K- We have been battling the state for Austin to recieve the Katie Beckett Waiver. The state says Ausitn has to score less than half his age or 2 standard deviations below normal on standardized tests.

Well, the OT nad ST scored him at that level The felt sooo bad. Asked me if I was okay. Sorry, he's sooooo behind. But hey, functionality is better than....__________ She never finished her sentence. THe OT told me i HAD to feel disheartened.

Well no, I didnt' She scored him at 12 months...I would have said 15-18 months. I live with the child :rolleyes:

Then... I get an independent psycologist to test him. So that she could put it all together. Ahem....he does wonderfully for her...really shows off. He scores really High. The doctor is doing cartwheels...he doesnt meet the criterea in her opinion.


So.....I gave her the test resutls from the other therapists.

And I'm wondering...who do I believe....are these tests really just a bunch of bunk. Kennedy who is only 2 days older than Austin is signing, talking, expressing herself WAY ABOVE Austin. However, he can run circles around her physically.

I'm so confused?????
Amy :confused:

UGH! I hate that frustrated feeling. First, know this...EVERY SINGLE child with DS I know goes one way or the other. Either their motor skills are really high, and their speech/language is further behind, or their speech/language is far stronger than their motor skills!

Let me give you an example. Angela, cognitively, is very much 5-6 years old. Not only in my opinion, but according to all the testing she's had done, etc. But it's pretty accurate. Her LANGUAGE skills (not to be confused with articulation. Language is what she understands, and the ideas she's trying to express) are right about 6-7 years. Her Articulation is scattered all over the place, but if you average it out it's about 5 years. (taking into account her hearing loss and that she's dropping sounds.)

But her motor skills? THAT is her weak area! Her gross motor skills are finally catching up SOMEWHAT. She's about a 4 1/2 - 5 year level. But her fine motor skills...that's hear weakest area by far, and are about 4 years. She cannot button buttons. She cannot start a zipper. She cannot snap a snap. She cannot tie shoes.

She has several freinds with DS who's motor skills are PHENOMENAL, and far surpass where she is at! They look very much on target to me, but I cannot understand a word they say. However, one (girl) hardly says anything at all (but clearly understands all the directions given, etc.) When she does talk, it's a single word here and there. Another (girl) talks SOME, but mostly 2 word sentences. Another (boy) has perfect articulation, but again, doesn't have much to say. So, while Angela has trouble keeping up to them physically, she is clearly the jabberbox in the group.

As far as which stuff to submit to the doctor, well....you use what you want for what you need to get. He needs the waiver, so use the ones that show the delay. The important thing is YOU know where he's at. It's sad to say, but there ARE times when you WANT the delay to show on paper, becuase it changes what your child can/can't get. Some kids don't qualify for Special Olympics because they test too hight, yet they can't compete with typical atheletes because their motor skills are just too far behind.

Pick and choose, and use the information according to what you need.

Yeah. I thought it was interesting that the same skills he did for the psychologist show him above...those skills he couldn't do were accounted for.
Then the Ot does basically the same test...and what he can do shows a different result based on the testing material. :rolleyes:
That's what had me wondering....what's up with this? I'm inclined to give the OT, ST, andPT results because they have worked with him every week for 23 months. The Psych...2ncd day she's seen him in his life. However...I like Her results better. As a mom.
AMY

One thing to think about also ( at least with Hannah) she is really very scattered about testing. She can be having an off day or not like the testing person or anything weird can throw her test scores off. Her teachers often do testing over several days because she will not show her true skills.I can't tell you how many times we have had meetings about scores and it's always "we know that she know's the material but tests horribly" I don't know If I ma making sense but I guess what I mean is try not to let the scores bother you. I really do not think they are accurate to what they can do. You know in your heart how Austin is doing. I would submit the lower scores and try not to worry about it. The numbers always depress me but I look at the big picture of what Hannah CAN do not CAN'T do and then I feel better. I also agree with Leah on the strengths in certain areas. If you compare Hannah and Taylor(best freind) they are worlds apart. Taylor is very verbal and bright but has horrible motor skills. Hannah struggles more with her language skills but has pretty strong motor skills.Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to get what you need.

