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Donna wrote,
" my kid is suspended from school ...he has developed serious bad
attitude secondary to failure to properly diagnose and treat
dyslexia and dysgraphia. i cannot believe that it has taken me to
the 7th grade with him to finally get a correct diagnosis...."
DF...Hi Donna :)
That is really a frustrating situation...I have personal experience
with similiar stuff, and yes when it's your childs happiness and
well being at stake, it can be overwhelming...
"we have been told since 3rd grade that he has a visual/perceptual
deficiet... ia m beginning to find out that no one would even
mention dyslexia b/c that means that the school will have to provide
him with a speech pathologist."
DF...When my son was between 2-3 the local Barber, to whom I will be
eternally grateful for his involvement, mentioned that Richard
didn't seem to say much for his age...He was my first and only son
and I had nothing to gauge against in terms of an older siblings
development...I figured this man who cuts kids hair for a living,
must be mentioning this because he cared and really had enough
experience with children of that age to have a point...
I listened...It would have been easy to go into denial and cop an
attitude like some parents might (eg: "where does this guy get off?
My son is fine") He even suggested that I go to get his hearing
checked...Again, I listened and got him tested...It was fine, but I
decided to go to the Department of Health and have an early
intervention worker come set us up for an evaluation.
He had about 3 hours of testing and what they found was that, due to
very loose, and flexible musculature around his mouth and pretty
much around all of his joints, he wasn't getting the proper input to
sense himself in the space around him...The term they used
was "Proprioceptive Disorder" On the cognitive level he was passing
the Psych abstract/creative thinking tests a year ahead of his age,
but he was more than a year behind in speaking...The way the first
speech therapist described it "He doesn't know he has lips a mouth
or a tongue, because he wasn't getting enough feedback from his
muscles and joints" This also made sense to me and explained why he
usually "pummeled" into me when he went for a hug, and loved to
smash into stuff, get into very tight corners, do fidgety stuff...
He was simply trying to sense himself and needed the input to be
fairly strong...Yes most children when they are young exhibit much
of this "hyperactivity" etc...bouncing around, but with Richard
there was more going on...He got speech therapy for a year and when
he was preschool age, between me and a very supportive Day care
owner who fought tooth and nail to make sure they didn't cancel his
therapy, due to money, he continued to get speech and occupational
therapy for another year or so...I was lucky Donna, I live in a
pretty affluent area and there are great services through the
schools. But I had to fight to get them. You may not have the
services available to you where you live...Did you ever consider
going to a teen therapist and a language specialist directly through
your Health Insurance, if the school won't pay?
If the school is suggesting you put your acting out son into a worse
school, do *whatever* you can to get some other "specialists" to
advocate for you. This is your calling. See if a private
institution with specialists might be able to suggest a better
route...Adolescence is such a tough time anyway, and acting out is
part of that stage.., all I can say is try to be as patient as you
can be and pray alot...Let him know you are on his side, even when
he is "bad"...He must be very frustrated...I know you are upset that
he only has received a proper diagnosis by this late, but it is
still better than never...
Please feel free to share with me directly on my email :)
I hope you find the help you need.
Peace,
Deb
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