2Nd Grader with Possible Learning Disability

I know that you said that your son wears corrective lens but has he ever been evaluated for vision therapy?My son needed glasses for distance but also needed therapy because his eye muscles were weak. We would do 30 minutes a day of exercises and he would go to the therpaist for 45 minutes once a week. His therapy was supposed to be 12 weeks but ended up only being 8. This typically is NOT covered by insurance. Sorry but it is so worth the money. My son enjoys reading now. Before it was such a struggle. He couldn't keep his place, and he NEVER read out loud because he would lose his place. He couldn't copy work down because making his eyes go left to right was too difficult as well as copying things off the board at school. He could focus from the board back to his paper. Renee Black is with Riverview Eye Associates down across from Riverside Hospital. If you are in Westerville, stay away from ProCare Vision Center and their vision therapy center in front of Meijer. Know too many people with too many bad experiences there. If the vision therapy isn't needed, ask his school to do a MFE (Multi Factoral Evaluation). If they are saying he has a learning issue, then they should administer the MFE to possibly get him on an IEP (Indivualized Education Plan). Make your school work for you. You are paying for it. My son was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 1st grade. He's not hyper but has the trouble focusing and staying on task. Have him evaluated at Children's Hospital (the one on Shrock Road)Don't just take what your doctor said. Go by what the school is saying because they see him everyday.

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If the school has made the observation that your son may have a learning disability, then I believe they are olbigated to provide access to testing for the disability. I would not make any decisions about such things based solely on your pediatrician's input. Unless your pediatrician perfomrs a full scale assessment, it would be difficult for them to make a firm diagnosis of a learning disability. I would seek an assessment by someone who specializes in this type of testing. If your son does indeed have a diagnosed learning disability and he attends a public school, then according to Article 7- the school is obligated to provide services to him or make whatever accomadations he needs. Good luck!

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I have a nine year old that has had alot of problems with reading. He was just diagnosed by a pychitrist the end of last year with ADHD but had been seeing them for a while. They don't always diagnose them very fast because to many people are all about medication is what I was told, but after being diagnosed the school tested him for an IEP and held him back a year in school. Now being on medication and receiving extra help in reading he is doing great. I have also found out that any parent can request thier child be tested for an IEP (individual education plan) anytime the parent or the school notices a problem in any area. Also when diagnosing with ADHD it helps to have something from the school to help get the process started.

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We have been over this whole thing with my son. We were actually approached about a learning disability in fourth grade, but from first grade on he had been in speech or reading lab or both. It was finally decided that he had a written expression learning disability. They tested him and narrowed things down and he began getting intervention. Here is what I can tell you. The fact that he does well in other subjects is a good thing. That means his trouble is specific and not an overall inability to learn. This will also help them pinpoint exactly what and where the problem is. Make sure he knows that the help he gets doesn't mean he isn't smart. It just mean his brain processes information a different way so he is getting help finding the way that he learns best.

As far as ADD is concerned, the best person to diagnose that is not the pediatrician. A psychiatrist, child therapist, or neurologist is more likely to get an accurate diagnosis. If it is decided that he does have ADD then medication is not the only answer. A psychiatrist I respect alot said that a child should only be medicated if they are a danger to themselves or others or if they are unable to learn. The rest should be handled with therapy, changing his surroundings to help him not be overstimulated and behavior modification. Something to consider is that if he feels overwhelmed and like he can't perform what's asked of him because of a disability, it may be his way of avoidance. It could just cause him to flip on you in order not to be faced with what seems insurmountable to him or what makes him feel bad about himself. My son was impossible to keep on task before we got him help because he felt like a failure before he put the pencil to the paper.

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Some of your descriptors could be pointing to dyslexia. I have a son with dyslexia. We figured it out about the same time you did, but we kind of new it earlier.

We started Dyslexia Institutes of America locally based on inspiration from him. Visit at www.diaohio.org or call ###-###-#### if you want to discuss more offline.

J.

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K., I've been there and my son was second grade when we found his trouble. I also had the doctor that said "No Way" to him having a learning disability or anything else. Start will all of the physical stuff. Look at his glasses again. While you are checking out the physical stuff, let the school test for a learning disability. By law, they have 60 school days to complete the testing. By following both the physical and the learning side of things, you will get a clearer picture on what is going on with your son...It was alot of work for me to determine that my son was dyslexic. But now everytime he brings home a report card, it was worth it to see the smile on his face!!

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He may just be behind in reading, since he got a late start to really being able to see letters and words clearly because of his eyesight problem. If I were you, I would take 15 minutes every single day and work with him on it. I think that too many times, parents rely on the school system to fix struggles at school, but really, it is ultimately the parent's responsibility to be sure their child is comprehending the things they're being taught at school. The teachers teach, and the parents aid. I"m not saying that you're not doing anything at home, I'm just saying that this is the sort of thing that is happening a lot today in a lot of homes.

I bet you'd be amazed at how quickly he accelerates with a little practice. He may just be having a comprehension problem because he's still really trying to identify the letters with their sounds, and may be too focused on that to try and comprehend at the same time. Once he gets more fluent with his reading, the comprehension will come more naturally.

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You can initiate a series of tests through the school -- IQ, achievement tests, etc -- to evaluate whether there is indeed a learning disability. There is no cost to you and there is a huge benefit in having a professional assess your child. You are very fortunate to be able to have your son evaluated so early. If he does have a learning disability, you and your son's teachers can begin to provide accommodations and assistance he may need to do his best in school. Since your son's teacher is already aware there may be an issue, she will be one of your strongest assets! Regarding ADD, as I understand it, two individuals must assert that they see signs of attention deficit in your son for it to be diagnosed. You and the teacher can be those two people. I think you can press the pediatrician for a thorough evaluation based on your concerns - or get a referral to a child psychologist who can evaluate your child for ADD. (There are probably other parents of kids with ADD who will be able to give you more information!)

