Please... Does Anyone Have Advice?

Why is it a last resort to put her in the slower paced class?

The slower paced class might be just what she needs and she may end up thriving in this class. Once she gets it her skills may really take off. Please follow the teacher's recommendation.

Why wouldn't you just put her in the slower paced class? Some kids are not as good at some subjects why make her struggle to make you feel better? It is a class, there will be other kids in the class. Wouldn't you rather be in a class with kids like you rather than a class where you are always seen as not keeping up?

i'm not sure why your teacher's recommendation would be a last resort. if your daughter is struggling, and she's in speech therapy, it may well be that a different class is just what she needs, either to meet her needs, or take some pressure off her while she catches up (if indeed your pediatrician is correct.)
seems a pretty vague diagnosis, though.
the zoning out could be an indication of a bigger problem, unless you're just mistaking absent-mindedness or being lost in her thoughts as a bigger deal than it is.
what seems clear is that you need to get her evaluated, both to give you some peace of mind and to get her situated where it will do her the most good.
khairete
S.

I would push your pediatrician to give you a referral to see if she has seizures. "Zoning out" can be indicative of "absence" seizures...where someone stares off for a few seconds. This can make learning very hard. I also second Diane's suggestion of being tested for ADD. My daughter has this, and we had no idea because she didn't have the hyperactivity part. Since she has been evaluated by the school's speech therapist, did they do any other testing? If no, you need to request that too. Occupational therapy and the school psychologist both need to test her. If there are any issues in those areas - then she needs help now.

There is a Federal law that requires each school district provide testing and services for students with learning disability/ies. In my county the office that provides this service is called._____ County Educational Service District. Have you've asked them for testing? Two of my grandchildren were evaluated and receive help. My 15 yo granddaughter still has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) she receives extra help with writing. For her this means extra time for assignments requiring writing. She has one class in which she receives help. She also receives help with ADD.

My 12 yo grandson has been diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum. He is diagnosed with a processing disorder, apraxia of speech (has difficulty making letter sounds) and ADHD. He also has an IEP.

Their mom first took them to the County Educational Service District for testing. This office helped get an IEP for both of them. My grandson had received help from outside professionals that were paid by private insurance.

I've seen mom's on this sight suggest having an evaluation by a pediatric neurologist. There are many specialists to help with diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities.

What is a slower paced classroom? I once had a teaching certificate. Students were assigned to classrooms based on level of skills. If the classroom is a regular classroom operating at a slower pace, I suggest this should be your first choice. Apparently your daughter has difficulty keeping up with classmates. Consider how she feels having difficulty. In her current classroom she doesn't succeed. She may be able to learn in a different classroom. She may feel more success and have less frustration. This may enable her to learn more quickly.

Not much info here about what you've already tried. You say "nothing seems to help" but you don't say what you have already tried. Has she been evaluated for special needs? For attention issues? Have you raised your concerns about her "zoning out" with her pediatrician to rule out any medical causes? Is she getting any help already for the speech issues? Can you say why you are opposed to putting her in a different class (social issues, other reasons)? More info would help enormously - there's just no way to advise you based on this slight bit of info.

You can add info to the bottom of your post with the lead-in "ETA" ("Edited To Add") and that will help a lot of moms and educators who are about to read this. And may I suggest that you take your child's name out of any post you put on the internet? It's just not safe.

My brother had a hard time learning to read and write. Is your daughter dyslexic? I think it is good to find a specialist. It could be many things. My advice is to go to specialists and not the pediatrician because in my experience they just do now know about specific problems. My brother never did well academically and really struggled in college. He was determined though and retook every class he failed. And retook some again. He finally barely squeaked by and finally graduated after 7 years. He is not dumb at all...just not good with academics. After many years of contract construction jobs and fire fighting jobs he finally got a job with the forest service. He moved up and is a manager now and is very good at what he does. You may need to always hire tutors. You may need to put her in the slower class. This is ok! If this is the class that will help her most then it is where she should be. Good luck.

It sounds like you think there is a connection between her speech impediment and her "zoning out." This may or may not be the case. I would talk to her teacher and sppech teacher together. Find out more about these moments where she zones out. Find out whether or not it seems like more than just your average kid zoning out (which they all do from time to time - heck, adults zone out!) Ask there thoughts on whether or not any of this is at all related to speech. If they think there is something more going on, they might give you an idea of the type of person to have your doctor refer you to - psychologist, psychiatrist, nuerologist, etc.

What do you mean when you say you are trying to find a specialist. Her speech teacher at school is a specialist. This is a person with a Master's Degree in speech and language. This person has the same credentials as a specialist your doctor would refer you to. If you think it would benefit your daughter, you could still do that and give her more time with a therapist in addition to school. But the speech teacher at school is just as qualified.

