Pros/cons of LD evaluation as a HS senior?

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>Over the holiday break, my college age son and I were talking about his sister, who is a HS senior, and her quirkiness. She had chronic ear infections as a baby/toddler and speech delays as a result. She struggled to read. She is a horrible speller -- she will mispell her own name on occasion. It takes her hours and hours to do coursework, especially written assignments. Her writing before editing makes it seem like she's still learning English: odd tenses, made up words, strange grammar constructions. In our family, we have always explained this by saying that her brother is the 'academic' child and she is the artistic one -- she is very gifted visually and constantly amazes me with her grasp of three dimensional stuff, for example. She now reads a lot more, but she is still uncomfortable reading out loud. </p>

<p>So anyway, my son and I were talking about this, and he said, "Well, of course, she has a learning disability..." and I said, "No, she doesn't! If she did, your father (who had custody of her when she was younger) would have made a big deal about it." My ex was very aggressive in having children diagnosed, even with things they didn't have. My son said, "I thought you knew, and were just not telling her or anyone to toughen her up!" I was very startled. Evidently, my son has thought for years that we were treating daughter as non-LD because we didn't want her to rely on accommodations, wanted her to think of herself as "normal", all that. The truth is that I just assumed that if she had showed signs, she would have been recommended for testing by her schools, teachers, etc. I mean, she has struggled academically her whole life, but no teacher or anyone ever said, "She may need to be evaluated." We were also much more concerned about her recovering from the effects of abuse she had in her father's household before she changed custody. </p>

<p>So, here's my question. Daughter has spent her years honing her art/visual skills and struggling through a challenging academic load with all AP's and stuff, without accommodations. She's now at the point where we're just waiting for acceptances to art schools and picking one. Her plan is to attend a school that doesn't have many breadth requirements in liberal arts, because she "never wants to write another essay again" if she can avoid it. :-) Is there any value to be had in pursuing an LD evaluation now? Yes, she will be taking some AP exams, but she's not concerned about doing well on them. I suppose a diagnosis might help a little in college, but I don't know what value it will have for her as an adult.</p>

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<p>Her learning difference will have a name. And with that name will come the understanding that she isn’t the only person who has faced (and will continue to face) the particular challenges that she has. She will be able to seek out people who can help her master better compensation tactics. She may be able to ask for specific accommodations in her college classes, and in the working world. She may finally have answers for questions that she certainly must have, but just has never voiced.</p>

<p>Get the testing done.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your response! I mentioned my post to my daughter, and she got really annoyed with me. She said that she feels strongly that she does NOT want to be tested, that she has become the person she is without a diagnosis and is not interested in one now. So, it’s an awkward thing.</p>

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<p>You know what I would tell your daughter, trinSF?</p>

<p>I would tell her this…</p>

<p>If you thought you were ill in any way, would you want to go to the Doctor and find out what it is? Or, would you just want to walk around ill sans treatment until you drop?</p>

<p>…now that sounds harsh and I sure as heck do not think that any LD is like being ill or something like that. </p>

<p>But, you see my point, though? If your child thinks she might have a LD, why not get tested for it? </p>

<p>Here is why your daughter should get tested…</p>

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<p>Blessed words of wisdom from happymomof1 ^</p>

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<p>mildred: I appreciate the idea, though I agree that the illness metaphor is difficult. I mean, both my daughter and I would say that there are many ways that she is not neurotypical that some people might regard as different. Her opinion is that these differences are part of who she is, not some pathology to be treated. When I specifically suggested being able to have information and help with strategies for things that she has in the past struggled with, she was very firm that she has, herself, developed strategies for those things, and that she’s happy with that. She considers having struggled to have made her a stronger student and artist, because she is so used to putting so much work into everything she does. So, for example, she found the idea of asking for accommodations for the handful of non-studio courses she will have fairly repugnant, because she would rather work hard than not. </p>

<p>I don’t know that she ever <em>has</em> had questions. Anyway, I am still sorting through trying to find reasons that she’d find compelling. It maybe that she will wait until she is in college and do that.</p>

