here, on this board (is this the most appropriate board?), and what scores would I post? The raw data scores, their analysis, ???.Thanks in advance for any light you can shed,Barb: What do they mean? Is she reversing letters? Does she have tracking
: or focusing problems? I can help you with auditory processing
: issues but visual processing isn’t my strength. Post the scores
: and what they said and we will see what we can come up with.. You
: may want to check out Writing Better IEP’s by Barbara Bateman. You
: need to spend some time reading as you said you need to educate
: yourself. That is what I did and this way I felt I could be a team
: player instead of going along with the crumbs they were throwing
: to try and fix the problem. Patti

Mary,Thanks for your response. I did make an appointment directly with a developmental optometrist, but the soonest appointment time was for early April. I also made an appointment with an audiologist (and CAPD guru around here, Jeanane Ferre) to determine the sub-type of her APD, soonest appointment early June! I also made an appointment with a ped. neurologist to cover the medical areas, since it looks like she’s got ADD(no H) as well…earliest appointment, early June.I’m not familiar with PACE, but I’ll look it up, and thanks. I guess my question still is, how do you know what to ask for if you don’t know what she needs, and what is more important to get remediated first? And how can you get a cram course in it?BarbI can’t help with the IEP, except maybe direct you to the “LD in
: Depth” section of this website which has a number of articles
: on different processing problems, how to get what you want from
: IEP meetings, etc.: What I want to say is that, if your daughter tests as having serious
: visual processing problems, you really want to take her to a
: developmental optometrist. Visual processing problems are very
: often the result of visual efficiency problems — delays in
: development of basic eye skills such as teaming, focusing, etc. —
: which usually respond well to vision therapy. This was the case
: with our 8-1/2yo daughter who was reading at a preschool level. In
: her case, vision therapy helped bring her sensory vision skills up
: to age-appropriate levels, but we still needed to follow up with
: PACE (http://www.learninginfo.com) to bring her visual processing
: skills up to par.: You can find certified developmental optometrists at
: http://www.covd.org. Although this exam is far more extensive than
: a regular eye exam, medical insurance will usually cover part or
: all of the cost.: Incidentally, our highly respected opthalmologist deterred us from
: this course for quite awhile. He’s a great surgeon and I still use
: him for dd’s eyeglass corrections, but he doesn’t have any
: training in developmental vision.: IMHO vision is the first thing to get checked out, auditory
: processing (eval by an audiologist who specializes in CAPD) is
: second. Basically schools can screen for these problems, but they
: are not qualified to actually evaluate and assess in depth and
: make recommendations about therapies.: Mary

PASSWORD>aaI221mi7wL3IType the scores here,it is safe. We have all been through the refiners fire you are going through right now. We will help you we just need the data and what their findings were. On a personal note, I had strabismus as a child, I have CAPD a hearing impairment and ADD so I do understand what is happening. Trust me…vision therapy is good, it worked for me after two surgeries to strengthen my eye muscles and tracking.For starters with CAPD and focusing issues I would suggest an assistive listening device and have it written up as a part of the equipment for her IEP. This will help with developing her auditory memory and in focusing. There have been studies on kids with ADD that use of an assistive listening device helps them focus and get the information. Barbara Bateman’s book writing better IEP’s is a great book and an easy read. It is about 150 pages…. It really helped me know what to ask for.Give us the scores and I will check back later. I am in the middle of doing a research project on reading acquisition and speech and language delays.. I have attached a link to Barbara Bateman’s IEP goals on LDONline. This will be a good place to start for your crash course this weekend.. :-P You can do this!!

