After literally years of disquiet about DS13's lagging reading skills, I finally found a tester who has given me some answers. I had DS tested for dyslexia last summer and Tester 1 declared him in the clear. He had some strange, spiky results but his CTOPP phonological scores were "too high" for dyslexia. As it turns out, she was using the old CTOPP and GORT and DS' scores declined considerably with Tester 2's better instruments and newer norms.

Tester 1 completely ignored his original very low rapid naming speed. The CTOPP 2 contains more rapid naming subtests (as dyslexia research suggests that rapid retrieval and phonological processing are likely separate and both required to read) and DS' rapid naming composite score is in the 1st percentile. Yikes. His phonological processing was in the low average to low overall but his actual reading achievement on the WJ? Middle average. A classic stealth dyslexic.

Tester 2 has a bold laundry list of recommendations including allowing DS to take an online class over the summer to fulfill a required class. (My suggestion, actually.)

So I set a meeting with the school and came into it with my usual sense of foreboding, having heard the repeated ridiculous responses I am used to hearing about accommodations from other schools: "But we can't do that" (Why not? You're an effing private school. You can do anything you feel like doing. Do you think I am an idiot?) "But that wouldn't be fair to the other kids" (Really? And dyslexia, dysgraphia and auditory and visual processing and ADHD are "fair" for DS? Are you the fairness fairy? Where is our share?)

But this is what I got: "My only concern with this list is that she limits us to 50% extra time. We give kids who need it 100% extra time. Would she be willing to take the limit out?" What about the online class? "Of course we will do that. Just pick the class you want to replace. But if you are considering English, I think DS should be in Honors English here because he is so smart. We put all the very bright kids together in that class because the discussion is so much better for all of them that way."

When I expressed my profound gratitude and frank amazement at his responses, he seemed surprised. "Well, this is just the right thing to do." Indeed.

Of course, follow through is 90% of the deal, but willingness is the necessary precondition.

Great it helps that they sounds so accommodating. I hope it all works out for you.

I hope the follow through is even more satisfying than the initial promise. And, if it isn't, you seem to have the spunk and wherewithal to advocate for your DS' needs. (You had me laughing with "the fairness fairy"!) Let's hope you don't need to pull out the big guns

It's so nice to hear of the willingness for accommodation, even the encouraging desire to go all-out for your DS! How exciting! Hoping the fairness fairy gives you all a good shake.

Hey, will you msg me who the tester is? I'm considering having DD8 privately tested for dyslexia because the school is dragging their feet.

fwtxmom, can I ask a question or two about the tests? My dd who struggled with reading had a comprehensive reading eval about 1.5 years ago including both CTOPP and GORT... and based on your post I'm wondering if she had the most recent versions of the tests. The CTOPP version of her report doesn't list a version number (ie, no "2") and the only rapid naming subtests are labeled "rapid digit naming" and "rapid letter naming". Were there more rapid naming tests in the version of CTOPP your ds had?

The GORT version is listed as GORT-5 but there is also a GORT-4 referenced, and I'm not sure which test dd took - the subtests for GORT listed are Rate, Accuracy, Fluency, Comprehension and Oral Reading Quotient. Does this sound like the set of subtests your ds had on the GORT? and was he given the GORT-5?

Thanks!

polarbear

eta - I think I answered my own questions by googling - it looks like my dd had the most recent version of the GORT, but the old version of the CTOPP. I am hoping to have her tested again later this summer since she's made a ton of progress recently, so I'm glad you posted about the new CTOPP test as now I'll know to ask about the version - thank you!

ps - fwiw, my dd had slightly different challenges with reading - her rapid naming tests were average range, she had really low sound-symbol knowledge, and her GORT scores were across-the-board below average. Yet she took the WJ-III Achievement tests not long after her reading eval, and before she'd made any reading progress... and she scored really high in reading! The tester showed me a few examples of the reading passages on the WJ-III, and the things he showed me were on flip-pages in extremely large font - like the size you see in books for the legally blind, so I wonder if having the really large font didn't help. I don't know how large the font size is on the GORT.