Post#15 Learning Disabilities How a neurodivergent student’s educational progress is determined
When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he came through before he got to where he is. (Raisin in the Sun– L. Hansberry)[i]
I ask: How does an 8- or 9-year-old get the message that he is not perfect?
Or a neigbour girl, at about the same age: How does she get the message that she is the class problem?
Or the son of a friend: How was it that he would come home each day after school burned out trying to be good when he felt he was a problem in the class?
How was it that when Yasik’s coach wouldn’t let him be goalie, telling Dave Yasik was too small, Yasik automatically thought he had done something wrong, come up short again……
Somehow, somewhere, parents, for the most part, accept that once children are ready to enter kindergarten, parents are expected to hand over the education of their children to the nearest school. We complied immediately when Yasik’s school urged us to enroll him, another parental responsibility off the checklist, except, of course, for the homework sent home. It was the job of the school system to educate our child.[ii] `
Most researchers assume they know what happens if you don’t go to school: you don’t learn and you won’t succeed. They equate no school with no education, and leaving school with ‘dropping out’.[iii] I think it is likely ‘most researchers’ are joined by most educators and most parents. [I]t’s the teacher who tells the parent how the children are doing on Parents’ Evening…. They see education as something that happens at school.[iv]
The weekend following Yasik’s first week of school, we were doing the evening stroll endorsed since the days of Dick and Jane, walking past his new school. We pointed it out to him as I guess one sure way to ruin a weekend. Yasik wrinkled his nose, a very cute nose, and stuck out his tongue. But come Monday he went without a fight.
But first, a heads-up. This is not a diatribe against educators or the education system. Poke your head into any classroom or school office and you will find human beings. People who are full to the brim with caring and a desire to do their jobs to the best of their ability with the understanding and tools available.[v] For the most part they work from the foundation trending during their professional times.
I too was a teacher who wanted to be helpful but I held to the curriculum of the time, at times over the individual student’s needs, as the more pragmatic choice or ‘essential paradox’. I think I believed, ultimately that was the only way students were going to get anywhere. Preparing lessons plans from this premise, I too got some things right and other things wrong. I met needs and I failed to meet needs. But hey, I did allow one student with physical struggles to walk around a mall rather than jog around a track to complete her PE 12 requirement.
Based on articles and books I have come across, I will consider how schools get some things right and other things wrong as they define “normal” and how children get measured against it.
By age/peer expectations
We think about what others of their age are doing, and we judge it accordingly.[vi]
For the first years Yasik was passed along to the next grade with the assurance that he was “performing within the widely held expectations for his age group in most areas of the curriculum”.
‘Widely held expectations for his age group’ meant that kindergarten children are expected to recognize letters and sounds, count and sort numbers; grade one children are expected to read simple texts and add and subtract; grade two children are expected to be gaining reading fluency, writing skills and more complex mathematical concepts. I remember Yasik showing me how to count and do other arithmetic with finger math (chisanbop) or folding the 4th finger to do multiplication. In grade three, children are expected to no longer be ‘learning to read’ but ‘reading to learn’. From then on, Yasik was expected to be showing more and more independence in learning and the ability to deal with complex problem-solving assignments.
And if a child doesn’t meet those expectations, the next question becomes: what do we do about it?
Maybe that is a large part, and for the most part sensible reason, why we go with the flow and let the schools take over the education of our children. The educational system seeks to cover the bases most parents are not equipped to handle.
By Assessment
In grade three, Yasik was reading at a grade one level based on the above curriculum expectations for children his age. Recognizing this discrepancy, like Superman swooping in to rescue a child falling from a bridge, Yasik’s community school, bless them, found a way to get Yasik on the school-based assessment list for the testing available in the 90s. Then and now, the tests measure reading, writing, math skills and include measures of working memory, processing speed and executive functioning, along with tests for non-academic influences, such as emotional barriers to learning.[vii] Yasik will not have had as much opportunity to develop a test-taking comfort as the peers he was measured against but he certainly had developed a lowering of his self-esteem and a good dose of anxiety.[viii]
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), in particular, is a test of general cognitive or reasoning ability (IQ) on which the student’s performance is compared with the performance of other students of the same age. And as a reminder, addressing dyslexia specifically, Sally and Jonathan Shaywitz are quite clear that IQ is peer reference; IQ and reading difficulty are not linked.[ix]
For a long time now, there have been questions about the use of IQ testing, arguing that the way tests are given and to whom and in what frame of mind will influence the score. Zeroing in on testing children with learning differences, the concern is the use of a questionable tool that compares them to the expectations normal for their age group.
