Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Introduction - I'm new here!

Hello everyone

I belong to an email list, and a member very kindly posted the link for this forum, so I decided to come along and have a look.

So....me in a nutshell....I am UK based, and the mother of 2 children. DS (10) is dyslexic and dysgraphic, with a FSIQ of 146. His sister DD (5) is doing well in school, and does not seem to have any issues. We have not had her IQ assessed.

Leigh

Welcome to the forum! Lots of supportive people here and pretty good discussions too. Enjoy!

HI!

Hello and welcome!

I suspect I'm the fellow e-mail list member you speak of, and I'm glad to see you here. I love this forum and was hoping to spark more 2e conversations here.

Thanks for the welcome! I am still finding my way around but I am sure I will get lots of helpful information and advice here.

Hi Leigh! Welcome!

I'm trying to wrap my head around having a FSIQ of 146 with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Am I right in assuming that the 146 is without accomidation for his disabilities? If so - WOW! You're son's strengths must be very robust indeed to compensate for those challenge areas. Has he found a way to make use of school?

No wonder 'little sister' seems to have no issues by comparison!

Was it difficult to find an IQ tester in England? Were the schools interested in your son's strengths? Do they help him with his challenges?

So glad you are here!
Grinity

Thanks, Grinity and master-of-none.....

His FSIQ was assessed by an educational psychologist, using WISC IV. I don't think his disabilities impacted on his scores, other than his short-term memory - having to recall a sequence of numbers forward and in reverse. He scored average for this, but the educational psychologist said he could "scale" this result?

I am really new to most of this, so I don't know in what way his dyslexia and dysgraphia would impact on a WISC IV IQ test?

We had him assessed by the ed pysch in June 2008 (due to school-related issues) and once we had the result, we moved him from the local state school to a boys-only private school. The state school was unable to assist with his strengths or weaknesses, because his strengths cancelled out his weaknesses, and meant he didn't "qualify" for help - his scholastic attainment seemed bottom end of average to them.

The new school (we are coming to the end of his second year there) is great with both his strengths and weaknesses. He has one-on-one tuition once a week for spelling, math fact and handwriting issues.

He has 14 children in his class, so it is easy for the teacher to adapt the lesson to meet each child's needs. They have learned to seat him in the front of the class, and away from windows / doors / disruptive children. He does not have ADHD but is easily distracted.

I struggled to find a suitable educational psychologist, and eventually found one who is the head of a gifted children society here in the UK, AND writes books to help dyslexic children. BINGO! We hit the jackpot! Someone who can understand both issues and help us with them. On meeting him we learned why he had experience of both. His wife (a qualified GP) is dyslexic!

Leigh

I'd love to know who that was, since I've noticed that it's not clear who we'd go to if we ever decided we needed to get DS tested... I assume there's no reason for not saying? It might also be good to send a recommendation to Hoagies - their page:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/psychologists.htm#list
currently lists only two people in the UK, Joan Freeman and someone called Randy Lee Comfort, with no contact details, whom google suggests is also female, so I suppose your person is neither.

Anyway, welcome, and it's good to hear that your DS's new school situation is so much better!

Hello ColinsMum

His name is Dr. Peter Congdon, http://www.dyslexiabooks.biz/contactus.htm

Thanks for the welcome. Dr. Congdon lives near Birmingham, so a bit of a drive for you to get to, but I think it is well worth the effort. He is an older gentleman who works from home, and is very direct with his information and opinions.

Just come background information - last year you may remember reported in the news here in the UK that a child of about two was the "new Einstein"? Dr. Congdon assessed this child, but in his words, he definitely did not call the child the "new Einstein". He said that the IQ of a 2 year old is affected by environment so is not stable. The parents put him under a lot of pressure to assess the child, so he did go ahead with the assessment.

We will be taking DS back to him this summer, so Dr. Congdon can assess his scholastic attainment over the last 2 years.

Leigh

Thanks, interesting.

sometimes the psycholgist will leave the subtests out that are affected by the disabilities and sometime they don't. I can't figure out when they do and when they don't.

So sad to hear that - same in the US, in many public schools a problem isn't a problem unless the child is flunking.


What a blessing! So glad for your family!
Grinity

Hi Leigh,
I also have a dyslexic/dysgraphic DD8 with WISC-IV FSIQ in that range (149) and a DD10 who also is gifted but we haven't paid for testing. Congrats on finding a good fit. My DD is in an ok situation because her current teacher is wonderful. I fear that down the line we will be forced to make some hard choices.

Wonderful teachers can work wonders!
try to enjoy the present knute!
Grinity

Thanks for the reminder. I just visited a wonderful school today that specializes in non-traditional gifted learners. It's hard not to compare what we have with what they are doing there.