Dyslexia Evaluation without full psychoeducational evaluation

[Anonymous]

DC is a 10th grader, has an extensive IEP and has had numerous evaluations through the years. Unfortunately, she has not made progress and is now about three grades below grade level. We have situation of complete school refusal and she is doing virtual school which is awful because there's no special ed support. I'm convinced she has dyslexia based on what I have read and her deficits through the years. I have called a few places and they indicated that they cannot do an evaluation for dyslexia without a full psychoeducational evaluation. Absolutely no way DC will cooperate through a full psychoeducational evaluation, she'll completely shut down. If we break it up into 2 three-hour appointments, I am 100% sure she will not attend the second session. Is there way to do an evaluation for dyslexia without a full psychoeducational evaluation? I would appreciate names of providers who can provide this.

[Anonymous]

I am a psychologist! Especially if she had had a lot of previous testing, targeted dyslexia testing should definitely be possible! Were previous processing deficits identified ? What’s her IEP category?

[Anonymous]

https://www.linkzedu.com/

Linkz provided a service like that in the past, give them a call and see what options are available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a psychologist! Especially if she had had a lot of previous testing, targeted dyslexia testing should definitely be possible! Were previous processing deficits identified ? What’s her IEP category?

She was found to have slow processing speed (15 percentile) with the initial psychoeducational evaluation in 3rd grade obtained through a private provider because the school initially said she did not have sufficient evidence to warrant special education testing. So I had her testing privately. The school did not repeat processing speed evaluation in its testing in subsequent years because they indicated that there's no evidence that this has changed since her baseline in 3rd grade because she continues to exhibit slow processing speed. IEP categories are for specific learning disability, OHI (due to ADHD and anxiety) and autism (only intervention for autism in her IEP is a social skills goal). I have spoken with three reputable providers who do psychoeducational testing, and all indicated that a full psychoeducational evaluation is necessary considering the history and that school evaluations tend to be insufficient or superficial. If you have any recommendations for providers that are likely to agree with dyslexia evaluation on its own, I would appreciate that. Thank you for sharing your expertise. The only reason I'm advocating for dyslexia evaluation vs. a full evaluation is because DD's frustration tolerance is very low and she will shut down at some point and refuse continue with the evaluation. We've been there, done that.

[Anonymous]

Would it be more productive to assume she has dyslexia and act accordingly? You don't need the diagnosis for school if she already has SLD eligibility. And if she has limited patience for evaluations, her time may be better spent with a tutor getting baseline data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would it be more productive to assume she has dyslexia and act accordingly? You don't need the diagnosis for school if she already has SLD eligibility. And if she has limited patience for evaluations, her time may be better spent with a tutor getting baseline data.

That would be the most productive move. Unfortunately, the school won't add any more academic support except self-contained classes because they believe that her failed grades, incomplete assignments are due to "low motivation" and "avoidance of non-preferred tasks." If she has dyslexia, she will need specialized and targeted interventions for that. We cannot afford private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would it be more productive to assume she has dyslexia and act accordingly? You don't need the diagnosis for school if she already has SLD eligibility. And if she has limited patience for evaluations, her time may be better spent with a tutor getting baseline data.

That would be the most productive move. Unfortunately, the school won't add any more academic support except self-contained classes because they believe that her failed grades, incomplete assignments are due to "low motivation" and "avoidance of non-preferred tasks." If she has dyslexia, she will need specialized and targeted interventions for that. We cannot afford private school.

A dyslexia diagnosis won't change that self contained classes are how many districts deliver specialized and targeted interventions. She's already classified as SLD, you said, which is as close as IDEA gets to dyslexia.

Can you afford a tutor?

[Anonymous]

Get her evaluated for vision related deficits. https://www.covd.org

[Anonymous]

Lindamood Bell does dyslexia-specific evaluations. I think $1,100+ but better than $5k for a full neuropsych.