Update on my daughter

[_Fence Sitter]

Best wishes MS Jack. Your daughter sounds like she has a lot going for her.

[_beastie]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and well wishes.

Beastie, it sounds like your granddaughter might be in a similar boat to my daughter. Speech delays and developmental delays are the two things that are almost universal to VCFS. At age 3 the only words she was saying were "mom" and "no," and she didn't say those very often. (She knew "nana," but my mother had died almost a year earlier, so she wasn't really saying it anymore.) for what it's worth, we got her into special education pre-school and they really worked wonders on her. By the second year of pre-school, her vocabulary was "exploding." For kindergarten, she did a full day of school---half special ed, half a normal classroom. For first grade, she's been in a normal classroom with an aid, and if she acts up or is having trouble in class, they take her back to the special education classroom for some hands-on work. We're pretty pleased that she's gotten that far. She needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, but she is improving. I hope that you're able to see similar success with your granddaughter.

When I told my husband the IQ news last night, he was shocked. He said he doesn't believe it. My FIL is a neuropsychologist, so I may ask him what he thinks.

Thank you for giving me more hope. I know our spec ed teacher is fantastic, so I'm hoping I can report a similar "explosion" for her!

In regards to the IQ, I'm surprised they didn't caution you how unreliable IQ tests are at such a young age. In addition, children with low IQs can, given enough support, far exceed what one would normally "expect" from them. I have worked with children struggling with reading most of my career, and you have to take these IQ scores with a grain of salt. In my experience, parental involvement and the child's personal motivation can override a low "magic number". I have had many parents tell me about how a doctor told them, when their child was very young, that the child would not be able to achieve at a normal rate, and they proved the doctor wrong.

[_LDSToronto]

Jack, best wishes to you and your family. Information goes a long way in coping and in treatment.

Be careful with accepting and dismissing the results of the IQ test. Intelligence scales, when used with children, are often used as a diagnostic and as a confirmation tool. VCFS kids typically test in the 70-90 points of IQ range, confirming further the diagnosis of VCFS.

More importantly is the fact that the IQ test is dimensional - this means that any learning disability your daughter may have can be zeroed in on, dependent on how she performs in various dimensions of the test.

The most important thing is not to obsess over the measure! Prior to knowing your daughter's IQ, was knowing her IQ all that important to you and your husband? I would guess it probably was not. Don't let this information eat you up. Your daughter hasn't changed because her capability in certain dimensions of an IQ test is now quantifiable. Think of it as a measure of her height and weight and eye colour - it is what it is.

I bid you peace, Jack - I know you will struggle a bit with this, and so I can only offer good thoughts.

H.

[_Always Changing]

More importantly is the fact that the IQ test is dimensional - this means that any learning disability your daughter may have can be zeroed in on, dependent on how she performs in various dimensions of the test.

Profile analysis can be carried too far. The Standard Error of Measurement needs to be considered. Clusters of subtests are a more legitimate angle of inquiry. Is the profile generally level, or are there some peaks and valleys? If so, those peaks can be used for developing instructional interventions. The valleys themselves can be brought up by introducing related activities.

[_LDSToronto]

More importantly is the fact that the IQ test is dimensional - this means that any learning disability your daughter may have can be zeroed in on, dependent on how she performs in various dimensions of the test.

Profile analysis can be carried too far. The Standard Error of Measurement needs to be considered. Clusters of subtests are a more legitimate angle of inquiry. Is the profile generally level, or are there some peaks and valleys? If so, those peaks can be used for developing instructional interventions. The valleys themselves can be brought up by introducing related activities.

OK, but let's not forget this was just the first in a series of many steps for Jack's daughter. You have to start somewhere.

That aside, I don't want to derail this thread, and feel we ought to return to well-wishes and support for MsJack's family.

H.

[_MsJack]

Thanks again, Lucy Harris and LDST. I will keep your opinions in mind.

I never gave much thought to IQ tests before Monday; I'm not even sure that I've had one myself, or what my score was. But I think that parents are always on the look-out for signs of their children's genius or ability to excel, even if they've been pragmatically told that will never be the case. And I think every new line of writing on the wall to that effect still hurts, even when you knew it was coming. When my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I hoped in my heart up until the point of her death that she might beat it anyways, even though I knew rationally how unlikely that was.

by the way, Lucy Harris: welcome to the forum. I'm enjoying your comments.

[_Analytics]

I'm of the opinion that being in the top x% in terms of intelligence or money are overrated in terms of what they contribute to your real quality of life and happiness.

That said, here is an anecdote. My second-grade teacher was convinced that I belonged in the resource room. Ten years later, I got a 1200 on the SAT. Everybody grows at their own pace.

[_Always Changing]

by the way, Lucy Harris: welcome to the forum. I'm enjoying your comments.

Thanks, Jack. I enjoy this place.

[_MsJack]

Thought I'd let y'all know that my daughter is having surgery @ Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago on January 16th. It's a cleft palate repair. She'll be in the hospital for 1-2 nights. (My birthday is on January 17th, so the timing kind of sucks.) This will be her 4th surgery, 2nd attempt at repairing the palate.

Thank you again for the kind words on her condition. If you pray, please pray that the surgery will go well & will actually improve her speech. The doctors think it has a good chance of improving her speech, but it's not for certain.

[_zeezrom]

Thought I'd let y'all know that my daughter is having surgery @ Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago on January 16th. It's a cleft palate repair. She'll be in the hospital for 1-2 nights. (My birthday is on January 17th, so the timing kind of sucks.) This will be her 4th surgery, 2nd attempt at repairing the palate.

Thank you again for the kind words on her condition. If you pray, please pray that the surgery will go well & will actually improve her speech. The doctors think it has a good chance of improving her speech, but it's not for certain.

If I don't pray, I will think about it and hope it goes well. Merry Christmas, MsJack.