Wow! I have to commend you for being so on top of things. You are way ahead of where I was when we started out.I homeschooled for a year rather than try to work with a school. I’m not very good with meetings and bureaucracies. So all of my comments as they relate to IEP’s need to be taken with a grain of salt!Schools are really designed to teach academics, so the main thing to look at first is what kind of reading remediation program they can offer. Typically what you want is a good, multi-sensory approach done one-on-one with your child every day, from a trained tutor. That is far beyond what most schools can offer, but it gives you a benchmark. Whatever problems your dd has, she has fallen behind in reading because of them. Reading is the single most important skill that needs to be mastered. So that is what I would concentrate on first.There is quite a bit of information about multi-sensory reading programs commonly offered in school at this website. There’s a click-link about multi-sensory language instruction on the main page, I think. Anyway, reading about the different multi-sensory programs is a good place to start. Try to find out what your school typically offers, and spend even more time reading up on that program, to see if it’s a good one or not. In general, the very best remedial programs are often thought to be LiPS from Lindamood-Bell, Phono-Graphix (my personal favorite), and Orton-Gillingham (been around 20 years with good track record) and programs derived from O-G. Wilson comes to mind. Each has advantages and disadvantages. What you really want to guard against is getting a program such as Reading Recovery, which does nothing for LD children (and probably not a whole lot for non-LD children).The articles at “LD in Depth” on processing problems often contain suggestions for accommodations. For example, you may want to ask that your child be seated in the front row near the teacher to help her with visual and auditory tasks.What I advise is taking everything one step at a time. Everything doesn’t get decided at the first meeting. Bring some information to the table, let them present their ideas, and arrange for another meeting. Don’t sign anything (once an IEP is signed it’s pretty much locked in cement for at least a year) unless you are sure it’s what you want.Anyway, I’d focus on reading first. Academic remediation in other areas is not as critical. If your dd qualifies for OT and/or speech therapy, that would rank on a par with reading remediation in my book.Mary: Thanks for your response. I did make an appointment directly with a
: developmental optometrist, but the soonest appointment time was
: for early April. I also made an appointment with an audiologist
: (and CAPD guru around here, Jeanane Ferre) to determine the
: sub-type of her APD, soonest appointment early June! I also made
: an appointment with a ped. neurologist to cover the medical areas,
: since it looks like she’s got ADD(no H) as well…earliest
: appointment, early June.: I’m not familiar with PACE, but I’ll look it up, and thanks. I guess
: my question still is, how do you know what to ask for if you don’t
: know what she needs, and what is more important to get remediated
: first? And how can you get a cram course in it?: Barb: I can’t help with the IEP, except maybe direct you to the “LD in

:
: : Incidentally, our highly respected opthalmologist deterred us from
: this course for quite awhile.So did mine. I have an appointment scheduled for later this month with a DO for my 8 YO dau.

: So did mine. I have an appointment scheduled for later this month
: with a DO for my 8 YO dau. So did mine. But thanks to you I will be calling a DO on mon. My opthalmologist is great too but he made a bad call on this one. Barb

Post the standard scores. Those are the ones that are most helpful in determining strengths and weaknesses. The boilerplate definition of Visual Processing is the ability to see and think with visual patterns. It includes, typically, visual memory and some measure of the ability to see part to whole relationships. Some tests include processing speed as a part of this, though that is actually a separate issue. It is perfectly okay to post them here- lots of folks do- and there are alot of knowledgeable people who can help with the interpretation stuff.Robin

