Potential learning disabilities diagnostic on a college student

Parents Forum
1

<p>As may other parents in this forum I have been rather involved in my kid's education. Still there is always room for surprises. In this case in the form of a recommendation from a college teacher to have our daughter tested for learning disabilities. First a little bit of background and then a couple of questions.</p>

<p>She is the younger of two kids. Her brother is a grad student at a top university after excelling academically since elementary school. By contrast she struggled with school, especially in math, from very early on. Some time during middle school we talked to guidance counselors about having her tested for learning disabilities but they convinced us it was not necessary. The main argument was that she was making sufficient progress (typically with a C+ to B- average). They also told us we had a skewed view of normal progress because of our son's accelerated development.</p>

<p>At some point during here Junior year in high school (perhaps not coincidentally the year her brother left for college) she decided to apply herself and managed to get accepted to a good university. Fast forward three an a half years and we find her graduating 6 moths ahead of schedule, with a 3.7 GPA, 3 grad level courses and a degree with distinction she is earning by writing a senior thesis (very few undergrads at the school do). Needless to say my wife and I are ecstatic.</p>

<p>Next step: grad school and this is where the surprise came from. She sat twice for the GREs and got very low scores both times. No surprise for us since her SATs were also pretty bad. Her advisor, who has taken great interest in her and has seen her work says: "Wait a minute. This does not make any sense. Have you been tested for learning disabilities?". Daughter calls with the news and I do what I do best, go to the web and start learning about learning disabilities. Sure enough I found a paper that listed typical symptoms of Dyslexia. I sat down with my daughter and asked her to check things that apply to her. A lot of them did. Some of them we knew but some we were not aware of.</p>

<p>She is now scheduling a test but there is a waiting period of several weeks which means she will not know the results before she has to submit grad school applications.</p>

<p>First question, does anybody know if there are places where she could get tested faster (we live in NJ). Apparently there are private tests that cost quite a bit of money and, according to my daughter, schools don't necessarily accept the results.</p>

<p>Second, would it make sense for her to try to explain the situation in her application? The majority of the programs she is applying to list average GREs that are quite a bit higher than what she got.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading through the long message and thanks in advance for any advise.</p>

2

<p>First, it is not unusual to find out late that there is a learning disability. It hits when the material gets harder than the compensating techniques she figured out for herself up to this point work. It just happeneed to hit your daugheter with the GRE. </p>

<p>You can do private testing that is accepted by the schools and testing boards, but have it done with a complete battery of standard accepted tests. It will be faster that way. We used a private tester for all of ours. DD’s was diagnosed in her freshman year at college. The college took the private tester results. Without those results it makes no sense to discuss it in the application. You have no foundation for the claim. It just looks like making excuses. </p>

<p>Does she really need to go to grad school next year? It may make sense to take a year or more off. Many students go to grad school after working a few years. That would give her time to get results and learn her won accommodations and needs before trying again. It also gives her time to develop her interests by working.</p>

3

<p>This is a tough one. First, your daughter is to be commended. Second, the teacher who made an accurate call is to be commended.</p>

<p>I thought my D had a learning disability and had her tested young. She did. In “motor planning.” The testers said, “Good luck in getting any services. Your D is too high functioning.” We didn’t pursue it.</p>

<p>She did well in a very elite college as well. LSAT’s are not stellar, but in her case that is test anxiety. I don’t think the learning disability comes into play.</p>

<p>What thing you don’t mention is whether the GRE results are only in her weak area, the math, or if they pertain to her strong area as well. If they are only in her weak area, I don’t think they will be an issue for grad school. This can be handled by favorite teacher commenting on how little the disability comes into play in her performance as a student in her recommendation. (Much more affective than you discussing this.) Sending an abstract and bit of her thesis should convince the grad school of this as well.</p>

<p>If the low score is across the board, that is a bit more problematic, though certainly not the kiss of death. Private psychologists administer these tests, as do some universities (not just for their own students) and some hospitals. Google is your friend here. You should be able to find facilities.</p>

<p>The most she would receive would be extra time for the GRE’s. Do you think this would help?</p>

