saxy news
sunday, april 21, 2002


yes, homework is calling, but i thought i'd pass on a bit to anyone who's been aware of the difficulties my husband has been going through. yesterday we went in for the final meeting with the psychologist who was doing the evaluating. i have got to say, this woman has been a blessing! the man we went to before her (and she's not the lady mentioned in that entry either) was a rip off. told saxy he had comprehension problems and didn't finish the testing we supposedly paid for, puts on his report that saxy needs remedial classes with no mention of the comprehension problem, then turns around and tells this lady that it was just a consultation (who in their right mind would pay $250 for a consultation). it was a total rip off, and i almost feared that this was too. the only reason i went with it is because a prof i know suggested her. ok, and she's willing to take payments.

so, yesterday we finally found out what the umpteen million tests he was doing are all about and the final word on what;s going on with him. first, saxy is a very smart man - above average intelligence actually. and he can do math - he was in the 75th percentile for math. mind you, that's more simplified, non-word problem math, but after him believing he can't do math for so long it's a relief to see he can. and, as suspected, his achievement level on the achievement tests is far lower than it should be, low enough to pinpoint a learning disability of some kind.

and here she was wonderful too. saxy has a communication disorder, specifically a verbal disability. he may also have a memory issue, but she has to reevaluate some of the data to determine if this is true. and, he has a very small, not big enough to qualify as add, attention problem. he did worse on tests he was timed in, so he needs time to think through and deal with whatever problem is before him on testing. this is a big issue in college and something the disabled student services center will have to help him with.

she is writing a report that will clearly indicate a language disability and the need for services. not some shitty "remedial classes" bs. and we'll get 3 copies.

the relief for me is just...almost as strong as it was for my son. it's not saxy - it's not that he can't do it or is stupid or anything. he just needs accommodations and now he can get them. and we need to work out ways to help him study that are more visual than verbal, like flow charts. i tried to find books via amazon.com but came up empty, so am going to have to do a bit more searching around. but at least we have an answer to why he's had so much trouble with school.

thank god! :)