C.O.R.E. Evaluations

Hi K.~

I don't know what state you are in but in most states the school district is REQUIRED to foot the bill for that sort of thing. I use to work in the Special Education department of a school in Maine and this was the case.

Hi K.
I am a special ed teacher so I might be able to help you.
Your doctor has misinformed you....a doctor needs to diagnose ADHD, not the school. What you need is a referal for a neurologist. They will do all kinds of psychological testing (not testing for a psychotic person lol) which will show if your child has any disabilities. Then you will be able to bring those results to the school. In the mean time youcan request psychological and academic testing from your school district and they are required by law to do it. You have to put it in writing and they have to do it within 30 school days of you signing consent. If your child gets a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD then the school can put him on an IEP (individual education plan). By the way, don't ask for a CORE, they don't exist anymore (thats like old school terminology! lol). if it was my child I would see the neurologist first. they can take several months to get an appointment with. I can give you some names if you want. Then beginning next school year I would request a team meeting with the school to discuss the doctors findings. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

K.,
My son was also diagnosed while he was in kindergarten. I was told to get him checked by his teacher. We went to my pediatrician who actually refered us to a behavior specialist in Umass hospital in Worcester MA. (Im not sure where you live but Im sure they would have one near you somewhere) That doctor was very resourceful. He diagnosed my son with ADHD as well as RAD. He gave us many options as far as meds or not and he was able to help us with the school stuff... I hope this helps a little. If you need any other information please email me at ____@____.com
Good Luck
A.

C.O.R.E. evaluations are done by the school. I have three children with ADHD and I have it as well. They have been tested by the school. If you want to know whether your child has ADD, you need to see a Developmental Behavioral Pediatric doctor.
Here are two near you:
Adair, Robin H., MD 55 Lake Avenue North Worcester, MA 01655 ###-###-####

Silverstein, Iris, MD 65 Walnut Street Waltham, MA 02453 ###-###-####

Good Luck. :)

I don't know anything about C.O.R.E evaluations but i know that my son has been having some problems paying attention,and behavioral problems we have tried everything we can think of for discipline and helping him to attend better. He's 4 1/2 he hasnt' been in preschool but is getting ready for kindergartten in the fall. I've also taken a look at things like asperger's syndrome add add/adhd finally we broke down and i said i don't konw what else to do, so we brought him to his Pedi, for a consultation. she is having us go for a developmental/behavioral evaluation of some sort at mass general(one of the only places they do it in my area) but it can take up to six months to get in she said untill he gets seen and gets a diagnosis of whatever then she wants him to be sseeing a childs therapist to so they can give us ideas on how to deal with him.. he's usually very nice and sooo loving but there are behaviors that he has been having that are NOT exceptable. and we need to figure out how to deal with that.
good luck with figuring it out.

Hi K., Where do you live? I only ask b/c some towns do not have the money to do a core eval for all children. I know that I myself had one done my freshmen yr in high school. I grew up in Lexington which has a very intense school system. I always did so well in school up untill 9th grade, I was having a lot of problems in my classes, so my mother insisted on a core eval to see if I had a learning disability. The school finally agreed after a lot of demanding and I did have a minor reading comprehention disability, but was hidden, b/c I was so social, and could talk my way through anything. They just thought when I started to have problems I was too into my social life, LOL!! Any way my point is to keep on the school, maybe your dr. can write a letter, or call someone and request it be done. Hope this helps, good luck!!!

Hi K.. I have been through the testing process myself when I was a child. At that the it was the Director of Special Needs who performed the evaluation. Be careful with the school though. When I was growing up (I don't know how it is now) schools didn't want to take responsibility for special needs kids. I had a learning disability like dyslexia, but because it costs extra money to provide accomodations, the evaluation I received was not correct. It was a report of lies put together for the schools agenda. Had my mother listened to the school I may not have graduated from high school because their report, written by the school's special ed director, stated: "It is unrealistic to expect A. to make a years gain in a years time". It basically said I was below avergae intelligence in every area and there was nothing they could do to help me...a round about way of saying border-line mentally retarded...don't bother. I would have falllen behind more and more each year if my mother had listened. Sadly some of the staff at some schools have an agenda and don't care about the kids.

You say they suspect ADD and not a learning disability though. I don't think accomodations are needed for ADD since it's usually treated with medication and is a behavior disorder and not a learning disability. On top of the evaluation the school will do, I suggest getting an independent evaluation done by a neuro-psychologist. Because my mother trusted her instincts with me, she sent me for a second opinion at U-Mass with Dr. Barkley, who was an ADD expert and leading the research on it.
With the support of the parent formed group the "Parent Advisory Council" of the school, and a personal advocate, the school was forced to provide accomodations for me and acknowledge my learning disability.

