I debated a while before I decided to make this public..I'm trying to be careful what I post out there in the big bad world, don't want anything to come back and bite me in the arse. But I'm thinking I need some opinions about what to do, or if I should be concerned, or any suggestions would be helpful
A while back I went to Stephens dr with concerns about ADHD, he gave me a connors test to take to his teacher..
I had a phone conference with her yesterday, instead of interm reports she does conferences, most of the time face to face but with our vehicle transportation problems we are having, i had to opt for a phone conference.
She said she's not allowed to do the connors test anymore, state rules, because teachers aren't medically qualified to help make a diagnosis, which makes sense..she did say that she sees SOME of the symptoms, but mostly when he's in a social setting, with his friends or at lunch, as far as talking and hyperness and fidgety. but doesn't see anything alarming that would raise concern, asked what I see at home and I told her. She says while she doesn't see it at school she "acknowledges that theres something going on" but can't pinpoint what.
inspite of all the years of going to a private school type setting daycare/vpk, when he started kindergarten she said she tested him, she gave a test to all the kids, its a statewide test to determine the VPK program. He scored in the 39 percentile, which is extremely low.and said he only knew 2 words, 3 numbers and didn't recognize or know how to spell his name on paper. the first 4 weeks of school she said was very hard, she said he struggled, and it was like he wasn't grasping anything at all that she was teaching. She described him as "being distracted in his own mind" the past few weeks he's doing a lot better, but is still grasping things slower than she'd like. she gave him the same test over again and now he knows 18 letters, 9 sounds, 5 sight words, and 8 numbers that he can write in random order. he knows how to spell and write his name. and can tell her his favorite part of a story. she said she notices that he really and truly tries for her, it's just not processing as quickly as it could be. she suggested eyes checked and asked if he ever had them checked, i told her the week before school started he had his 5 year old physical which they tested his eyes with a picture chart, and he had 20/20 vision in both eyes..but never has he been professionally checked. she said she just suggested it to rule out things, if he's not seeing clearly it would be harder for him to process things, but she's not sure if thats it, it's just to rule things out. She said she does definitely see something going on with him, but she can't pinpoint anything that could be recommended for a diagnoses just yet..
she does say they've laid a good foundation the past few weeks, and shes pleased with his progress..she also said the school has provided a tutor to all the grades from kindergarten to third grade that comes by all the classroom for 10-20 minutes a day, and because of his 39% rating he qualifies for it, so the tutor will be coming in to sit with him a few times a week to help him with his letters, and that will start in the next couple of weeks.
she suggested that the reason his vpk and preschool teachers suggested adhd (they told me he would get aggravated or bored with the classwork and rather play instead) was because since he's slow to grasp things, he would get frustrated and they didn't really know how to handle it or recognize that in him..
she ended the whole thing that while shes exteremly impressed with his progress, shes concerned with the slowness of grasping things.. and says he's very intelligent and sweet and is very huggy and always willing to help her. she plans to keep on top of our communication and let me know if she sees anything alarming. based on the last test she gave him, he's barely "on level" but has a lot to learn in the next few weeks (kindergartners are required to learn the entire alphabet on sight by xmas vacation and be able to randomly write down the letter after being told a letter) the tutor should hopefully help some, and the teacher is going to come up with ideas with a pirate theme (his favorite thing right now..pirates) to take home to help him at home also. she gave us some flashcards she made with sight words they need to know by the end of the year and its helped a little, shes going to send some home with him with just letters to try and see how that works.
should I be worried about how slow he processes things? i know he's very intellegent, and has a excellent memory (he remembers being a ninja turtle 2-3 years ago for halloween) and remembers my dad being shrek 3 years ago. and at odd times remembers things that i just cant believe he remembers. and he's very creative with stories. i know he's smart, and people have told me he's smart, but im not sure if i should be concerned about maybe a learning disability, or what? any ideas?
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