By Dr. Sheila Clonan

By Michelle Storie

By Dr. Sheila Clonan

​..First, let’s address the issue of whether or not dyslexia is an appropriate, school-based diagnosis supported by special education law. The short answer: YES. Dyslexia is a specific presentation of a language-based “Specific Learning Disability” in Reading—the most common one, in fact. Special Education law (or IDEA) defines a specific learning disability as
“a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.” (See 20 U.S.C. §1401(30) and 34 CFR §300.8(c)(10) (emphasis added).

So again, yes. 
But...

By Dr. Sheila Clonan

​Often, bright students with attentional difficulties “fall between the cracks” of services available in the school system. While Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not included in the 13 disability categories covered under special education law, some students qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and special education services through a label of “Other Health Impaired.” However, in order to qualify for such services in most school systems, the student typically needs to be failing. This is not an entirely accurate interpretation of the law, however, which merely states that the disability must “adversely affect educational performance.”  Nonetheless, to qualify for an IEP in most school systems, the child needs to be struggling academically and deemed to require specialized instruction (or special education). 

​But what about the student doing “just well enough,” who manages, through extra hard work and effort—and the more-than-occasional parental “rescue” to make adequate grades?  With some strong parental advocacy, that student may qualify for accommodations via a “504 Plan,” which is supported by federal civil rights law and provides accommodations to the learning environment (but no direct, or “specialized” instruction). 

Written by Dr. Sheila Clonan

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is a three-tier process for providing intervention and supports to students prior to the initiation of any assessment for special education. The idea is that, by providing targeted, research-based interventions early, we can ameliorate relatively mild learning difficulties, thereby preventing the need for designation as a student with a disability.  It began in response to an all-too-common problem—which became known as the “wait to fail” model. That is, in the past, students quite literally had to fail before they would be tested for special education and therein provided necessary intervention.  
 
Tiered levels of support like RTI, in contrast, are based on prevention models. Tier one generally consists of an effective core curriculum in the classroom. Theoretically, this will address the learning needs of approximately 80% of students.  The remaining 20% will be provided with what is often called “Tier 2” intervention: intervention that targets learning in a fairly generic- but efficient- way.  Let’s take the case of reading. Most schools collect progress monitoring data on all students. Then they identify a “cut-off” score that indicates the child is in the lower quartile and may benefit from Tier 2 intervention.  At this stage, most schools have a ready-prepared intervention to offer. Some schools used computer-based programs, such as Fast ForWord or Accelerated Reader. Others offer an additional reading group with the school’s literacy specialist. For approximately some of the children involved in Tier 2 intervention, the additional instruction—almost regardless of the form it takes—will be enough to help them get up to speed. 
 
For children with a specific learning disability such as Dyslexia, however, such standard interventions will rarely be enough to close the gap between them and their peers. Instead, these students require systematic, intensive, phonologically-based reading instruction targeted specifically to their individual needs and administered by a highly trained instructor.  Students with Dyslexia are generally missing some of the important building blocks of reading—the cognitive components that underlie accurate and fluent reading. However, they often “progress”—ie, memorize enough words—just enough to make it look like they are benefitting from the generic intervention. This makes school staff reluctant to test the child for a learning disability. But unfortunately, memorization is a very inefficient strategy- and the progress will not be enough to close the gap between the student and her peers, nor to repair the foundational skills on which on which reading is built.
 
We often see students who have inched along in this way- progressing just enough to avoid failure, but not enough to catch up- or, more importantly, learn the skills they need to ultimately become accurate and fluent readers. These students tend to be bright, creative and hard-working. They work hard enough— and usually have enough support from their parents—that they earn passing grades despite falling farther and farther behind in their reading. They often spend hours upon frustrating hours completing homework. They tend to do poorly on tests- but excel in oral participation- or other aspects of the school day. Sometimes teachers wonder if they are making “careless” mistakes—maybe they need to slow down, “try harder”- or, my all-time favorite- “look harder.” They may be reading well enough to get the “gist” of the information—so they can maintain the appearance of being able to read enough to “keep up,” but gist reading is notoriously unreliable in decontextualized reading such as in textbooks- or worse, multiple choice tests. 
 
Often, the parents of these children have repeatedly shared concerns with school staff that “something is wrong” but been (falsely) reassured that “he’s young yet” or “she’s progressing at her own rate.”  Your child is not failing, they may add, and so does not have an educational disability.  While we’ve no doubt that these staff members mean well, the end result is that the student suffers for years, believing that she is stupid or slow, working hard but never managing to keep up.  Finally, frustrated, parents turn to a private evaluator, seeking an understanding. They know their child is smart, they see how hard he is working, and they want to what can be done to help him. 
 
When implemented as intended, Response to Intervention can enhance student learning. The intention of the prevention process is to shift educational resources away from classification of disabilities and toward the provision and evaluation of effective instruction. Through early screening, schools can identify and provide support more quickly to struggling learners.  In practice, however, the process all too often delays the provision of appropriate evaluations and services (as noted in this 2011 Memo to all State Directors of Special Education, the U.S. Department of Education).  If you have concerns about your child’s educational progress and feel that school staff are delaying evaluation and support, you have the right to request an evaluation in all areas of suspected disability. Put your request in writing. See more about how to get your child evaluated in our ebook, A Parent’s Guide to Educational Assessment in New York. 
​

Written by Dr. Sheila Clonan
September 27, 2015 @ 9:30 am

Recent neurological studies have given us greater insight into brain plasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt or change in response to experience.  This is the science behind such popular brain exercise apps like LumosityTM and CognifitTM that aim to re-train the brain by making new connections in neural circuits.  The idea is that by engaging in intensive and repetitive exercises that are tailored for specific goals, skills like memory, cognitive processing, and attention can be improved.  The jury may still be out on the effectiveness of some of these self-administered apps, but there is good research and evidence that brain plasticity is real. There is also substantial evidence that working memory, the part of the brain function that is key in handling processing, can be definitively improved through intensive intervention.  This is good news for all, but especially for children who are struggling in school as a result of a learning disability that may have a direct connection to working memory.  Such learning disabilities among children include ADHD, Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders.   

Written by Dr. Kimberly Williams
9/18/2015 at 7:18 PM

Sending your child to college can be stressful enough for parents, but perhaps particularly so for parents of students with disabilities. I have worked with college students with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and other disabilities for several years and there are a few lessons I’ve found to be critical for a student to set herself up for success:

Written by Dr. Sheila Clonan
9/5/15 at 8:05 pm

If you live in Central New York and are looking for out of school resources to have your child tested for educational issues such as learning disabilities, dyslexia, ADHD, giftedness, school anxiety, or behavioral issues, you may find the search daunting.  The fact is that outside of the public school system, there is a shortage of qualified professionals offering comprehensive psychoeducational testing services for children.  This is especially true in Central New York or the areas between Binghamton, Watertown, Rochester, and Utica, where specialized services can be challenging to find. I’ve had many parents tell me that they were given a list of providers by their school or physician, called all 15-20 phone numbers only to find most disconnected, no longer in practice, or not qualified to provide the desired service.