Told to assess my five yr old

[naivemum]

Hi ya's, i started my DD in Preschool, pretty late in the year cause we have been waiting for her operation, to get her teeth fixed. Me and my husband decided NOT to put her to kindy because we both decided that she should be allowed to be a child for as long as possible, After three hour's of being with the teacher the teacher pull's me aside to say she suspects a learning development issue and that she would like to have her assessed!!! and put her in a special class, when pushed she said she though my daughter was probably slightly autistic!!!!

I took her out of that school and put her in another one, and after three more hour's of being with the new teacher she say's the same thing, she is behind the other children, well of course she is going to be she hasn't done kindy!!! I don't want to get her assessed cause the assessment will be based on her reading and writing skills so she will fail, cause she doesn't have these skill's yet, me and my husband both think giving a chance she will pick up the skills she need's the teachers r just not giving her a chance, after three hours u just cant say that!!!!

We have now found a daycare that offers a preschool program with less children to help her with the social side of things, but am still concerned she is going to be behind on the literacy side... and won't be ready to start grade one at the beginning of next year.

She was born april 2004 and the cut of is july so if she was born a couple of months later she wouldn't have to start grade one till the year after, i'm also concerned what they do with the little ones that hav'nt been to kindy or preschool do they also put them in the too hard basket???

I seriously don't know what to do!!! and running out of time...

[Smoke Jaguar]

This is the sort of thing I'm studying this semester - assessments etc. Assessments don't just do reading and writing, they do comprehension and verbal abilities, too. Talk to someone who can tell you about what the assessments involve. The assessor needs to be able to tell you what the tests mean, who the tests are designed for, what they are testing for, what the results mean, what results are 'normal' and which ones mean extra attention is required. The interpretation of results will be used to devise a plan of attack from there. If these things don't get explained to you, keep looking till you find someone who will. Whoever does the test, too, has to help you get a second opinion, too, if you ask for one.
I would suggest to do the testing because if there IS something there, you don't want to disadvantage your DD at this early stage.
It may not be a case of 'too hard basket', and an assessment should sort out what needs working on and what's ok to plug on through school with.
It's not a bad thing if she does need some specialist program help - it may be something you could integrate into normal school, as well. You won't know if you ignore it, KWIM?
I hope it goes well

[MrsFabuloso]

Fristly I have to say big hugs to you, it must be hard to hear peopel tell you these sorts of things about your little one. ButI would advise that if two pre school teachers have said that your child may have some sort of delay, then I would get her assessed. They are professionals, and I'm sure they have lots of experience in these sorts of things. Assessments on pre schoolers are not based on any kind of academic learning as such (not like reading/writing/maths...etc skills).If you do not believe that she has any kind of delay, then it can't hurt to have an assessment, they will just tell you she is fine., but if she does have a delay, then she is young enough to get some help and be integrated into school. I can understand that it must be difficult to hear that your child may have some sort of learning difficulties, but I would think it would be better to be safe than sorry later on.

[MantaRay]

Naivemum, I can imagine how worrying this is for you. I hope I can help you out with some information. First of all, autism spectrum disorders, of which there is a whole range, are difficult to diagnose. A teacher is not going to know whether a child is autistic or not. However, they are able to identify certain things which can point to the child having some sort of special need.

As the mum of a 4yo who is currently being assessed for aspergers and similar autism spectrum disorders (ASD), I can assure you that the assessment in no way looks at literacy or numeracy skills. Rather, they look at the child's history, reaching milestones, how they play, personality, motor skills etc - it is a complex process. And ASD does not relate to intellectual capability or literacy. Some ASD kids have learning delays such as speech, others are well ahead for their age group.

I wouldn't worry about your DDs literacy - kids tend to catch up and the first year of school caters for a range of levels from kids who can read and write their own names and count to 100, to those who can't read at all.

However, I would take your teachers' concerns seriously and look into assessment. If there is an issue, the school will get funding for a special ed teacher to help your DD and she will get a lot of benefit from that. Teachers see a lot of kids and don't talk to parents about special needs readily - it's not an easy thing to do. If two teachers have commented, I would say there is a reason for that. If you go through assessment and all is well, at least you know and have peace of mind.