I wanted to add a parental perspective in here as far as playing the IEP game. It really is a game.1. You have the right,to not go away and research on your own regarding programs,IEP goals etc.They should of ,or the school psych should have,sat down with you and at length explained the results of the testing,how if effects your child. They should be explaining what their ideas are,why they feel this will help,and how they will do this.2. Upon writing a goal,the child’s strengths,and weaknesses should be looked at. Example. If you know she has trouble copying off the board,and this lends to the difficulties in her classroom enviroment,this should be addressed.3. Instead of worrying about whether or not you fully understand what visual processing problems are,make a list of problems you have noticed her to have. Go from there.4. Remeber all children are so different. The practical application of the IEP,is for what the individual childs needs. IMHO to spend three months doing a team eval,should of illicited some valuable information,which included your input.: Hello all. Our school just completed a 3 month team evaluation on our
: 9 y.o. daughter, and during the IEP meeting, as the specialists
: started rattling off the myriad of learning disabilities they
: discovered, I realized that I was out of my league and could not
: participate at setting goals when I didn’t understand all the
: disabilities and what appropriate remedies or interventions would
: be. We postponed the second half of the IEP meeting for another
: week, and has been rescheduled for this Tuesday.: In addition to some auditory processing problems, which we had
: suspected, we learned that she has a very serious visual
: processing problem, which apparently is having a major impact on
: her learning. I would like to be an active participant in her IEP,
: but I’m not even sure where to start. Where do I go to determine
: — based on her test scores — what she needs to remediate. And
: with children who have a host of disabilities, how does one
: prioritize? Is there anyone reading this that understands test
: scores that might lend assistance in prioritizing for this
: upcoming IEP meeting?: Stymied, and greatful for any advice you might have! Barb

Well, here goes with the test scores, and they aren’t pretty. Not sure what would help you, so I’ll just fire away: (BTW, she was not quite 9 years old when most of these tests were administered, in the 3rd grade)Wecshler Indiv. Achievement Test: selected subtests Subtest Age S.S. Age %ile Grade S.S. Grade % Math. Reasoning 93 32 91 27 Numerical Operations 87 19 84 14 Math. Composite 89 23 86 18 Spelling 100 50 99 47 Written Expression 93 32 94 34 Writing Composite 94 34 98 45Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test Norms Raw Stanine NCE %ile G.E. Vocabulary 40 5 51 51 3.4 Comprehension 34 4 34 23 2.3 Total 74 4 41 34 2.8 Informal Reading Inventory: Johns & Analytic Wd. Rec./ Wd. Rec/ Oral Rate Silent Rate Level Isolation Context Comp. Comp. 2nd Instr. Instr. Frust.96-98% 95% 136wpm <50% 100wpm3rd F A 7 Instr. Frust. Frust.17 3 +20/20 96-97% 57% 85wpm 63% 88wpm4th 14 2 +16/20Instructional: Beginning 2nd gr.Running Record: Error Rate 1:23 Accuracy 96% Self-Correction 1:7 Instructional: Uses mostly visual cues along w/some meaning cues Phonics Survey (El Paso Phonics Survey) — all goodWISC-IIIScaled Scaled Verbal Tests Score Performance Tests ScoreInformation 12 Picture Completion 6 Similarities 8 Coding 5 Arithmetic 9 Picture Arrangement 7 Vocabulary 10 Block Design 6 Comprehension 10 Object Assembly 4 (Digit Span) ( 8) (Symbol Search) (8)(Mazes) –-IQ %ile 90% Confidence Interv. Verbal IQ 99 47 94-104 Performance IQ 73 4 69-82 Full Scale IQ 85 16 81-90Index 90% ConfidenceScores %ile Interval Verbal Comprehension 100 50 94-106 Perceptual Organization 76 5 71-85 Freedom from Distractibility 93 32 86-102 Processing Speed 83 13 77-94Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R)Scaled Score Percentile Rank Visual Discrimination 11 63 Visual Memory 5 4 Visual Spatial Relationships 13 81 Visual Form Constancy 5 5 Visual Sequential Memory 8 21 Visual Figure Ground 8 23 Visual Closure 4 3Visual perceptual Quotient 84 15Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills - Revised (TAPS-R)Scaled Scores Percentile Rank Auditory Number MemoryForward 7 14Reversed 7 19 Auditory Sentence Memory 8 25 Auditory Word Memory 6 8 Auditory Interpretation of Directions 7 14 Auditory Word Discrimination 6 10 Auditory Processing 7 16Auditory Perceptual Quotient 74 4Conners’ Teacher & parent Rating Scale - RevisedScale Classroom Reading ParentsTeacher TeacherOppositional 47 47 47 Cognitive Prob./Inattention 86 65 82 Hyperactivity 58 46 45 ADHD Index 80 66 71 (Scores in the table are T Scores. A T-Score of 65 or greater is considered significant.)Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI)Standard Score: 85 Percentile 16 Age Equivalent 6-6Speech and language Evaluation:(Standard scores (S.S.) on tests have a mean of 100. Therefore, a score of 100 is an average score. Any score of 15 points below or above 100 represents a significant strength or weakness. On subtest scores, 10 is average, with 3 points above or below representing a signficant strength or weakness.Peabody Picture Vocab. Test III (test that measures understanding of single word vocabulary (non verbal)Standard Score 89 Percentile 23Expressive Vocabulary Test - A test that measures the ability to label and state synonyms for single word vocabulary (verbal).Standard Score 81 percentile 10Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (3)Receptive Subtests S.S. (m=10) %ileSentence Structure 10 50 Concepts & Directions 7 16 Word Classes 6 9 Receptive Language Total 86 18Expressive Subtests Word Structure 8 25 Formulated Sentences 8 25 Recalling Sentencees 8 25 Expressive Language Total 88 21Total language score 86 18Listening to Paragraphs 4 2 Word Associations 9 37All articulation, voice and fluency were assessed informally through conversational speech. All were found to be within normal limits. Receptive vocab. was found to be in the low average range. Expressive vocabulary was significantly below average. Syntax and morphology (grammar rules) were found to be within the averaage range. Ability to follow directions using words of comparison, spatial relations, time & sequence was in the low average range. Significant weakness in ability to perceive relationships in words that are associated. Low average skills in recalling spoken language and in planning and producing sentences from given word. Ability to name members of a semantic class rapidly & efficiently was within the average. Displayed a significant weakness in listening comprhension, at both the factual and inferential level. Summary: deficits in several areas of language — expressive vocab.„ perceiving relationships in related words and in listening comprehension. These weaknesses appear to be impacting her 3rd grade classroom performance.It cannot be stated enough that attention issues that probably have impacted her test results, and hence the results may represent a conservative estimate of her learning potential, however they do seem to be indicative of present level of functioning.This seems like an inordinate amount of data for total strangers to look at — if you’ve read this far, you can only be a saint — and I can tell you that when I become as experienced as you folks, I will pass on the good will to others in my present predicament. In the meantime, since the IEP is Tuesday, I just need to make sure I’m covering the most important areas that are impeding her learning and make sure accomodations, services or therapies are covered for those crucial areas.I’m having nightmares about this — and I’m eternally greatful for any support you can give.Barb L.: Type the scores here,it is safe. We have all been through the
: refiners fire you are going through right now. We will help you we
: just need the data and what their findings were. On a personal
: note, I had strabismus as a child, I have CAPD a hearing
: impairment and ADD so I do understand what is happening. Trust
: me…vision therapy is good, it worked for me after two surgeries
: to strengthen my eye muscles and tracking.: For starters with CAPD and focusing issues I would suggest an
: assistive listening device and have it written up as a part of the
: equipment for her IEP. This will help with developing her auditory
: memory and in focusing. There have been studies on kids with ADD
: that use of an assistive listening device helps them focus and get
: the information. Barbara Bateman’s book writing better IEP’s is a
: great book and an easy read. It is about 150 pages…. It really
: helped me know what to ask for.: Give us the scores and I will check back later. I am in the middle of
: doing a research project on reading acquisition and speech and
: language delays.. I have attached a link to Barbara Bateman’s IEP
: goals on LDONline. This will be a good place to start for your
: crash course this weekend.. :-P You can do this!!

Well, now that I submitted the test scores, after I took so long to get them looking pretty in “table format”, they have become a bunch of meaningless crap, pardon the french. Yikes, I don’t even know where to start to redo these. Let me try again:Regarding the Wecshler Indiv. Achievement Test (WIAT), selected subtests. The 4 categories Are AGE S.S., AGE %ILE, GRADE S.S. GRADE % Mathematics Reasoning: 93…..32%ile…..91……27%ile. Numerical Operations: 87…..19%ile…..84……14%ile Mathematics Composite: 89…..23%ile…..86……18%ile Spelling:…………..100…..50%ile…..99……47%ile Written Expression….. 93…..32%ile…..94……34%ile Writing Composite…….94…..34%ile…..98……45%ileRegarding Reading Test Results: On the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test; Vocabulary — Raw: 40….Stanine:…5….NCE…51…%ile: 51, G.E. 3.4. Comprehension —Raw: 34….Stanine:…4….NCE…34…%ile: 23, G.E 2.3. Total — Raw: 74…Stanine: 4….NCE: 41…%ile: 34 and Grade Equivalency: 2.8Informal Reading Inventory: Johns & Analytic. 