<p>A diagnosis can be helpful in admissions but not always. </p>

<p>And not all programs require GRE’s. It may be prudent to look for some that don’t.</p>

<p>I know I haven’t given any real concrete advice, but this is not a clear-cut situation. By the way, I am a college professor and have experience working with disabilities office. Our school does not provide testing for non-matriculated students, but a nearby school does and I often make referrals.</p>

<p>My guess is that a young lady who is able to earn a 3.7 in a rigorous program is not going to benefit all that much from bringing the LD into the mix. She is clearly succeeding by any standard, and it’s obvious that standardized tests aren’t her thing. It’s up to the school to decide how large a factor that will play in admissions.</p>

<p>Good luck to her.</p>

4

<p>The line about the skewed expectations is a familiar one. We were told that we were not used to having an “average kid,” pretty much the same thing. They were wrong, and I regret not pushing harder years ago.</p>

<p>For standardized testing, you have to apply formally for accommodations during the testing. You have to provide certain kinds of documentation. There is usually a deadline well before the testing, for this to be done. So even if you were to get the testing done tomorrow, it might be too late to affect the testing process/accommodations.</p>

<p>I don’t know if anyone else has had success explaining low test scores to admissions. Your daughter got into a very good school with relatively low SAT scores, and has done extraordinarily well. That would certainly be convincing to any school, I would think.</p>

<p>She must be extremely intelligent and persevering. I’ll bet you are proud of her spirit and work ethic!</p>

5

<p>Seems like if your daughter were tested and diagnosed with a learning disability she has found a way to overcome/compensate for it, a much more difficult thing to do on a GRE depending on the disability.</p>

<p>Might as well have her tested and if appropriate contact the schools she is applying to with the explanation. Her grades and drive will speak for themselves.</p>

<p>Sounds like you have great, successful kids.</p>

6

<p>One of my high school friends did not have her dyslexia diagnosed until halfway through her Ph.D. program. This sort of thing happens more often than we’d like to think.</p>

<p>Depending on the graduate program, GRE scores may not matter when the academic record is strong enough. Your daughter should talk with her professors about which programs she is applying to where her grades will trump those GRE scores.</p>

7

<p>First let me thank everybody that responded to my post. Second let me apologize for the delay in my reply. Our travel plans were changed by the weekend winter storm in the East Coast and we are currently abroad where Internet access is rather limited.</p>

<p>I really appreciate the valuable advise, both short and mid term. I have talked to her about not addressing the low GRE issue in the application. She was already moving in that direction, if nothing else because she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to properly address it in writing. She has also slightly changed her applications list by adding a school and a program that do not require GREs.</p>

<p>Mid term, she is going to go though the testing in order to see what, if anything, she needs to do to make her life easier and not just to improve her changes of getting into grad school. The same teacher that recommended the testing told her that her work ethic was great but that she didn’t want to be the person that leaves the office at 10 every day.</p>

<p>From a practical point of view she is looking for a job at the same time she is applying to grad school. Given the current economy it is hard to count on any “safeties” they way you can when applying to college. Among her strengths are a very positive attitude and the ability to adjust to whatever situation she is put in. We are confident that she will land on her feet wherever she goes next.</p>

<p>Once again thanks to everybody for the sound advise and encouraging words.</p>

8

<p>mythmom,</p>

<p>Thanks for your particularly detailed response, especially given your background.</p>

<p>Her GREs are low across the board. In general she struggles with quantitative issues not just math. She can communicate very well verbally but she takes quite a bit of time reading and writing. From what she tells me, she takes as much time as available in tests and that has helped her grades but I don’t think more time, by itself, would bump her GRE scores significantly.</p>

9

<p>artiesdad, when she is having the testing and recommendations done, ask if having alternative test delivery might help or be available. I am not familiar with the GRE and what accommodations might be available, but I know that DD has accommodations at school not only in testing length but also on delivery. Since there is a very strict honor code at her school, she takes almost all of her tests at home where she can use assistive techniques and listen to things instead of always just read them. Processing issues get in the way of the reading and writing what she knows. When she can say things out loud, listen and verbally respond it is much better. So she takes most of her tests by herself.</p>