Can I get some input on a school suggesting that my kindergartner have a neuropsychological evaluation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do the testing. Early intervention for any issue is key.

+1
I had less reason to test my kids and I did it anyway. We did a neurodevelopmental exam - 8 hours at 4-5yrs old for each kid. It revealed so many things, among them was all my kids are gifted and high anxiety, one is 2e. This helped us to support them in school. One of my other kids had a sensory issue. Usually the remediation is minimal when you catch problems young. Just do the exam if you can.

This is a very odd take. If your child actually has autism or ADHD it’s not going to be “minimal remediation.” The interventions need to be guided by the symptoms- and a neuropsych is not something you do unless the simpler assessments aren’t guiding interventions well enough. I guess maybe rich people can shell out $5k for their basically NT kids every year but that’s not going to work for most of us.

The most tangible thing OP mentioned in fine motor and it’s very easy to go to an OT and get a fine motor assessment and services.

The crying jags honestly don’t seem that abnormal but if there is still concern, make an appointment with a developmental psychologist who can observe the child and recommend further testing.

[Anonymous]

I would be grateful the school is talking to you about the concerns early.

I would get on a waitlist for a neuropsych and in the meantime schedule an OT evaluation. They can work on fine motor skills and letter formation. OT can also work on school-appropriate self-regulation skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing there are a lot more little incidents that prompted the school to make this suggestion.

In volunteering to help out at school, I see my son's kindergarten classmates showing a lot of behavior that their parents either never see or just ignore.

The school sees thousands of boys your DS’s age, OP. They are telling you that he is outside of the range they expect. You can choose to not look into why, but you have to accept responsibility for what happens going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing there are a lot more little incidents that prompted the school to make this suggestion.

In volunteering to help out at school, I see my son's kindergarten classmates showing a lot of behavior that their parents either never see or just ignore.

The school sees thousands of boys your DS’s age, OP. They are telling you that he is outside of the range they expect. You can choose to not look into why, but you have to accept responsibility for what happens going forward.

The “school” may see thousands of kids but the individual teacher does not. This could be an inexperienced teacher that makes the same recommendations for any behavior that is not perfect.

[Anonymous]

True PP. we have young, female teachers on our school who’ve never done student teaching. They came in through an alternate certification program. They have no idea what normal 4-8 yr old boys are like.

This doesn’t sound like public school to me though. We’ve been in school for around 50 days at this point. Recommending testing after this much time would be reserved for obvious cases of autism.

[Anonymous]

My son’s preschool did the same thing to me - pressured me to get a neuropsych and an appointment with a very expensive private testing company. My son is quirky and had some issues that we were already addressing privately. I didn’t feel the need to shell out $3 K for a full on evaluation. I chose to ignore the preschool’s advice. Fast forward to middle school - my son is AAP, making straight As and the teacher’s love him. He also has a good set of nice friends. He’s outgrown some of his issues.

My take is, if your child doesn’t fit the mold, they always think it’s a “problem” when it may not be. Go with your gut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would do the testing. Early intervention for any issue is key.

+1

The lack of emotional regulation and the fine motor challenges are connected issues. Find out what's going on so that you can get him the help he needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do the testing. Early intervention for any issue is key.

+1
I had less reason to test my kids and I did it anyway. We did a neurodevelopmental exam - 8 hours at 4-5yrs old for each kid. It revealed so many things, among them was all my kids are gifted and high anxiety, one is 2e. This helped us to support them in school. One of my other kids had a sensory issue. Usually the remediation is minimal when you catch problems young. Just do the exam if you can.

This is a very odd take. If your child actually has autism or ADHD it’s not going to be “minimal remediation.” The interventions need to be guided by the symptoms- and a neuropsych is not something you do unless the simpler assessments aren’t guiding interventions well enough. I guess maybe rich people can shell out $5k for their basically NT kids every year but that’s not going to work for most of us.

The most tangible thing OP mentioned in fine motor and it’s very easy to go to an OT and get a fine motor assessment and services.

The crying jags honestly don’t seem that abnormal but if there is still concern, make an appointment with a developmental psychologist who can observe the child and recommend further testing.

All of this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing there are a lot more little incidents that prompted the school to make this suggestion.

In volunteering to help out at school, I see my son's kindergarten classmates showing a lot of behavior that their parents either never see or just ignore.

The school sees thousands of boys your DS’s age, OP. They are telling you that he is outside of the range they expect. You can choose to not look into why, but you have to accept responsibility for what happens going forward.

The “school” may see thousands of kids but the individual teacher does not. This could be an inexperienced teacher that makes the same recommendations for any behavior that is not perfect.

Another reasonable answer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son’s preschool did the same thing to me - pressured me to get a neuropsych and an appointment with a very expensive private testing company. My son is quirky and had some issues that we were already addressing privately. I didn’t feel the need to shell out $3 K for a full on evaluation. I chose to ignore the preschool’s advice. Fast forward to middle school - my son is AAP, making straight As and the teacher’s love him. He also has a good set of nice friends. He’s outgrown some of his issues.

My take is, if your child doesn’t fit the mold, they always think it’s a “problem” when it may not be. Go with your gut.

Ba da boom ba da bing

[Anonymous]

If the school says you need it - you do. They need it to give him an IEP and he needs one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son’s preschool did the same thing to me - pressured me to get a neuropsych and an appointment with a very expensive private testing company. My son is quirky and had some issues that we were already addressing privately. I didn’t feel the need to shell out $3 K for a full on evaluation. I chose to ignore the preschool’s advice. Fast forward to middle school - my son is AAP, making straight As and the teacher’s love him. He also has a good set of nice friends. He’s outgrown some of his issues.

My take is, if your child doesn’t fit the mold, they always think it’s a “problem” when it may not be. Go with your gut.

Ba da boom ba da bing

100% agree. You are the parent. You don’t have to get this testing. I feel as parents, we have good intuition what the spectrum of normal is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school says you need it - you do. They need it to give him an IEP and he needs one.

Crying for a few minutes over something in Kindergarten and then resuming as normal does not require and IEP. It isn’t even happening daily. This has happened 3-4 times over 10 weeks

[Anonymous]

Keep testing your normal boys people 👍

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can he write his name?

Yes. He's fine with all letters, numbers, and most shapes. It was just copying certain shapes that were difficult.