Testing for dyslexia before college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What accommodations does she need that she's not already getting?

You'll likely need updated paperwork (details depending on the school, but most likely within 3 years), but you don't necessarily need a different diagnosis.

I’m not sure what accommodations she’ll need in college. 1-1 tutoring and extra time would be helpful. Written notes for lectures would be helpful.

Maybe these would be provided with a diagnosis of anxiety anyway. But I feel like her anxiety is caused by her dyslexia - not separate from it - and understanding her strengths and weaknesses will help her.

Colleges aren't going to provide tutoring through disability services. But many (most?) schools have tutoring centers staffed by upperclassmen. It will be the student's responsibility to seek it out.

Understanding her strengths and weaknesses is important regardless of accommodations, so I encourage you to seek out private testing now. There's no reason to wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m her mom, I’m dyslexic, and I know her. She’s bright, analytical, focused, hard working, and extremely anxious. She often gets called out for not following verbal directions, missing important information during lectures, has trouble learning languages, and has slow processing speed. Her test anxiety is extreme. When she took the PSAT, she didn’t receive her accommodations by mistake and scored 850. Put her head on the desk and cried. After working with a tutor, taking several practice tests, and receiving her accommodations, she scored 1350. Her scores, while much improved, still don’t match her GPA and don’t reflect her abilities, in my opinion.

You didn’t mention anything about reading ability, which is the core aspect of dyslexia.

Does she think she has dyslexia or something else going on? As a rising college freshman, this should be her decision.

Yes, she thinks she’s dyslexic and nervous about college.

Then, yes, I think testing is a good idea. However, in response to your previous response (about different forms of dyslexia) - I understand there are different types of dyslexia. Dyslexia, across types, is inherently a learning disability in reading. I caution you about narrowing in on dyslexia too soon, especially as you look for testing. There are many other things (e.g., auditory processing disorder, ADHD, slow processing speed) that could explain her symptoms, as well. Since you specifically did not mention reading as a primary concern, I would suggest a more broad psychoeducational evaluation rather than focusing on dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m her mom, I’m dyslexic, and I know her. She’s bright, analytical, focused, hard working, and extremely anxious. She often gets called out for not following verbal directions, missing important information during lectures, has trouble learning languages, and has slow processing speed. Her test anxiety is extreme. When she took the PSAT, she didn’t receive her accommodations by mistake and scored 850. Put her head on the desk and cried. After working with a tutor, taking several practice tests, and receiving her accommodations, she scored 1350. Her scores, while much improved, still don’t match her GPA and don’t reflect her abilities, in my opinion.

You didn’t mention anything about reading ability, which is the core aspect of dyslexia.

Does she think she has dyslexia or something else going on? As a rising college freshman, this should be her decision.

Yes, she thinks she’s dyslexic and nervous about college.

Then, yes, I think testing is a good idea. However, in response to your previous response (about different forms of dyslexia) - I understand there are different types of dyslexia. Dyslexia, across types, is inherently a learning disability in reading. I caution you about narrowing in on dyslexia too soon, especially as you look for testing. There are many other things (e.g., auditory processing disorder, ADHD, slow processing speed) that could explain her symptoms, as well. Since you specifically did not mention reading as a primary concern, I would suggest a more broad psychoeducational evaluation rather than focusing on dyslexia.

If she goes to a place like Mindwell, they’ll do thorough and wide testing. They don’t limit what they examine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m her mom, I’m dyslexic, and I know her. She’s bright, analytical, focused, hard working, and extremely anxious. She often gets called out for not following verbal directions, missing important information during lectures, has trouble learning languages, and has slow processing speed. Her test anxiety is extreme. When she took the PSAT, she didn’t receive her accommodations by mistake and scored 850. Put her head on the desk and cried. After working with a tutor, taking several practice tests, and receiving her accommodations, she scored 1350. Her scores, while much improved, still don’t match her GPA and don’t reflect her abilities, in my opinion.

You didn’t mention anything about reading ability, which is the core aspect of dyslexia.

Does she think she has dyslexia or something else going on? As a rising college freshman, this should be her decision.

Yes, she thinks she’s dyslexic and nervous about college.

Then, yes, I think testing is a good idea. However, in response to your previous response (about different forms of dyslexia) - I understand there are different types of dyslexia. Dyslexia, across types, is inherently a learning disability in reading. I caution you about narrowing in on dyslexia too soon, especially as you look for testing. There are many other things (e.g., auditory processing disorder, ADHD, slow processing speed) that could explain her symptoms, as well. Since you specifically did not mention reading as a primary concern, I would suggest a more broad psychoeducational evaluation rather than focusing on dyslexia.

Thanks, this is good advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m her mom, I’m dyslexic, and I know her. She’s bright, analytical, focused, hard working, and extremely anxious. She often gets called out for not following verbal directions, missing important information during lectures, has trouble learning languages, and has slow processing speed. Her test anxiety is extreme. When she took the PSAT, she didn’t receive her accommodations by mistake and scored 850. Put her head on the desk and cried. After working with a tutor, taking several practice tests, and receiving her accommodations, she scored 1350. Her scores, while much improved, still don’t match her GPA and don’t reflect her abilities, in my opinion.

You didn’t mention anything about reading ability, which is the core aspect of dyslexia.

Does she think she has dyslexia or something else going on? As a rising college freshman, this should be her decision.

Yes, she thinks she’s dyslexic and nervous about college.

