The Wrightslaw Way

“Your child is reading 7 grade levels below his peers.” How would you like to hear these words? That is what we heard after years of working with the school on behalf of our son who has ADD/LD and dyslexia. He was going into 8th grade as a primer (first grade) reader. He could comprehend […]

I was told that if a child has excessive absenteeism, he cannot receive special education services.  The school is not allowed to evaluate a child who has not had adequate instruction due to absences?  What percentage of absences would deny special ed services? Schools cannot refuse to evaluate a child who has frequent absences. This […]

I am a teacher in the district and feel like I’m being jerked around by our sped director. She says a parent has to be present for a teacher to formally refer a student for special education testing? I don’t mean “giving/denying” permission to test. Does a parent have to be present simply for the […]

My daughter’s executive function skills and processing speed are in the 1st percentile. She is far below grade level in math. She needs good instruction in programs/strategies that are scientifically based to help strengthen her executive function and math skills. The school just wants to accommodate. They say she just isn’t capable of learning math […]

I submitted a written request for an evaluation that included my parental consent for the eval. They would not accept my letter of request including a statement of written parental consent as “legal consent”. I received this response from the director of spec. ed. “As you may know, the IDEA contains certain requirements related to […]

The school would NOT do a multi-factored evaluation for my son who has dyslexia. During the time he was stuck in the RTI cycle, we questioned the accuracy of the data that showed he had some growth in retaining sight words and increasing fluency. We battled through the 1st grade year.  Once again stuck in […]

My son is in the 5th grade Resource Room. He has problems with reading and writing. I’m curious about dyslexia. What type of doctor can test him? What tests do they use? To my knowledge there is not one specific “test” for dyslexia. Evaluation is based on the “clinical judgment” of a psychologist, by the […]

My child attends private school and demonstrates focus problems, tics, and some hyperactivity. He was recently diagnosed with ADHD by a physician who recommended a psychoeducational evaluation. The public school district conducted the evaluation.  The evaluation dismissed physicians findings of ADHD. Question: Our doctor reviewed the test results. He told us that the law said […]

My 13 year old son, in private school, was diagnosed with ADD & ADHD. He is failing all subjects and the teachers claim he has difficulty concentrating and organizing. We requested special ed services from the district. His test scores actually were pretty good so the head of the special ed department was not helpful.  […]

My daughter is in the 6th grade. She has sensory processing disorders, executive functioning problems, and severe anxiety. She had an IEP for emotional problems. When she takes medication, her anxiety is manageable. Because her medication is working, the  school says she is no longer eligible for special education services. Does effective medication disqualify a […]