I am wondering how the school is likely to react. Does anyone know if this a common way to diagnose a learning disorder, by looking at the gaps? Or will this be an unfamiliar approach to them?
Yes, this is a common way to diagnose a learning disability, but it's common for schools to reject it because the performance is still average. It will likely depend on the local standards and how helpful the school is towards kids with disabilities. My daughter was recently put on an IEP with similar scores (lowest 101; 2-3 standard deviation differences from IQ index) for reading and writing disorders. We are the "beneficiaries," however, of the fact that the district is now under state oversight for past mis-deeds regarding children with dyslexia. My daughter's holes are not as broad as yours, however, so this may also make getting help at school easier.
Also wondering - does this mean she has dyslexia? Or can she have disorders of writing/reading that is not dyslexia?
The DSM-IV describes Reading disorder and Disorder of Written Expression only. Generally, yes, these align with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Are these your only test results? Did your DD take a test looking at her phonological awareness and processing? Tests are DIBELS, AIMS Web, CTOPP. These can help pinpoint the source of the discrepancy in dyslexia. For the dysgraphia, fine motor testing seems to be crucial. My daughter appears to have dysgraphia, but it looks *very* different than descriptions I find on this forum and online. This is part of what delayed our getting testing done. The reading disorder came as a surprise.
Also wondering - what the heck are we going to do now? :-) We like our public school, but I just don't know what sort of resources they might have for our girl. But that's probably not one for this board, eh? :-)
First: Take a deep breath.
Second: Get back on the phone with the psychologist, and ask: Is this dyslexia/dysgraphia, and what type? Ask about the phonological processing. Ask for recommendations for remediation -- specifically Orton-Gillingham or Wilson, or something else.
After the first sessions in which they were doing DD's IQ test and then starting on several of DD's areas of strength in achievement testing, the psychologist kept telling me to transfer her to the Local Fancy Private $chool. She'll find peers there. She needs more challenge.
Then he saw DD's phonological scores, writing samples, spelling, and other areas she bombed. The discussion of LFP$ disappeared. They couldn't provide DD with the services or accommodations she needs.
Third: Find help. Hopefully the school will jump up to help her. However, even though we presented the report to the school Feb 8, the IEP took until May 21, giving DD just 10 days of services before the end of the year.
Now, here's my caution: We had a few false starts on finding help. The first OG tutor ($60/45 minutes) had a smaller and less flexible vocabulary than DD. This exacerbated a personality mismath. We ended up at the university's tutoring center, which had its other issues, but was run by a woman entranced by DD's test scores. One of the tutors assigned to us needed a lot of coaching from me on how to work with DD (no easy task). My caution here is to try something and if it doesn't work, reevaluate, cut losses, and move on.
