Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I guess I don't want to give the evaluator's name as that would probably out me. It is someone who is pretty well regarded and was on the recommended list of the school that has said my DD is most likely not a candidate for their school. S/he is also recommended in other contexts too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing and reading are hard, but she has made good progress with tutoring. She never had trouble with math facts, but word problems and prealgebra are hard. She has been excused from foreign language class per recommendation of slp. Very concrete. Appears to have trouble remembering things (e.g., tutor keeps reteaching procedures for math), but neuropsych did not reveal significant memory issues. No attention issues.

OP, the testing you did sounds incomplete. I think your DD does have some undiagnosed LDs,

"A short-term memory disability can occur with information learned through what one sees – visual short-term memory disability – or with information learned through what one hears – auditory short-term memory disability. Often the two are combined...a teacher may go over a math concept in class until your daughter understands it – she's concentrating on it. Yet when she comes home that night and does her homework, she has completely forgotten how to do the problems.

It's from the link I posted earlier: http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_Are_Learning_Disabilities%3F

Learning disabilities are diagnosed when an individual has uneven skills, and when their academic performance isn't in keeping with their measured potential.

In this case, it sounds like the OP's daughter's performance is more uneven. She has difficulties with processing, and memory, that result in difficulty in reading, writing, and math. However, these difficulties are in proportion to her overall intellectual disabilities. So, she doesn't meet criteria as a student with learning disabilities, because her IQ is too low, but also doesn't meet criteria as a student with intellectual disabilities, because her IQ is too high. She's caught in the middle and therefore doesn't qualify for the services she needs to succeed. Luckily, her parents seem to have stepped up and provided her with an appropriate school, and a range of supportive services, as evidenced by the fact that she's happy and making academic progress. Ironically, however, the high quality of education and services that she has received have probably increased her IQ, and reduced the gap between her "potential" and "ability", making it even more likely that she won't qualify for services in a public school setting.

This is, in my opinion, a gaping hole in IDEA.

Your description of LDs doesn't make sense:
http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Learning difficulties don't have to be in proportion to your overall intellectual abilities.

It makes sense to me. We were told by everyone who tested our son that MR was diagnosed when all skills were low, but LDs were diagnosed when there's a big discrepancy in scores. My son's visual skills are more than 20 points higher than his verbal skills, hence his LD status.

in "the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, how LD is determined has been expanded. IDEA now requires that states adopt criteria that:

must not require the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in determining whether a child has a specific learning disability"

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I guess I don't want to give the evaluator's name as that would probably out me. It is someone who is pretty well regarded and was on the recommended list of the school that has said my DD is most likely not a candidate for their school. S/he is also recommended in other contexts too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing and reading are hard, but she has made good progress with tutoring. She never had trouble with math facts, but word problems and prealgebra are hard. She has been excused from foreign language class per recommendation of slp. Very concrete. Appears to have trouble remembering things (e.g., tutor keeps reteaching procedures for math), but neuropsych did not reveal significant memory issues. No attention issues.

OP, the testing you did sounds incomplete. I think your DD does have some undiagnosed LDs,

"A short-term memory disability can occur with information learned through what one sees – visual short-term memory disability – or with information learned through what one hears – auditory short-term memory disability. Often the two are combined...a teacher may go over a math concept in class until your daughter understands it – she's concentrating on it. Yet when she comes home that night and does her homework, she has completely forgotten how to do the problems.

It's from the link I posted earlier: http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_Are_Learning_Disabilities%3F

Learning disabilities are diagnosed when an individual has uneven skills, and when their academic performance isn't in keeping with their measured potential.

