Submitted a parent referral

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the very least, maybe could qualify to do the compacted math.

What do you mean by compacted math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher indicated he was bright, but has never said anything about AAP. He’s in the highest word study group and in the highest math group (on grade level). His iready in September showed he was already on grade level for reading, but above in comprehension. He gets mostly all 4s (3 in writing). My main concern is him missing an opportunity. I really think he would benefit from a more challenging environment. I think he could definitely handle AAP and why shouldn’t he be given the chance? He didn’t get any pull outs in K or 1, we did zero prep for NNAT and CogAT, and I have to wonder how the scores may have been different if he had had any of those things. I definitely see some qualities of giftedness in him. I wonder if his sensory issues have dampened some of the scores. That’s why I want to do the WISC.

Is he in level II in 2nd grade?

[Anonymous]

No, he’s not... I didn’t even know there were pull outs to be honest. I just thought it all started with 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Are all these pullout with AART?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are all these pullout with AART?

NP At my kids' base school for 1st and 2nd grade, Level II language arts = 2-3 x per week pullouts with the reading specialist. Level II math = the top 15-20% of kids in the grade are grouped in the same math class, which covers more advanced topics and some of the next grade's curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm a psychologist and I recommend you get a full neuropsychological eval. You have many issues going on that will not be addressed by only getting a WISC. A WISC will tell you very little about a child like you are describing. However, a full eval which includes a WISC will answer your AAP question AND also address leaning style, sensory disorder, executive function and many other questions you have. Just getting a WISC would be a waste of money.

I echo the recommendation for a full neuropsychological eval!

My oldest (now 5th grade AAP) was in Catholic school for K - 2nd. In K and 1st she had terrible grades, no interest in reading, was a fight to do homework (so much spelling!). She was disruptive to the classroom and her first grade teacher suggested that she might have some sort of learning or behavioral issue and encouraged us to have her seen. The school gave us a list of psychologists and we ended up using Family Compass in Reston. After the initial consultation, it was recommended that we do a full neuropsycological evaluation, which we did. It was not covered by our insurance and it was expensive, but I'm so glad we made the investment. We knew she is an outside the box thinker/learner and her strength is her creativity. Our primary concern at the time was how we could help her become a better student. The evaluation resulted in telling us that she is super duper bright and that she possibly has ADHD with generalized anxiety. It also provided us with many different options for addressing her ADHD and anxiety. ADHD medication is contraindicated for anxiety, so we paid (out of pocket) for neurofeedback treatment for the ADHD and enrolled her in an afterschool tae kwon do program for self-disciple training to help with executive function skills. In second grade, she had straight Ms (equivalent of all 4s) and was a completely different student, but she was unhappy. The psychologist advised that the somewhat rigid approach to education at the Catholic school was not the best fit for her and a Montessori-type education would be a better fit. We couldn't afford Montessori, so he suggested we submit her for FCPS's AAP program. We used the WISC scores from her testing and went through GMU for the rest of the required tests and referred her ourselves when she was in 2nd grade. She is now thriving in the AAP program and enjoys school.

Long story short, twice exceptional requires more than a WISC as a means to an end. And I would recommend Family Compass in Reston. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We cannot afford a full neuropsych exam right now without insurance...that’s $2,000-$3,000...maybe I can set something up for this summer and hold off for another year. (The places that do take insurance have a 6-9 month wait list). Thanks.

[Anonymous]

What were his actual scores?

[Anonymous]

Family Compass misdiagnosed our child and wanted a ton of our money and time.

They try to sell everybody expensive non-scientific neirofeedback sessions.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, wasted a ton of time and money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We cannot afford a full neuropsych exam right now without insurance...that’s $2,000-$3,000...maybe I can set something up for this summer and hold off for another year. (The places that do take insurance have a 6-9 month wait list). Thanks.

That's about right. Family Compass was not inexpensive. We used our HSA funds (FSA would work also) to pay for it (ie. borrowed against our future medical savings). It would have put us into debt otherwise. But the medical insight and direction we received was more than worth it. I wish that it was an option for all children that were struggling like our DD was. We had seen our pediatrician also and she had given us an ADHD questionnaire, which when it indicated she had ADHD, suggested putting DD on medication. It would have been trial and error from there and we would not have had the insight into her intellectual capabilities. The whole-child approach from Family Compass directed us to the best possible outcome for our situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family Compass misdiagnosed our child and wanted a ton of our money and time.

They try to sell everybody expensive non-scientific neirofeedback sessions.

I'm sorry your experience with FC was not like ours. Neurofeedback worked wonders for our DD and we've been able to avoid medication thus far. While FC did recommend the treatment, among other treatment options, we did not end up using them for neurofeedback. We went to Biofeedback Works.