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I should add, that in most cases, you really don't need to spend a lot of time, money, and effort in getting school services because MCPS is terrible at treating dyslexia. You may find the occasional teacher who has pursued independent study of a multisensory language program, but the school system itself does not provide this kind of training. This training is very expensive and time consuming for the teacher, so there is little incentive to pursue it on one's own.
Anonymous wrote:I agree that SLPs are qualified to diagnose dyslexia, but I want to throw in that in MCPS, according to school system rules, the SLP is NOT qualified to diagnose dyslexia or reading disorder. So, if you want to have an IEP, you will have to have the reading testing done by a psychologist.
This is not true. MCPS does not say that SLPs are not qualified to diagnose dyslexia. SLPs in MCPS are not allowed to provide service for reading disorders because their scope of practice in the public schools is much more narrow. The schools have reading specialists and English teachers. Having an SLP provide the service would be a duplication of services in their eyes. SLPs in the school system are limited to providing service for oral language only...no writing, no reading. SLPs are in short supply and are more expensive, so their scope has been narrowed in this setting. The county will look at outside testing conducted by any licensed provider as long as accepted tests are used. For instance, sometimes I get psychological assessments that included language testing. I can consider those tests in my determination as long as the tests used are accepted by the county. For instance, the CELF or CASL is accepted. The WJ tests of Oral Language are not as they are not particularly deep tests of language. Also, psychologist sometimes only give one or two subtests, which is not enough for the county to consider, so they'd have no choice but to conduct their own assessments if the screening suggests a problem. So, if your reading tests are conducted by an SLP and are tests which are accepted by the county, then that is fine. They can be reviewed by the team, which may include the SLP, but you will not receive reading services from an SLP. To get a diagnosis for a Specific Learning Disability in the area of reading, they want to see a discrepancy among your scores, that's why psychological and educational testing is often done. To compare the reading, writing, and math. They get 'stuck' when someone is low across the board, because the current guidelines don't have a category for that.
Language evolves over time. What an older person may consider unacceptable language use may be acceptable to another sub-group of the population. Changes in oral language lead to changes in written language. We don't speak or write like Shakespeare, do we? Imagine what Shakespeare would think of the way we speak/write today.
Anonymous wrote:future10 wrote:I see it routinely all over this board, too. Grammar and spelling slip-ups are not unique to teachers. It happens, especially in writing, because when we are typing/writing we are "translating" from the sounds in our head which, in English, often do not match the orthographic pattern we need. There's research on this if you are interested in pursuing the topic.
Do you have a link or know what this is called? I'd love to read more about the topic.
Here are a couple you may enjoy:
https://www.wired.com/2014/08/wuwt-typos/
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/why-your-brain-makes-grammar-mistakes#sm.000015q8jlnx2mf2uvoykas6nmc0d
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend a good educational consultant who knows MCPS and possibly takes insurance?
Thanks.
None are going to take insurance because it's not a medical need.
I like Suzie Blattner for writing iep goals and Laura Solomon if you need someone to fight; she's aggressive and not for everyone.
I'd say no to Laura Solomon. She is so abrasive that she is embarrassing to be around. You don't have to be unpleasant and disrespectful to get the student's needs met.
Agree with the beta-blocker. I have Inderal and it is such a relief.
I see it routinely all over this board, too. Grammar and spelling slip-ups are not unique to teachers. It happens, especially in writing, because when we are typing/writing we are "translating" from the sounds in our head which, in English, often do not match the orthographic pattern we need. There's research on this if you are interested in pursuing the topic.
Article: Larger Tonic Pupil Size in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3744086/
[b]Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I have a child who is severely disabled and has no diagnosis. She is 10 years old. You really have no idea what you are talking about.
Many families wait years or never get a diagnosis.
People are free to use whatever terms describe their situation -- especially since so many kids fall through the cracks. Stop expecting order where there isn't any. You sound like you have problems yourself.
Maybe you missed the posts, but the poster was a mom with older children who never had them evaluated. So you don't have a diagnosis is you never look either.
How do you know they've never been evaluated? If they are in speech therapy, in order at least for our insurance to pay, they have to be regularly evaluated. Not all kids need a neuropsych. We've never had one. Big deal. It isn't going to tell us anything more than the many other evaluations we have had.
That's what the mother said.
I am that mother! You misunderstood me. My older son has been evaluated by his pediatricians (several), ENT's, a half dozen SLP's, had a full scale WISC administered by a psychologist, and seen a neuroscientist who is an expert in apraxia. Everyone concluded that he seems to have low-ish time and multiple major articulation errors. All that and nobody knows why. So we focus on the what and thank God he is getting better with therapy and time. Same story to a lesser degree with ds2.
You realize that evaluations are a form of intervention? Also, you need a full evaluation by a developmental pediatrician and/or a neuropsychological evaluation by a psychologist--not just the WISC. Every professional you mentioned has extremely limited scope. My guess is that you're trying to avoid a diagnosis.
Why do you NEED a an evaluation form a psychologist? If your child has language issues, a psychologist is not trained in language issues so that would make no sense.
Maybe because she is one. I can tell you that they have minimal training (a masters degree ) but strong opinions and a high opinion of themselves.
If your child really has a problem I'd head to the phd's and MD's.
New poster, here. You, too, seem to have a high opinion of yourself. You may feel that a Masters Degree is minimal training, but it is more training in the area of speech and language than you have. I'd defer to the professional who has spent 2-3 years studying a single area.
So, Map-R and Map-M are low. What percentile? How are her grades otherwise? Any other objective measures? FYI, the MAP tests are very difficult for someone with ADD/ADHD. They are on the computer and are tedious. Also, ADHA can significantly impact reading comprehension. Is comprehension the issue or decoding?
Schools are not required to use a specific program or to provide 1:1 instruction.