We just received the results of our daughter's evaluation and she has a learning disability that has been the source of a lot of frustration for her. I feel relieved to have a diagnosis and specific recommendations on how to help her adapt. I hope you will feel the same way.

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I had a similiar problem that really surfaced in the 2nd grader...a mild form of dyslexia. I was the same way. Not math or any other subject. That may be why when he hears it he retains it better...he's focusing on getting the words right to please you and not taking in what the word's mean. It's just a thought. But I do want to say this... I was also molested by my babysitter in exchange for bedtime stories for a year and half in the 1st and 2nd grade. This effected my efforts to learn to read and spell because I wanted nothing to do with what reminded me of the situation I was in. Please don't think that I am saying your son has the same trouble there...but you should know my whole story.

My suggestion is to get books with audio CD's the go along with the story to help him. This is what helped me as an adult to improve. The library is a great free source.

Also get a specialist to test him. A learning disabilty should be evaluated by someone who knows the subject. He'll and you will get the best advice on the topic

Deb

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Hey K.,

I too would recommend Dr. Steve Curtis and Renee Black at Riverview Eye Associates, if he has vision issues other than accuity, they will get to the bottom of it and Renee can work with him and bring up specific scores in areas like comprehension if they are caused by developmental eye problems. Many kids with other issues will also have this one, and it may be all you have to do, but chances are that this will be just one peice of the puzzle. Renee is great and will also make suggestions for you.

As for ADHD vs a learning disablity, you should know that these two are often comorbid, so sometimes it does not matter which one he is diagnosed with, if he is only having difficulty with reading, then the current popular intervention modle for all kids in this boat is called "Response to Intervention" or RTI. Under this modle, the school does not need to identfy the specfic problem, but they do need to provide the intervention (an Orton Gillingham based reading program).

The whole idea is that every child who has difficulty learning to read is provided with the intervention and then only the children who do not respond are indentified as "LD" so that schools have fewer kids with disability and kids get help sooner without the lenghty evaluation process. The way that LD used to be identifed was a descrepency between IQ and acheivment, but IDEA has moved away from a strict neccessity to have this to recieve services. Ask your school about RTI, and isnsit that he start with an Orton Gillingham, alphabet phonics, or other "dyslexia intervention" program available at your school (these are all basically the same.)

At the same time, request an evaluation for a reading disablity (in writing) from your school district. Don't sweat what they want to call it, if they provide the reading program he needs, it does not matter if they actually say that he is dyslexic or not.

As for ADHD, there are three types. Inattentive, hyperactive, and combined types. It is possible for a child to not seem hyper at all and still quailfy as ADHD (ADD is no longer a diagnosis-they are all three ADHD) There is another specialist that is qualified to diagnose ADHD besides psychiatrists, nerologists, and nueropsycholgists, that is a Developmental Pediatrician. For an initial evaluation, this is my preference, although treament after diagnois can be any of the medical doctors on the list (neuropsychologists and psychologists cannot prescribe the medication that most kids with ADHD will benefit from because it is a chronic medical condition that responds to treatment very well.)

If you have other reasons to suspect ADHD, it would be a very good idea for you to have him evaluated as soon as you can get in (this may take a while.) If the school evaluates him and will provide services and wants to call it ADHD (and if he is going to get the reading program he needs, don't worry about what they want to call it!) they must have a statement from a medical Doctor that he has it to collect funding from the federal and state government.

The best advice that I can give you is to own your own evaluations and to know more about your son than the school does. By that, I mean, don't depend on the school to be right, you have to know that what they recommend is the correct thing for him, and the only way that will happen is if you have as much or more evaluation than they do. Get both, and don't wait.

M., Educational Advocate, SAHM 3 children (with disabilities)

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I have a 6 yr. old girl, who is attention deficit but not hyper!!!!!!!
Demand your child's doctor sends you to a developmental doctor for kids.
If he won't, ask maybe another doctor office, or if you have a children's hospital near by, they have pediatric developmental doctors.
They can get to the bottom of problem and skip all the guess work.

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Before you get stuck on the idea he has ADD or ADHD have the school test him for a learning disability. I am not sure where you are located but here if you request the school to test him they have to do it. My daughter had very similar issues and we found out she was dyslexic....which is commonly miss diagnosed as ADD. She is now 14 and getting the help she needs. She is still a slow reader but her comprehension is much better than it use to be. Good luck

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I don't know what state you are located in currently, but let me tell you....I teach children with special needs in Kentucky and it's so so so difficult for a student of this age to qualify for serices under and IEP. So, (honestly I haven't read any other responses so I apologies for any repitition) stay on top of his reading. Students who read very choppy are going to have less comprehension. They are too worried about figuring out the word and completely miss the meaning. He could qualify in the area of Reading Comprehension and if this happens his teacher should address fluency as well. My job is my passion (second to my daughter) so I could go on and on and on about all of this. Please feel free to send me an email with any questions. I can answer several you probably have. Good luck. Email anytime

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I, too, would recommend an evaluation by a developmental optometrist. You should also have him evaluated by an occupational therapist. Some of these issues can be related to brainstem reflexes that did not fully integrate. If a need arises, the most effective therapy is the combination of OT and vision therapy. The results are quicker and "stick" better. Use the resources of your school district to have him evaluated for a learning disability, but that can take a while. In the meantime, do the other evals. You don't want him diagnosed improperly or medicated unnecessarily. Best wishes, and good for you for doing something about it while he is still young!

K. (Mom of 8, 5, and 3 year olds and part-time occupational therapist)

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