GL hun, I hope you get some answers.

[Trillian]

OK, from my perspective, I don't think it will hurt to have her assessed just in case something is picked up you have the benefit of knowing now, and not several years into her schooling. But I do think that some of her 'issues' could be related to not going to kindy. By not doing that you have put her behind the 8-ball a little, even though your motive for not sending her was well intentioned kwim? So she will have a little catching up to do before she is at the same level as her peers, who have probably had 2 years at Kinder under their belts and her teacher is probably not allowing for that kwim? I think by not having her assessed you are going to do her a huge dis-service, but I understand that you are a little fearful of what that will intail, but Mayaness is right, it isn't just about reading and writing. I hope it all goes well for you too.

[Floweryfields]

This must be very hard for you - but as has already been said, the teachers are professionals and as two have picked up the same things, have her assessed. You could look at it positively in that it has been picked up so soon and you have the chance to give her a great start at her schooling rather than having her struggle and fall well behind.

It is very tough, but trust those around you for help and you'll get through this.

[AnyDream]

Naivemum I think you will find that at that age the assessment has a lot less to do with actual reading and writing and more to do with more basic skills - things like can the child listen to a question and answer appropriately? Can they look at pictures and say what's happening in the picture? Do they know any colours or names of shapes? Also things like do they make eye contact when they are talking, do they pay attention when the teacher is talking. Sort of basic things that come before reading and writing.

"Normal" children at this age perform at different levels right across all these sorts of skills. An assessment is useful because it will give you an idea of where your DD falls within the range - could be she's within the 'normal' range for some things, at the upper end of the range for some things, and at the lower end of the range for some things (many kids are). At least if you've had the assessment you will know, and then if there are decisions that need to be made you will have the info you need to make the best decision.

If I were in your situation, I would have the assessment AND I would also get a second opinion. I agree 3 hours is not long enough for anyone to know your daughter well enough to make that judgement, BUT these teachers have seen hundreds of children that are brand new to kindy so they *might* be onto something.

There is no embarrassment in finding out your child has a special need. My DD1 had a speech delay and it now also turns out she has a problem where speech sounds get jumbled in her head. When we finally found out about it, we were able to talk to her teachers and make sure she sits in a spot where the teacher can check she understands what they are talking about. Not a big thing but it has made all the difference to how she is going at school.

By the way, don't fret too much about starting grade 1 next year. Many kids repeat reception/kindy/preschool year because it helps them cope much better when they do start grade 1. In fact in SA they have it set up so that many kids do more than 1 full year of the first year of school (called reception here) - just because it's good for the kids to do so.

[Lulu]

Me and my husband decided NOT to put her to kindy because we both decided that she should be allowed to be a child for as long as possible,

Kindergarten or preschool is quite valuable for a child's development. It's not about squashing them into little boxes (save that for school ), but about teaching them to share, make friends and socialise well. School can be a little scary for a child that hasn't been at kinder or a pre school program.

Kindergarten teachers are tertiary qualified in Early Childhood and generally speaking I would listen if there were some concerns. I would certainly take the 'mildly autistic' comment with a grain of salt - it takes a while to pinpoint something like that and ONLY through assessments by experts in this area. However if 2 separate professionals have picked up a potential 'problem/difference/uniqueness about your little girl I would follow that up to save hassles later.

She may learn things differently is all - but work it out now and you will probably find the school will work with your family.

[Inertia]

I will say that as parents of GTC and children with ASD, one of the biggest challenges we face is teaching some teachers the difference between "Learning Difficulty" and "Learning Differently".

