DS very slow reader, testing?

[Anonymous]

Because he was labeled academically gifted early on, there's never been any concern about his schoolwork. However, I see at home that he is an extremely slow reader and writer. He does great work, but is incredibly slow and is starting to lose sleep because of his slow process (unlike his sibling, who completes similar work in about a quarter of the time). We think he might have inattentive ADHD but it could also be more than that, some kind of processing disorder. Anyone with similar experience? Looks like we should have him tested but not sure where to start. Unfortunately we have Kaiser so that probably means self-pay. Any recs appreciated, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Our very intelligent but also very slow kid has adhd. School would not believe it, because she’s bright and a people pleaser, but it takes her 1,000,000 years to finish things. I was worried about processing (and specifically auditory, because she can’t follow conversations that move quickly). So we did a full battery of psycho educational tests. We did it with someone local to us that was very expensive. It was also thorough, ruled out processing issues and placed it all on attention.
I know GMU does these tests for less money if you don’t find a place local to you at a good price.

[Anonymous]

I’m pp.
Our pediatrician had specific recommendation for places that do these tests

[Anonymous]

Yes, he does sound like he has low processing speed, and also maybe he's a perfectionist (which means anxiety). He could possibly have an atypical form of dyslexia, unless his verbal scores are really high. One of my kids is twice exceptional, with high reasoning scores but abysmally low processing speed (and inattentive ADHD, ASD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia... but no dyslexia).

A full neuropsych is in order, OP.

[Anonymous]

^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

[Anonymous]

My DC is the same as your DS. There’s no support from school since already in advanced program at school, requested meeting but the result was no 504 nor iep, reason was no academic difficulty at school, and anything outside school hours was not the schools responsibility. The school assistant principal was nice offered to give more time for assignments, but without 504 there’s no formal instruction from teachers and DC insisted to continue finish everything daily before bedtime. The homeroom teacher recommended to let school counselors know. Basically we have to constantly remind DC doing things more efficiently, eliminating time ( daily routing also takes a lot of time) used on things other than assignment, so DC can get little bit more sleep. DC has another testing result from pediatrician but not related to this slow processing issue ( we did therapy sessions, but didn’t work snd DC hated it very much, so we stopped after several months). I was trying to get formal testing but decided not to eventually, as school’s firm on no support other than showing academic difficulties, will more time really help since everything will just add up, and not every teacher would accommodate ( thinking about going to HS and college, also work). I mean you can still try to get testing and see if school will offer something useful to help. Most insurance will not cover and you have to pay out of pocket for couple of thousands; there’s testing offered at GMU by students and cost around $2000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

What was the cost for a full assessment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

What was the cost for a full assessment?

5K. It was entirely worth it, since the report included a long page of suggested accommodations, all written in MCPS-speak. My son's school approved all the important ones, and they helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

What was the cost for a full assessment?

5K. It was entirely worth it, since the report included a long page of suggested accommodations, all written in MCPS-speak. My son's school approved all the important ones, and they helped a lot.

May I ask what kinds of accommodations? I have a college freshman who probably should be tested. Do colleges accept these recommendations as authoritative?

[Anonymous]

I know schools are obligated to test for a learning disability if parents request it. Is the same true for ADHD? If so, I’d start there, with the idea you can test elsewhere if needed.

My gifted but dyslexic child is slow/needs extra time, but she had other hallmarks of dyslexia all along. It sounds like processing speed or ADHD is more likely for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know schools are obligated to test for a learning disability if parents request it. Is the same true for ADHD? If so, I’d start there, with the idea you can test elsewhere if needed.

My gifted but dyslexic child is slow/needs extra time, but she had other hallmarks of dyslexia all along. It sounds like processing speed or ADHD is more likely for your child.

MCPS said no after repeated requests. Straight A student who got into a magnet program. They didn't care that he was suffering to an inordinate degree to get those As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

What was the cost for a full assessment?

5K. It was entirely worth it, since the report included a long page of suggested accommodations, all written in MCPS-speak. My son's school approved all the important ones, and they helped a lot.

May I ask what kinds of accommodations? I have a college freshman who probably should be tested. Do colleges accept these recommendations as authoritative?

Yes.

DS had two neuropsychs at Stixrud, one at 10 yo that identified his learning disabilities, low processing speed, anxiety and severe ADHD, and gave him school accommodations such as double time, use of a calculator, notes, repeated instructions, etc; and one at 17 that was specifically for college, and that was conducted under Adderall. It was to infirm or confirm autism. He was found to have autism. The severe ADHD had masked it in the previous evaluation. This diagnosis allowed him to get a single room with private bathroom in his freshman year, which was very important to him, because he is asocial and wouldn't have been able to sleep much with a roommate in the same room. He has double time in college for exams, as well as use of noise-canceling headphones. He was able to get the maximum allowed accommodations while he was studying abroad - which meant one third extra time (ha), because in the country he was in, this is the max.

Now he's a junior, and tries his best not to use his double time, because he knows full well workplaces will not find him productive. He's moved into a shared apartment, where each roommate has their own bedroom, but there are two to a bathroom, with a shared kitchen. So far this is working well, so he's making progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, my recommendation is Stixrud, in Silver Spring, MD. They're very good.

What was the cost for a full assessment?

5K. It was entirely worth it, since the report included a long page of suggested accommodations, all written in MCPS-speak. My son's school approved all the important ones, and they helped a lot.

May I ask what kinds of accommodations? I have a college freshman who probably should be tested. Do colleges accept these recommendations as authoritative?

Yes.

DS had two neuropsychs at Stixrud, one at 10 yo that identified his learning disabilities, low processing speed, anxiety and severe ADHD, and gave him school accommodations such as double time, use of a calculator, notes, repeated instructions, etc; and one at 17 that was specifically for college, and that was conducted under Adderall. It was to infirm or confirm autism. He was found to have autism. The severe ADHD had masked it in the previous evaluation. This diagnosis allowed him to get a single room with private bathroom in his freshman year, which was very important to him, because he is asocial and wouldn't have been able to sleep much with a roommate in the same room. He has double time in college for exams, as well as use of noise-canceling headphones. He was able to get the maximum allowed accommodations while he was studying abroad - which meant one third extra time (ha), because in the country he was in, this is the max.

Now he's a junior, and tries his best not to use his double time, because he knows full well workplaces will not find him productive. He's moved into a shared apartment, where each roommate has their own bedroom, but there are two to a bathroom, with a shared kitchen. So far this is working well, so he's making progress.

Very helpful, thank you!

My DC is funny in that his issues are with reading and writing, not testing, which perplexes us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because he was labeled academically gifted early on, there's never been any concern about his schoolwork. However, I see at home that he is an extremely slow reader and writer. He does great work, but is incredibly slow and is starting to lose sleep because of his slow process (unlike his sibling, who completes similar work in about a quarter of the time). We think he might have inattentive ADHD but it could also be more than that, some kind of processing disorder. Anyone with similar experience? Looks like we should have him tested but not sure where to start. Unfortunately we have Kaiser so that probably means self-pay. Any recs appreciated, thanks!

Who labeled him academically gifted? Was that through a test?

He does well in school but according to you his sibling is faster, so that’s a concern? Why? And if he’s losing sleep that might have to do with you.

Slow reading is not always a symptom of anything. It’s not a sign of intelligence or adhd or learning disability on its own. If someone is reading slow because the vocabulary is too difficult that might be a problem. If your son is comprehending everything there is no problem. Students can also read fast and miss the details, that would be a problem.

Don’t comment on his speed. If he’s overwhelmed because the classes are too much see what he can do to lessen a load.