eve209

I have heard of this scoring before but our son has never really had any tests done apart from a recent dyslexia test which was negative.

All he is diagnosed with is Global developmental delay which can have a broad meaning, he has a poor reading age and his level of understanding is below average, his behaviour is good and he commnicates normally and socialises normally, he has all the normal teenager traits, huffs and puffs and stomping around the place!!! when he cant get his own way or is told off!!! He doesn't want to be in the special unit but he wouldn't be able to keep up with mainstream.

I dont think the school helps much they let him get away with using his special needs status as a get out clause of doing any work, they dont seem to be able to reprimand and control his behaviour, and almost encourage a slack attitude by allowing him to behave like a small child, whereas when he is at home he does everything any other child of his age would do, wash the car, make cups of tea help with dinner, goes out with mates etc etc etc.

So all in all and in my opinion and his class teachers opinion he will require extra support fom us his parents after he leaves school compared to our other children but there is no reason why he couldn't lead a perfectly, contributory normal life, he will always have to work that bit harder and the reading will probably continue to be an issue, but other people like him get by all the time.

eve x

debsy

Eve
I understand what you are saying - my daughter is exactly the same. She is quite bright, but she cannot be bothered at school unless it is something about insects or animals

The WISC IV is usually administered by a Psychologist, although I am not sure if it is the best test for a dyspraxic child. Does your child take eye Q?

eve209

Yeh, we have been giving him Eye Q or an equivalent for three years since he came to live with us, his bio mum wouldn't let him have it in case he became addicted!!! (you can see where the learning difficulties stem from)

He has made huge, monumental progress in the last three years, his bio mum, in our opinion was the major contributory factor in his developmental delay, he can now ride a bike, catch a ball etc etc etc, she would not allow him to attend speech therapy, paediatrician appointments, school with special needs facilities and mainly kept him shut in his room, that if she wasn't shouting at him, or slapping him about!:curse:

His behavior used to be incredibly terrible and he was erratic and bolsterous, he had a virtually non existent attention span and was always 50 decibels louder than everyone else. That little boy seems a million miles away now and his teachers agree that if his Dad and I could have obtained residency earlier in his life he would not have experienced so many problems or to such severe degree.

We are now almost experiencing a completly normal adolesence who cant read very well and has to sound out many words still or have an in depth thought process about consequence, he a kinda one task at a time boy, if you know what I mean! he is a little kack handed but that it getting better all the time now he has discovered online computer games, basball and cricket!!!

Ooooh look at that time, better pick the winkles up from school

eve x

Sally Simpson

This is normal behaviour for a teenager??????

Eve, why are you going back to the panel doc, surely a specialist report is required?

blaengirl

Hi Eve,

We were very persistant with the proffesionals concerned and were lucky enough to get an iq test etc done at home she is calling back with the report tommorrow to go go through it with us,the school supported us as well I think they were frightened if we get turned down he will return in September

Blaengirl
x

eve209

The email from Australia says we have to use the panel doc to instigate the specialist report!

I am hoping to speak to the panel doc tomorrow to get this organised and hope to get appointment very quicklt as we will have to get it done privately we shouldn't have to wait.

The school are right behind us they think the move to Oz will be the best thing that could happen for our son, they will probably have to be contacted by the Doc but I reckon his teacher wont mind being contacted in the hols, we only have 28 days to get the info and report and a further 21 days is allowed to file the info, in our view asap couldn't be quick enough!


The doc has just phoned us to get the Educational psychologists telephone number to get the ball rolling first thing tomorrow, he says he is bemused that we have had to get a further report and that he didn't think our son posed any issues for migration, more to do with dotting the i's and crossing t's, ummmmm doesn't stop us fretting though!

Will update you tomorrow I can hear the new wii calling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eve x

quoll

It seems to be that they are most likely to decline an application if there is a likelihood that the person will be entitled to a disability pension. Intellectual disability could be an issue especially if there is little likelihood of independent living once the person has left school. While you are at it though with the psych doing the WISC iv, get them to do an adaptive behaviour assessment as well because most states now require it as an adjunct to the IQ score in order to get any additional support in school. That could play into your hands too - if the adaptive behaviour shows that independent living is a real possibility. (Be sure to get the psych to do a home scale and a school scale if you think that there is a difference in expectation). Must say I am surprised they didnt ask for IQ scores initially and also that you dont have current assessments if he is in a special school - you obviously have very different eligibility criteria for special school entry!

The fact that he is in a special school has probably been the flag for further investigation as in Aus kids in special schools are very high needs as a general rule and the vast majority of them graduate to a disability pension rather than being able to be independent living. Post school options are not good for people with intellectual disabilities these days despite the DIsability Discrimination Act.

eve209

I have pm'd you quoll, allthough I think we have had a similar conversation allready, this Visa stuff is really gettting to us all especialy if it looks like we may not even get a Visa now

eve

Didnaeseeu

Where did you gain this information from in relation to the last paragraph!!!!!!

This is untrue in our own experience, my son attends an education support centre or 'special school' and all the kids in the centre have vastly differing needs in regards to educational ability or adls.

The main emphasis on the children with delayed developmental ability is social intergration/indepedent living, the centre works very hard to enable the children to graduate from year 12 with a job or tafe whether it is part time or full time depending on the individuals abilities.

eve209

In the Uk, we have only breifly discussed options after he leaves school, but we and the school and the transition people are confident we can get him a place at a local college, and he can do a course involving animals, we call him Dr Doolittle!!!

There is no doubt in my mind he would be able to hold down a full time job, his problems are mainly with his reading abilities and in depth thought processess but he interacts almost normally and has made immense improvements over the last three years.

Are you a migrant?

Eve x

Sally Simpson

Try to stay positive Eve!
Good luck getting appointments organised today

eve209

Thanks Sallyclaire,

I have been upmost of the night googling I have found a wholeload of info about the assessments for intellectual disability and benefits in Oz so nowall we got to do is make sure our son DOES NOT pass the criteria!!!

We have phoned his school and asked for copies of absolutely everything they have on file, tests, assessments etc etc they said it will take a few weeks but the OH growled at them that he expects to pick it up in a few days not weeks, as it should all beon file within the school!!!

Will keep you all informed

Eve x

edie209

I would just like to say thanks to those who have offered some support with this. I am personally feeling at an all time low wondering if we will ever get to Australia now, I just wish I had noticed the problems my son has earlier. Anyway we will let you know further developments.

quoll

With the advent of inclusive education the "special school" system has gradually come to accommodate only the most needy of children and I didnt say all of them would not be independent but those who have the best chance of independence tend not to be in "special schools" but in units within mainstream schools (what you would call an education support centre -different names in different states). Sorry to have offended - of course schools and parents are always aiming for the least restrictive setting and the best possibility of an independent life - we have had paralympians coming out of our special schools - but, still, sadly, the vast majority whose needs are high enough to warrant a special school have very limited post school options including independent living.

Sally Simpson

And I would imagine this is the same the world over sadly!