Branson & school

jeez what a meeting yesterday! it lasted 2 hours!! so glad it's over and they (hopefully) will get off our backs and stop being so damn mean and putting us through hell now. there were several different areas they tested him. IQ & psychological, PT/OT, speech and many sub categories. so bare with me this is going to be a long post but everyone keeps asking. 

IQ testing results:

according to his records Branson is very social and gets along well with others. He is described as very caring, loving and helps others on the playground. He tries hard to complete assignments and thrives on good praise and recognition of good work. He is able to communicate his needs and seems to be improving on his motor skills. Weakness are noted in word identification, communication and motor skills. Specifically Branson struggles with expressive language, articulation. handwritting, walking/ running and fine motor coordination. 

Branson was observed by the EC teacher in a large group math setting. He sat quietly and cooperatively. During the lesson he was talking to his neighbor, looking around at his neighbor's work and attempted to speak with the observer. He was also observed by the guidance counselor in the hallway. He stood quietly in the hall. Teachers have attempted the use of Reading Mastery, Peer/ Tutor help to assist Branson but has continued to make little progress. 

Branson's mother completed Social/ Developmental History. Reports than Branson lives with mom, step dad, 2 siblings. Shew went into preterm labor and he was delivered at 34 weeks weighing 4lbs 7oz. He experienced hypotonia of the lower extremities, reported slow in walking and received PT as a toddler. According to his mother, Branson loves school and his teachers. His mother identified the following characteristics; trouble maintaining attention to tasks, childish and immature, cries easily, easily frustrated in efforts, overly sensitive, relates well to others needs, tries very hard. -SIDE BAR here!!! never did i say he couldn't pay attention, this is where they are trying to say he is ADD. he sits and watches and entire movie, plays XBOX, etc. it's when he becomes discouraged in his work and doesn't understand when he loses interest. childish and immature, he's freaking 6! which relates to the cries easily & very sensitive. yes he is but how does that make him childish and immature? that is THEIR words, NOT mine!!! 

Observation: Branson is a small framed handsome 6 year old. He makes good eye contact and appeared comfortable with the examiner. His speech was unclear and difficult to comprehend. He attempted most items, increasing efforts as difficulty increased. Branson is very friendly and seems eager to please. He was inattentive at times and seemed to have some difficulty understanding directions. He was quiet overactive and seemed to be moving sometimes impulsive. Overall testing conditions were good and results should be considered valid. 

Visual Motor: pencil paper task which requires reproduction of geometric shapes. Global Scoring method he had a Standard score of 88, 21st percentile. 

Cognitive Development: administered Wechsler Intelligence Scale, Branson obtained a full scale IQ of 86 at 18th percentile. His overall performance is classified in the low average range and exceeding approximately 18% of children his age. The changes that the range of scores from 81- 91 include his true IQ are about 95 out of 100.

Verbal: 71 at the 3rd percentile within the low range. this test subtests measure ability to apply verbal skills and information to solve problems. 

Perceptual Reading: score of 86 at the 18th percentile, within low average range. this tests measures one's ability to thing and solve problems in a nonverbal, abstract and conceptual term. 

Working Memory: score of 91 at the 27th percentile within average range. ability to actively maintain information in a conscious awareness, perform some operation or manipulation with it and produce results. 

Processing Speed: score of 118 at the 88th percentile within high average range. ability to quickly and accurately scan and process simple visual information. 

Branson performed best at tasks requiring visual motor speed and speed of visual discrimination and visual scanning. Branson scored within the average range in the area of written expression and the below average range in oral language, mathematics and total achievement. Among individual subtests, Branson performed best on tasks requiring the alphabet writing fluency. He demonstrated significant weakness in his early reading skills and listening comprehension. 

Conclusion & Recommendations: On tests designed to assess his level of intellectual fuctioning Branson scored within the low average range. He demonstrated significant discrepancy in his abilities. He demonstrated superior processing speed, average working memory, below average perceptual reasoning and low verbal comprehension. He was observed to be overactive and inattentive during his assessment. ( & this is in which point was put in their papers but not mine for some reason that they think he is ADD but the dr just hasn't diagnosed him yet. I call bullshit as well as the dr office!)  

