Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Tester used WISC III not WISC IV - HELP!!

We start the sleep apnea process on Monday. We hope to also get the hearing and vision screening done this week as he is on spring break. The audiologist at the Indian Health Services can screen for auditory processing issues.

The sleep apnea could be as simple as an x-ray of his throat and neck. In children it is usually caused by abnormally large adenoids or tonsils that are enlarged or hang down in the neck too far which can be seen with x-ray. If he has either of those they can make a clinical diagnosis without a long, traumatic sleep study. Then we have surgery and see it that works.

We don't have a deadline per se as the school will not do much this year, as he has a great teacher who is able to keep him focused much of the time. We are considering K12 homeschool through our state for next year, but we have to apply (if we want to do it free) by April 2nd. So, we are trying to get the medical questions answered by then.

Our school is trying really hard to help us. They have been great and very patient with DGS. They know he has some emotional issues to deal with, and are hoping for answers just as much as we are.

Leahchris

for sleep apnea, you can also just observe your child as they sleep. My son had severe sleep apnea at age 3 1/2 years- when he took a nap, he would quit breathing for 20-30 seconds. Yikes! I videotaped it to show the ENT. They took out his tonsils and adenoids, and that went away. Getting an audiology exam in the soundproof room is always a good idea, not a simple "screen."

jack'smom, We have a full audiology lab at the Indian Hospital. We just have to get the referral, which since IHS=socialized medicine can be difficult. But, I can outlast them and be a real "squeaky wheel" if I have to. We will go every day until we get it done!

I will try to videotape his sleep. He snores, sleeps in funny positions and has a serious bedwetting problem, which I didn't know until the end of last week was associated with the other conditions (ADHD, OSA and dyslexia). Over large adenoids run in our family and I, my daughter, and even my dad, all had to have ours out young for various reasons.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

leahchris

The latest update is that my DGS6 probably does not have sleep apnea. He will get his hearing checked on April 30 unless I can push to get him tested elsewhere. My DGS's dad, my DS, is now a full-time student and this week got DGS approved for Medicaid. So, we have more options.

Also, DGS appears to have a vision problem having to do with focusing. He has been referred to a local college of optometry for vision therapy. He has some kind of accommodative dysfunction and maybe a mild convergence issue. They said when DGS complains his "brain hurts" when reading, he really does have a headache. His eyes cannot change focus from far away to up close and near vision is compromised some.

The optometrist said several scores on the IQ test could be affected by this, such as block design, because he cannot switch focus quickly enough. So, we are waiting to see what the specialist says at the college.

FWIW, the optometrist felt the need to comment that DGS was "really smart." Not according to the WISC-III overall scores! It's frustrating to have a child with 17, 18, 19 in some areas, like abstract reasoning, and below average scores in other areas.

I did find out from the tester that he asked for a break pretty quickly in the first test - block design - one of the ones the optometrist said would be hard with his vision issues!

Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post!

leahchris, this doesn't help with your son's issues but I wanted to say I loved reading the parts about his "mind going crazy" and the picture of the cat thing. I shared with my DD and she said "my mind goes crazy too!" and she seemed amazed that there is another kid "out there" like this. It helped us talk a little about this subject that we've never had words to use.

Thanks!

DD has that issue where her hearing is very good, but if it's too noisy (or echoing) it's like she doesn't hear anything. They said when she was tested in K there isn't much to be done for her, she has learned to tolerate it over time. School is always an issue for lunch, PE, and outdoor recess. Has your son always had trouble with certain noises?

Anyway good luck.

bzylzy, my DS has a very good friend with the same auditory deficit your daughter has. She has learned sign language and communicates with that in noisy situations. My son is currently learning ASL so they can communicate better in noisy situations like noisy college student church services. I guess her whole family learned to sign and it takes some of the anxiety out of those situations.

Also, I don't know how long DGS has complained about the hearing. He is my grandson and hasn't lived with me his whole life. Also, it seems to be getting worse lately. So , we will wait to see what the audiologist says.

bzylzy, my dd10 had the same types of issues when she was very little - in her case, I think maybe her hearing was so extremely sharp that she heard just everything. She used to be very scared when we went to new places that were loud - lots of people, that kind of thing. At home we had a hard time getting her attention if there was much going on with anyone else in the house. When she started kindergarten she complained a lot about how hard it was to hear the teacher talk because of all the other noises she heard in the classroom.

Anyway, fwiw, if any of that sounds like your dd, our dd went through a listening therapy program at our local children's hospital, and it helped her SO much!

polarbear

Hmmm, very interesting about the sign language idea. That might be a very good idea, because even now she sort of regresses and will do things like point and shake her head, etc., looking like a very frustrated toddler. Maybe if she could just have the sign language to do, it would be socially acceptableand allow her to communicate what she needs when she's in these environments. I'll look into that. Thanks!

I asked her OT about auditory therapy but she didn't know much, she said I should think of ways to desensitize her, but DH is worrid by that since DD has such a good ear for music. I think there is an auditory department at the children's hospital, and there is a therapy program at a place nearby that is like a complex for all sorts of services (it started out a long time ago as an orphanage and unwed mother's home but they have tons of services now for all sorts of things).

The thing that freaks me out the most is how she'll get left behind when there is a loud bunch...the "herd" moves on and she's just left there in her own world when she doesn't hear a command. Even her teacher left her outside on the playground last year, locked out of the school. DD still blames herself when it was the teacher who was irresponsible. There has been too much negative attention on her poor "listening skills" even though we've spoken to the school about her issues.

I'll tack it on again to any findings we present from our private testing coming up in May. The kindergarten testing is old now so it's time to get something updated.

Thanks much guys.

leahchris my DD also has vision issues, but maybe not that switching focus thing, just plain old "convergence insufficiency". When she was little there would be the comment here and there about autism because if people came within a certain range she'd turn her head away rather than look straight at them. When she was a little older, she'd start saying things like people have four eyes. It wasn't until last year when this all made sense, because from about 6-8 inches in she sees double. The two "experts" she's been too disagree on things so we've not done therapy yet until we get more info. she recently got glasses for distance though and that helps.

It's hard to have a smart kiddo or g-kiddo with the dips. I have been looking at DD's old tests to revisit them and try and make sense of them, since we were rather ignorant back then and didn't have very good interpretations. Some of her WJII subtests have differences of up to 67 points from each other! It can be quite the journey as you're finding out.

bzylzy, did your DD say when or under what circumstances her "mind goes crazy?" She is a little older than DGS and they sound quite a bit alike. He tells me his mind goes crazy, but not when or what they are doing when it does. I know its a long shot, but trying to understand these asynchronous kids is a challenge. (The school wants to call him delayed or asynchronous in order to delay services for his gifted or potential LDs.)