I have to ask what did you used to test him? What did the schools say prior to all of this and prior to you homeschooling? From my experience, a kid can diagress academically due to emotional stuff but it isn't often they diagress as much as two years behind unless they were already behind in the first place. I have taught 23 years and have worked with many children through being a reading recovery teacher and now a facilitator in my building dealing with dyslexia ect. I work with the kids before we recommend special education.
I think I would give him some time to re-establish himself emotionally. After you feel he has had time to get a normal routine then reassess but make sure you are using an appropriate tool for assessing. I think I would also have a non family member give him the assessment you choose so that they can see it from a clear eye/perspective. You have so much emotion wrapped up into all of this that it might be hindering a clear judgement. I just mean that someone else might be able to give you a clearer picture. Maybe a friend who is a teacher or someone that has someone in their family that is trained to give assessments.
In reading recovery we always had someone else do our end of the program assessing because of the attachment we had with the kids. This way the assessment was fair and truely gave an accurate picture of what the child could and couldn't do. Hope this helps.
Hi y'all. I have an 8 y/o ADHD, dysgraphic, occasionally ODD son whom most of you know just went through several months of the most harrowing, insensitive dx and treatment. His old psychiatrist dx'd him bipolar and put him on psychotropics that made my son go literally crazy. He was hospitalized and redx'd bipolar and released in a week to go crazy again and have to be Baker Acted and put back in the hospital. Plus, the meds they put him on damaged his liver. We took him out of the hospital and had him admitted to a children's hospital in Miami where they took him off all meds and finally rediagnosed him mildly ADHD, depressed, and occasionally ODD. He was in there for almost two weeks. It was a very long trip for us- three hours each way. Anyway, Jon is OK emotionally for the most part- just is still so upset about the first hospital, the first doctors and the fact that he was out of control.
The thing is, I pulled him out of school and am homeschooling him. I gave him diagnostic testing and he is testing two grades lower than he should be. He should be going into fourth grade but I am having to start him at 2nd grade. He was tested by a psychologist before all the medical issues and tested pretty much on goal except for math. Does anyone think that the wrong meds or the experiences could have done this to him?
You could also do some basic review with him just to make sure he's got what he needs. Playing games helps a lot. When my son didn't want to read we would take turns reading every other word. It was silly, but he wanted to do it, so he would push himself.
Best of luck!
Kids lose some learning, especially the repetitive stuff. For example, they lose how to subtract with regrouping over the summer if you let them. I'm betting he'll get back on track quickly. It's all about reteaching. Jessica N39610.8871759259Sorry to hear about your son's terrible experiences. I would have him retested with a psychologist - that way you can keep tabs on his progress using the same tests. We have our son tested with standardised tests every 6 months. Sometimes the tests are on and others off meds. It is amazing the differences in results when meds are working and when they are not! My son has also experienced several emotional breakdowns and suffers from anxiety, When he was having difficulties at school with bullying for example, the results across the board were much lower. For example comprehension dropped from 13.4 years to 10 years. I too am a teacher and have home schooled my son for a 4 month period so he could "mend" emotionally. After this, all areas improved by up to 2 years. this testing is tells us how things are going.
Meds can also make a huge difference. Testing off and then testing on meds can show if the meds work or not, or in fact stopping them from learning.
Our testing is provided by a educational psychologist who works with our pediatrian who specialises in behaviour and learning difficulties.
Is this testing all in one day or time period? Wyatt can pass a math test one day and fail the next. He's inconsistant. I wouldn't rely too much on one test or one set of tests. IMO any test is just one indication of where a child is at. Did you test him so that you would know where to begin with him with homeschooling? If you are starting with second grade material, does he seem to know the material, or does it seem completely new to him? Or does he perhaps just need some review?Thanks everyone. Jon was tested by a psychologist and also his school on the Stanford and then by myself to see where he should start on the homeschooling materials. Each one had the same results within a few months of grade level.
Perhaps it is a result that he is still fragile from the medical mixups; he was doing so well and sleeping in his own bed, but now everytime anything happens I wake up to find him sleeping on the floor next to my bed. He is so afraid of being put back in the hospital or taken away by the sheriff again (Baker Acted). It is so horribly frustrating and I am so angry at those supposed professionals that almost destroyed and killed my child. I try not to let anything show and reassure him whenever he brings it up. He goes for counseling once a week.
I am starting him off in 2nd grade and since we are working over the summer I hope he will advance quickly. Maybe be on track in a year or two.
Randy