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<p>This is perhaps the most compelling reason to have testing done now, rather than waiting until she possibly “fails” later on in college; many students with LDs are able to make it through hs without any diagnosis and do not get diagnosed until they begin to struggle in college when they are faced with very different demands and do not have enough time or tools to develop strategies on their own. Your D is right that LDs should not be viewed as a pathology; they are really just learning “differences.” But the constant struggle of working twice as hard as everybody else just to get through life, or to meet the demands and expectations of the rest of the world does not necessarily lead to happiness or success and can take its toll in low self-esteem or depression (conditions which students with LDs are at a higher risk in developing).</p>

<p>LDs are hidden disabilities; nobody even needs to know you have one unless you choose to disclose it; there is no harm in being evaluated and such knowledge could actually be beneficial in the long run - even if only in helping her better understand herself.</p>

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<p>I am really thankful that you understood my metaphor. I tried really hard to preface it politely and everything. Basically, it was just an example, and I am really glad you understood that and did not take any offense. </p>

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<p>This ^ is what makes your child’s situation unique along with the history of ear infections and a proper diagnostician would be interested in that. </p>

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<p>If your child went through all of high school with this ^ then it will be hard for her to truly go the distance at University without any LD testing and accommodations in place. </p>

<p>For example, there is speech to text software and the like which works wonders for LD students and their essay writing. There are also machines which read the text aloud. Those are two really neat things which students with everything in place at University can use to not have (for example) English 101 or Art History 101 be a living heck. </p>

<p>Hopefully, you child will come around. What is interesting is that the LD accommodations are almost hush hush at University (or Art School) because of the privacy laws. I cannot remember the name of those laws, but they have an acronym or something. If your child comes around and gets her testing done prior to University it would be the kind of thing where only the professors and all would know about any accommodations. </p>

<p>Please note that at University or Art School one reads way more than one book a class and stuff. Your child taking the AP tests will help with learning of that, but only to a degree. It broke my heart when I learned of that my Freshman year, actually. I had no idea there could be five book per class or anything :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Your child should not put herself in the position of having all that extra work University brings forth on top of her having to do double or triple the amount of study in her own particular way if she can help it. Do you know what I mean? </p>

<p>So, I am truly just trying to be nice here for the sake of common decency. Nothing more. I hope the child comes around. A pal of mine had to bail out of College quick because of something very similar to this.</p>

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<p>We had my son tested at the beginning of his senior year, and it made all of the difference in the world! He FINALLY is working to his potential with some basic accommodations. He sees the difference it’s made, and he’s feeling much less anxious about college, knowing he can get the support he needs next year. </p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

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<p>As someone who discovered that I have LDs as a college sophomore, I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with this post:</p>

<p>"Her learning difference will have a name. And with that name will come the understanding that she isn’t the only person who has faced (and will continue to face) the particular challenges that she has. She will be able to seek out people who can help her master better compensation tactics. She may be able to ask for specific accommodations in her college classes, and in the working world. She may finally have answers for questions that she certainly must have, but just has never voiced.</p>

<p>Get the testing done. "</p>

<p>I could not have said it better myself.</p>

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<p>I have a close friend whose dyslexia wasn’t identified until she was half-way through a Ph.D. program, and two others whose dyslexia in one case and ADD in another weren’t identified until they had struggled through their first years of college. Earlier diagnosis is better. Really smart, competent people (like your daughter) usually find their own work-arounds. However, there sometimes are shorter work-arounds out there!</p>

<p>You may want to take the approach with your daughter that this is not a Disability but rather a Difference. Happykid is left-handed. When she finally got to use real, true, lefty scissors instead of the ones that are made to be used with either hand (but really are righties), her life changed. She could cut! She could cut straight! She could cut fine details! Everyone has their quirks, some are more maladaptive in the classroom than others. Having access to better tools can make all the difference.</p>

<p>Pop by your local library and look for “Keeping a Head in School” and other titles by Dr. Mel Levine. He is one author who is not as interested in specific labels as are some of the others. Your daughter might find some of his analyses helpful.</p>

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<p>Here is another POV - if you have it done while she is in school, you can ask the school district to do it and they will pay for it. If you do it while she is in college, the bill is on you, and can cost anywhere from $2000-5000.</p>

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<p>Get her tested bc i was not diagnosed til college,and went though all of high with no accommodations. I got to college,and could not pass english after getting A’s in english though HS.</p>

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Exactly what I was going to say. Definitely proceed with the testing.</p>

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<p>nyquist: This was a long time ago. She’s already in college. :-)</p>