Ever since year 3 my son has found school difficult and struggled academically.
His primary school suggested we investigate his auditory processing. This came back fine. On top of that we had him assessed by an Education Psychologist who deemed his IQ, executive functioning, working memory etc all to be at the age appropriate level, we checked his vision and also had a speech assessment and everything came back normal. Here we are in Year 5 (new school this year) and his teacher says he’s not an independent learner, needs a lot of teacher assistance and struggles academically. We’ve organised private tuition from Year 2-4 and it’s made no difference to his learning outcome. He needs a lot of repetition and what he can master one week is gone the next. Are we dealing with a learning disorder?
Is it normal for teachers to label kids with these sorts of comments at 10 years of age but not express concern to us regarding these issues? Do I take him to see a Paediatrician to reinvestigate?
He gets C- across all subjects (B for PE,
Art) I’m okay with that if that’s all that he is capable of (he tries very hard and works to the best of his ability in the classroom according to teacher). He’s reached an age where he is well aware learning is far more difficult for him compared to his classmates). What concerns me is the teacher tells me he remains focused and shows his listening but has no idea what to do when it’s time to complete work.
Alarm bells are ringing but where do I go from here? We are based Brisbane Northside
3 Replies
You didn’t mention hearing tests. I’d also add a paediatrician on your list.
Had a friend who said she had to see a Psychologist and have a Cognitive assessment alongside an Achievement assessment for her child as it demonstrated a discrepancy between his IQ, working memory etc and his actual achievement. If you have also had a period of tuition without improvement this would support a diagnosis of learning disorder. If he has only recently had the cognitive assessment you are able to provide results to whoever is doing the achievement testing so he does not have to go through this assessment again. Hope this helps
Look into alternative education.
We moved my son to a Montessori school.
We thought he had some form of learning problem, but it seems he just doesn't learn through the 'usual' methods, he needs to be more hands on.