Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion diagnosing 2E

I'd reassure you that taking her to a neuropsych (or other professional) for testing isn't going to cause self-esteem issues - my 2e kids found testing not that big of a deal. We explained that the person who was giving them the tests was interested in helping us learn how their brain works, and also that it would help us (parents) know how to help them out at school. Even if you go through neuropsych testing and find that there isn't an LD or any type of challenge, you'll still come away from the testing with a wealth of knowledge re where your child's relative strengths and weaknesses are, and if you just approach it as data rather than something that carries weight in terms of self-esteem, it's interesting. If it *is* an LD or challenge of some type, chances are your dd is already somewhat aware that she's struggling and knowing that it has a name and a definition was, for our kids, like taking the weight of the world off of their shoulders - before the diagnosis they'd internalized that struggle to be something that was "wrong" with them and meanwhile at school were getting the message that they weren't trying - all of that was a huge challenge for self-esteem. Knowing the name of their diagnosis, knowing that there are other kids on the planet that also share the diagnosis, and knowing that there was a roadmap of how to get over, through, and past their challenges based on having a diagnosis all *gave* them self-confidence.

Whether or not you'll be able to get farther with your school or should seek a private evaluation is really dependent upon your school and school district. I can share my experience, but it was only my experience in my school district. My first recommendation is to see if you have a parent advocate's group in your area that you can ask questions of at no charge. At the point we were advocating several years ago, there were groups that were federally funded in most states, but I don't know what the current status is. If you do find a group, tell them what your experience has been so far and ask for their advice. I was very close to giving up and thinking I would never get any help from my ds' school when I called our local advocate's group, and what I found out was - it wasn't that my ds didn't qualify, it was just that we happened to be at a school that was notorious for doing everything they could to not offer services to students. The advocate was able to help give us the language and understanding of the law that we needed to successfully advocate for an IEP for our 2e ds, even though he is a high-IQ kid and he wasn't working below grade level at the time.

When you ask for the WISC-V results, be sure to ask for the subtest scores. These were really important in understanding that our ds really did have a challenge. When our school district tests, they just list the total/averaged scores for each category rather than individual subtests, and with 2e kids there can be huge variability in the some subtest scores that disappears when they are averaged in with the other scores. For the achievement tests (WJ-IV), you can find a description of each subtest online - read through each one so you understand what the specific task was, and then compare your dd's scores. You might notice a pattern - does she score lower on timed tests, on tests that require handwriting, on tests where she had to read vs listen to an oral statement, on tests with visual skills required etc. If there is a noticable pattern that may help in understanding what's going on.

In addition to reviewing the two sets of data (WISC and WJ), think through your dd's development history from the time she was little. When did she start talking, walking etc. What is school like for her - are there certain types of assignments or tasks that she struggles with?

Once you've done all of that, including talking to an advocate if you can find one in your area who is familiar with your school district, think through whether or not you want to try to pursue further evaluation from the school. There are pros and cons to each. The pros for school evaluation are that it's free; on the other hand, you will only learn if your dd qualifies for help through the school district. You won't get a diagnosis, and you won't learn anything re how to help your dd with her challenge if she doesn't qualify. The pros for a neuropsych are that testing beyond ability vs achievement is included when there is a suspicion of a challege based on the results of the ability/achievement tests, and that testing will be directed at determining a diagnosis. A neuropsych should give you a report which will include recommendations for remediation/accommodations as needed at school, and that report can be used to advocate for an IEP or 504. The downside to a neuropsych eval can be the time (they are sometimes booked up several months in advance) and the expense (although we were able to get our neuropsych paid in part by medical insurance).

How to find a neuropsych? I'd start by asking your pediatrician. Your pediatrician might be a good resource in general re what to do re the school situation - our ped had good advice for us about dealing with LDs in our local schools.

If you decided to try to work through the school before seeking out a neuropsych eval, make a written request for an IEP eligibility review (if your dd hasn't already been through one - which I don't think she has from what you've written). Give the school 10 business days to respond (let them know in writing that you expect a response in 10 days). They will then either have to set up a meeting within a certain amount of time or tell you "no" and give you a reason why they said "no". The meeting will consist of SPED staff person, teacher, parents, possibly other SPED staff people, possibly a school administrator. This is the meeting where the "team" agrees or disagrees that an evaluation for IEP eligibility should or shouldn't happen. This is where you'll need to be able to state your case for why you believe it should happen. Share the data you've gleaned from looking at the patterns in the ability subtests and achievement testing. Share concerns you have from what you've seen of classwork. If your dd is spending a much larger amount of time on her homework that you'd expect, share that. The whole team is supposed to agree on whether or not an eval is needed, and if you find yourself in the situation where the team says no but you think the answer should be "yes" and there's no way you're going to get a "yes" out of them, be sure to include your concerns in the section left for parent input, and then research what your next options are. If the school says yes, they will identify (during that meeting) the areas they will evaluate - be sure that they include every area you think needs to be included. This evaluation still isn't an official diagnosis, it's an evaluation to determine whether or not your dd needs individualized instruction at school. If she's found eligible, the school will make goals and a plan for how your dd will be instructed to meet those goals for the next 12 months.

For us, it was really helpful to have gone to the neuropsych first - because we not only had a diagnosis, we knew what our ds needed re accommodations and remediation. The school would not have shared anything with us outside of what they legally had to share. This isn't easy to explain (and I'm half-asleep today so I'm most likely not explaining anything clearly!) ... but I was a much more effective advocate when I knew what my ds needed than when I was depending on the folks across the table (school) to tell me what he needed. I don't say that to negate the expertise of his teachers or the special ed staff, but the school wasn't looking to find something - they were looking to disprove that he needed help. It was up to me as his parent to know what he needed, and also to know what the law was surrounding what he was eligible to receive at school. Had I not had the neuropsych results, I wouldn't have known that there were things the school could do for my ds because the school wasn't going to tell me about them. With the neuropscyh report, I knew to ask for them, and the school really couldn't deny them because they were all things that were very routinely offered to students with his LD in our school district. Hope that makes sense.

Gotta run - please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - you mentioned she had difficulties with math facts. Is it with understanding them or writing them down? Can you ask her to do 12-7 and give you an oral answer and it's ok, or is that difficult.