@aeh I've flagged this to S1's psychologist and asked her to take a look/double check the numbers. Will see what she says.
When we originally received the report it contained errors that I flagged to the examiner (e.g. incorrect age of previous testing, and one reference to another child's name and DOB). Taken together it seems plausible that the examiner cut and paste S1's information into an old document, perhaps to save formatting work, but failed to edit it completely.
What I am taking away from the exchange (my goodness, thank you THANK YOU for this feedback) is that S1 has some pretty significant learning disabilities, and a developmental coordination disorder - neither of which are being addressed in therapy. He receives CBT for anxiety and the focus has been on medicating him wth guanfacine or prozac - long story short, he is not medicated.
What I should do as his mother to better support the LD and developmental coordination disorder? I'll note that:
- His drawing skills were not only delayed, but he went through a long phase of scribbling and ripping up both artwork (in preK) and letter formation (in K and 1st). This caused a lot of classroom disruption, catalyzed reprimand, etc..
When he learned to read (a multi-year, multi-expert battle), he never really decoded. He is a "whole-word" reader (he sees a string of letters and guesses a word, usually correctly). When reading aloud, he often skips or inserts words (it feels like he scans, gets the gist and relates the gist).
In sum, I have an increasingly sinking feeling that he is not remotely getting the therapies he needs. We are not on the right track, which is why we've made little progress despite years of therapy.
The prevailing theory is that his task refusal at school is anxiety-based (hence the emphasis on medication). The hypothesis is: quell the anxiety, the behaviors will fade out.
It seems plausible and worth investigating that while there may indeed be anxiety (e.g. performance anxiety) underpinning the task refusal it is the LD and developmental coordination disorder that are the Prime Movers.
If he has trouble coordinating visual inputs and planning motor outputs, it is no surprise writing is so hard. It also fits the pattern of strong vocabulary (auditory memory) and weak spelling (visual memory).
I'm going to wait for the initial wave of feedback about the scoring then ask how we should think about the LDs and DCD in terms of his therapeutic plan -- and see what the team suggests.
I'm incalculably grateful for the thoughtful feedback. I realize S1 is not in the same league as the children the forum serves, but nothing has been remotely as helpful to me as this thread. So I hope I can stick around, if that's OK.
