Had our IEP meeting today with both psych and neuropsych attending. It was very interesting to say the least. Everyone on the team paid rapt attention as the neuropsych went through his report, explaining it in detail. He said "DD is one of those kids you really have to think about..." He kept driving home not only her "high level of intellect" but how much the difference between her conceptual abilities and performance levels affected her. It was pretty impressive.
He spent a lot of time talking about her inattentiveness, fidgeting when she had to work independently and "cognitive impulsivity". The psych, however, pointed out that "there are a lot of reasons for fidgeting" and explained how in her opinion everything he noted about her attentiveness is actually a result of her anxiety. She explained that DD "lives in hot task environment all the time." (She used as an example the stress of driving to a new place for the first time being a "hot task" but driving home on a familiar route being a "cold task".) "She wants to do better but her brain doesn't let her" and "she gets flooded with anxiety." Neuropsych seemed to drop it pretty quickly...
So it was again hard sitting and hearing each of DD's challenges pointed out and discussed. It really seems like too much to comprehend. He said he redid her IQ testing because there was SO much scatter last year and sure enough the scatter was repeated. I guess we no longer have a question about whether or not we are really seeing this profile which I have been told over and over is "exceedingly rare."
In the end I think the 2 experts were able to get the folks at DD's school to understand that not only are her challenges truly daunting but she is doing an AMAZING job of dealing with them. Yes, she has anxiety and headaches and somatic complaints but "most kids with this profile would be defiant and oppositional - she is not." The psych said that her "kind and sweet nature" means that she uses kindness as her defense strategy. Interesting concept. However there is concern that this will make her vulnerable to bullying...
Anyway, the neuropsych explained that DD does not meet all the diagnostic criteria for NLD "but it's a helpful diagnostic concept." So I guess I won't worry too much about the specific labels and just look at them as tools to get her needs met. Right?
After more than an hour of discussion about how to make DD more comfortable, how to address her anxiety, how to get her to stay in her classroom all day instead of feeling a need to use her break-pass to get out I couldn't take it anymore. I asked why on earth they were using a public shaming classroom management technique that makes her uncomfortable and is at cross purposes with everything we were talking about addressing. I asked the teacher if there was a reason the checkmarks she was using in lieu of colors HAD to be public. "Can't you record the checks privately? Both you and the child involved would know what your area of concern is but you can leave out the public component." Her reason was "I have used it in the past and have found it effective." I answered "The theory behind these systems is to embarrass the child being punished and induce anxiety in the other kids in the room so that they don't repeat the behavior. But you have a child in the room with a known anxiety issue and a negative reaction to these systems. If there is no compelling reason to make it public why can't you just use your system privately??????" So, they are going to try it. Not a permanent change but to "collect data" - if she leaves the classroom less often they will see if there is an impact. Totally disregarding that the effect of the system is already present and/or that they are providing a para and enrichment as of today/tomorrow respectively. But hey - if they got it we wouldn't have had to spend MONTHS on such a simple concept - huh?
