Would you get a neuropsych?

[Anonymous]

No harm in getting one if it's an affordable option, and might give you some info that could help moving forward. If you get a diagnosis, could also give you better options with getting her support at school.

However I would like to echo a PP suggesting looking into other schooling options. Some kids just do not do well in a traditional classroom environment. She may be a more tactile learner or the kind of kid who needs reinforcement via multiple methods (reading it, hearing it, seeing it illustrated) to really commit knowledge like geography or months of the year to memory.

Even if you can't change schools, you might look into other educational approaches for how you support at home. It is really frustrating that the school is defaulting to these apps for everything, but also so common. In our house, we ignore the app homework often in favor of more hands on learning activities (using stacking blocks for math, encouraging physical writing for reading comprehension because the act of writing helps actually commit the information to memory and promotes understanding). Supporting in this way has done more to help our DD develop academically than if we'd just done what her public school teachers recommended and made sure she did extra iReady lessons at home.

Always remember you know your child best and while you can't ignore the advice and feedback of teachers, you get to choose how to interpret it and what to do with it. A teacher saying "she'll always be at the bottom" is a piece of information, but I wouldn't just acquiesce to it. She may just have academic needs that a typical classroom cannot meet. Many kids who get written off early in school have far more potential than their teachers ever imagined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would homeschool for a year, without screens at all for that year, and see if she improves. This sounds like poor education.

While I agree that any teacher who says "she may always be on the bottom" about a 6 year old with no discernable diagnosis sounds like a dope, telling someone to homeschool when the parent is simply asking about a neuropsych evaluation, is equally dumb.

Sure, get the neuropsych evaluation, the information is useful--the waiting lists are long if you want one through a hospital that is more likely to be covered in network by insurance, but there are special "cancellation waiting lists" that you can ask to be put on and maybe get a last-minute slot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No harm in getting one if it's an affordable option, and might give you some info that could help moving forward. If you get a diagnosis, could also give you better options with getting her support at school.

However I would like to echo a PP suggesting looking into other schooling options. Some kids just do not do well in a traditional classroom environment. She may be a more tactile learner or the kind of kid who needs reinforcement via multiple methods (reading it, hearing it, seeing it illustrated) to really commit knowledge like geography or months of the year to memory.

Even if you can't change schools, you might look into other educational approaches for how you support at home. It is really frustrating that the school is defaulting to these apps for everything, but also so common. In our house, we ignore the app homework often in favor of more hands on learning activities (using stacking blocks for math, encouraging physical writing for reading comprehension because the act of writing helps actually commit the information to memory and promotes understanding). Supporting in this way has done more to help our DD develop academically than if we'd just done what her public school teachers recommended and made sure she did extra iReady lessons at home.

[b]Always remember you know your child best and while you can't ignore the advice and feedback of teachers, you get to choose how to interpret it and what to do with it. A teacher saying "she'll always be at the bottom" is a piece of information, but I wouldn't just acquiesce to it. She may just have academic needs that a typical classroom cannot meet. Many kids who get written off early in school have far more potential than their teachers ever imagined.

[Anonymous]

1) Get on the waiting list because it can take awhile
2) In the meantime, request an evaluation by the school psychologist/ diagnostician for special education services. Send the request to the principal and copy the special ed director. Lots of templates online.
3) Agree to get off the apps. We are lucky our school does not use apps. That is honestly kind of shocking to me (we are in a generic public school but ipads are for the 3x/year iready testing, 1x/week media, and as a "listen to story" station).

My 3rd child (6 yo) has CP and academics come difficult for him. I have done a lot of research (and he has been to a bunch of tutors, OT, etc. who I have learned from) and he really needs repetition and sensory learning. We do fundations practice at home which aligns with what he does at school and involves cutting, cluing, pasting, verbal work, etc. and we do his (optional/supplemental) math hw using dominos, dice, legos, etc., rather than just paper pencil work. Finally, we play a LOT of games at home. That helps with mental math and just learning different concepts.

He will never be a high achiever academically - it is night and day seeing his aptitude vs his siblings' - but his ceiling is a lot higher than his floor, and I want to get him as close to his ceiling as possible.

