schools for a bright kid with slow processing speed
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Anonymous
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12:24 again. To clarify: your son took the WISC last year. Is that accurate?
If so, I would start by contacting Dr. Adler and asking him if he saw anything suggestive of attention issues or actual ADHD when he administered the WISC. You have a recent WISC and a good experience with this psychologist, so why not start there? |
Anonymous
| Hi, yes my son took the wisc iv in Sept 2013 (3rd grade), solely in preparation to apply to privates. Beyond the cost of the test, we opted to pay for an extra hour of Dr Adler's time to review the results, and in particular we noted and questioned the disparities between processing speed and the other areas on the test (again, he had about 25th% in processing speed vs 95-99% on the other test areas). Dr Adler acknowledged the disparity but said it is not uncommon and he did not indicate that he was troubled by it or that it required any further testing. So we did not think it was anything to investigate further. I can't see how going back to Dr Adler would help - he was nonplussed by my son's results. Which in part is why I was surprised to see so many posters suggesting that I get my son "tested" (I'm still not certain what is meant by that - presumably more than another wisc test. a full neuropsych? someone mentioned auditory?). Thanks for helping walk me through this. |
Anonymous
| I'd suspect that your WISC tester (who has a good reputation) probably wasn't going to suggest further testing because, while there was a disparity, it wasn't the most extreme (like 5% and 99th %) and because the WISC is a very blunt tool. It's not meant to tease out learning issues. AND because you weren't reporting any problems in school at that time. Now you are -- not bad grades, but not liking learning and decreased confidence. So now you have a disparity PLUS that. If it were my kid, that would lead me to do further testing. But reasonable minds can disagree. |
Anonymous
| I'd also add that a disparity with processing speed can also indicate anxiety or sort of perfectionism. I have a perfectionist daughter who, at 4, tested like that. I will have her tested again at 7 or so and see what it looks like then. If the disparity still exists and she's not loving school, i'll get further testing. Lucky to be able to afford it. |
Anonymous
15:03 again. While the WISC is not designed to find LDs or ADHD, an experienced clinician administered and interpreted it and it sounds like you were comfortable with the feedback. The PPs have listed some good possible school options, so I would start with those: St. Andrew's, Burke, Field, Bullis and possibly McLean. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| For those who posted here with kids in public/504s, which publics were these that your kids were successful in? We have a similar kid and are trying to decide between public with accommodations versus private (like McLean). |
Anonymous
If you can get an IEP in public (and that's a very big "if" on an ADHD only diagnosis [are there any other comorbidities?]) then public can be a terrific way to go. 504s tends to get lost in the dust. Others may report other experiences in fCPS but ours was good at the high school level with an IEP, but DS had Aspergers. Most children on the spectrum should be receiving an IEP from FCPS. It's free, there is team-teaching, there are even AP courses for the twice exceptional kids and I learned today on this site that FCPS is experimenting with a fifth year for spectrum kids (I begged them for a fifth year for my spectrum kid but they laughed me out of the room). Now I'm paying full frieght at a college for courses DC could have taken free during a fifth year at a public. |
Anonymous
We recently use Daisy Pasaclava in the Foxhall Med. Building. She and cohorts did a 3 day full NT workup on DC and I think they were right on target (DS has been tested at least 3 times before with mixed results). If you can't locate her, post back and I'll dig up the phone no. |
Anonymous
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OP, Strixruid might be a good option for a neuropsych evaluation. To figure out if it's executive functioning and/or ADHD, you'll need to do a full evaluation.
McLean, Siena, Jemincy are options if you want to go private. (They can deal with either diagnosis not just dyslexia.) Your kid might qualify for a GTLD public program. I don't know how those work. You could hire an educational consultant or contact the PS directly. |
Anonymous
The other PPs (myself included) are suggesting you get the full battery of tests done - usually a three day process to allow for rest and downtime between tests, costing about $3k, much of which (at least for us) is not covereed by insurance. Good testers will work at trying to learn everything about how your child's brain processes emotions, facts, memory (short and long term), colors, focus, and will try to tease out proper diagnoses, if any, like ADHD/ASD/ODD/High or low I.Q./dyslexia, etc. etc. etc. That's why it takes so long. |
Anonymous
Agree with PP...although sometimes insurance will pay a portion of it. Mine paid the entire cost, but that is highly unusual. The test is necessary to get an accurate diagnosis and determine what kinds of accommodations will be needed for your DS. Your pediatrician can probably give you some names of providers in your area that do this sort of testing. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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Slow processing does NOT = ADHD like some pp are implying. My DS has ADHD according to his neuropsych and has processing in the mid 80ties and working memory in the high 90ties. This is why you can't simply diagnose ADHD from WISC only.
With just processing in the 25%, public schools will not grant an IEP/504 without another diagnosis. |
Anonymous
Yes, if my memory serves me correctly, you need to have some questionnaires completed by parents and teachers. |
Anonymous
| I would look at St. Andrew's even though it's Episcopal. Stay away from punitive schools - I think the previous posters are referring to WES. They are punitive and rigid. |
Anonymous
| This is my child exactly. GT/LD massive discrepency with processing and other scores (verbal, etc). Hit a wall in 5 - 6th grade. I never in a million years would have thought she had any form of ADD or ADHD. Guess what, she was thoroughly tested at Stixrud and is inattentive ADHD. She is now on low dose concerta and is a happier child and is working to her FULL potential… meaning processing speed has improved tremedously. She is now in middle school at one of the challenging all girls schools in the area and doing extremely well. While some people are telling you this profile does not = ADHD inattentive, I am another person telling you there is STRONG correleation with this profile (it also inlcudes anxiety which has been much reduced by her abililty to actually work at her ability). Once you address the learning profile you will likely see that your child is able to be successful at many academic institutions. Good luck and check out Stixrud |