Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Doing testing with the school vs private

Hi
Just found out that to get OT testing in DS's school means they consider doing other testing based on whether it's warranted. I guess its part of their whole IEP process. The psych indicated they would do the WISC if we wanted them to. I was also told no one would see it unless we wanted them to. There is no reason to do the WISC in this case (we are seeking just fine motor, not LD eval) but we had planned on having him take the test in order to apply for Davidson. Is there a downside to having a school psych do it? The upside is that it's free! The psych is not a gifted specialist though.

Thoughts?

DeHe

Upside: if you do it and get DYS level scores, it was free and you got it done conveniently.

Downsides:
1) school psychs vary tremendously in their abilities. They are considered qualified to do testing-- that is why they are there, as they are typically not certified to diagnose any disorders. Some of them are not great testers or eager to help a child do their very best work. Some are just fine.

2) if the school psych does a WISC, your DS probably can't take another WISC within a year and have it be considered valid. You do want it done right the first time.

Aside: if you want an actual diagnosis on the OT stuff, you likely need an outside professional. Most school OTs can make recommendations and judgments but technically can't diagnose an actual disability. There can be a conflict of interest, as well: often school personnel are under pressure to under-report findings in order that fewer children qualify for expensive services. It is, of course, appalling, but it happens. YMMV.

DeeDee

Ditto everything DeeDee said.

It's worthwhile to pay out of pocket and go to a private psych. If your child needs to take a break, the private psych can do that. The private psych may bond better with your child and you may get a more accurate picture.

My son was tested privately first and 2 years later by the school. The results happened to be almost identical. At school they pulled him from class and only did a section or two at a time.So he was very well rested and he missed a lot of class which was an advantage given his situation.
:ur local private tester hired a grad student to administer the test and misdirected us when it came to figuring out what the problem was.
If you aren't worried about unraveling any mysteries I think it is fine to do the school testing. If you do need help then the trick is to fiind a tester who really gets high LOG kids. I have learned over the years that it is hard to know who these testers are. One of those 'I don't know what I don't know' situations.

One advantage of private is that if you child hits any future road bumps you have someone to call who knew your child in summier times.

One advantage of school testing is that it might turn the school psyc into an ally who will advocate for better fit education for your child.

Either way is good.
Grinity

I don't know if this applies to where you live, but in most states, OT can not be a "stand alone" service in school, In other words in order to get OT services, the child must also be receiving SpEd of some form.

Thanks for the replies!

Mamabear - here the OT seems to be possible as a stand alone but only if it's impacting the ability to learn - there's language they use for that and I can't recall it. In fact the teacher who is urging us to do this said he might not qualify for services because of the lack of harm.

What we really want from this is the answer to whether he is below standard for K rather than gifted K in fine motor - DeeDee and Aculady - do you think the school OT would be qualified to do that? And what the problem is if there is one. We might ultimately need to evaluate for dyslexia or dysgraphia but from what I read it's just too early to tell now.

The interesting part is that the psych indicated that she would be willing to do the WISC at a later date and basically let us use the earlier WPPSI results for whatever form she needs to fill out now. She seemed nice and gave me her experience and credentials to support why I should let her her do it. But it was a bit weird and she didn't know Davidson. She indicated it would be better to wait until 7 as he is just 6, which is what our plan was).

Grinity - the school advocating is interesting, it's a gifted school, but I don't yet see much opportunity to advocate for more. My concern is that they would use the writing issues to not grant more. But there is no option for skip, possibly for subject acceleration but I doubt it. Although teacher indicated the priniciple is aware and has weighed in with suggestions, not sure if she is just that involved or they are having special conversations about him.

DeHe

DD had hers done at school.
1) it was free...yeah!
2) I think it helped that sections were done at a time and not all at once. She was more rested and got to skip class which was nice.

Ability to learn is not the only factor. By law they are required to work on both academic and functional skills; if his handwriting is impaired but not affecting learning, that may still be a functional skill deficit. Go to Wrightslaw.com and type "functional" in their search box for more info on this.


I agree, nobody is likely to diagnose dyslexia or dysgraphia that early.

What you describe (is he behind or at standard for K) is something the school OT is supposed to be able to do. YMMV, but we have had very mixed experiences, with the school OT sometimes choosing not to remediate things that were obvious, glaring problems. Outside OTs are highly variable as well.

If it's dysgraphia, you're going to end up at a neuropsych eventually, because this kind of diagnosis is outside of an OT's training.

And kindergarten is tricky-- the level of fine motor skill that is presumed is very, very low, so it's likely they'll tell you he's fine, whether or not there is a problem, unless the problem is so enormous that anybody could see it.

Sorry to sound a bit pessimistic... we have obviously had very mixed experiences about motor skills remediation.

DeeDee

DeeDee
Given what you have had to fight for I understand your pessimism! In our situation, we aren't really sure what we want. When we had him initially tested at 4.5 it was because the psych who did the WPPSI said the frustration produced by the difference in his skills really should be addressed. So he did about 8 sessions, but it wasn't a good fit at the OT was used to dealing with kids with more severe disabilities. However, it did get him over the "i won't do it because I am not good at it" behavior. But he improved in pre-k and now in K - we see MASSIVE improvement - so what we have been pushing back against with his K teacher is that he needs to be at gifted K levels for writing and handwriting. She says he is below K, we aren't sure, but that is why we finally agreed to the testing.

DS has turned a bit of a corner - he must have been in some sort of growth spurt because he had been resisting everything and is now back to his more agreeable self - he said they are still doing handwriting without tears in class - and said he would be willing to get it for home to so he could do it here too.

So on some level, if this is a situation where they think he 'should' just be further along we are ok with them saying no services necessary and just let him get better as his physical skills improve. But if there is a issue obviously we need to deal. I don't know if they downplay to not have to offer services - the pysch volunteered that not many get services at this gifted school, but the majority of those that do get OT.

Plus, I know that some of the problem is that he feels much of the work is a waste of his time or is not interesting - so we have been working on that. When the subject is interesting his handwriting improves - not a lot - but enough!

DeHe