Testing for math difficulties in middle school

[Anonymous]

My son is 14. Has had anxiety for the last few years which interfered with school attendance. Anxiety has been addressed through therapy and he is much improved. We are now looking at his continuing difficulty in mapth. He has always had difficulty in math, was very slow with math facts learning, still struggles with recalling multiplication tables and other math skills and often will give up. He is close to failing math for the second year l. He is able to handle other classes and do well in them though he always takes a lot of time on assignments. Would like to start some testing and would like some recommendations as to what type of testing and places that would do testing for the math difficulties especially, but probably all areas. I don't know much about the process. We are in Maryland (Kensington/Silver Spring area). I

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you want psychoeducational or neuropsych testing.

Have you researched dyscalculia? No one can diagnose over the internet, but it's a specific learning disability in math. Worth exploring.

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/understanding-dyscalculia

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you want psychoeducational or neuropsych testing.

Have you researched dyscalculia? No one can diagnose over the internet, but it's a specific learning disability in math. Worth exploring.

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/understanding-dyscalculia

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/

Yes I have read about that and thought it sounded like my son. Are there reasons that one of the kinds of testing would be better? ( psychoedicational ge neuropsychological ? Thank you

[Anonymous]

I would suggest talking to one of each kind of provider and seeing what they say.

A neuropsychological exam is usually more in depth, and also usually costs a lot more. They would do some of the same tests but the neuropsychologist will do more.

I hated the expense but found the process and report to be valuable because I got a complete picture of how your child learns and how they needed to learn.

[Anonymous]

Stixrud is in Silver Spring and will do both kinds of testing. Psychoeducational testing covers learning disabilities like dyscalculia and dyslexia. Neuropsychological testing includes psychoeducational testing but adds tests related to psychological issues related to ADHD, anxiety etc. Most insurance won't cover psychoed testing, but if you have out of network benefits, they should cover part of the neuropsych exam.

[Anonymous]

Does he have an IEP? What about starting with testing through the school?