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Hello everyone. I have, I believe, a 2e six year old who has just started first grade. Unfortunately for him, his gifts are not in the traditional academic realm. He is highly creative, visual spacial, and a big concept thinker. He is able to take complex information and form pretty amazing questions or conclusions for his age. Unfortunately, his nice small private school only sees his deficits. He can't read yet, is unable to sequence effectively, and has a terrible time with inattention and following oral directions. He spends a lot of time in his head, contemplating his latest passion, and we often have to work hard to get his attention so that we can get him to minimally attend to things like getting dressed, or eating. He is quite social and loving, but has issues with anxiety, and frustration. How do we advocate for him with the school, when they do not see his "gifts", but only his weaknesses?

Hi Rosapina

Our son was exactly the same. He is now almost 11 years old.
We have had quite a struggle, as many here will know.
All I can say is that you must cherish and nurture your little'un's interests outside of the school environment. The fact is the school system is not geared up - and maybe isn't meant to handle- special kids. Of course it goes without saying that you will support him(her?) as much as you can at home.

The first EP who assessed our boy simply said - and he was employed by the local education authority - that it would be tough in 'primary' school for him, but in High School things would get a lot better. At the time it seemed devastating as he was then a long way from High School. As he approaches that milestone we look forward to him getting the support we know he should have had since he really was a 'little'un'.

So, we stretched him outside school. We fought the teachers and the schools when they were letting him down big style.

Would we have done anything different? I don't know - but you will find lots of help here along the path.

Good luck and best wishes - you're not alone.

Are you able to get him evaluted? I've heard here about a psychologist coming to school to make reccomendations. Best of Luck.

It is so frustrating when the school does not recognize your child's gifts, cannot reach/ teach him and ultimately begins the "blame game". I was in a similar situation, when ds was in kindergarten, he struggled with all table top activities and pre-reading skills. Finally we had he evaluated by the school and found out that he was indeed very bright, but he also had a constellation of deficits that caused him academic trouble. In 1st grade he began receiving reading a support services. It was a bit rocky, but he did begin to succeed more frequently. Fortunalty, he has always lucked out with outstanding, understanding teachers that "get" that he is bright and are willing to take the time to support his differences.

Based on your description, it sounds like your child should be evaluated. Even children enrolled in private schools MUST be evaluated by their home school district if the parents make a referral (this is covered by the child find provision in IDEA, Federal Special Ed law). An evaluation will help you to sort out his strengths and to begin to understand where he may have some struggles. Note, I say begin, because the process of understanding never ends as the child grows and develops and the demands change.

How do you do this? WRITE a letter to your district - the special ed director or director of student services if you can find the name, superintendent if you can't. State that you are concerned with your child's academic development and would like to have him tested in the follow areas:
Psychological
Educational
Speech and Language
(and maybe OT if he has fine motor/ handwriting difficulties)

The district MUST test within about 60 days (less in some states depending upon your laws). This site has a good example as well as other important info. If you are not in Massachusetts, just ignore the references to MA state law - everything else applies. http://www.concordspedpac.org/

You can find the sample letter on the left. Go to the section on testing/evaluations and it is halfway down.

Once your child is tested, the school will give you an evaluation report that includes test scores, analysis and recommendations. If the recommendations contain special services such as reading or writing instruction, you are entitled to this EVEN IF YOUR CHILD is in the private school. Sometimes scheduling can be difficult, but if you can make it work, it could be the way to go. The recommendations might also include accommodations. Things like preferential seating, check in's to determine if the student understands the directions, visual model of the task, check lists, more time, motor breaks - whatever is needed for the child to take advantage of instruction. If your school takes even one cent of federal money - THEY MUST IMPLEMENT accommodations under section 504 of ADA. The website I gave has info on 504 plans.

Don't delay. Information is power. Once you get the data and recommendations, you can begin insuring that your child has the supports and instructions needed to unleash his talents.

Best to luck - it can be worrisome but it can get better.