In this case, it sounds like the OP's daughter's performance is more uneven. She has difficulties with processing, and memory, that result in difficulty in reading, writing, and math. However, these difficulties are in proportion to her overall intellectual disabilities. So, she doesn't meet criteria as a student with learning disabilities, because her IQ is too low, but also doesn't meet criteria as a student with intellectual disabilities, because her IQ is too high. She's caught in the middle and therefore doesn't qualify for the services she needs to succeed. Luckily, her parents seem to have stepped up and provided her with an appropriate school, and a range of supportive services, as evidenced by the fact that she's happy and making academic progress. Ironically, however, the high quality of education and services that she has received have probably increased her IQ, and reduced the gap between her "potential" and "ability", making it even more likely that she won't qualify for services in a public school setting.

This is, in my opinion, a gaping hole in IDEA.

Your description of LDs doesn't make sense:
http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Learning difficulties don't have to be in proportion to your overall intellectual abilities.

It makes sense to me. We were told by everyone who tested our son that MR was diagnosed when all skills were low, but LDs were diagnosed when there's a big discrepancy in scores. My son's visual skills are more than 20 points higher than his verbal skills, hence his LD status.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Writing and reading are hard, but she has made good progress with tutoring. She never had trouble with math facts, but word problems and prealgebra are hard. She has been excused from foreign language class per recommendation of slp. Very concrete. Appears to have trouble remembering things (e.g., tutor keeps reteaching procedures for math), but neuropsych did not reveal significant memory issues. No attention issues.

OP, the testing you did sounds incomplete. I think your DD does have some undiagnosed LDs,

"A short-term memory disability can occur with information learned through what one sees – visual short-term memory disability – or with information learned through what one hears – auditory short-term memory disability. Often the two are combined...a teacher may go over a math concept in class until your daughter understands it – she's concentrating on it. Yet when she comes home that night and does her homework, she has completely forgotten how to do the problems.

It's from the link I posted earlier: http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_Are_Learning_Disabilities%3F

Learning disabilities are diagnosed when an individual has uneven skills, and when their academic performance isn't in keeping with their measured potential.

In this case, it sounds like the OP's daughter's performance is more uneven. She has difficulties with processing, and memory, that result in difficulty in reading, writing, and math. However, these difficulties are in proportion to her overall intellectual disabilities. So, she doesn't meet criteria as a student with learning disabilities, because her IQ is too low, but also doesn't meet criteria as a student with intellectual disabilities, because her IQ is too high. She's caught in the middle and therefore doesn't qualify for the services she needs to succeed. Luckily, her parents seem to have stepped up and provided her with an appropriate school, and a range of supportive services, as evidenced by the fact that she's happy and making academic progress. Ironically, however, the high quality of education and services that she has received have probably increased her IQ, and reduced the gap between her "potential" and "ability", making it even more likely that she won't qualify for services in a public school setting.

This is, in my opinion, a gaping hole in IDEA.

Your description of LDs doesn't make sense:
http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Learning difficulties don't have to be in proportion to your overall intellectual abilities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She goes to a small progressive school. She is very happy there.


3) You might look at faith based options. In this area, both the Catholic Church and some of the Jewish schools, have a commitment to supporting all learners. As far as Catholic schools in MD, Brookewood (very small, very Catholic), Holy Child, and Holy Cross all have relatively wide definitions of who they accept and serve. For other jurisdictions and religions/denominations I can't give specific denominations, but it's worth exploring.

4) You might look at some of the very small schools in the area. Nora School is one that I've heard good things about, and that seems to accept a variety of students. New School of Northern Virginia is another to explore.

Holy Child would not be a good option for your dd. Even though they have a "program" for students with learning differences, it is best for girls with ADHD or an extremely mild LD who need extended time. They offer extended time and kurzweil for texts but they really don't understand kids with significant issues. The course work is very traditional and requires a lot of memorization that would not play to your DD's strengths. I am speaking from experience with this school.

If you are in Montgomery County, I urge you to contact your local high school. MCPS offers many different tracks for students and the special ed teachers have worked with students like your daughter. There are multiple options to fulfill the foreign language requirement (sign language, no language). They offer work internships and as other posters have said, classes with support. You can go on a tour and your daughter can spend a day at the local high school.