4) Ask what Tier 2 interventions are in place and whether your dc qualifies. What is your child scoring on diagnostics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a third grader with a late June birthday - younger side for the grade. She has always seemed to lag behind, but not enough to raise huge red flags. In first grade she was slow to read but caught on quickly after being put in an intervention group. She has always been slower to pick up math concepts and learn basic facts. She has been extremely behind in Lexia and Reflex each year and is now also behind in IXL. Her teachers send her school iPad home and ask us to work on these at home. We recently discovered that she didn’t know the months of the year (though I know she knew them in kindergarten!), and memorizing the continents and oceans has been a challenge, despite learning these last year as well. There are a thousand examples like this.

I have brought up concerns to her teachers each year and nobody seems that worried. Her first grade teacher told me he thought she might always be “on the bottom” and have to work extra hard, which I didn’t love hearing about a six year old. Standards based report cards tell us nothing.

I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it seems like that could happen in third grade or above. I don’t want her to feel like a failure. She is very, very aware of how easily things come to other kids. It really bothers her when she is called out for errors or put on the “behind” list for these apps. But I can’t tell if this is my gut or some anxiety speaking. I know it can take months to get a neuropsych appt, and part of me thinks she should put her name on the list at some point this year, knowing we could always cancel the appt. Would love some thoughts from experienced parents here. We can afford a neuropsych but I don’t want to just waste money (and put her through it) if it’s not necessary.

Sounds like my inattentive ADHD kid, although he had other symptoms at that age, like he was struggling in all organized sports because he would daydream rather than follow instructions, and at home, it was tough to get him to make his bed, brush his teeth, eat breakfast and get out the door in less than an hour, and he required constant superversion. He struggled with things you raised, in middle school, he still mixes up the months of the year. He struggles to learn anything that he doesn't value, but if he values, he can hyperfocus and do well. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric ADHD clinic, and they did the neurosych evaluation in kindergarten, and he ended up on Adderall. As a teenager, he also does cognitive therapy to improve his processing speed and executive functioning.

It's hard to say if your DD will react the same, but I used Beast Academy from AoPS with my DS, starting in second grade, and his math scores skyrocketed from mid-50 % to 99%, where they have remained. The comic books, videos, and classes just worked for his ADHD brain, where school math did nothing for him. Now that he's older, he likes their Alchemus and online community.

[Anonymous]

Do it. Everyone (teachers, doctors, family) dismissed my daughter for years based on good grades and I should have gone with my gut.

We had a really bad road once Covid was over and late middle school started.

diagnosed with anxiety 2022
diagnosed with ADHD 2023
diagnosed with Autism 2025

I have a massive amount of guilt that I am working thru. Such an uphill battle that she didn’t deserve. I just honestly didn’t know any better. I had no idea about testing etc…

So please please do it. Your mama instincts are right. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No harm in getting one if it's an affordable option, and might give you some info that could help moving forward. If you get a diagnosis, could also give you better options with getting her support at school.

However I would like to echo a PP suggesting looking into other schooling options. Some kids just do not do well in a traditional classroom environment. She may be a more tactile learner or the kind of kid who needs reinforcement via multiple methods (reading it, hearing it, seeing it illustrated) to really commit knowledge like geography or months of the year to memory.

Even if you can't change schools, you might look into other educational approaches for how you support at home. It is really frustrating that the school is defaulting to these apps for everything, but also so common. In our house, we ignore the app homework often in favor of more hands on learning activities (using stacking blocks for math, encouraging physical writing for reading comprehension because the act of writing helps actually commit the information to memory and promotes understanding). Supporting in this way has done more to help our DD develop academically than if we'd just done what her public school teachers recommended and made sure she did extra iReady lessons at home.

[b]Always remember you know your child best and while you can't ignore the advice and feedback of teachers, you get to choose how to interpret it and what to do with it. A teacher saying "she'll always be at the bottom" is a piece of information, but I wouldn't just acquiesce to it. She may just have academic needs that a typical classroom cannot meet. Many kids who get written off early in school have far more potential than their teachers ever imagined.

I can offer a long-term perspective that might be of some help and reassurance. My daughter is the the youngest of three siblings. My older two, both boys, cruised through our highly-regarded MCPS elementary school, but our daughter struggled, especially in math. When she was in third grade at the same school, her teacher was very concerned about her progress, especially in math. At the urging of both the teacher and the principal, we got a complete neuropsych evaluation, which told us pretty much what you've heard from your daughter's teacher: "She'll always have to work hard and will probably still be at the bottom."