The reading I have done suggests a whole lot of equivocating is going on.
Paul Bloom will tell you that Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience. It is not merely book-learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings, “catching on,” “making sense” of things, or “figuring out” what to do”.
But before you start in on the arguments which question IQ testing to evaluate intelligence, Bloom puts up a finger to halt your retort in its tracks, for a moment at least.
… You’ve probably heard people say things like, “IQ tests don’t predict anything important.” That’s absolutely true – so long as you don’t think grades, jobs, money, health, or longevity are important. The fact is that intelligence test scores are highly correlated with just about every outcome that human beings care about.
And then Bloom gives your question the floor.
Do these tests really measure what they are supposed to measure?[x]
There are researchers who will tell you that IQ is genetic and fixed. There are researchers who will tell you that you may be able to increase your IQ. Apparently, confidence and test taking skill make a difference.[xi] Your score may decrease. An autistic child, someone who was outside the understood norm yet having some noticeable precocious skills, was sent, at the age of 11, to a state hospital in the 1970s. From that point on she dealt with little more life challenges than completing jigsaw puzzles. Observers could not ignore that with little stimulation, she withered away. She and others have all lost their luster early after admission…. If at all responsive to psychological testing, their IQs dropped down to figures usually referred to as low-grade moron or imbecile.[xii]
I came across an apt illustration making the point that the conditions in which a plant is grown make all the difference. Under good conditions plants thrive. However, regardless of the genes in plants, if they are raised in poor conditions they will not rise to their full potential. If children live in a healthy environment their IQ will reflect this support. If children live in an environment in which opposing forces seek to undermine their potential, their IQ will be adversely affected.[xiii] Thus we have a concluding note in Yasik’s assessment adding the qualifier that ‘some individuals do have changes in their intelligence scores over time’. Possible instability in the scoring needle might be seen but no hint at which direction the needle might lean was offered nor was any assurance given that the supports offered would move the needle to the right.
Perhaps due to the controversy, Grok adds that IQ tests are not given the authority they have had in the past.
By diagnosis
Parenting a Struggling Reader wants the reader to know that the psycho-ed testing has no tests to specifically diagnose for learning disabilities. Rather the evaluator must piece together information from tests, along with less formal assessments. These writers also point out that when the tests show a discrepancy between the IQ scores and the child’s achievement, …a discrepancy is not a diagnosis. [xiv]
While in university I took a second year Research Methods in Psychology course. I don’t remember why but for some reason my enthusiasm for university ebbed that semester. I nodded blankly over lectures and textbook readings for T-scores and standard deviation. I have tried since to clue in but still glaze over at the numbers involved. I get that Yasik’s scores were in comparison to peers. I get that the scores showed his standing in language-oriented skills and performance skills. I get that he was frustrated with his limited vocabulary or when he could not read or write as quickly as his classmates. I get that the assessment recognized that he was getting ESL support and that he demonstrated low risk-taking and fear of failure. I get the conclusions reached.
I do not understand the methods used. I do not understand the assessments summary of ‘low range for verbal (language -oriented skills)’ needing more processing time but ‘average range for performance– visual-motor spatial and perceptual skills’. I am fuzzy about the comments in the assessment that note ‘a weakness in visual-auditory learning bearing on cognitive efficiency’. Yasik has always learned best by watching, isn’t that visual? And usually the watching included listening, isn’t that auditory? But if visual-auditory includes learning from charts or lectures, then yes that is not the same as watching Forest Gump over and over.
Would it have helped to pay closer attention in that psych class? Maybe, for after the tests had been evaluated and we were invited to the post-assessment review, we were told a specific diagnosis would not be given. The closest one evaluator came to diagnosis was to tell us that most people go from A to B to C in their brains. Yasik will go from A to C and back to B, learning differently but learning anyway. And actually this has turned out to be sufficient and helpful. It says he has a learning difference, not an inability to learn. It says that yes with a difference he would need learning support, but, and this is the what needs to be heard above all, he would learn.
