Getting the school to test for dyslexia

[Anonymous]

My DS is in K. I recently asked his teacher about testing and she set up a meeting with the school administration. The major concern they have is behavior. He's had behavior problems all year that basically boil down to sensory seeking behavior (rolling around during calendar time, hugging other students, swinging his arms into other students ...) as well as him amusing himself at other students' expense instead of doing work (he cuts their papers, takes their crayons, put glue on a student's shoes, ...). So I anticipate they will agree to at least an FBA if not additional testing for ADHD.

The thing is that I'm concerned about behavior but I'm also concerned about dyslexia. He has family members with dyslexia and he met/meets almost every indicator for dyslexia for pre-readers. However his teacher doesn't think he's behind. He's able to read Set 2 Bob books with minimal help and he's enthusiastic about reading but he still doesn't know his short vowel sounds (he will read "Jon" as /jan/ or /jen/, sometimes both in the same story, for example). We read to him every evening and now he reads 1-2 short books like the Bob books to me. Every single time I have to help him with his vowel sounds. I don't think he even hears the difference between /i/ and /e/.

Anyhow ... I'm anticipating some push back when I ask for dyslexia testing and I'm looking for advice on how to handle that. He's not technically behind and he technically passed the PALS benchmarks (he met the benchmark after they administered one section a second time). I've brought it up before with the teacher and she basically said that she attending a class recently on dyslexia (like a 2 hr training seminar) and she doesn't see it. Has anybody else been in this situation? I don't want to wait until he's already failing to start intervening.

I know the school isn't going to diagnose dyslexia and their testing isn't going to be all that great, but my plan is to pursue an IEE if we're not happy with the testing. But in order to do an IEE, they have to actually do the testing in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Are you in (MCPS)? (MCPS) will recognize dyslexia as a learning disability, but does not test specifically for it. We use other data points to determine the educational impact. It is very difficult to diagnose a young child because the discrepancy is not huge, especially if they have a mild disability. And vowel sounds are developmental at this point. It can take some kids a little longer.

[Anonymous]

We are in PWCS. They would list it as SLD - Reading. I want to push the testing, though, because it will allow us to use the IEE process for more in depth testing later. We just can't afford another $2500 for private testing like we did last time (for his DB).

Maybe I'm just borrowing trouble and they won't have a problem doing it. I just know that they are focused on his behavior and not on his academics.

[Anonymous]

I would ask for comprehensive testing in light of your child's demonstrated difficulties with phonemic awareness and reading, behavior and attention.

He's likely still within the range of normal for reading skills, and the school is unlikely to test simply because he is at 'risk' due to family history. But if he is reading but there is a persistent skills gap, that might warrant deeper testing.

Basically you want as much of a full neuropsychological exam as you can get the district to do, so throw all the areas of concern into the request without naming the diagnosis you are concerned about.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your kid could benefit from a full evaluation if you can swing it? I know dyslexia is a spectrum, but I have to say that in K my dyslexic kid was not able to read Bob books or any other books, couldn't retain most sight words, and couldn't sound out and blend a word, even three letter words with help. He is mildly dyslexic (after 3 years of remediation and OG is above grade level reader). What I will share from that time is that he was miserable, angry, and confused. Not being good at school was a real blow to his sense of self. I imagine your little dude must also feel badly about school due to the behavioral challenges - that can be hard in self esteem, too. 1st grade really is early enough to start reading remediation, if you need to (1st is still considered very early for diagnosis, though of course it can be diagnosed in K) and understanding any attention issues first might facilitate the tutoring later. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Kindergarten is early to be able to test for dyslexia. I have dyslexia myself - and have been hawklike in signs with my DS. Short vowels are considered a first grade skill generally - and not really a neurological sign vs. things like decoding tap words. This site (and author) have a lot of good info http://dyslexia.yale.edu/clues1.html. If he's decoding Bob books, he is going to in range for K (and even early first). Most dyslexia specialists, even at Lab, won't 'diagnose' dyslexia until 2nd unless it's very clearly severe. Your best bet at this point if you feel like you think he's delayed or you'd like to get a sense of his developmental levels and capabilities is something private - like going to a Lindamood Bell type of place and doing tutoring. On the behavior stuff - sounds like there is something else going on. Just want to also note there, b/w K and 1st - saw lots of changes in boys & behavior - including with different teachers' approaches and capabilities with it... (sometimes that can be enough difference).

[Anonymous]

This is OP ...

A lot of the behavior stuff comes from sensory seeking and being extremely strong willed and independent. I wouldn't be shocked if he meets the criteria for ADHD-hyperactive and ODD. He's never vindictive or actually even aggressive unless someone starts it first and he wants to please but at the same time absolutely can't stand being told what to do and seems pathologically incapable of backing down. So his behavior really is the more complicated and important piece.

