Elizabeth, thanks for the advice. I actually have that book sitting in my pile of books to be read. I'll be sure to move it to the top of the pile.
I have a few more questions for anyone who might be able to offer an informed opinion:
- My daughter is being raised to be bilingual in English & French. I read somewhere that being bilingual introduces an additional layer of processing in the brain. Could this be slowing down her processing speed somewhat? If so, any idea how much this might be?
- The Social Worker initially referred my daughter for evaluation on "sensory issues" (aversion to noise, cutting labels off of her clothes, not walking barefoot in the grass, etc.). These and other factors, always had me concerned that my daughter might be mildly autistic, but she keeps them well-hidden in public, and the SW was the first one to pick up on some of these issues. The Psychologist used GARS-3 and Vineland-II questionnaires filled out by me (which indicated that my daughter was in the Probable range and might need minimal support) and the teacher (which indicated no problems). Overall the Psychologist said she didn't think my daughter had any autistic issues. It doesn't appear to me that she did any independent testing on her own, and she never really addressed the sensory issues raised by the SW. Should I push for additional testing on this?
- The more I look into it, I can see why my daughter received a relatively low score on Matrix reasoning, which I believe measures the ability to read non-verbal communication and adapt to changing circumstances. It seems to me that this may be causing some of her anxiety. Is there a way to build her skills in this area to help her overcome some of her anxiety issues. I've seen a book on this subject, but it seems focused just on helping kids improve their test score, to help them get into a good private school. I really don't care about test scores, but just want to understand if there is anything we can do to help her in this area.
- Finally, I would like to understand if my daughter's relatively low processing speed and matrix reasoning scores indicate that her relative weaknesses in these areas are fueling her anxiety problems, or is it the other way around (her anxiety problems are driving down these test scores). Similar to my last question, I'm just wondering if trying to improve her skills in these areas would be a helpful adjunct to her current treatment (which focuses on improving her coping mechanisms).
Thanks for your help.
