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

[Anonymous]

Your school gives a *daily* behavior rating? Is that common? I haven’t heard of it in my circles (private) and it would make me think they are too rigid and compliance-based.

That said, please try some OT. It can only benefit your son as you explore other avenues and learn more about him. And maybe a lower key psychologist consult. I also love Janet Lansbury for frustration tolerance and building connection but you may already be using an approach like that.

[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.

Yes, this. Teachers and classroom aides are NOT reporting and documenting every single behavior. There isn't time. So there is more going on than the specific incidents that were shared with you, OP.

As many have already figured out, it's a private school with a very small class size and a full time assistant.

This is one of the (rare?) occasions where the teacher would indeed have time to note legitimately concerning behaviors. Indeed, we get a daily report that regularly lists things that are far, far less significant than crying episodes. So I actually believe that the 3-4 crying episodes likely are the vast majority of the behavior that is leading to the recommendation (along with the possible shapes-copying issues).

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? If he’s really young (just turned 5) it may be more of an age thing.

Was your son in preschool or daycare previously? If not it may be that this is a really big adjustment. If he was did he do this in classroom settings previously?

These incidents depending on severity may warrant a neuropsych exam. As others have said, everything is probably not documented. It’s probably best to go through with it so you can move forward with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he a six year old in kindergarten? Is he one of the older kids in the class? Is this his first school experience? His first group experience?
As someone who has done psych testing, and who has also worked in a variety of school settings, a referral for neuro-psych testing would NOT be where I’d start for assessment and referrals given what you’ve described.

He turned 6 in October, so he's one of the older kids. Has done preschool since age 2, but last year 4-days/week half-day -- this is his first year of 5 days per week and his first year of full days.

If neuropsych is not where you'd start for this, mind sharing where you would start? OT? Developmental pediatrician? Psychologist?

[Anonymous]

I had a preK teacher recommend the same for my 4yo DS, much to my surprise. By the time we were able to even get an appt, he had already started K and was doing great. Had no problems in K-or in any other grade- and is now in 7th grade. Good student, never had any behavioral issues or social issues at all, lots of friends. I’m sure the teacher meant well but she was obviously mistaken. Just throwing that out there. It does happen.

Has anyone else ever mentioned issues of concern? PreK teacher, childcare provider, activities teacher etc? Do you find his behavior concerning compared to other kids?

It can’t hurt anything to get an assessment but I personally would not be alarmed- and would be a bit skeptical- based on what you have said.

[Anonymous]

You could try getting an OT evaluation first (cheaper than a neuropsych and probably easier to get quickly). The OT can assess whether to recommend a neuropsych, and as a prior poster said, OT services could help with a lot of the things you mentioned

[Anonymous]

I posted upthread, but I do remember when my son’s private kindergarten flagged a lot of issues that seem to be very minor or trivial. At the time I thought theirs was an overreaction. I thought seeking out a child psychologist in kindergarten was over the top, considering. But unlike some of the other posters, my child’s issues did not disappear with age. The school was just seeing them before I did. I also think I had a tendency to think that things had to be “terrible” or catastrophic before calling in professionals, but that’s not true.

It’s not like there is going to be a plane writing out in the sky “your child has ADHD.” Generally the message comes little by little from things that all seem at first like one-offs.

[Anonymous]

Not being able to draw a triangle at all in PK was the first sign that our very smart DC is quite dyslexic. That kid is now in college but their journey was long and winding and required lots of specialized help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:well it will take you 3 years to get a neuropsych exam, so doesn’t seem like a great recommendation.

I’d talk to the school SPED team and ask what the meaning of the recommendation is. They have an affirm duty to start the evaluation process if they suspect a disability.

well that's wildly untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he a six year old in kindergarten? Is he one of the older kids in the class? Is this his first school experience? His first group experience?
As someone who has done psych testing, and who has also worked in a variety of school settings, a referral for neuro-psych testing would NOT be where I’d start for assessment and referrals given what you’ve described.

He turned 6 in October, so he's one of the older kids. Has done preschool since age 2, but last year 4-days/week half-day -- this is his first year of 5 days per week and his first year of full days.

If neuropsych is not where you'd start for this, mind sharing where you would start? OT? Developmental pediatrician? Psychologist?

