Be aware. You may become totally overwhelmed when you get the results of the special education testing on your child. There is a lot of "stuff" on that report! And much of it sounds like a foreign language to many people.
You get one piece the results from the Intelligence part of the test. This is extremely important information, but know that it will most likely come in disguise.
One of its disguises, or aliases, might be "Broad Cognitive Ability". Another may be "Aptitude." But, basically, they are measures of the same thing - your child's ability to process and learn information. So, for the sake of keeping things simple, let's just call it "aptitude."
As I've stated many times, in order for a child to be considered learning disabled, he has to show an average "aptitude" for learning. He must have the same ability to learn as well as any other child of his age or grade. An average aptitude score would be about 100, with anything between 85 and 115 being in the average range.
There are many different tests that measure a child's aptitude. One of these tests is the WISC-III. The Performance, or Perceptual Organization, section is the part that measures aptitude. It is divided into subtests, or smaller tests, and they assess different things that make up a person's aptitude.
Another common test used to measure aptitude is the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised. The aptitude section of this test is called the Tests of Cognitive Ability, and the overall aptitude score is called "Broad Cognitive Ability". It also has smaller tests called subtests, to measure aptitude, but they measure aptitude in a little different way than the WISC does.
There are other tests to determine your child's aptitude that don't involve reading or writing. Sometimes these tests are given if there is a language problem that might interfere with getting a true picture of the child's ability.
The important things to remember are that 1) you will probably see a score from one of these tests on your child's report, and 2) that score should be within the range of 85 to 115, for the most part.
The information you get from these scores will also tell you what the child is having difficulty with. For example, perhaps he has difficulty remembering what he sees. Perhaps he can't remember more than 1 or 2 directions at a time. Perhaps he can't process new information as fast as other children. These are important clues to letting you and the teachers know what to work on with your child and how to best help him.
When you get this information, the next thing that will happen is that this "aptitude" score will be compared with the child's "achievement" score.
His achievement score is a measure of what he knows and what he has learned. These will be his scores in things like reading, written language, and math. In order for your child to show a learning disability, there has to be a large gap between his "aptitude" score (his ability to process information and learn) and what he has actually learned.
In other words, the report is showing that, although the child is able to learn as well as anyone else of his age or grade, something is causing this to not happen the way it should.
Why is that happening? When the pieces of the evaluation are put together, it should provide information about why your child is not learning the way the other children are. It will provide clues to you and his teachers about how to help him in the best way possible and how to help him help himself.
For more plain talk about learning disabilities, please visit us at www.ldperspectives.com.
About the Author
Sandy Gauvin is a retired educator who has seen learning disabilities from many perspectives - as the parent of a daughter with learning disabilities, as the teacher of children with learning disabilities, and as an advocate for others who have diagnosed and unrecognized learning disabilities. Sandy shares her wisdom and her resources at www.ldperspectives.com.
The Theme from MASHI flipped the button on the remote... Read More
Bearers of life, wipers of noses, givers of unconditional love... Read More
"I WON'T DO IT!" "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"Whether parent or... Read More
1. Create... Read More
Q. With another school year starting, we are not sure... Read More
There are several treatment options available to help improve the... Read More
If You're Having Twins..is it double the headache, or double... Read More
Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a leaf... Read More
I remember watching my 18-month-old son eat a big frosted... Read More
Everyone knows that exercise is good for your health. Exercising... Read More
The public school system in America has become a dismal... Read More
Assuming there are no serious motor problems present, what can... Read More
It may seem obvious to many people why literacy is... Read More
Many children enjoy TV, and they can learn from it.... Read More
Best friends! It may seem impossible to believe, but today's... Read More
Are you feeling overwhelmed being a parent? Do you want... Read More
In the movie, Finding Nemo, Nemo's father, Marlyn asks the... Read More
Our children are growing up bilingual in the French part... Read More
Is there a difference between lazy and unmotivated? Why do... Read More
In the first premise, some films and video tapes which... Read More
When you're a parent it's a difficult decision to know... Read More
The popularity of EEG Biofeedback Training continues to grow both... Read More
Managing money is one of the most critical skills we... Read More
Dining in a restaurant with kids can be very enervating... Read More
What Children Look for in a Friend?Is this child fun... Read More
home cleaning services Wilmette ..Q. What is the best way to teach safety awareness... Read More
1. Make stronger connections among individuals and, therefore, creates a... Read More
To have reasonable expectations of our children is an important... Read More
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is... Read More
Just as every snowflake is unique, so is every child.... Read More
Let's face it: raising children can be quite the adventure.... Read More
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience... Read More
Researchers have estimated that 25-35% of children in the United... Read More
Not so long ago a dad-to-be would pace up and... Read More
In the first premise, some films and video tapes which... Read More
Very often, new parents rely on a parenting tip or... Read More
Thank you for all that you do in the classroom!... Read More
Although nothing anybody says can ever completely prepare a woman... Read More
Time management is an organisational concept traditionally associated with adults... Read More
It may seem obvious to many people why literacy is... Read More
Here are some tips that I have picked up from... Read More
Here are some things that you can do to help... Read More
As a step daughter and step grand daughter, I followed... Read More
What you say and do about money has a profound... Read More
As thinking, acting human beings we have the ability to... Read More
Fizzy sherbet in a paper bag with a strawberry lollipop... Read More
From the time the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in... Read More
4 traps to avoidTrap 1 - Parents need to realize... Read More
Young people generally want to fit in to their various... Read More
A great many parents are concerned that the electronic games... Read More
Parenting |