2nd Gr. Level: Instructional - 96-98% word rec./context., Instructional 95% oral comprehension., Rate: 136 wpm, Frustration <50% in silent comprehension; Rate: 100 wpm.3rd Gr. Level: Word Recognition/Isolation: F-17; A-3; 7-+20/20. Word Recognition/Context: Instructional 96-97%, Oral Comprehension Frustration 57%; Rate: 85wpm., Silent Comprehension Frustration 63%; Rate 88wpm.,4th Gr. Level: Word Recognition/Isolation: F-14; A-2; +16/20 ************** Instructional level of reading at a Beginning 2nd grade. *************** Running Record: Error Rate 1:23, Accuracy 96%, Self-Correction 1:7 — Instructional: Uses mostly visual cues along w/some meaning cues – Phonics Survey (El Paso Phonics Survey) — all good **************Regarding the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) The Verbal Tests are followed by the Scaled scores, to wit:Information: 12……… Similarities: 8……… Arithmetic: 9……… Vocabulary: 10……… Comprehension 10……… (Digit Span) (8)……..Performance Tests are followed by the Scaled Score, to wit:’Picture Completion: 6…… Coding: ………… 5…… Picture Arrangement:..7…… Block Design:………6…… Object Asssembly:…..4…… (Symmbol Search):….(8)….. (Mazes) –-Verbal IQ: 99; 47th %ile, 94-104 (90% Confidence Interval)…. Performance IQ: 73; 4th %ile, 69-82 (90% Confidence Interval)… Full Scale IQ: 85; 16th %ile, 81-90 (90% Confidence Interval… ***************Verbal Comprehension:….100 (50th %)…..94-106 (90% Conf. Interval)… Perceptual Organization: 76 (5th%)…….71-85 (90% Conf. Interval)… Freedom from Distractibility: 93 (32nd%)…86-102 (90% Conf. Interval)…Processing Speed: 83 (13th %)…77-94 (90% Conf. Interval). ***************Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R): Visual Discrimination: Scaled Score: 11, 63rd Percentile Rank….. Visual Memory: 5, 4th %… Visual Spatial Relationships: 13, 81st%…. Visual Form Constancy: 5, 5th%, Visual Sequential Memory: 8, 21st%… Visual Figure Ground: 8, 23rd%, Visual Closure 4, 3rd %….Visual perceptual Quotient 84, 15th% **************** Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills - Revised (TAPS-R)Auditory Number Memory — Forward: Scaled Score: 7, 14th %…Reversed: 7, 19th%……Auditory Sentence Memory: 8, 25th%… Auditory Word Memory: 6, 8th%….. Auditory Interpretation of Directions: 7, 14th%…. Auditory Word Discrimination: 6, 10th%…. Auditory Processing: 7, 16th%….. Auditory Perceptual Quotient: 74, 4th%****************Conners’ Teacher and Parent Rating Scale - Revised:Oppositional: 47 (Classroom Teacher) 47 (Reading Teacher) 47 (Parents)…..Cognitive Prob./Inattention: 86 (Cl. Tchr.) 65 (Read. Tchr.) 82 (Parents)…….. Hyperactivity: 58 (Cl. Tchr.), 46 (Read. Tchr.), 45 (Parents)….. ADHD Index: 80 (Cl. Tchr.), 66 (Read. Tchr.), 71 (Parents) ….Note: Scores in the table are T Scores. A T-Score of 65 or greater is considered significant.) *******************: Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI): Standard Score: 85, 16th %, Age Equivalent: 6-6 ………. **********************
: Speech and language Evaluation: (Standard scores (S.S.) on tests have
: a mean of 100. Therefore, a score of 100 is an average score. Any
: score of 15 points below or above 100 represents a significant
: strength or weakness. On subtest scores, 10 is average, with 3
: points above or below representing a signficant strength or
: weakness.Peabody Picture Vocab. Test III (test that measures understanding of
: single word vocabulary (non verbal)……….: Standard Score 89 Percentile 23………….: Expressive Vocabulary Test - A test that measures the ability to
: label and state synonyms for single word vocabulary (verbal)……: Standard Score 81 percentile 10Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (3)….Receptive Subtests, (with m=10): Sentence Structure: 10, 50th%….Concepts and Directions: 7, 16th%…….Word Classes: 6, 9th%…..Receptive Language Total: 86, 18th%…Expressive Subtests: Word Structure: 8, 25th%….Formulated Sentences: 8, 25th%, Recalling Sentences: 8, 25th%…….Expressive Language Total: 88, 21st%…..Total Language Score: 86, 18th%……….Listening to Paragraphs: 4, 2nd%………Word Associations: 9, 37th%………….*****************It cannot be stated enough that attention issues that probably have
: impacted her test results, and hence the results may represent a
: conservative estimate of her learning potential, however they do
: seem to be indicative of present level of functioning.Again, I repeat:: This seems like an inordinate amount of data for total strangers to
: look at — if you’ve read this far, you can only be a saint — and
: I can tell you that when I become as experienced as you folks, I
: will pass on my knowledge to others in my present predicament. In
: the meantime, since the IEP is Tuesday, I just need to make sure
: I’m covering the most important areas that are impeding her
: learning and make sure accomodations, services or therapies are
: written into the interim IEP for those crucial areas until more testing can be done…: I’m having nightmares about this — and I’m eternally greatful for
: any support you can give.: Barb L.

