Debbie,
That is an amazing story! It�s probably repeated around the country every day.
I believe the reason my daughter was found to have no deficit by the school district psychologist and school district speech therapist is because they are either unethical or incompetent. Actually, I believe it is a combination of the two. They are �Masters of the Obvious� coupled with a prejudice against gifted children with learning differences. Philosophically, their sympathy lies with children who are behind and politically, they know there are limited resources and choose to apply them only where they cannot deny a learning disability (because it is evident to everyone).
Every professional (all with higher credentials) she had seen outside of the school district, believes there is defiantly a receptive language and phonological perception issue (whether compared to her IQ or not).
The only accommodation that we wanted was a grade skip in combination with relocation to a school with walls. No extra costs involved! 51/2 years after accomplishing these goals with a private school, I can say without hesitation, we were right about her learning difference (which has been further confirmed) and we were right that she needed a grade advance and THEY WERE WRONG!
I applaud this doctor in his response to the school administration. I don�t believe that clinical or medical evaluators should let the politics of limited resources influence their assessment. It is simply not their concern. If they do consider those issues, they may be in favor with the district superintendant, but their own professional credibility is lost.