Again, ADD is different and the times may be differet as well. I personally think the 2 evaluations will give you the best, clearest and most well-rounded picture of your child's needs. The neuro-psychologist will also be able to give you the best treatment recommendations. Remember ADD is an overdiagnosed disorder, and there is a possibility of treatments other than medication, like a controlled diet, though medication may be exactly what your child needs.

ALSO IMPORTANT***Always make sure any correspondence you send to the school in regards to this is sent Return Receipt Requested. This way they can't claim to "never get" your mail. Keep all correspondence written and filed away so you can reference it at any time. This will keep them accountable and prevent you from any unneeded headaches.

By the way...I'm a college graduate. I have a Bachelors. So much for border-line retarded.

Hi K.! I have a daughter-in-law with a child with ADD, and a business associate in Rumney who has likely experienced some of what you are going through with C.O.R.E. Her name is Susan Gould, and her email address is: ____@____.com

She is a wonderful, caring person.... so let her know that I gave you her name.... perhaps she can help.

In friendship and wellness,
G. Gold
The Wellness Tree
www.wellness-tree.net

Hello, I am a mother of an 8 1/2 year old son whom has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome after many doctors telling me it was ADHD & ADD and some saying it was far more medically wrong, another phychiatrist said he was bipolar , finally having a lower less serious diagnosis of Asperger syndrome; thanks to having 3 Core Evualuations... I live in Chelsea, and after doing much research and discussing it with my son's pediatrician my son had his 1st core evaluation when he was 3 , and that one was paid for by my insurance and was done in my home... that was conducted by Early Intervention... The other two Core evualtions were conducted at the public school my child attends and it was paid for by the state, all you should have to do is request a core evaluation directly from the principal or school social worker, not the teacher as they are often told to talk the parent out of it because its hard to schedule, often done in a two day testing because it is conducted by a physchitarist and a tester. They test every part of your child's cognitive learning and mental/ emotional status in many different tests, then they meet with the parent and discuss thier findings, so its a time consuiming situation for th eschool dept. however it is a service that is offeredy the school system, i researched that,if your child goes to a public school, and depending on the findings the school has to make the necessary changes to accomadate your child if needed secondary to the results fo the test.

Hello K.,

I hope this helps you..What we did was have Child Development Serives do some evals on him..The teacher that thought he was add/adhd was wrong..It ended up being a SENSORY problems witch shows signs of having one or both above..Sensory Integration Dyfunction..Here are some web sites for you it can't hurt to check them out.. www.childrendisabilities.info/sensoryinterration/activite...

www.comeunity.com/disability/senoryintergration/activitie...

www.juststeve.com

www.geocities.com/heartland/fields/6979/SIactivites.html This one gives you insite of commonly seen behaviors in children who exhibit sensory intergrative difficulties...I would look at this site first see if this gives you any insite..

I'm not familiar with this evaluation, however, it has always been my understanding that if a parent requests a special ed. evaluation, the school system should foot the bill.
You would begin with the school's counselor/director of pupil services, who would then call a meeting with you, his teacher, the school psychologist, and special ed teachers, and the observations would be stated, and it would be determined which tests/evaluations your son would need.
Personally, i think it's ridiculous that your son's school system will only refer students who are in DSS custody. FIght for your son. You're his best advocate.

Hi K.,

Welcome to my world! I also have three boys (9, 6 and 2). My middle is diagnosed with ADHD after years of wondering.

From 9 months on Collin was different and I knew something was wrong. Just didn't know what. He started with Early Intervention at 2. They were wonderful. Gave him OT and Speech. Came to the house twice a week. Then Marlboro schools took over. He went to ECC. Wonderful. In the mean time I was getting him into Childrens Hospital for an evaluation there. First you have to fill out a ton of paperwork. Once you, your pedi, and his teachers fill out their part, you can submit and THEN you get put on the waiting list for their C.O.R.E evaluation. The wait time is 18 months. We waited a year. He went into Childrens over this past summer for a 4 hour testing. That's when we finally got his diagnosis of ADHD and recommendations.

As for the school, you have to go in and talk to the right people to get the ball rolling on a C.O.R.E test and get him on a I.E.P (individual education plan).

If you need more info my home number is ###-###-####. I'd be happy to give you Childrens hospital numbers and Dr.s names. They were wonderful too. They were also extremely impressed with Marlboros proactiveness with my Collin.

Hope this helps.

