UPDATE:
Thank you everyone for help this summer. I'd like your thoughts as we approach the half-way mark of first grade. As a remember my son is 6 in first grade; he tested with GAI of 170 and his strength was in VCI. His relative weakness was in Processing with a 70 PT gap between VCI/PCI; 55+ gap PCi/PRI and 30+ gap WMI/PCI. His achievement scores were depressed compared to ability and he showed confidence issues during Achievement portion of assessment. A LD was suspected but Ed psych couldn't narrow down as phono awareness is strong.
1. He was accepted into gifted program at school based on CoGat and ITBS. Relief. His Cogat scores were not as high as WISC but understand they aren't comparable. Thengifted program is a full day pull out based on higher level thinking so it is a wonderful break from the rote aspect of elementary school.
2. He sees an OT for 60 minutes a week. He qualified for handwriting and motor planning. I asked if we should pursue dyspraxia and dysgraphia as possible LDs and she encouraged I seek a neuropsychologist to assess as he has some red flags.
3. He sees and OG reading tutor 45 minutes a week. When she assessed she noted his phonic skills are strong so that part of his development seems intact! She clocked his fluency at 97 WPM. He has improved so much with his spelling as he learns all the rules. I'm not convinced dyslexia is the reason for the big gap in achievement/IQ and processing speed weakness...but also recognize he is protected a lot with his 170 GAI thus hard to tease out. I'll keep with the tutor for now as he enjoys it...says he learns more from her in 45 minutes than a whole week of school.
4. Surprisingly to us he was identified for speech at school. Th/f and d/t plus swallowing his Rs. The therapy is helping and the issue is minor...
5. While Ed psych recommended we see a developmental optometrist we saw an ophthalmologist and he plus my pedi spooked my DH from exploring vision therapy further. I know there are several POVs on that subject but we have tabled it for now.
So it appears we now have a common processing story with some minor struggles in writing, spelling, reading and speech...all minor though...add motor planning and a picture seems to be forming. Whether this picture explains the underachievement, I don't know...dyspraxia, dysgraphia and stealth dyslexia have all been disorders suggested. I'm thinking our next step is a neuro psych to get a firm diagnosis so I can start lining up accommodations as they become needed. I'd like some advice from all of you!
Finally his regular school time is not going great. He has had difficulty connecting with classmates. He does have recess with BFF. He complains that he just sits there all day practicing the same thing over and over and he feels he already knows this stuff (he seems surprised as he is a trusting sort who expects if work is given to him he must need it...). His teacher is a bit of a mystery and so is his classroom work. she barely sends work home. during PTC she had two writing samples available to share, she doesn't allow volunteers in class and has ignored my request for copies of his reading assessments even with clear explanations. His first quarter report was mostly 3s(meeting standard) after all 4s the year prior. Rumor is she is very controlling, not friendly with other teachers/parents and caters to lowest denominator. The drawback is he is getting zero differentiation from her and I do not have a partner to help tease issues apart. What she has offered during PTC and a meet with VP and AIG early in the year is...his handwriting is fine when he focuses on it. That his reading is fine. That his underachievement is just because he is a bit immature. And the only thing she grasped onto is how sensitive he is. Can you tell I'm not a fan.
Any advice as to next steps is always appreciated. My plan based on advice I received from trusted others on another gifted board is to reach out to gifted teacher to seek guidance for classroom goals and persue diagnosis as better to have things in place then wait for issues.