Wow! Now I understand why you feel overwhelmed!Let the school present their proposals and suggestions. After all, they’re the experts.In terms of your focus, I again recommend concentrating on the reading program they offer and on classroom modifications likely to help (such as sitting close to the teacher). I would also try to get some OT for the visual/motor integration. I would ask for LiPS and FastForWord, keeping in mind they may not be able to provide it.It seems to me the test scores show the results of both auditory and visual sensory deprivation. I know that you have appointments with a developmental optometrist and CAPD audiologist (perhaps also with an OT trained to assess sensory integration?). You might want to call their offices and get on their cancellation lists, to see if you can get in sooner. (My neighbor did this, and saved 2 months of wait time for the eval. Of course, she had to drop everything to take him in the next day when someone cancelled an appointment, but it was worth it.)I honestly don’t think the IEP is going to be that important to your daughter’s future. The biggest helps for her are going to be sensory level therapies (vision therapy, sound therapies such as FastForWord, sensory integration therapy) followed by cognitive training (via a program such as PACE) — all of which will probably have to be done outside of school. Once she has those under her belt, academic remediation will become a much higher priority. In the meantime, you just want to see that the school is providing appropriate programs (such as multi-sensory reading instruction) and accommodations that might help (such as sitting close to the teacher, and possibly a FM system).Mary

PASSWORD>aaI221mi7wL3IThis is complex because not only does she have vision issues she seems to have an ADD-inattentive/CAPD co-morbidity. Her processing speed is much lower and her non verbal scores are really low, that could be do to the fact that either a) she has problems with puzzles, mazes, the spatial areas due to her vision or b) that she was inattentive during testing which is where the ADD comes in. The indicator for ADD is a low processing speed and when I read the scores for the connors there is a strong indication for inattention there as well. You will notice that areas where she has to pay attention and listen she is scraping the bottom of the barrel, i.e., Auditory word memory, concepts and directions, listening to paragraphs… This is due to the ADD/CAPD overlap. Ironically she has strong spelling skills which means she is very visual, she has good visual memory and knows how the words look properly to the eye.ADD-inattentive is hard to pick up with girls here are some suggestions to pass on to the team.Use an assistive listening device in the classroom during lectures Preferential seating in the front of the classroom so that she can see better and also hear better which will help with focusing issues too. Make sure to have eye contact befroe speaking and use louder speech Rephrase sentences and use refelective listenign to make sure the child understands Check on the ambient noise level in the classrooom. If it is over 70dB she is going to have trouble with auditory discrimination. When it is too hard to listen that is when the child checks out and becomes inattentive as they are tired from listening. Work in small groups wiht one on one instruction Teach auditory discrimination which will carry over into all areas of reading, writing and spelling When introducing subjects to teach her, preview the subject, review it again using lots of questions to respond to her response to make sure that she understands what is expected of her.Make sure that she has a daily agenda to write down her assignments wherein she can bring it home and back to school to teach her responsbility for her homework assignments and organizational skills.I would personally work on puzzles, word searches, letter discrimination, auditory memory games, manipulation of phonemes.Goals for your daughter and self advocacy. Use the assistive listening device don’t be afraid to ask for clarification Use all her modalities to make sure that she gets what she is missing. Use of her eyes for what her ears aren’t getting and vice versa USe verbal rehearsal to remember things heard until they are written down listen to audiotapes to develop auditory memtoyr and speech discrimination have a positive attitude and be able to laugh when tehy misunderstand something. Make sure that she sits where she can hear and see what is going on in the classroom.This is a personal issue for you as well because I am not sure if you believe in medication or not. From my own personal experience dealing with many kids who are ADD that are my children and those that I teach, medication has been an absolute lifesaver until they have learned the skills necessary to succeed as a student.Hope this gives you some ideas…you are on the right track…good luck

