Is dyslexia hard to diagnose?

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone.

[Anonymous]

If the school evaluated your child, you may request an IEE which would allow you to seek a private evaluation paid for by the public school.

Google independent educational evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school evaluated your child, you may request an IEE which would allow you to seek a private evaluation paid for by the public school.

Google independent educational evaluation.

I don't think you said which state you're in, but I would suggest reaching out to Decoding Dyslexia (DDVA is pretty active, don't know about MD or DC). Thas who I learned about IEE's from. Their suggestion is to talk to whomever you'd like to go through for private testing first for guidance on what specifically to request for testing through your school. Under IEE, you're allowed to get retesting done privately and covered if the scools testing is not adequate, but the private testing can't cover areas that weren't in the schools testing. I learned about this too late for our initial round, but hope to get future testing covered.

My DC is strong in visual spatial and we found he faked reading to a certain point but basically couldn't decode at all. He was also really good at guessing words from context (so he would "read" Earth instead of world, for example). It turns out he has severe dyslexia and severe adhd even though we were discouraged from pursuing a dyslexia diagnosis. In retrospect the biggest red flag was his absolute refusal to engage in reading activities. Everyone blamed his poor reading on his refusal but it was the other way around. He was struggling and was basically just getting told to try harder. Since he was already trying as hard as he could, he concluded he was stupid. Unfortunately this is really common for smart kids with dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

Btw the spread between your DD's FSIQ and processing speed is significant and warrants follow up. My DS had a 30 point spread between his strongest subtest and processing speed and his psychologist really keyed on that. Even though it's average, the difference is undoubtedly affecting her performance and a good psych should be able to provide recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is dyslexic and he sounds like your daughter.

He can read silently and comprehend at very high level but can't read out loud.

Here is the thing. You can pay the $2500 for a full neuropsychology evaluation or you can ask the school. The school may refuse or do a terrible job in the evaluation. We did the full evaluation.

I really think this is one huge reason for th eperformance gap in poorer children, they just can't afford the evaluations and tutoring. Sad, but true.

Where did you have your son tested? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Btw the spread between your DD's FSIQ and processing speed is significant and warrants follow up. My DS had a 30 point spread between his strongest subtest and processing speed and his psychologist really keyed on that. Even though it's average, the difference is undoubtedly affecting her performance and a good psych should be able to provide recommendations.

That's my issue. No one has told me what to do about it. I was told she has anxiety, perfectionism, poor executive function, and to start cognitive behavior therapy and we are but my DD doesn't like it very much and it doesn't seem to focus or care about her reading issues (and I didn't suspect it would). I'm struggling to understand why my child sounds like she can't read. It's painful to listen to and it is affecting her self esteem. It's also causing her to get questions wrong because she's reading would as wouldn't or something let that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the spread between your DD's FSIQ and processing speed is significant and warrants follow up. My DS had a 30 point spread between his strongest subtest and processing speed and his psychologist really keyed on that. Even though it's average, the difference is undoubtedly affecting her performance and a good psych should be able to provide recommendations.

That's my issue. No one has told me what to do about it. I was told she has anxiety, perfectionism, poor executive function, and to start cognitive behavior therapy and we are but my DD doesn't like it very much and it doesn't seem to focus or care about her reading issues (and I didn't suspect it would). I'm struggling to understand why my child sounds like she can't read. It's painful to listen to and it is affecting her self esteem. It's also causing her to get questions wrong because she's reading would as wouldn't or something let that.

THe person who did the IQ testing should have given recommendations for follow up. Otherwise no one will tell you. We are basically on our own and we all have to figure it out for scratch. I would first go back to the person who conducted the IQ test and start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the spread between your DD's FSIQ and processing speed is significant and warrants follow up. My DS had a 30 point spread between his strongest subtest and processing speed and his psychologist really keyed on that. Even though it's average, the difference is undoubtedly affecting her performance and a good psych should be able to provide recommendations.

That's my issue. No one has told me what to do about it. I was told she has anxiety, perfectionism, poor executive function, and to start cognitive behavior therapy and we are but my DD doesn't like it very much and it doesn't seem to focus or care about her reading issues (and I didn't suspect it would). I'm struggling to understand why my child sounds like she can't read. It's painful to listen to and it is affecting her self esteem. It's also causing her to get questions wrong because she's reading would as wouldn't or something let that.

THe person who did the IQ testing should have given recommendations for follow up. Otherwise no one will tell you. We are basically on our own and we all have to figure it out for scratch. I would first go back to the person who conducted the IQ test and start there.

Oh, and wrightslaw.com is a great place for information about the ins and outs of IEPs and the various ducks we have to have in a row.

[Anonymous]

Another option to consider- some Orton Gillingham-style reading tutors also do testing to track progress. So if you really can't swing a full evaluation, you could start there to address the apparent immediate need to improve decoding/ reading. They do the testing to track progress in their curriculum. They can't diagnose, but an experienced tutor could tell you if your daughter's pattern of skills fits a typical dyslexic profile.

Even non-dyslexic kids can benefit from the OG style of tutoring, so I wouldn't be worried about any negative impact from an inappropriate intervention. And really bright kids without attention issues can make some substantial progress over the summer which helps with the self-esteem issues too.