But at the same time, we didn't get a diagnosis of older DS dyslexia until 2nd grade and by that time he was already entrenched in how he was stupid and couldn't read, etc etc. This just came up again when I filled out another question are for him to start with a new tutor and realized younger DS met almost all of the pre-reader signs of dyslexia. What he's decoding are the consonant parts of CVC words. It IS within the range for K but at the same time, I don't want to be in the same boat in 2nd grade wishing I'd pursued this sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP ...

A lot of the behavior stuff comes from sensory seeking and being extremely strong willed and independent. I wouldn't be shocked if he meets the criteria for ADHD-hyperactive and ODD. He's never vindictive or actually even aggressive unless someone starts it first and he wants to please but at the same time absolutely can't stand being told what to do and seems pathologically incapable of backing down. So his behavior really is the more complicated and important piece.

But at the same time, we didn't get a diagnosis of older DS dyslexia until 2nd grade and by that time he was already entrenched in how he was stupid and couldn't read, etc etc. This just came up again when I filled out another question are for him to start with a new tutor and realized younger DS met almost all of the pre-reader signs of dyslexia. What he's decoding are the consonant parts of CVC words. It IS within the range for K but at the same time, I don't want to be in the same boat in 2nd grade wishing I'd pursued this sooner.

You're in the gray area for public school services. There may be a LD, or there may not be. It's just not clear yet.

Your best option is to pursue a private tutor OP, ideally one who is experienced with dyslexia who can keep an eye on it.

Also if your DC has ADHD, getting that treated would be a good first step before private or school based reading interventions

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that your child could also be having anxiety related to either the dislexia and/or the adhd (very common), and that will also impact his behavior. My kid almost met criteria for ODD (not quite) but was medicated for anxiety, and with the meds and lots of therapy - three years later you would hardly recognize him as the same kid. (adhd meds also, I should mention)

[Anonymous]

I think if you suspect dyslexia and your dc has a sibling already diagnosed, just take whatever steps you need to get the assessment, even if private eval by a speech and language pathologist or a neuro. You can't get these years back. Early intervention is a key.

If you already have a dyslexic child, you probably know that phonologic weaknesses may exist and cause issues even when the child is reading at grade level.

The worst that can happen is they'll say he is not dyslexic and then you focus on behavioral issues.

[Anonymous]

I'm a SpEd teacher. They will do an educational evaluation as part of the evaluation process. If the student has dyslexia, this will likely show up as a discrepancy between the oral language and reason scores. I'm speaking to the woodcock Johnson test.
I don't know if your child would be too young for the discrepancy to appeaR, my experience is with slightly older students.

[Anonymous]

Pp here: reason= reading

[Anonymous]

Not knowing vowel sounds in kindergarten is not an indication of dyslexia -- it's totally age appropriate. If he didn't know the consonants, I would be concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a SpEd teacher. They will do an educational evaluation as part of the evaluation process. If the student has dyslexia, this will likely show up as a discrepancy between the oral language and reading scores. I'm speaking to the woodcock Johnson test.
I don't know if your child would be too young for the discrepancy to appear, my experience is with slightly older students.

Thank you. We have the meeting coming up this week so we can discuss this. I think I've been a little anxious considering everything going on but given his track record so far, but academic testing certainly seems warranted. His behavior seems to break down into 2 categories -- first he gets bored and amuses himself by antagonizing other people and second he gets frustrated, especially with anything language related, and blows up. Part of his frustration seems to be with poor word-finding. We had a pretty typical incident last night he got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and wanted me to tuck him back in but couldn't think of the words to tell me his blanket was tangled (he was literally crying "I can't think of the word"). From what I read, poor word finding can be associated with ADHD, language disorders, or dyslexia.

He's my second but my first DS has always been on the advanced side with oral language and has average RAN even though he has severe dyslexia and slow processing speed. So this is new to me and I'm not sure where the range of average is for a 6 1/2 year old.

Anonymous wrote:Not knowing vowel sounds in kindergarten is not an indication of dyslexia -- it's totally age appropriate. If he didn't know the consonants, I would be concerned.

In isolation, no, but that's hardly the only thing going on here. DS has 2 members of his immediate family with dyslexia which at least doubles his risk of having dyslexia. He also has about 80% of the indications for pre-readers (such as munging long words, confusion over directionality and time words/concepts, late handedness, can't identify rhymes, ...) None of these are deterministic, but at some point it's appropriate to rule dyslexia in or out and I would rather do it sooner than later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you in (MCPS)? (MCPS) will recognize dyslexia as a learning disability, but does not test specifically for it. We use other data points to determine the educational impact. It is very difficult to diagnose a young child because the discrepancy is not huge, especially if they have a mild disability. And vowel sounds are developmental at this point. It can take some kids a little longer.

MCPS would not recognize Dyslexia for us (even with a private diagnosis). They said that was a medical issue. They just gave my child a "specific learning disability". There is no MPCS program specific to dyslexia. He only got general resource help. His progress was only based on private work we did with him. Even as a second grader they tried to convince us that letter reversal and only minimal reading was ok.. Good luck!