Heather, I'm with you on the whole testing thing. It's amazing what Caitlyn knows and understands, however put her to the test and she's just fresh and will tell you something else..on purpose no less. I, too, believe the testing should be done over a couple of days because you cannot get an accurate assessment from one day doing tests, it's not going to happen. IMHO, the tests can't give an accurate result. There is really no way to pinpoint it and it's so general it's not worth stressing about. Caitlyn knows and understands what the average 5 year old does, however it's getting her to give you that info on cue, that's where it's different. Her gross motor is right there with her age, too. It's the fine motor that is the one I feel is Caitlyn's biggest challenge. She can zipper only when started for her, clip the car seat, cut with scissors (mainly her bangs), hold the pencil right and make people and birthday cakes, however, writing her name, tracing letters and numbers etc. is just not happening. I'm just excited when she accomplishes a new task, or tells me a couple of things that happened at school that day. I'm not stressing about it like I used to and it's so much easier. I know she'll eventually do all the things she supposed to, when she wants to and not a minute sooner.

my daughter qualified for k beckett at first and our p t actually scored her lower than she was, we needed the program and she knew it , on the next evaluation we didnt qualify well theres gotta be mixed feelings , oh we dont qualify but........... YEAH SHES DOING GREAT!!! well like some have said her gross motor skills are pretty good but though she verbalizeds (omg does she vocalize) and u can hear distinct words and sentence structure, not just random noise, we rarely hear words that we can understand , so now............. she qualifies once again for k beckett
whippeeeee! sorry for that buts its kinda a roller coaster lol :rolleyes:

Maybe I'm going to sound stupid, but I've noticed girls are usually a lot more outspoken than boys.
I see it all the time in typical kids, there are exceptions to the rule of course.
My Daniel's weakest link is also speech, but he does real good in gross motor.
What do you guys think????

You know that's interesting and I have never thought about that before. I know quite a few kids with DS. Most of the girls are big talkers and the boys struggle more with their speech. Now put them all together in a room and the boys are running circles around the girls! You know how us girls like to talk.

I think you have to pick and choose and learn to take testing for what it is worth. If you are testing for qualifying for something or other, hey, test away, and let them come up with whatever. It stinks sometimes to see a lower score on paper, but if you go into it as a sort of game, you will be ok.
I think you hit on it pretty well when you said in your own way "those tests are for the state, THIS ones for mom." We all need some of those "for mom" tests. I certainly do. But we need the not so hot tests too, to get services.
Ciarra scores ALL over the charts. On her last neuropsych eval, she trotted off like 18 animals in under a minute, recalling names of every animal Im sure she has ever heard of. The doc was wowed. It interested her, and she was all over it. But on this test of response time, they used this weird tap the space bar thing on the computer. This was 7 hrs into testing, and she was sick of it. Tap, Tap, Tap...randomly, no waiting for the stimulus thingy...she obviously scored low on that one. Having seen it with my own eyes, I KNEW she COULD do it She didnt WANT to.
You may find too that different agencies use different numbers. For our in home support, (a 1-1 for mom to work or have a few hrs off) they refuse to put MR on her paperwork, because the tests they have dont show that. She is "DD". On school paperwork, she is scored right at the cusp, so she can maintain services...which serves them well because without them she wouldnt be an easy student...they know she needs some extra help. Her Ped and neuropsych have her listed as in the "low average range" for IQ. My point is, use the tests for the times and places they help the CHILD. Discard them the rest of the time. And celebrate if you get a tester or doc who SEES your kid, and sees that glint of brilliance you see at home. Then wink at them and tell them you kinda need the score that will get you services.