I also encountered this same situation with my daughter. I wrote to the Principle of the school and they conducted the testing that they now repeat every 3 years. Fight as hard as you can now for your son to get and IEP individual education plan. Have it include extra time for tests, tests outside the classroom in a smaller setting, accomodations for sitting up at the front of the room, help in math and reading. these things may not seem important now, but as he gets older he may need these things and in upper grades they are not easy to get. Once you get it don't ever let them delete items. Your son may be doing great with the extra help, but if it's taken away he may not be able to keep up with others in his class.

I am a public school teacher, and the system is required to pay for the testing (and do the testing) if they deem it necessary, or even if a parent requests. A doctor's note can't hurt, but the payment shouldn't be an issue, and the child does not have to be in DSS custody to get it done. I work in MA and have taught here for nine years; it has always been this way. Good luck - teachers really do have the best interests of you and your child at heart when they make recommendations!

Good luck with getting the school to do it for you.

Every state is different, but in Maine the classroom teacher has to make a pre-referral to the special ed. coordinator or the guidance counselor. A meeting (called a PET here) is scheduled. The teacher must show evidence of what he/she has done to try to improve the productivity and/or behavior of the child in the classroom. If it is determined that normal, reasonable accomodations are not working in the classroom setting, and, if the behaviors are apparent in more than one environment (i.e, school and home, school and day care, etc.), then testing will be approved. The parent(s) and teacher will fill out some questionnaire-like paperwork to help the psychologist know what to look for.
The testing can be expensive, but it is federal law that children with disabilities (including ADD) must be provided with services in order to allow them to work in their "least restrictive environment", loosely translated as an environment most favorable for their success, with the regular ed. classroom always being the goal. Children with ADD often stay in the regular ed. classroom, but have specific accommodations and support to help them be successful. See the principal or special ed. coordinator at your son's school, or talk to his teacher again about doing a referral.
Goodluck! Don't let it go just because people seem to be giving you some run-around. Sometimes in kindergarten they're not as quick to refer kids b/c school is new to many kids. I teach 4th grade, and by the time they get to that age, the behaviors have gotten worse and worse and they feel dumber and dumber b/c of their disability. As a result, many kids start to tune-out, become defiant, and/or dislike school. So don't let it go for too long! At very least, meet with his teacher to come up with some strategies that you can use at home and she can use at school so there is consistency.

(After reading all of the responses by others, I see that some people have had bitter experiences with special ed., or public schools in general. Realize that most public schools spend an incredible amount of money on spec. ed. services, often at the expense of other programs and staffing, but they are required to provide services. If we in the public schools entertained every request every time a parent thought that their kid needed special help, we would suffocate under the weight. There is a process, which can sometimes be lengthy (but shouldn't be more than 3 or 4 months), because the kids who truly have special needs will continue to have special needs after all is said and done. Those whose parents just find it easier to let the schools do everything will not usually follow the process all the way through. Educators are in the kid business b/c we love them, not to try to be cunning and neglectful! Sometimes tests come out wrong, sometimes mistakes happen, but they are mistakes, not a ploy by schools to ignore children's problems!)

i just wanted to let you know that every school is required to give the evaluation..they may not want to cause it is costly, but they have to if you request it! my daughter had a i.e.p, (individualized education plan)made for her through her school because she has a.d.d it was the best thing that has ever happend to us they did tests and found out her strengths and weaknesses and gave what ever extra time and classes she needed to stay on top, another good thing is a magazine called a.d.d.itude it has helped me understand her so much better and gives you places to go for extra help and explains about schools and the evaluations they do, if you want anymore info i have plenty please feel free to contact me back! hope this helps! :)

Hello K.:

I'm a Mom of a 14 year old boy whom has special needs. (learning disabilities, adhd, bi-polar, occupation and physical needs)

With a note written from from your doctor you can request the school to perform the CORE or any other testing required to identify those areas that require attention/needs in order for your son to learn.

Since his teacher has requested that you as his parent seek help throught his doctor only confirms the need for testing, whatever the school deems appropriate to identify those area of weakness that are preventing your son from obtaining his education.

I would recommend that you obtain a copy your son's educational rights through your school's Special Service Office. I can't think of the name but it's something like Maine Special Education Regulations.

You can also request a Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) meeting and ask for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) be developed to address the goals to be obtained in educating you son.

All of these efforts are the school's responsibilities and at their cost. DO NOT LET THEM TELL YOU OTHERWISE.

From my experience any coorespondance with the school should be in writing either in written or email form.

Remember you are the only one who knows your child and his needs, it the schools job to teach him no matter what those needs are and you are his best avocate for insuring that the school provides those services to insure that he is getting an education, "...in the least restrictive setting."

