Working Memory Deficit diagnosed just before senior year - now what? (LONG)

Parents Forum
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<p>I am a regular poster but have created this user name for privacy purposes - I may have shared a little too much identifying info on other threads.:o</p>

<p>Background: D2012 is a strong student. GPA=3.9 (HS doesn't weight), National Merit Commended, SAT=2100. She has struggled with reading speed but it didn't become a serious problem until her junior year, especially in standardized tests: 99th percentile in math and writing on the PSAT, but 89th in reading because she didn't finish. Almost identical results on the SAT, including not finishing the CR section. She is a very hard worker and well organized; teachers love her and, over the years, they downplayed my concerns about her reading speed because she was such a great student.</p>

<p>Last month, tests indicated that she has a complex verbal working memory deficit, two standard deviations below her "moderately gifted" IQ. The doctor's analogy is great: she is like a Lamborghini with a flat tire. She can still go faster than most cars, but not as fast as the other Lamborghinis. In other words, she has an above average brain, but the working memory issue slows her down considerably. She has started Cogmed (online working memory training), but we presumably won't see the impact of that for several weeks. Meanwhile, she has a very rigorous senior schedule - all Honors and AP classes (HS is small and AP offerings are limited), and she is overwhelmed and panicky about the volume of reading, after just a week of school. </p>

<p>Her college list is still a work in process, but includes schools like Tulane, Emory, Elon, Pitzer and Scripps. With college applications in mind, here are the questions:
*<em>should we move her into some regular classes to relieve the pressure, but effectively moving her out of "most rigorous" territory?
*</em>should she retake the SAT after completing Cogmed to try and raise her CR score? (The downside is that, given her workload, she won't have time to prep/review before the October test and her math and writing scores could fall.)
**is this something for which we should seek official accommodations? I am completely unfamiliar with LDs and don't know if this rises to the level where accommodations are warranted...?</p>

<p>Her GC is useless, but D has a great relationship with the principal and he has been functioning as her defacto GC. Only problem he is so impressed by her intellect, he keeps encouraging her to challenge herself with the most rigorous classes. We are meeting with him tomorrow to discuss.</p>

<p>I welcome any recommendations and suggestions! (And sorry for the length!</p>

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<p>Ohmom,</p>

<p>There are books and info available for kids who are “twice gifted.”</p>

<p>I wouldn’t step her classes “down,” but would contact her school’s support team ASAP to get accommodations in place (extended time on tests, two copies of textbooks, etc), for both her classes and the SATs. Lots of kids/adults out there who are gifted and also have LDs. Accommodations are not giving them an unfair advantage, it’s leveling the playing field. If the testing was done privately, your school does not have to accept the evaluation/recommendations of the tester, though most will.</p>

<p>Good luck,</p>

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<p>I don’t think I’d bother with the SAT retake unless you’re depending on big merit awards from those schools. This seems like a reasonable list that is well-matched to her achievements. How is her class rank? (Top 10? Top 10%? Top 20%?) I would push the principal on exactly how many/what AP/honors are required to still get the “most rigorous” box checked. (Drives me nuts when schools play “I’ve got a secret” with that info, fwiw.) It sounds like she needs less stress at the moment, and finding out that she’s got some working memory issues could make lots of high achieving high school seniors stressed. I would suggest that you remind her that she’s done incredibly well through three years of high school, and pick at least one (preferably her least liked or most overwhelming) honors/AP class to switch out for a regular class. Good luck!</p>

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<p>This speaks volumes. I’d step her down in the two classes with the most amount of reading in them. She’s probably already in the top 25% in many of those targeted schools when it comes to SAT scores (I only looked at one’s 50% range: Pitzer–M: 610-690; CR–590-680). </p>

<p>You don’t want your D to break down or to have a LOW grade on her transcript at this point.</p>

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<p>I vote for some schedule tweaking. My dyslexic son reads very slow and consequently suffers on timed standardized tests. When he has heavy reading schedules in high school he either adjusts his schedule or he triggers acccomodations (like extra time to get the reading done etc.). Sometimes he has a schedule where he needs no accomodations so our school has been very flexible with him. He has APUSH and AP Econ this fall and is coming into this year with a 3.85 so he’s not “suffering” gradewise because of the slow reading. This fall he’s not playing his sport because of injury so he “thinks” he’ll be OK. </p>