Thank you all! Yes, he is a boy, and I would love to have him tested. I even had a consult with the folks at the gifted development center, who told me that he was most likely highly gifted with sensory integration, auditory processing issues, and perhaps tacking issues as well based on his profile. They also told me that they did not recommend testing him, as he is the type who will not do things "well" unless he is actually deeply interested. Hearing and following even basic directions can be a real struggle. They didn't know anyone in our area (SF bay area) they could recommend for testing who really "gets" 2e kids, so unless we can travel to Denver, the recommendation was OT and vision screening for now. We got the OT eval, and are on the wait list to start. I am thinking of getting him tutored by a reading specialist for now. Last year K was a disaster, with him becoming so anxious and depressed from the inappropriate situation that he began seeing a therapist, which has been wonderful, as she really gets him. His older brother was similar, but not as extreme in both "directions" of the 2e. I was able to homeschool him for a few months, and really focus on his basic skills, so that when he returned to school, he was actually 2-3 years above grade level in reading, so there was not as much concern.

Thanks Mich. I will get the process started, and look at it as a starting point- I don't believe they will be able to fully capture the "giftedness" side of things because of the way the testing is done here through the school district, but at least we will have a better idea of accommodations to address the difficulties he is having.

I don't know if this will help but I like this page full of suggestions for helping visual-spatial kids to help integrate them to their day. It has suggestions like giving them multi-part instructions with something silly thrown in like- go get a blue cup from the middle cabinet, fill it up with ice water, and put a spoon on your nose and keep it there while you bring me the water. Since I read this article I've started using the multi-step instructions, but boring stuff like "put your towel in the laundry room, put your brush in the bathroom drawer, and get some undies on". He doesn't usually remember all three instructions, yet.
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/articles.htm

Unfortunately, you can't get services from the school unless you do some type of testing. From what you have described, you might want to get on the waiting list for the Eides up in Washington state. http://www.neurolearning.com/
They are neurologists who specialize in assessing twice exceptional kids. You might want to check their "Mislabeled Child" book out of the library.

Also keep in mind that public schools need only to "consider" private testing. Depending upon your district this could mean "read" the testing and nothing more to fully implementing the recommendations to anywhere in between. Additionally, they will do their own testing to determine eligibility.

For this reason, if you would like the school to implement accommodations, support or related services of any kind, it would make sense to get the school evaluation going. If you disagree with the results for any reason, you are entitled to request an IEE - independent educational evaluation from an independent professional of your choice, providing they have the needed credentials.

If, as they are testing, they find snags in his skill areas, this would be important to know so that they can address the difficulties by presenting the tasks in different ways or perhaps adding supports so that he can be more successful. Perhaps with his SI difficulties, they could help him begin to self regulate so that he could function more easily. They could also add accommodations such as motor breaks, so that he can burn off steam. If he has difficulty following directions - it is important to understand why - is the APD? Weakness in certain areas or memory? Attention? Language processing? Impulsiveness? La Texican gives a great example of a strategy the school can use to overcome these difficulties. As he matures, he should be taught strategies he can use to help himself in these areas.

An evaluation can help you understand him better and figure out how to help him. If he qualifies for special ed and an IEP, it helps insure that the school is designing a learning program that will support him in ways that lets him capitalize on his gifts. Often without this, the child becomes negatively labeled: lazy, bad, uncooperative, etc.

I also find it hard to believe there are not good private evaluators in the SF area. I would contact the major universities in your area such as Stanford to get some names of local professionals. Ideally you can find someone that you will use throughout your child's educational career. Perhaps in the future you would need him or her to join you for a meeting at the school. Finding a local resource would help you in the long run.

My 2e (gifted/Asperger's) son has some of the attention and executive function issues you describe. Kids on the spectrum spend a lot of time in their own heads, thinking about their special interest topics in detail-- it's hard to get them out of that headspace to attend to the things the school staff wants them to attend to.

This isn't always a problem with the school; sometimes it's a matter of the child learning to manage their own attention and follow directions appropriately, which is very challenging but worth learning to do. Of course, appropriate supports at school can be crucial to learning those skills for those kids to whom it doesn't come naturally.

Mich gave good advice above-- I agree with it.