You go girl ! Need any help or just an ear..... ____@____.com.

Smiles
-W.

I have 4 boys, 3 of them have ADHD. I have found through hard knocks that you have to educate yourself more than the educators sbout how the law reads and not take their word as gospel. First I'd like to recommend a couple of web sites that helped me. swabblearning.org and wrightslaw.com are ecellent in helping you understand the process.

When you request a CORE eval you needd to be specific about the areas of concern too. He has difficultly focussing, sitting still and is impulsive. He may have problems organizing his thoughts or holding things in his short term memory.

My boys have problems with their processing speed. They loose the information as it goes from their brain to writting. Processing speed can effect every area of learning. There is a great web site icelp.org that helped me find a program that helped my now 16 year old son.

If your insurance will cover the COREE the school does not have to pay but most insurances won't. Sometimes it is worth paying for an independant evaluation because they are lookig to find what may be holding your child back and finding soltions that work. The school will have to take the advice of the independant eval as if they had done it.

If the school does the eval and you request an independant one at their expence they will only pay for it if those findings differ from theirs.

The most important thing is to start keeping records of all correspondance and discussions and with whom as well as when. You also need to rule out medical problems that may cause the symptoms like poor vision and hearing loss. An evaluation bt a neurologist or neuropsychologist is best and you should look into places that specialize in screening for learning disablities. I took my oldest to MGH center for learning disablities and they were very helpful in that they recommended ways how to teach my son. He needed decreased stimulation, a bland environment, less items on a page etc. They also recommended that he NOT be put on medication as the school wanted becuse he was still neurologically immature.(He was a lefty but still writting with his right hand.)

Your public school is required by law (at least in Massachusetts) to
> do what is the equivalent of C.O.R.E. testing to determine if your
> child need an Individualized Education Plan (or I.E.P.) if you have
> requested it in writing to your school principal. Our son was
> diagnosed with ADHD in first grade after a very expensive private
> evaluation from a local psychologist specializing in ADHD. When I
> compared the school's evaluation with the psychiatrist's they were
> very similar, however, this may be because my son's school is very
> through, and they have the resources to test many different aspects of
> learning development.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Judi Nickels

K., you must write a letter to the teacher and state that you want your child evaluated. once this is done you have started the process. by law, the school has 45 days in which to respond. they will do a core evaluation and you will meet with the team which consists of the ones who did the testing and his teachers and you. they will let you know what they found and how to go about helping your child.

If i remember correctly when my oldest was diagnosed, I got a questionare from a dr who specializes in adhd. He gave me a six page questionare to give to the school to have all his teachers fill out. then the doctor did his own evaluation and extensive testing. He came back as falling in the guidelines of an adhd child. I chose no medication, but instead changed his diet and taught him diet control as well as anger management and how to utilize his time more actively to help burn off some of the big energy he had. You'd never know now at 17 that he was that same spazzy kid.

Good luck!!!!

Hi K.,

My son was recently diagnosed with AD/HD. The way it came about was the at the parent/teacher confrence, my son's teacher stated that Hunter was having a hard time focusing. I then asked her what I needed to do and she said call his pcp and have his assessed. With that said, the DOCTOR needs to give you two booklets, one for you to fill out and one for the SCHOOL to fill out. After you have both of them, you call the doctor to bring them both in (it is easier if you have them both together). The doctor then looks over them and determines if it is ADD or AD/HD. After the diagnoses is made, the doctor writes a formal note stating his/her findings. Once all that is done, the school has I believe 10days to set up a team meeting, with you, the school nurse, school psychologist, classroom teacher, oucupational therapist, and if your child is receiving services for other issues, whoever else that is involved with your child's education. My husband and I have decided not to medicate our son, we prefer to try all other methods first. Changing his diet is NOT one of them, but having him sit up front next to the teacher so that he can be re-directed almost right away, reading out loud to him (something we have always done) but innstead of him following my finger as we read, have him use his finger as we read. I am researching other non-medication methods. Soory this is so long and that it helps you some. If you want or need to talk more about the issue at hand I am very willing to talk more...
____@____.com
N.

Hi K.,

I have gone through a similiar situation. My son was premature and he always had some issues with attention and language. But I really need to tell you that unless he is in private school or parochial the school system is required by law to do the CORE evaluation. Don't let them tell you otherwise. This is a state if not a federal law.The evaluation has nothing to do with DSS custody.
What school district are you at?
I hope you demand services because I know how they can give you the brush off.
Good Luck.
My e-mail address is ____@____.com