Should I Have My Child Tested For Neurodivergence?
Seeing your child struggle to learn can be a painful experience. This is especially the case if you as a parent struggled in school. All the memories come flashing back. Even if you did not struggle, then observing your own child frustrated when trying to read a book, or attempting to get a story on paper with tears in their eyes because their thoughts don’t seem to get translated from their mind through to their fingers, can be puzzling and leave yourself wondering what is going on. You may also be reading a lot more information about neurodiversity. Information about Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and Learning Disabilities is much more prevalent in social media platforms.
Understanding Your Child’s Learning Difficulties
One begins to ask themselves, “What do I do?” Yes, sometimes effort and good instructional practice pays off and the child starts to read or begins to get ideas on paper fluently. Attention and effort are critical for overcoming learning obstacles. Though, at times, attention and effort is not working either, nor are the internal feelings of frustration and attempts at getting angry at your child. Believe it or not, this happens frequently for many parents. We are all human and thus repeat the behaviours of our parents, and some teachers, who got so frustrated with us that their need for your success drove them to express feelings of frustration and anger.
At some point nothing is working. Everyone is experiencing some form of trauma. The trauma is making it worse as anxiety is heightened. The child is left in tears, and you are wondering if you are a bad parent. The idea of testing comes to mind to find out the cause of your child’s learning difficulties. There are several steps I would highly recommend taking.
Chat With A Teacher
First, if you are at a public or private school, and haven’t done so already, chat with the teacher(s). Set up a meeting to go over your experiences and see if the teacher(s) see the same issues. If teachers are not available then set up a time to talk to the school administrator or counseling. It is important to get conversations going and to fulfill the need to be heard.This can often lead to various forms of assessments that could determine what might be going on.
For example, after trying various classroom-based interventions a psychoeducational assessment may be initiated to better understand the causes for your child’s learning and/or social difficulties. This could lead to recommendations made by the teachers, administrators and psychologist that could lead to solutions for the learning and social difficulties.
Assess Your Child’s Sensory System
Second, with both public and private school environments make sure your child’s sensory systems are assessed. Thus, getting your child’s hearing and vision checked is critical. Over the years, I have seen many cases where hearing or vision is impaired for some reason. This can then lead to methods for either correcting or improving auditory and visual functioning. There are audiologists and ophthalmologists that could assess your child and make sure these sensory systems are operating efficiently.
Assess Trauma & Find Support
Thirdly, make sure the trauma of struggling is addressed. This could be the child’s trauma, or even yours as a parent. Finding a counsellor to work through the anxiety provoking experiences and how best to work with your child could be critical for establishing a healthy relationship between family members. Having your child be supported for their trauma experiences can also help them get through an assessment process. Remember, just assessing a child can make them relive the emotions of failure. If a child can feel safe and relaxed during an assessment the results are likely of greater accuracy.
Improving Your Child’s Learning Difficulties
At times, schools are set up to provide the correct amount of support to improve your child’s learning difficulties and at other times additional support is required outside of school hours. This is just the reality of brain functioning with some learning difficulties being more severe than others. In some cases parents look to private schools for children with learning difficulties such as Eaton Arrowsmith School (EAS). EAS offers a comprehensive cognitive intervention program that improves brain functioning or the underlying cause of your child’s learning difficulties. These programs are especially good to consider when all other educational interventions for your child’s learning difficulties have not worked.
Parents often know when their child is struggling to learn or interact with peers socially. It is best not to wait and consider the problem a developmental issue. This can cause a great deal of complications later not just in learning but also social-emotional wellness. I highly recommend talking to your child’s teachers and having a conversation with your family doctor. If you are a homeschooler talk to a few educational experts or psychologists to gather more knowledge on learning and/or social difficulties.
Do not see testing or assessment as a negative for your child. I say this with some awareness of the negative consequences of testing, such as labeling a child without providing proper or effective educational support. Rather testing or assessment should be conducted to provide information that then drives specific treatment intervention ideas. Thus, if you decide to test your child make sure you tell the assessor that this is your goal and expectation. There is greater awareness of neurodiversity and more recognition for the talents that exist in those that are not neurotypical.