Hi,

I know it's been awhile since you posted, but it caught my eye. Your daughter has dyscalculia. Learning disability diagnosis has nothing to do with "average" test scores, it has to do with sub-test scatter -- that is, how divergent an individual's scores are within a test.

Since your daughter is extremely gifted in most areas, the fact that she's in the fiftieth percentile for that math subtest means she has a learning disability. Since her math reasoning is good, and she's just having trouble with math facts, remediation at this point might well mean that she could do perfectly well in advanced math further down the road.

It's frustrating, but psychologists who are employed by the school district often have a vested interest in NOT diagnosing disabilities. This is because their employer doesn't have to pay for remediation for a disability that isn't there. It sucks, but there it is.

Wrightslaw.com has some great pages on how to advocate for your kids in the school system. You might want to check it out.

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As an educator and the parent of a gifted ADHDer I understand your dilemma. The other poster was correct when he said the school diagnosis is often unreliable. I too was told I could not get a formal IEP for my child because " her scores were too high". This is not accurate and potentially criminal on the school systems part. However, they are counting on you : 1) Being satisfied with having a gifted child and already receiving "extra services" 2) believing that the school psych did testing with you and your child in mind 3) Not knowing your educational rights. 4) getting discouraged and giving up. Don't fall into their trap. Do your research and be the polite but persistently squeeky wheel. Keep in mind that children who are gifted in some subjects are not necessarily gifted in ALL subjects. There is a discordance in your child's scores, but the fact that she can perform the skill, just not quickly, doesn't automatically indicate a learning deficiency. Is she a perfectionist? Does she need to recheck every answer? Does she use her hands to calculate? Removing the timed element, is a great starting point. This will take the immediate pressure off your daughter. You may find that once she is not pressured, time and repetition will help the math facts stick. Either way the 504 accommodation opens the door to other accommodations and buys you time to diagnose what ever else may be in play. Good Luck

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I would add that your daughter is making great grades because she is bright but also on meds and that is a factor that should be considered. The goal is for her to not have to be on meds forever and the easier her environment is around her, the easier it is for her to navigate. School should be supporting this, not making it harder. I'm no lawyer but I thought if you have a medical diagnosis they MUST honor her 504 classification. Our parent teacher conference yesterday convinced us this is the year to do it - our son was diagnosed over 2 yrs ago & does well but the rubber is hitting the road in 3rd grade & we don't want him to be left under the wheels, you know?

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Your child must be commended for what she excels in, instead of picking apart her one academic weakness. She cannot excel in everything.

I concur with previous posts that mention how meds cannot be taken forever. They are used to mitigate symptoms, not cure the condition. Children especially need to be closely monitored, since their brains are still evolving. ADHD stimulants are more powerful than the speed I took in college for all night study sessions.

www.adhd-information-exchange.com

www.adhd-information-exchange.com

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Math is going to be a challenge for your daughter. It will hurt all the more because she's good at everything else. There are some things you can do to mitigate the pain-- just the fact that she has ADD should mean that she should be able to avoid some of the timed arithmetic. As soon as seems reasonable, get her a calculator.

But here's the thing-- low level math is largely about math facts. And math facts are dumb. As an adult, she can compensate easily for not knowing math facts with her reasoning skills. And no matter how much time she's given, no matter how much tutoring she receives, no matter what the diagnosis or intervention.... math facts are never going to be her strength. What you can do is boost her math REASONING abilities-- give her logic puzzles, help her enjoy word problems, graphing things, statistics type stuff..... If she learns to like the big picture math stuff now, she may come back around to math in high school and college when math isn't always math facts anymore. As she goes on, it will be less and less about math facts, and more and more about playing around with the facts and making them work, and she'll be much better at that. By all means, try to help bolster her weaknesses now, but you may accomplish more to help her develop her natural strengths which will be better able to help her pick up her own slack.

I say this as a woman who was this little girl once up on a time. I could not pass a timed math fact test in class to save my life in elementary school, but did fine on homework and non-pressure worksheets (If not as well as I did elsewhere) . I did much better in high school math, although I struggled more there than any other subject until calculus/stats, and I still struggled on the mandated no calculator portions of calculus. ......... Then I got a bachelors in math and was paid to do a summer's worth of math research.

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Hi -

My son is similar to your daughter, but is now 15. We just had hum tested and was diagnosed with dyscalculia which is the math form of dyslexia. He always struggled with math facts which is a common sympton. Here is a link to learn more: http://www.dyscalculia.org/

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Minnie,

My daughter has the same problem. Her doctor says that timed exercises like math facts quizzes are not appropriate for her because she is very gifted but has a relatively low processing speed and working memory. Your daughter should not have to struggle through timed quizzes either, but I imagine she's in 5th grade now.

So much more for educators to learn....I'm currently in a battle with her math teacher to stop timing her. She says the exercise today wasn't technically a test so she thought it was ok. And she counted ALOUD down from 10 seconds! ("softly," she says....B.S.)

Ashley

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Math was hard for my DD, too. DD is using a math pro from beestar recently, full of all real life world problems, challenging stuff to help kids thinking. It helps DD a lot. She has made remarkable progress. At least, she's now interested in math. Lisa

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