<p>Yes, your pediatrician would be a good starting point for a recommendation. You can also look at your insurance coverage if you have specific providers that have better coverage than others. You are looking for a neuropsychologist. I believe someone else mentioned the option of checking if you have a larger hospital in your area that might offer services. You may be able to arrange testing there.</p>
<p>If your child is being punished for something that she is having difficulty with, I would try to arrange a meeting with her teachers to see if some informal accommodations could be made in areas of common sense. How can you organize her academic life to make sure she’s learning with the least amount of disruption as possible both at home and at school? Is it more important that she get the homework done and turned in physically to the teacher, or is it acceptable that she do it and fax/email for credit. This avoids lost work and spending worthless time in detention where she continues to have negative feelings about school. It’s just one idea, but it puts the focus on learning.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your suggestions, blue iguana. Our insurance carrier is changing on Jan 1st, I’ll have to look into our coverages. We have a lot of large teaching hospitals in the area, so I expect I will be able to find something.</p>
<p>I am somewhat pessimistic about getting any great accommodations from her school. They really push the idea of personal responsibility. Which I was totally in agreement with until now, when I see it isn’t quite so simple. She has been penalized even if she did the homework, but left it in her locker.</p>
<p>They do make them keep an assignment book, so I have been working with her to be more organized about the papers that are going back and forth. We definitely need to better organize a homework area in our house. </p>
<p>The organization issues can be worked, it’s the comprehension issues that I am at a loss to deal with. It sounds like an evaluation and some kind of help for her, whether that be tutoring or an education plan would be the next step. </p>
<p>I will need to get more informed on all of this, so when I go speak to her school, I can make as compelling a case as possible. I don’t want her to have to switch schools. The public school would not be a good idea, the social aspects would be too hard for her. And we can’t afford an expensive private school.</p>
<p>Have anyone heard about this, [Big</a> Picture](<a href=“http://www.bigpicture.org%5DBig”>http://www.bigpicture.org). It’s a new, 15 yr-old, education concept. My school district is starting a new secondary school (6-12) based on this philsophy. My district has all 6 but one made it to the US News top high school, so my faith is high that they will pull it together. This concept carries no grade, all narrative reports, heavy on internship/mentorship, 2 days a week starting in 9th grade, one-on-one student/advisor concept (not teacher). I am going for the info night tonight, but thought any of our cc parents/students have any insights to share?</p>
<p>“Our daughter had more than a 20 point difference between verbal and performance, was found by public school testing to be a slow processor and had many other problems, in 3rd grade, but was consistently denied services because she did well enough in class (probably because we recognized that she needed interaction in order to learn, and provided that at home).”</p>
<p>RE: Consistantly denied service. There is something besides an IEP…at least in public schools (maybe private, as well…I’m not as familiar with non-public.) A 504 plan can help some students with significant differences in IQ section scores, but who do not have a classified learning disability and do not qualify for an IEP.</p>
<p>Had difficulty getting our average to high performing child tested by the public schools until performance on a state exam in 5th grade (requiring more analysis than recall) showed that remediation was required. However…after that test, new school staff (elementary to middle school) were more willing to do some further testin. IQ testing showed a high performer with discrepancy in section scores. Further testing did not diagnose an LD…but, combined with IQ test, allowed for a 504 plan. The 504 plan has allowed this child some extra attention and time — and has also helped this child…now a high school senior… develop his own compensatory strategies. </p>
<p>Whether private, or through your home public school system, hope the OP can get some testing done.</p>