Then, yes, I think testing is a good idea. However, in response to your previous response (about different forms of dyslexia) - I understand there are different types of dyslexia. Dyslexia, across types, is inherently a learning disability in reading. I caution you about narrowing in on dyslexia too soon, especially as you look for testing. There are many other things (e.g., auditory processing disorder, ADHD, slow processing speed) that could explain her symptoms, as well. Since you specifically did not mention reading as a primary concern, I would suggest a more broad psychoeducational evaluation rather than focusing on dyslexia.

Thanks, this is good advice.

OP again and now that you mention it, my official diagnosis was not dyslexia but Specific Learning Disability, which included dyslexia but other disabilities as well - dysphonia, dysgraphia and another I can’t remember. Is it possible to separate the psycho/educational testing from a full neuropsych evalaluation? She’s already been tested thoroughly for ADHD so I’d rather not put her (or our wallet) through that again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m her mom, I’m dyslexic, and I know her. She’s bright, analytical, focused, hard working, and extremely anxious. She often gets called out for not following verbal directions, missing important information during lectures, has trouble learning languages, and has slow processing speed. Her test anxiety is extreme. When she took the PSAT, she didn’t receive her accommodations by mistake and scored 850. Put her head on the desk and cried. After working with a tutor, taking several practice tests, and receiving her accommodations, she scored 1350. Her scores, while much improved, still don’t match her GPA and don’t reflect her abilities, in my opinion.

You didn’t mention anything about reading ability, which is the core aspect of dyslexia.

Does she think she has dyslexia or something else going on? As a rising college freshman, this should be her decision.

Yes, she thinks she’s dyslexic and nervous about college.

Then, yes, I think testing is a good idea. However, in response to your previous response (about different forms of dyslexia) - I understand there are different types of dyslexia. Dyslexia, across types, is inherently a learning disability in reading. I caution you about narrowing in on dyslexia too soon, especially as you look for testing. There are many other things (e.g., auditory processing disorder, ADHD, slow processing speed) that could explain her symptoms, as well. Since you specifically did not mention reading as a primary concern, I would suggest a more broad psychoeducational evaluation rather than focusing on dyslexia.

Thanks, this is good advice.

OP again and now that you mention it, my official diagnosis was not dyslexia but Specific Learning Disability, which included dyslexia but other disabilities as well - dysphonia, dysgraphia and another I can’t remember. Is it possible to separate the psycho/educational testing from a full neuropsych evalaluation? She’s already been tested thoroughly for ADHD so I’d rather not put her (or our wallet) through that again.

Yes. Our son's first eval was a full neropsych evaluation. Every 3 years he has to get updated reports and it's just a psychoeducational. Much shorter and cheaper.

[Anonymous]

I recommend Maven Psychology Group for a psychoeducational. They were able to get my child in right away and it was a lot cheaper than a lot of the neuropsych providers

[Anonymous]

Pay for private testing but this sounds more like mental health struggles than dyslexia. This classic anxiety. Possibly language processing but no way a child with dyslexia would go unnoticed for this long without tutors, etc. I think you sound extremely anxious. Focus on what's going well and praise your daughter. She'll relax and feel better and in turn you will. I hope that doesn't sound rude but no need to spin your wheels and look for dyslexia when it is not there. Just enjoy her before college.

[Anonymous]

Dyslexia is not in the DSM by the way.

[Anonymous]

You are anxious and projecting here. Just because you have dyslexia does not mean your daughter does. I think you need therapy. Your child is an excellent student and instead of embracing that you are looking for an issue. Maybe it's because she is leaving for college and you worry about letting her go off in her own. If the school didn't think she needs testing and she was tested before and it didn't show dyslexia then I truly think it is you with the issue. Please get help. It's very hard when kids go off to college. It's unbeatable to worry but these feels extreme. Do yourself a favor and start therapy to prepare for the transition of having your child away at college and that next phase of your life.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I’d have her tested if you can afford it. There is a different test for people under 16 but if she’s older, the tests they give should be fine. We used Mindwell, too. Received accommodations in high school and college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are anxious and projecting here. Just because you have dyslexia does not mean your daughter does. I think you need therapy. Your child is an excellent student and instead of embracing that you are looking for an issue. Maybe it's because she is leaving for college and you worry about letting her go off in her own. If the school didn't think she needs testing and she was tested before and it didn't show dyslexia then I truly think it is you with the issue. Please get help. It's very hard when kids go off to college. It's unbeatable to worry but these feels extreme. Do yourself a favor and start therapy to prepare for the transition of having your child away at college and that next phase of your life.

You are off base here. It’s perfectly reasonable for OP to suspect an undiagnosed learning disability. Now is the time to figure that out OP. I agree that testing is a good idea - if anything so she understands more about herself.

[Anonymous]

"His school gave the PSAT last week to all students as purely a practice test. No accommodations were given to anyone. We knew this in advance and were advised many times that this is purely a practice to get the kids ready. The scores go nowhere. I'm really interested to see how he did".

Not ok. Accommodations allow students to demonstrate what they know.

[Anonymous]

Another option is to skip the testing and go straight to tutoring. Kids Up Reading Coaches will check her phonological and phonics skills up front, and then get her reading fluently.

It doesn't get you a formal diagnosis. But it solves the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"His school gave the PSAT last week to all students as purely a practice test. No accommodations were given to anyone. We knew this in advance and were advised many times that this is purely a practice to get the kids ready. The scores go nowhere. I'm really interested to see how he did".

Not ok. Accommodations allow students to demonstrate what they know.

Agreed. As a parent with a 2E child who has clear dyslexia, it is pointless to give a test without accommodations.