In a very bizarre twist, DD9's dyslexia diagnosis has been removed. We are left scratching our heads. Just when I start to think I have a handle on her learning needs, something changes again.
She had her initial WISC-IV and achievement testing in grade two which confirmed ADHD and labeled her HG+/PG. Achievement was all over the map and thought to be related to ADHD. At the end of grade three I pushed for more testing over concerns with her spelling and writing. A thorough writing assessment in September of this year, grade 4, confirmed dyslexic dysgraphia (not a surprise as my nephew has severe dysgraphia)and we were verbally told by the psychologist that she was confident DD had 'stealth dyslexia' but wanted to confirm with a thorough follow-up reading assessment. Her testing in grade two showed phonological weaknesses. Today, she was re-tested with the GORT-5 (the psych cracked the book on this new version today) and DD aced the damn test. The psychologist scratched her head and said that while she is sure that there is some mild dyslexia in play somewhere, she can't confirm in a written report as a diagnosis because all of her language assessments (can't remember the others she did) were above average, although with scatter.
This now disqualifies DD from funding for Orton-Gillingham tutoring and oral textbooks. I'm fine with this, if the problem is NOT dyslexia. So what the holy H E double hockey sticks is it?
DD was an anxious mess during the test and admitted to the psychologist that she can't manage her anxiety and has been hiding from us how bad it is in school. The psychologist, who has an amazing rapport with DD, is going to contact her pediatrician to recommend a referal to a psychiatrist for a consultation re: managing ADHD and anxiety. She feels that there are so many factors interfering with her school performance that it is very tricky to pull out how much of each is to blame. Maybe a little of all the 'e's with a whole bunch of anxiety and perfectionism, and a whole lot of undermedicated ADHD confounding everything else.
I do agree that DD reads far too well to be labelled as classic dyslexia and realize that 'stealth' dyslexia is not a recognized diagnosis within the school board. Luckily, her school is happy to keep all of her adaptations as is and the LD-guru VP assured me that she would push for a reassessment when DD lands in her grade 6 class, if she has the slightest concern. Thank goodness for that, at least.
So, for those of you with ADHD and/or anxious children: how much do these 'e's affect your child's ability to read class material? Could it really just be her ADHD that is keeping her from interpreting written instructions and test questions, and then she gets overwhelmed and anxious and gives up (as psychologist seems to think)? She has no ability to sound out words and guesses randomly... yet with testing today, she did a "great" job with words she did not know. She can obviously pull it together occasionally.
Thanks for reading this long and rambling post. I am going to go out into our freezing cold, snowy yard and bang my aching head against the big tree that just fell over onto my car. Why can't this be easy? Aside from looking like complete idiots in front of DD's entire school team (we approached them for accomodation adjustments based on the verbal confirmation of dyslexia) I just want to bloody scream from the frustration of all of this. Someone just tell me what the problem is so we can go about the business of trying to make it better.
I. Give. Up.