The assessment certainly can't hurt and it is hard to hear, I know, but really it can help prepare the teachers for the unique style of your child.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Just to clarify my previous post:
As some of the other girls have said, it's not going to be a 'schooling' test - it will be assessments for cognitive ability, and there will be follow up assessments because of the way these results change in this age range. If they don't talk about monitoring it like this then ask the questions of them. These are not really predictive tests, just tests to see where children are at at the time of testing and indicative of what they need, if anything, to 'catch' up to a certain range.
The test can be suggested and recommended by the teachers, but they are conducted by people competent and qualified to do the testing (not like the stupid MCHN 'development' tests that are conducted like a game of monopoly...unless that was just MY nurse, grrrr!!) - they are not done by the teachers. It's then up to you to take the results and discussions back to the teacher or the school to see how you can best serve your daughter's educational needs.
It's not a reflection on you, it's just about giving your daughter a fair start

[LimeSlice]

I am a little confused...You are in WA?
Is your daughter in Pre-Primary or Grade one? Generally speaking they will not take a child into grade one that has not done pre-primary anyway would they? It is only a few days a week too and half days. It could be worth looking into anyway.

I wish you luck with the assessment should you take the teachers' advice and have it done.

[*Ali*]

Unfortunatly Alexis in WA kindy and pre-primary are pre compulsary so even though it is desirable a school can not actualley exclude a child that has not attended. However there is a very noticable difference between kids who have attended and kids who have not.

This is the quote from the DET website

Is attendance at kindergarten and pre-primary compulsory?
Although attendance at kindergarten and pre-primary is not compulsory (in accordance with the School Education Act 1999) more that 90% of children in Western Australia attend kindergarten and 95% of children attend a pre-primary program.

The Department of Education and Training is committed to providing a place for all eligible children.

Like others have said, I would get the assessment done, if it has been picked up by 2 consecutive teachers, then they are obviously seeing something. As teachers we do not suggest testing likely, thre is usually something that has caught our attention for us to be suggesting it. The test are not reading and writing tests at this age, more picture and conversation based.I am of the opionion the sooner the better, at least if there is a problem it is dealt with and you are on the road to finding some help for your child. Imagine how you would feel if your daughter did have a problem and a school ignore it, at the detriment to her learning!

[MantaRay]

Mayaness, I wouldn't think they'd necessarily do a cognitive assessment at that age. During our assessments so far they have suggested doing that at age 7 (although our issue is that DS is cognitively advanced and delayed in other areas, I still think that would apply). The assessments are more to do with overall development etc.

[LimeSlice]

ah I see, thanks Ali

[AliBaby]

Fristly I have to say big hugs to you, it must be hard to hear peopel tell you these sorts of things about your little one. ButI would advise that if two pre school teachers have said that your child may have some sort of delay, then I would get her assessed. They are professionals, and I'm sure they have lots of experience in these sorts of things. Assessments on pre schoolers are not based on any kind of academic learning as such (not like reading/writing/maths...etc skills).If you do not believe that she has any kind of delay, then it can't hurt to have an assessment, they will just tell you she is fine., but if she does have a delay, then she is young enough to get some help and be integrated into school. I can understand that it must be difficult to hear that your child may have some sort of learning difficulties, but I would think it would be better to be safe than sorry later on.

:yeahthat: exactly!

[Smoke Jaguar]

My understanding is that cognition encompasses verbal skills, comprehension etc in the context of developmental norms, given that cognitive abilities DO change a lot within this 5-12 age block anyway. It's still to do with how kids learn and what may impede learning progression if the teaching is delivered at a certain level of expectation. Cognition is pretty broad, whereas literacy testing is more specific and is not the kind of assessment in mind in this case.
I'm not an expert and my own kid isn't at this age yet, so I'm just demystifying what the assessment will be used for and how it should be conducted and what your rights are as the parent. It's not a scary thing, it will actually help you all

[Violet Star]

I just wanted to add to this, that a teacher can recommend for assessments out of wanting the best for your child. And teachers find it hard telling parents that they need to have their child assessed as well.

At the end of the day, the way things are organised now through educational departments, if you dont seek out assessment and unfortunately sometimes "label" the child, then they wont get any extra help with the learning that they need. Learning just doesnt cover the reading and writing, it covers the social skills as well. The extra help might come from a teachers aid, a specialised special education teacher or their might be a place for the child in a special class at a mainstream school.