I just want to echo what Mary said about not relying totally on the school. My son also has CAPD and visual processing problems as well as sensory integration problems which are centered on the vestibular system. The visual stuff came as a surprise to us too. At this point in time, I would say his visual problems are probably more severe too. Still, the auditory seems to affect him more, because of the more direct tie-in to reading.We did Fast Forward for CAPD decoding problems last summer, and he has been in vision therapy since July. According to OD, only problem remaining is eye teaming, but we’ve noticed more problems with tracking as his reading level has improved. So, this is not a straight journey. We are now doing Neuronet therapy ttp://www.neuroacoustics.com/main.htm) for auditory processing, and auditory and sensory integration problems. We plan to do PACE, which especially helps visual processing, but feel we need to adequately address some of his underlying sensory issues first.We haven’t found the school to be very helpful at all but hopefully you will have better luck. They have been willing to accomodate—prefential seating and the sort but not very forthcoming on a good remedial reading program.: Well, now that I submitted the test scores, after I took so long to
: get them looking pretty in “table format”, they have
: become a bunch of meaningless crap, pardon the french. Yikes, I
: don’t even know where to start to redo these. Let me try again:
: Regarding the Wecshler Indiv. Achievement Test (WIAT), selected
: subtests. The 4 categories Are AGE S.S., AGE %ILE, GRADE S.S.
: GRADE % Mathematics Reasoning: 93…..32%ile…..91……27%ile.
: Numerical Operations: 87…..19%ile…..84……14%ile Mathematics
: Composite: 89…..23%ile…..86……18%ile
: Spelling:…………..100…..50%ile…..99……47%ile Written
: Expression….. 93…..32%ile…..94……34%ile Writing
: Composite…….94…..34%ile…..98……45%ile: Regarding Reading Test Results: On the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test;
: Vocabulary — Raw: 40….Stanine:…5….NCE…51…%ile: 51, G.E.
: 3.4. Comprehension —Raw: 34….Stanine:…4….NCE…34…%ile:
: 23, G.E 2.3. Total — Raw: 74…Stanine: 4….NCE: 41…%ile: 34
: and Grade Equivalency: 2.8: Informal Reading Inventory: Johns & Analytic. 2nd Gr. Level:
: Instructional - 96-98% word rec./context., Instructional 95% oral
: comprehension., Rate: 136 wpm, Frustration <50% in silent
: comprehension; Rate: 100 wpm.: 3rd Gr. Level: Word Recognition/Isolation: F-17; A-3; 7-+20/20. Word
: Recognition/Context: Instructional 96-97%, Oral Comprehension
: Frustration 57%; Rate: 85wpm., Silent Comprehension Frustration
: 63%; Rate 88wpm.,: 4th Gr. Level: Word Recognition/Isolation: F-14; A-2; +16/20
: ************** Instructional level of reading at a Beginning 2nd
: grade. *************** Running Record: Error Rate 1:23, Accuracy
: 96%, Self-Correction 1:7 — Instructional: Uses mostly visual cues
: along w/some meaning cues – Phonics Survey (El Paso Phonics
: Survey) — all good **************: Regarding the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) The
: Verbal Tests are followed by the Scaled scores, to wit:
: Information: 12……… Similarities: 8……… Arithmetic:
: 9……… Vocabulary: 10……… Comprehension 10………
: (Digit Span) (8)……..: Performance Tests are followed by the Scaled Score, to wit:’: Picture Completion: 6…… Coding: ………… 5…… Picture
: Arrangement:..7…… Block Design:………6…… Object
: Asssembly:…..4…… (Symmbol Search):….(8)….. (Mazes) –-: Verbal IQ: 99; 47th %ile, 94-104 (90% Confidence Interval)….
: Performance IQ: 73; 4th %ile, 69-82 (90% Confidence Interval)…
: Full Scale IQ: 85; 16th %ile, 81-90 (90% Confidence Interval…
: ***************: Verbal Comprehension:….100 (50th %)…..94-106 (90% Conf.
