Glad to help. It took me 6.5 years of evaluations and questioning to get to this point. I hope to streamline to process for others when possible. While valuable, I think the CELF has been distracting in our case. The high verbal abilities mask the issues.
Not sure if this question will even make sense: how does the metalinguistic/pragmatic stuff translate in school language? Can a child be diagnosed with a learning disability if there is a pragmatic deficit, or would this be classified differently?
I guess it doesn't matter much, in our case, because I don't think DS will get any help from SPED unless I make a huge fuss. I'm interested in knowing how this is treated in other, more understanding districts.
Geo, I think you are saying that the CELF is unlikely to reveal anything useful about a child whose verbal skills are advanced, even if there are obvious disconnects that can be observed qualitatively. Correct?
With DS, the difference between the way he can speak (about a subject of interest) and the way he writes (about a low-interest subject) is pronounced. Even when he is fascinated, though, his speaking/writing "assumes" a lot about the perspective of the reader. He is also excellent in providing specific factual examples, when questioned, but inferences are simplistic.
For instance, when asked to explain how the lords and the serfs might differ in their experience of feudalism--he wrote, "the serfs would probably not like it, because their lives would probably suck." ( <---ugh, DS. I made him erase suck and say "be difficult." He did not understand why you don't say "suck" on a school paper. Really.) I can see how this could either be an attitude issue (as in, what a stupid question), or a true misunderstanding. I don't know how he might respond to a less obvious, higher-level thinking question. The material in the history textbook is not complex.
He could give several examples, conversationally, about why it would be preferable to be a lord, but either couldn't be bothered, or didn't understand why it would be better to explain his thinking when writing graded responses.
I don't know how this fits, either: DS is a very good creative writer. I wouldn't say he is earth-shatteringly insightful, deep, or nuanced (LOL), but his mechanics, grammar, and structure are excellent.