My husband and I decided to move our daughter to a small, nurturing PKK-8 private school, where she started in second grade. We had been considering the move anyway because of the mean girl dynamic in her grade. At the new school she found encouraging and creative teachers. She made wonderful friends. She blossomed academically and socially. We moved her to another private school for HS. She continued to do well both in and out of the classroom. She wasn't an academic star like her older brothers, but she developed great study and time management skills and, most important, grew in confidence. It also helped that she was a strong athlete, so she had an area in her life where she truly excelled, and she had a wonderful experience as a Girl Scout.

She's now a senior in college. She is majoring in psychology and continues to play her sport. She also was an admissions tour guide and a tutor for elementary school children. Last summer she had a great internship on a Senate campaign. The staff member who supervised her told her that he'd hire her in a minute if she wanted a job on the senator's staff and would recommend her for any other job. She is now a finalist for a study abroad fellowship. So, the neuropsych report was correct in concluding that she'd have to work hard, but completely wrong about where she'd end up. Cue A Chorus Line: "It's not where you start, it's where you finish."

[Anonymous]

Oops -- I'm just seeing that I didn't highlight the entire last paragraph of the previous post a I had intended. Here it is:


[b]Always remember you know your child best and while you can't ignore the advice and feedback of teachers, you get to choose how to interpret it and what to do with it. A teacher saying "she'll always be at the bottom" is a piece of information, but I wouldn't just acquiesce to it. She may just have academic needs that a typical classroom cannot meet. Many kids who get written off early in school have far more potential than their teachers ever imagined.[b]

[Anonymous]

get it. Sounds like my daughter to a t. None of her teachers really cared and passed through until 5th, when a teacher realized she needed more support, and then came covid. Got the neuropsych in 9th grade :/ Wish it had been earlier.

We did request 504 with teacher support in 8th but were denied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:get it. Sounds like my daughter to a t. None of her teachers really cared and passed through until 5th, when a teacher realized she needed more support, and then came covid. Got the neuropsych in 9th grade :/ Wish it had been earlier.

We did request 504 with teacher support in 8th but were denied.

We have a 504 plan with teacher support, and it is just a file in a vault collecting dust. The accommodations are largely ignored, and I have to set up meetings every fall with various teachers to remind them about the biggest priorities in the 504 plan. Some of the things in it don't actually help, like extra time on tests. ADHD kids don't naturally use extra time - they rush through as fast as possible to complete the test and do something else. Most of the positive help we've received has been through private providers, such as coaches, therapists, tutors, and a psychiatrist. They have helped DC the most with self-awareness and self-advocacy.

[Anonymous]

Do it and move them to private school. Doesn’t have to be pricy too notch but I can not tell you how terrible the public school system is for kids. Not on the teachers. Just on class size, poverty, undisciplined kids, poor administration etc…

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would get one that included dyslexia but avoids the question of autism. (Kids with autism are banned from most private schools in this area.) This might be called a "basic" psychoeducational evaluation. A private test will be better than the one offered by the school, and likely covered by insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would probably see if the school would test first. We learned enough about my son’s disability through that process and didn’t do a neuropsych. That was actually the recommendation of the neuropsych when we inquired about testing.

In the end, my son is just that kid who is on the bottom with no specific disability other than low IQ. But the schools testing showed enough to get services with reading and other subjects. Reading was the most important because it affects everything.

DP. Yes despite what people say, we found the school testing to be basically the same as private testing (for the “neuropsych” portions - eg the WISC). However the school may resist the testing if they don’t see enough academic impairment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I would get one that included dyslexia but avoids the question of autism. (Kids with autism are banned from most private schools in this area.) This might be called a "basic" psychoeducational evaluation. A private test will be better than the one offered by the school, and likely covered by insurance.

That is so not true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I would get one that included dyslexia but avoids the question of autism. (Kids with autism are banned from most private schools in this area.) This might be called a "basic" psychoeducational evaluation. A private test will be better than the one offered by the school, and likely covered by insurance.

That is so not true

You mean schools blacklisting autism? it is absolutely true. When people claimed “50% of kids in our private have a SN” what they mean is SN-lite - “mild” ADHD or “remediated dyslexia”.