But…that lack of a specific diagnosis leads to another question; to diagnose or not to diagnose. Said another way: to label or not to label.[xv] If pragmatics, budget, efficiency and differences leading to diagnosis all matter then the debate over diagnosis leading to a label must be considered. While doing so we must remember, …a diagnosis is a description rather than an explanation.[xvi]
Unless you are reading Sally Shaywitz and son. They are very clear that dyslexia is a neurological condition. It is real and it needs diagnosis as early as possible for it gives identity and opens the door to support. The argument is: When we hide a condition, we take away the chance to ask for help. Hiding creates stigma while openness erases it… Celebrities willing to reveal their disabilities is helpful.[xvii] In the workplace, if coworkers don’t know about their colleague’s disability, how will they understand what is demanded of the disabled person to meet job expectations?[xviii]
To say nothing about what learning disabled people are do with a struggle they deal with daily, and without a diagnosis, do not understand.
Others question the helpfulness of a diagnosis, saying that support should be less complicated. If children have reading difficulties, for whatever reason, anti-diagnosis advocates would head straight to support, skipping the hurdles of diagnosis for the support remains the same whether they have dyslexia or not.[xix] The anti-diagnosis researchers fear that a diagnosis which attaches a label will actually create stigma. Once children are labelled they too often become seen as problems and become excluded… And add to all this the fact … that the student[s] end up adopting the world’s view of them. They are dumb, slow, or lazy. It’s a cycle of failure that chips away at their self-esteem until the student becomes so frustrated or ashamed that they give up.[xx]
Another ‘essential paradox’? Doors open to understanding and support with assessment and diagnosis. Doors get slammed close with assessment and diagnosis.
Footnotes
[i] As introduction to Interpreting WISC-III
[ii] Fischer, Naomi. Changing Our Minds; how children can take control of their own learning Robinson, 2021, 111
Lancaster, Kathy Keys to Parenting an Adopted Child, 2nd ed. Barrons Educational Series, 2009, 69
[iii] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 52, 111
[iv] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 111
[v] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 47
[vi] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 47
[vii] Hall, Susan L., & Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D. Parenting a Struggling Reader: a guide to diagnosing and finding help for your child’s reading difficulties Harmony, 2002, 143-144, 166
[viii] Mukherjee, Siddhartha The Gene: an intimate history, large print ed., Thorndike Non-Fiction, 2017, 534-535, 536, 538
[ix]Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020, 102
[x] Bloom, Paul Psych: the story of the human mind Ecco, 2023, 324-325
[xi] Burnett, Dean The Idiot Brain: a neuroscientist explains what your head is really up to HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd., 2016, 115, 116, 118, 151
Bohannon, Cat EVE: how the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution Random House Canada, 2023, 250-251
[xii] Silberman, Steve Neurotribes: the legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity Avery, 2016, 219-22
[xiii] Mukherjee, Siddhartha The Gene: an intimate history, large print ed., Thorndike Non-Fiction, 2017, 534-535, 536, 538
[xiv] Hall, Susan L., & Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D. Parenting a Struggling Reader: a guide to diagnosing and finding help for your child’s reading difficulties Harmony, 2002, 116 – 117, 119-120
[xv] Hall, Susan L., & Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D. Parenting a Struggling Reader: a guide to diagnosing and finding help for your child’s reading difficulties Harmony, 2002, 89
Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020, 102
Cherry, Kendra “Theories of Intelligence in Psychology” November 3, 2022 https://www.verywellmind.com/theories-of-intelligence-2795035
[xvi] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 29
[xvii] Grinker, Roy Richard Nobody’s Normal: how culture created the stigma of mental illness WW Norton, 2021, 317, 321
[xviii] Grinker, Roy Richard Nobody’s Normal: how culture created the stigma of mental illness WW Norton, 2021, 317, 321
[xix] Kale, Sirin “The Battle over Dyslexia’ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/sep/17/battle-over-dyslexia-warwickshire-staffordshire, 2020
Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020, 94-95,106-107, 140
[xx]Perry, Bruce, M.D., Ph.D. and Oprah Winfrey What happened to you: conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book, 2021, 221-222
Wilcox, Rebecca Bea’s wrong: we shouldn’t wish dyslexia on anyone: As Princess Beatrice claims dyslexia is a ‘gift’, TV presenter REBECCA WILCOX says… Daily Mail; London (UK) [London (UK)]. 19 Aug 2021: 42.