I may have missed this but if it's public school, ask for an evaluation (psycho educational) under IDEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he a six year old in kindergarten? Is he one of the older kids in the class? Is this his first school experience? His first group experience?
As someone who has done psych testing, and who has also worked in a variety of school settings, a referral for neuro-psych testing would NOT be where I’d start for assessment and referrals given what you’ve described.

He turned 6 in October, so he's one of the older kids. Has done preschool since age 2, but last year 4-days/week half-day -- this is his first year of 5 days per week and his first year of full days.

If neuropsych is not where you'd start for this, mind sharing where you would start? OT? Developmental pediatrician? Psychologist?

No where. I really don’t see the issue. I’d wait a year and revisit if needed. Your kid has cried 3-4 times at school in 10 weeks and it lasted a couple minutes. What is OT supposed to do? Are you going to medicate him for this? This seems way over the top. Give it a year and see how he is. At 7, it will be more clear if this is a maturity issue vs a larger anxiety, OCD, ADHD issue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a preK teacher recommend the same for my 4yo DS, much to my surprise. By the time we were able to even get an appt, he had already started K and was doing great. Had no problems in K-or in any other grade- and is now in 7th grade. Good student, never had any behavioral issues or social issues at all, lots of friends. I’m sure the teacher meant well but she was obviously mistaken. Just throwing that out there. It does happen.

Has anyone else ever mentioned issues of concern? PreK teacher, childcare provider, activities teacher etc? Do you find his behavior concerning compared to other kids?

It can’t hurt anything to get an assessment but I personally would not be alarmed- and would be a bit skeptical- based on what you have said.

OP here again (I just realized I need to say that because we don't have usernames on this forum). First 2 years of preschool, nobody ever mentioned any issue. For pre-K last year (same school as current school), we heard maybe 3-4 times over the course of the entire year that he had a rough day. But as far as we knew, that was well within the realm of reasonable for pre-K. All of his written progress reports were fine. No concerns were expressed to us about kindergarten readiness.

He goes to camps every summer for 8-10 weeks, many of which are at other local private schools run by the teachers of those schools, and we've never had a negative report from a camp. Or sports teams. Or any other group activities.

From what I have personally seen (which is a pretty decent amount at playgrounds, sports, play dates, etc, although I've never spent significant time observing him specifically at school), I've never thought his behavior was beyond the range of normal kid behavior. If anything I've sometimes seen other kids have significant tantrums of a type that he's never had, and I've thought "I'm thankful I don't have to deal with that!" Probably 5 or 6 times in the last 5-6 months when he's had a disproportional crying episode I've thought, "is this normal?" But as people here have indicated, I don't think a crying episode for a 6 year old is completely rare and unheard of. Sounds kind of like it's within the realm of normal for many 6 year olds. ANd we've certainly seen other 6 years old have them.

But we do value the input of the school, and I agree completely with the folks who have commented that teachers and administrators there are much more familiar with normal kid behavior than I am, so I should take their recommendation seriously. And I am indeed taking it seriously.

I continue to welcome any thoughts and input. It sounds like it's basically a split though. Some folks are convinced its unnecessary. Others think it's a good idea.

As of now I'm planning to go ahead and get him on a calendar for a neuropsych assessment, but see if I can find an OT to help him out. And if we see significant improvement between now and the neuropsych exam (which will probably be at least 6 months away), maybe we will cancel the neuropsych if the school agrees that he's improved enough to no longer warrant it.

And yes, we are certainly aware of the possibility that the school is trying to get rid of us, but at the present time we don't believe that to be the case for a variety of reasons. But we could be wrong.

Thanks to all of the input and keep it coming if anybody has anything to add!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could try getting an OT evaluation first (cheaper than a neuropsych and probably easier to get quickly). The OT can assess whether to recommend a neuropsych, and as a prior poster said, OT services could help with a lot of the things you mentioned

+1. Some of these issues are physical, and the behavioral/self-control issues can also be in the OT's bailiwick. And more than anything, OTs see a LOT of kids with issues and can be useful in pointing you to specific services for next steps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:well it will take you 3 years to get a neuropsych exam, so doesn’t seem like a great recommendation.

I’d talk to the school SPED team and ask what the meaning of the recommendation is. They have an affirm duty to start the evaluation process if they suspect a disability.

well that's wildly untrue.

Depends where you live boo

[Anonymous]

Do you have other kids op? I feel like I saw my child’s issues more clearly when I had the experience of raising another child.