: Interval)… Perceptual Organization: 76 (5th%)…….71-85 (90%
: Conf. Interval)… Freedom from Distractibility: 93
: (32nd%)…86-102 (90% Conf. Interval)…Processing Speed: 83 (13th
: %)…77-94 (90% Conf. Interval). ***************: Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R): Visual
: Discrimination: Scaled Score: 11, 63rd Percentile Rank….. Visual
: Memory: 5, 4th %… Visual Spatial Relationships: 13, 81st%….
: Visual Form Constancy: 5, 5th%, Visual Sequential Memory: 8,
: 21st%… Visual Figure Ground: 8, 23rd%, Visual Closure 4, 3rd
: %….: Visual perceptual Quotient 84, 15th% **************** Test of
: Auditory Perceptual Skills - Revised (TAPS-R): Auditory Number Memory — Forward: Scaled Score: 7, 14th
: %…Reversed: 7, 19th%……Auditory Sentence Memory: 8, 25th%…
: Auditory Word Memory: 6, 8th%….. Auditory Interpretation of
: Directions: 7, 14th%…. Auditory Word Discrimination: 6,
: 10th%…. Auditory Processing: 7, 16th%….. Auditory Perceptual
: Quotient: 74, 4th%: ****************: Conners’ Teacher and Parent Rating Scale - Revised: Oppositional: 47
: (Classroom Teacher) 47 (Reading Teacher) 47
: (Parents)…..Cognitive Prob./Inattention: 86 (Cl. Tchr.) 65
: (Read. Tchr.) 82 (Parents)…….. Hyperactivity: 58 (Cl. Tchr.),
: 46 (Read. Tchr.), 45 (Parents)….. ADHD Index: 80 (Cl. Tchr.), 66
: (Read. Tchr.), 71 (Parents) ….Note: Scores in the table are T
: Scores. A T-Score of 65 or greater is considered significant.)
: *******************: Peabody Picture Vocab. Test III (test that measures understanding of: Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (3)….Receptive
: Subtests, (with m=10): Sentence Structure: 10, 50th%….Concepts
: and Directions: 7, 16th%…….Word Classes: 6, 9th%…..Receptive
: Language Total: 86, 18th%…: Expressive Subtests: Word Structure: 8, 25th%….Formulated
: Sentences: 8, 25th%, Recalling Sentences: 8,
: 25th%…….Expressive Language Total: 88, 21st%…..: Total Language Score: 86, 18th%……….Listening to Paragraphs: 4,
: 2nd%………Word Associations: 9, 37th%………….: *****************: It cannot be stated enough that attention issues that probably have: Again, I repeat:

Well- don’t have nightmares:) She certainly was tested to a fare-thee-well, wasn’t she?Her achievement is actually not too bad if I am reading all those scores accurately- sounds like she may struggle a bit with writing and reading as fast as the others in her class? How is her handwriting? Kids with part to whole stuff (block design) and slow processing speed often have terrible handwriting. They are sort of slow to begin with and then they have to think about how to make all those letters… You also have a short term memory deficit that I think is a slightly bigger deal than the auditory processing issues. ASM is an intake issue- kind of like pouring water too quickly into a bottle- the stuff that spills over is lost. It is hard to tell how effective her auditory processing would be if all the info were getting in there. At this point you have a child with low average language scores, low average cognitive profile that has some very distinct peaks of strength and weakness, and fairly reasonable achievement. It is likely that some of her issues with reading are tied to the fluency/processing speed stuff, and then to the vocabulary weaknesses indicated by the PPVT and the EOWPVT.I would follow up on the ADD issue also I think. Her difficulty attending to auditory stuff and visual stuff and whatever behavior the evaluator noted that prompted the comment made about possibly depressed scores would have me off to the doctor checking that along with hearing and vision.Relative to goals and accommodations- whatever they are doing in terms of remediation appears to be working in reading and spelling, math and written language. I would be inclined to leave that alone. Perhaps they would direct a little work at increasing reading fluency, but otherwise, you don’t show the sort of scoring pattern that would make me want to ask for more services. The accommodations for helping kids sustain their attention don’t really change due to cause (ADD, CAPD, memory deficits) Patti had some good ideas and you could also check out the stuff they have in LDinDEPTH- I will post the link, and then you can see what seems to fit your daughter best and discuss that with your team. You might also look at the information for nonverbal ld- since part of what she presents with is a 26 point difference between verbal and performance scores on the WISC. That is huge.Robin