<p>We learned and my son learned that if he starts to panic, he needs to stop and make some changes. If your D is panicky listen to here. One thing we did write into his IEP was the ability to drop a class at any time and not have it appear on his transscript. He has never triggered that and perhaps it’s just a safety valve that he will never use, but if he were to get into the class past the drop date and then start falling behind he has the option to switch it out without punishment.</p>

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<p>She is who she is today—so she is not the gal she was yesterday…who cares? </p>

<p>Accommodate who she is now, so she can be the best she can be. If there is treatment for her Memory Deficit then work on that…but she is who she is. Embrace that yourself and make sure she embraces that too! Change is hard…right-sizing is hard, but I bet everyone will feel less stressed at the end of the day.</p>

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<p>Sorry about the typos, I’m not too swift with the typing from my phone…</p>

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<p>Just very curious about HOW testing came about. Lots of kids have strengths and weaknesses, even gifted kids. My D is incredible in reading and writing, gifted, but almost failed pre-calc and just can’t for the life of her “get” math. Was great at math when very young, but as soon as the more abstract stuff started - she froze. We didn’t test though, just told her to do the best she could. Got a low grade senior year in pre-calc, but at least didn’t quit - maybe some colleges didn’t look favorably on that grade, but we thought it was better than dropping and showing a quitter’s attitude. Should we have tested instead? Really very curious…no one ever questioned the huge difference in ability between verbal and math, but she was identified “gifted” before the tough math started…</p>

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<p>^I’m curious as well. Since she didn’t test out at 99% she’s disabled?</p>

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<p>Check out getting a Section 504 accommodation for her. It sounds like based on the standard deviations issue she would qualify for it.</p>

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<p>I think she could definitely step back on at least one class with a lot of reading without serious issues. Both my guys read fast, but didn’t like English classes must and took electives instead of either honors or AP senior year. We all worried a bit it might come back to bite them, but older son got into Harvard and Carnegie Mellon as well as some other tech schools, and younger son got into U of Chicago, Vassar and Tufts. The older one took a full load of advanced math and science courses and younger son had BC Calc, AP Euro and AP Physics C, so they weren’t complete slackers. They both enjoyed a senior year that was much less stressful than most of their friends. </p>

<p>If you can get accommodations by all means pursue it, my younger son found that the way his 504 plan was implemented he preferred to do without. He figured out in the real world he was going to be accommodated and he might as well cope as well as he could now. There have been some college classes where it’s clear his deficits are part of the problem, but I don’t know that he made a mistake with his approach.</p>

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<p>as the mom of a twice gifted[ processing speed 5%, IQ at 99%] kid [ now a college grad], I wouldn’t hesitate to have her drop down to a less reading intensive schedule In addition. I suggest you offer to do some of the basic secretarial stuff for her applications- keyboarding in the the basic information that is always asked for - name, colleges parents went to, classes taken, grades, SAT scores, etc, etc. - the basic stuff that does have to be entered and does take time to do- time that she may not be able to afford and do well in class. In addition, I would offer to help keep track of application deadlines, because they can be very important. I made up a spread sheet listing everything that had to be done for every school, and used it to gently “nudge” DS when deadlines drew close. Let her do the things only she can do- her essays. YMMV, but it sure helped my DS get through the first semester of Sr year with his sanity [ and mine] preserved.</p>

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<p>The truth is that the more you test, the more you will find. That is not to say that testing isn’t valuable or important for lots of students so that they can get the accommodations and instruction they need.</p>

<p>But at some point, especially senior year in high school, initiating testing may do more harm than good. By testing, is this parent trying to find a “cure” so that D can be at 99th %ile across the board on all standardized tests? Is the parent trying to figure out how D can excel in all her academically challenging classes so that her GC can mark “most rigorous” class schedule on her college app?</p>

<p>Ultimately what will all this accomplish? It seems like without these assessments D was overwhelmed by the reading requirements of her schedule. Now we know the reason why…but it doesn’t change the situation other than to “confirm” that there is something “wrong” with a successful student. D has obviously done very well in her classes. Why push her to this extent? Her now identified “problem” is not going away. She will need to deal with it by understanding that like all of us she has strengths and weaknesses and that she needs to make life decisions based on who she is and what she enjoys and is good at. It sounds like her “flat tire” may be in a small subset of a battery of tests. I would not focus on it or make her feel that she has a major problem, because clearly she doesn’t given her overall success and IQ potential.</p>

<p>I would definitely recommend that she be permitted to drop down a level in some classes. Let her keep the honors or AP classes in subjects that she enjoys or wishes to perhaps major in.</p>