I would still work to get the full evaluation to support getting an IEP in place etc. But during the summer those activities in Fairfax County happen at "Summer Clinic" and that has been terrible in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would ask the school to do a full speech language evaluation. That's what we did. My child was not below average in reading, but was very behind in spelling, writing, and language pragmatics.

This didn't result in a diagnosis of dyslexia because a doc is needed to diagnose. But now my child gets speech/language at school due to low phonemic awareness. To me that means child has dyslexia or 'stealth dyslexia'. But what is important is that child is getting needed help.

If you request a speech and language evaluation from the school, be very clear about what your concerns are in the "Evaluation Planning" meeting (there should be a checklist or detailed written plan of what will be tested and who will be administering those tests that you have to sign as part of your consent for evaluation). A school-based SLP will not diagnose dyslexia, but she may be able to identify the areas of strength and weakness in your child's communication skills. Dyslexia falls under "Specific Learning Disability" for school-based services and a student is unlikely to qualify for services if all of the standard scores are in the average range, even if there is a large discrepancy (and the student is performing at that level in the classroom) as seen in your DD's IQ profile. Additionally, a special education eligibility determination of Specific Learning Disability requires testing from a psychologist--academic subject testing. My point is that a public school is not going to use the dyslexia label even if testing warrants services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would ask the school to do a full speech language evaluation. That's what we did. My child was not below average in reading, but was very behind in spelling, writing, and language pragmatics.

This didn't result in a diagnosis of dyslexia because a doc is needed to diagnose. But now my child gets speech/language at school due to low phonemic awareness. To me that means child has dyslexia or 'stealth dyslexia'. But what is important is that child is getting needed help.

If you request a speech and language evaluation from the school, be very clear about what your concerns are in the "Evaluation Planning" meeting (there should be a checklist or detailed written plan of what will be tested and who will be administering those tests that you have to sign as part of your consent for evaluation). A school-based SLP will not diagnose dyslexia, but she may be able to identify the areas of strength and weakness in your child's communication skills. Dyslexia falls under "Specific Learning Disability" for school-based services and a student is unlikely to qualify for services if all of the standard scores are in the average range, even if there is a large discrepancy (and the student is performing at that level in the classroom) as seen in your DD's IQ profile. Additionally, a special education eligibility determination of Specific Learning Disability requires testing from a psychologist--academic subject testing. My point is that a public school is not going to use the dyslexia label even if testing warrants services.

But then you can follow up with private testing with an IEE and get an actual diagnosis. With a diagnosis you can push for an IEP. If she does have dyslexia you need to create a history of accommodations in order to get accommodations on SATs, etc.

I'd recommend checking out Ben Foss's book ... the Dyslexia Empowerment Plan. He had profound dyslexia and his book relates his experience in schooling up through his MBA and his recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would ask the school to do a full speech language evaluation. That's what we did. My child was not below average in reading, but was very behind in spelling, writing, and language pragmatics.

This didn't result in a diagnosis of dyslexia because a doc is needed to diagnose. But now my child gets speech/language at school due to low phonemic awareness. To me that means child has dyslexia or 'stealth dyslexia'. But what is important is that child is getting needed help.

If you request a speech and language evaluation from the school, be very clear about what your concerns are in the "Evaluation Planning" meeting (there should be a checklist or detailed written plan of what will be tested and who will be administering those tests that you have to sign as part of your consent for evaluation). A school-based SLP will not diagnose dyslexia, but she may be able to identify the areas of strength and weakness in your child's communication skills. Dyslexia falls under "Specific Learning Disability" for school-based services and a student is unlikely to qualify for services if all of the standard scores are in the average range, even if there is a large discrepancy (and the student is performing at that level in the classroom) as seen in your DD's IQ profile. Additionally, a special education eligibility determination of Specific Learning Disability requires testing from a psychologist--academic subject testing. My point is that a public school is not going to use the dyslexia label even if testing warrants services.

But then you can follow up with private testing with an IEE and get an actual diagnosis. With a diagnosis you can push for an IEP. If she does have dyslexia you need to create a history of accommodations in order to get accommodations on SATs, etc.

I'd recommend checking out Ben Foss's book ... the Dyslexia Empowerment Plan. He had profound dyslexia and his book relates his experience in schooling up through his MBA and his recommendations.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

This is a rare disease and difficult to diagnose.

[Anonymous]

We had two neuropsych tests plus an SLP report before did was diagnosed with dyslexia. I had started seeing it very early on, around 5, but he didn't get properly diagnosed until he was 11.

Don't bother with FCPS. I've fought battle after battle with them. When they finally started listening was when he failed the reading SOL. Even then, they want to go the bare minimum. Just enough to barely pass the SOL. Never mind that he continues to struggle with reading in class.

They will recognize dyslexia now, they won't diagnose it. It will still be labeled SLD and unless it's very severe they won't use the proper OG based programs to remediate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is dyslexic and he sounds like your daughter.

He can read silently and comprehend at very high level but can't read out loud.

Here is the thing. You can pay the $2500 for a full neuropsychology evaluation or you can ask the school. The school may refuse or do a terrible job in the evaluation. We did the full evaluation.

I really think this is one huge reason for th eperformance gap in poorer children, they just can't afford the evaluations and tutoring. Sad, but true.

Where did you have your son tested? Thanks.

I got a referral from here... http://asdec.org/

I also got my tutor from there.