Friday, October 14, 2011

Diagnosed: Or, I'm Pretty Much Always Right

If you read my post yesterday you know I've been worrying about my Boy.

Moms KNOW when things are wrong. I've especially known with my son. He had several ear infections as a baby. The nurses would shake their heads and humor me but it was clear they thought I was an over-reactive mother. Every time I brought him in he had an ear infection. I just knew.

So my husband and I went to the Mayo Clinic yesterday morning to find out the results of the K Man's 4-hour tests.

Things we learned:

Our son is very intelligent. (No kidding! I knew that!)

He's exceptionally brilliant with verbal skills. (When he talks nonstop? Thanks Captain Obvious!)

Math skills? Average. Math word problems? Exceptional.

We were told that they diagnose disabilities when intelligence scores and skill scores differ by 15 points or more. K's intelligence and spelling scores differed by 40 points.

What does this mean? It means he is extraordinarily intelligent. It also means that when it comes to spelling and writing, he has a block.

Dyslexia is a term that Mayo no longer uses. Too general. Too broad. K's disorder is something to do with writing. The technical term escapes me, as it did the physician who had to check his notes. It's new terminology. It narrows the diagnosis.

I'm both relieved and sad. I knew there was something going on with him. I KNEW he was sooooo smart. Now we'll learn together how to teach differently.

Have I mentioned that I love the heck out of this kid?

1 people like me!:

Amanda said...

You'll be amazing.

 
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