DeeDee

I've decided for now to get his binocular vision tested (for tracking issues), and to get a full neuropsych workup, which I'm hoping insurance will help cover. I like some of the suggestions in the visual spacial learners section of the gifted development center webpage. Actually, he is pretty much perfectly described in some of the articles. He actually told my mother that he learns best with pictures and movies! The thing that is most difficult for him is that he has all of these amazing thoughts and ideas, and a lot of difficulty expressing them, given his sometimes slow processing speed. He goes to a private school, and although our district would assess him, we would have to bring him to them for services during the school day. He is currently seeing his schools learning specialist for help with reading.
Mich, my main concern with finding a tester, is that he does so poorly under any sort of stress, and can be so distractable, that I feel the IQ portion would be inaccurate. It is nearly impossible to get him to really perform unless he is deeply interested. Because of this, the Gifted Development center was concerned about getting him tested except by someone with a great deal of experience and patience with 2e kids.
DeeDee, I would love to get the school to support DS in learning those skills, but it seems like they have never seen an inattentive kid in class before! They are asking me what to do (I know there are many kids with similar issues at his school). My other problem is that in all of this, his gifts go unrecognized and he is seen (and treated) as a very sweet kid with undiagnosed inattentive subtype ADHD, and perhaps some LD's. He is beginning to see himself as "weird" and says he doesn't like himself.

Sorry again to be long winded

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....red_Heart_Approach_in_a_N.html#Post80659

Here's something Grinnity introduced to us. �It's a program for setting ADD kids up for success. �It says transforming the difficult child, but it really means helping your kid to thrive. �There's one of their books I haven't got to read because it's for school age children but it's called "building their inner wealth". �I only have the first book on tape which is not the inner wealth one, but the program is big on praising the child sincerely and often.

Rosa, my DS just had evaluation and this is my previous post.
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....s/87647/Assessment_update.html#Post87647
If you need to search psychologist who has experience 2e kids in bay area, I can PM you.

Rosaspina,You have received alot of very wonderful advice here. The school discouraging you from doing testing isn't approiate protical on addressing providing services for your child. Although the specific issues of difficuilty in testing as related to your sons functioning is very helpful for you to know. You need to establish baseline date(testing) in order to establish, have some idea of where your son is at in all areas of functioning. That way you can chart if he is making progress, by using his test scores. You would want a full battery of test done by the School Psychologist. Contact your State Department of Education's Special Education Department and ask them to mail you a copy of their Policies and Procudures Manual (it's free). It is book that has all Forms,list of all services school is required to provide and testing(for free), catagories of disabilities and information you need to know to support you, in advocating for your son. Your school distric is required to test your son when you put it in writting you want a full battery of test to determine all areas of disability. I have been in your shoes. Get the book Smart Kids With Learning Difficuilties, it has charts and graphs and explains how to document you childs giftedness/LD so school can have all info. in educating your son. It is the parent input that is crucial in identifying unique learning styles that help teachers to provide modifications and accomadations in lessons plans. Attach this information to IEP. You also can find a provider by contacting your Health Care Authority in your state and requesting name of a Clinical Psychologist who does Educational Testing. Contact PEATC and find out where your Parent Advocacy Training Center is and ask for their contact information. Every state is required to have a Parent Center. to provide free training for parents of disabled children. You can contact Social Security Disability and ask to fill out application for your son. Social Security oftens has testing done to verify if child qualifies as disabled. Their testing is done at a medical level. If you have already got Social Security Disability. Contact them and ask for copys of the tests that were used to make the Disability Determination. Fax the Disability Determination to your school distric along with a nice letter requesting they imeadiatly provide services and start battery of tests. (be sure to program your fax machine to print out verification of receipt of fax for proof you notified distric of your request) Ask your school distric if they are doing,Response to Intervention(RTI),
school Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports,Universal Design, and the name of the reading program they are using. Put in writing to your school distric you would like copys of all educational records, testing, behavioral notes, attendance records and report cards since he started school. If your school is doing RTI, they should provide you charting of your childs educational progress and testing that was done three times a year to show if your son is at grade level. This is the family support document for RTI on pdf, ABC's of RTI: >http://www.rti4success.org/images/stories/topPicks/ABC_of_RTI.pdf> This Family Support Document has wonderful list of questions that would give you idea of what to ask for, how to ask. RTI is also used to monitor progress of children with IEP and to support gifted children in identifying level of performance to assure decisions are made based on scientific based data. Get a 3-4 inch note book and start organizing all of these records including copys of all medical records, medical reports. It is interesting that a growth chart can show if enviormental stressors are affecting health and growth. Get the book, From Emotions to Advocacy, second edition, The Special Education Survival Guide by Pam Wright and Pete Wright.

Sure am happy if any of this info. is helpful! Wishing you the best!