Tomorrow is diagnosis (or not) day.

[mightymaude]

DD had her best day in years at her evaluation. Separated like she was BFFs with the psych instead of a kid who has been kicked out of two camps and a school for separation anxiety that doesn't resolve. Super chatty instead of being basically mute like normal with strangers. Said she had fun doing the reading and it was easy (we are also looking for a potential reading based LD) but that the math was hard and boring (normally her strength).

Last week she started wandering her classroom and refusing to follow directions, two weeks too late for her teacher to have that in her eval.

Basically, I going to be awake worrying all night.

[waverly]

Good luck tomorrow. Try to get a little rest tonight. Keep us updated.

[sahara78]

Good luck tomorrow! Sorry about the anxiety leading up; I remember that time well.

[freezorburn]

Good luck tomorrow!

[lemonberry]

Good luck!

[auntie]

Good luck today.

Is this a school eval or something done privately? Are they looking to dx or R/O a specific condition or is this more broad than that?

Keep in mind that for some kids, this is a process in which the child reveals over time. It's not unusual for kids to fly below the radar for a time even when seen by professionals. Or for new behaviors to emerge over time. Or for old issues to be suddenly outgrown.

I wouldn't worry too much about her demeanor on the day of the evaluation if the best scales and instruments were used. My kid was always friendly, highly verbal and charming with adults, but those personality traits don't mitigate his challenges when he sits ADOS or on a scale like GADS, BASC or Vineland.

Keep us in the loop.

[mightymaude]

Mar 19, 2018 6:08:10 GMT -5 auntie said:

Good luck today.

Is this a school eval or something done privately? Are they looking to dx or R/O a specific condition or is this more broad than that?

Keep in mind that for some kids, this is a process in which the child reveals over time. It's not unusual for kids to fly below the radar for a time even when seen by professionals. Or for new behaviors to emerge over time. Or for old issues to be suddenly outgrown.

I wouldn't worry too much about her demeanor on the day of the evaluation if the best scales and instruments were used. My kid was always friendly, highly verbal and charming with adults, but those personality traits don't mitigate his challenges when he sits ADOS or on a scale like GADS, BASC or Vineland.

Keep us in the loop.

Private eval. We are looking at anxiety, ADHD, and potential LDs related to reading/writing. She has had an IEP for speech since she was just under 3 (she is now 7.5). She has expressive and pragmatic language delays and articulation issues.

[funchicken]

Good luck! Let us know how things go!

[mightymaude]

Unspecified anxiety disorder resulting in low working memory and low processing speed.

Relieved we didn't go for nothing but sad for her too.

[sahara78]

I’m sorry you’re feeling sad. Hopefully the diagnosis will help you tailor treatment or interventions.

[auntie]

Mar 19, 2018 14:53:24 GMT -5 mightymaude said:

Unspecified anxiety disorder resulting in low working memory and low processing speed.

Relieved we didn't go for nothing but sad for her too.

Sad for her, too.

How did they tease anxiety out as a cause? Is there a tx plan going forward? Will the school accept this as an issue and put accommodations in place? 

[mightymaude]

Mar 20, 2018 4:47:23 GMT -5 auntie said:

Mar 19, 2018 14:53:24 GMT -5 mightymaude said:

Unspecified anxiety disorder resulting in low working memory and low processing speed.

Relieved we didn't go for nothing but sad for her too.

Sad for her, too.

How did they tease anxiety out as a cause? Is there a tx plan going forward? Will the school accept this as an issue and put accommodations in place? 

She had a WISC-V, BASC-3 woodcock-johnson, and a continuance performance test. The WISC showed average scores in all areas but working memory and processing. The W-J showed the same, except for the timed fluency sections, which dropped her from average to low. Percentile wise, she dropped about 20 points in all timed sections. But, the continuance test showed minimal to no impulsivity or distractibility, which was what the psych saw during testing as well. The BASC showed clinical levels of anxiety from us and at risk from the teacher, but only minor inattention from both.

At school they already provide her with some accomodations related to anxiety. She is told when all drills are going to happen and is allowed breaks when she is overwhelmed. These are not formalized in her IEP because the IEP is just for SLI. She has an IEP meeting in early April, so I am going to see what we can do to formalize it and also add in extended time for testing. We'll see what happens. Thus far, I have been very lucky in that the school has been willing to do a lot for her.

For home, we are starting with therapy and working from there. She desperately needs some tools in her box for the major moments, but now we know the minor things are really affecting her too. We are starting with non-pharmaceutical options because she is underweight (genetic--her father is 5'10 and only 125lbs) and can't afford to lose appetite.

[auntie]

Mar 20, 2018 5:16:05 GMT -5 mightymaude said:

Mar 20, 2018 4:47:23 GMT -5 auntie said:

She had a WISC-V, BASC-3 woodcock-johnson, and a continuance performance test. The WISC showed average scores in all areas but working memory and processing. The W-J showed the same, except for the timed fluency sections, which dropped her from average to low. Percentile wise, she dropped about 20 points in all timed sections. But, the continuance test showed minimal to no impulsivity or distractibility, which was what the psych saw during testing as well. The BASC showed clinical levels of anxiety from us and at risk from the teacher, but only minor inattention from both.


That's great. You should have some useful information with which to move forward. Is she old enough (6) to have completed the student reporting portion of the BASC? That was very useful for us when DS was younger. His teacher and I both noted anxiety, but there was depression in the mix that wasn't as obvious to us. 

At school they already provide her with some accomodations related to anxiety. She is told when all drills are going to happen and is allowed breaks when she is overwhelmed. These are not formalized in her IEP because the IEP is just for SLI. She has an IEP meeting in early April, so I am going to see what we can do to formalize it and also add in extended time for testing. We'll see what happens. Thus far, I have been very lucky in that the school has been willing to do a lot for her.

That's great. Did the psychologist give you a list of accommodations that might be useful? 


I wonder if it makes sense to add a different IEP classification to the IEP to have those accommodations included. It can be a hassle if she gets a teacher who doesn't get it. DS had a get out of jail free card he could use to leave class anytime without asking permission. He never actually used it, but knowing he could helped a lot. Kids with slower processing speed often do well with extra time; some do better when told they can have as much time as they need rather than listing it as time-and-a-half. Chunking can be helpful, too, if she feels overwhelmed. That might mean breaking a larger exam into several smaller sections over a couple of days. One of DS's teachers cut his math problem sets into strips of 5 problems rather than give him all 25 at once. 

For home, we are starting with therapy and working from there. She desperately needs some tools in her box for the major moments, but now we know the minor things are really affecting her too. We are starting with non-pharmaceutical options because she is underweight (genetic--her father is 5'10 and only 125lbs) and can't afford to lose appetite.

It's always best to start with behavior mods. I like CBT for anxiety. Meds can be added if needed. Usually SSRIs are used for anxiety. They are more often associated with weight gain than loss.