- helpful to give reading assignments ahead of time so he can identify words and phrases that he does not recognize. difficult material could be recorded for him to listen to as he reads along.

- have him write sentences and read aloud. 

- visual aids such as pictures and diagrams

- he showed much interest in the hands on tasks, a computer might be used to teach him math skills

OT/PT Evaluation:

the IEP team, teacher concerns include handwriting, coloring, drawing and cutting

Branson demonstrates decreased muscle tone of the upper extremities. He struggled to complete wall push ups without relying on momentum to complete them (umm hello he's freaking 6! hell I could barely do that right now either!!) He used his left hand as his dominate hand while using the right as a stabilizer during fine motor tasks. He uses a variety of grasp and pinch patterns. He could pick up and manipulate small objects, complete 2 handed manipulatives such as nuts and bolts, stringing beads. He can pull apart small pop beads and had difficulty assembling them. Due to decreased strength of upper extremities he needs to use the table top to stabilize his forearms to complete the task. He had difficulty turning the pages of a workbook. 

He can unfasten small buttons and fasten with extended time. He was wearing velcro shoes and fastening them but is unable to tie his shoes. He uses his left hand to grasp writing and drawing utensils. He holds a pencil with 5 fingers using his index finger hooked around the shaft of the pencil with the pencil pointing away from his body. (picture coming soon) Forearm stabilization is inconsistent  He uses his right hand to stabilize the paper, writes his first name without a copy source. He writes letters of the alphabet with 70% legibility, numbers 1-9 with 80% legibility without reversal. He copies simple words given a space but difficulty using consistent near line placement. He copied simple shapes and fair formation but pencil control accuracy was decreased. 

Test of Visual Motor Skills: Raw Score 21, Standard Score 80. Percentile Rank 9, Age Equivalent 4-9

He cuts using a left handed grasp and manipulates the paper with his right hand. (this pisses me off because they switched his hands!!!!!! he was doing just like me using his right hand to cut even though he is left handed and the freaking changed his damn hands. DON'T FREAKING DO THAT!!! Even Dr Lawrence said to leave that alone but apparently that just blew their mind too much and they wanted him changed)

PT:

he has very flat feet, sees some delays. only recommendation is support arches for his shoes. 2xs per year for proper fitting of shoe supports or PRN. no further consult required

Now in simple terms.... everything seems to be revolving around his speech and fine motor skills. You can understand him when he talks slow but he likes to talk very fast and has a hard time with his sh, ch and l sounds. instead of saying the word 'like' he says 'wike' so the speech therapist will start working with him this week and he will meet with her along with a group of other kids 2-3 times a week. OT will work with him at least twice a week and the EC teacher has insisted she works with him too. The ONLY and I mean ONLY reason I allowed that is because she is going to work with him on his sounds and well as his writing so she will be incorporating his speech and OT in one. Dr Lawrence advised me not to sign or agree to anything other than speech or OT at the present time before the evaluations were done and those results given to her. She has never had a problem understanding him and she only saw him once a year so it's funny to me how she can understand him only seeing him once a year yet the teachers and even most family have a hard time understanding him. Baffles me! And with words he has a hard time saying I sit and get him to slow down, break the word down and he has no problem saying it then. Example: the word 'video' he used to say 'bid-e-bo' Chase sat with him and broke the words down one night and in 5 minutes he was saying it correctly. When I work with him on his reading I do the same as well. They also discussed possibly him going to summer school instead of being held back so he doesn't lose the information. They only have Christmas break to go off of and how much information he retained or lost. His teacher said he didn't lose much at all and picked right back up where he left off. So we'll look into that closer to the end of the school year. So all these months of hell for this. Now hopefully they will get off mine and his back and let us rest and enjoy the rest of the year!!