Set up an appointment to talk to the teacher and the speech teacher together. You can even ask the school to evaluate your daughter and see where that leads you. Remember, you want to do what's best for your daughter. If she needs to slow down in reading for a time, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You can always work with her over the summer to help her get caught up. But making her go at a pace that's too fast for her isn't going to help her at all. But definitely set up that meeting.

Do get her tested for epilepsy. If this is what her "zoning out" really is, it needs to be controlled. You don't mention how long this zoning out has been going on - but I will tell you that if it is epilepsy and left untreated, it will get worse and the brain then learns seizures. (have a dau that has this - but she is grand mal -ie full blown convulsive seizures)

This zoning out - have you ever asked the ped to have her assessed by a pediatric neurologist for petit mal epilepsy? Honestly, I will be shocked if you have never had a doctor bring this up. If she has epilepsy (petit mal is not a great big convulsive seizure), her brain NEEDS MEDICATION if she is to learn and keep up with everyone. It's hard on the brain to have these little seizures unchecked.

Please get her evaluated. Don't take no for an answer. In order to continue learning to read, her brain needs to rest and grow, and epilepsy makes that difficult.

Good luck!

For speech impediment - sing a lot and work on tongue twisters - make it fun!
People who stutter don't stutter when they sing - it makes them use a different part of their brain.
Singing can help with speech.
Sometimes it's the teeth that's the culprit.
Has she lost baby teeth recently and/or does she have or need braces?
Straighter teeth or grown in adult teeth often help with speech problems.

For reading - read with her - all the time - any time you have to wait for anything (10 min or more) - then READ - I never traveled anywhere without a book - we had whole Dr Seuss books memorized.
Play games with her (you read odd pages, she reads even pages) - read to each other out loud.

For zoning out - is she getting enough quality sleep?
Are her tonsils/adenoids enlarged and does she snore up a storm every night?
Having our sons tonsils/adenoids out at 4 (they were NOT infected but swelled up so much they were almost an obstruction) helped his sleeping ENORMOUSLY!
She needs 10 to 11 hrs of quality sleep every night.
Make sleep a priority and make sure she gets it.

Why is it a "last resort" to place her in a class where she might best be suited?

I would think you would do anything to help her get on track. Switching a class is a no brainer and you would be able to evaluate her to see if she improves.

As for the zoning out and such, I have no idea but if this has been going on for some time, I would have found a specialist a long time ago.

Third grade is a critical grade where children are stepping up to learn strategies in math, science and language Arts.

Please talk and listen with her teachers, Dr's and guidance counselors a the school. They are trying to help you.

A little more information might provide moms on here with the ability to offer you some advice. What is her reading difficulty (for example, she confuses d and b, or she forgets what she's read soon after reading it, or she can't read a paragraph and then re-tell it in her own words)? What have you tried (remedial reading class, having her read to you, etc)?

Can you tell us more about the slower-paced class? Why is that your last resort? Whatever we need to do for our kids to help them reach their best potential is a good choice. Some kids do need that push, and some kids need a different kind of extra help. I had to remove my daughter from school altogether and enroll her in online classes only, due to her medical situation. I would have preferred that she could have enjoyed going to regular classes and succeeding like all the other kids seemed to do, but she just couldn't. The online school provided her with success and took away her stress while she focused on trying to feel better. Maybe while your daughter is undergoing speech therapy, she needs some of the other stress to be lessened for awhile.

I think the putting her into a class where she's more suited might be a good step for now, so that she's not frustrated or falling behind. But I think you should further investigate to see if there is a medical reason for her difficulties.

As other moms have mentioned, ADHD can present more so as inattentiveness than hyperactivity in some children. Along with this can be vocal/oral problems which could explain her speech impairment. Speech impairments can affect ability to learn to read (pronunciation, frustration at not being able to say words, etc.) and ADHD can affect learning skills as well. Zoning out could be inattention from having the disorder. So I would get her assessed for that. At the very least, you could rule it out.

The other thing I would do is video tape your daughter zoning out. If it's kind of a spell that's brief and she looks as if in a trance, it could be that she is having absence type seizures. These are very brief, but kids can have them multiple times a day. It can affect learning for sure. Kids won't remember having them. They usually grow out of it. My niece had these. A doctor should be able to tell you from watching a video if that's the problem. And then you would go from there. I wouldn't let on that you are video taping her - if she's zoned out, she probably wouldn't know, but no need to draw attention to it.

Or she may just be a day dreamer type kid with a speech impediment that can be corrected through speech therapy. And she may need extra help with reading and this could improve along with the speech.

But I would get her assessed and get a second opinion if needs be (lots of good ideas below). Sometimes moving a class is the best thing you can do for a child and it needn't be permanent.

Good luck :)

Yes! I'd be looking into dyslexia (it's not just about reversals its a reading disability that is much broader ) Central Auditiry processing disorder (what the brain does with what the war heard) which can make learning to read very challenging. Had she had an FIE? Request one and get an outside comprehensive Neuro psychological exam

I'd get a private speech therapist - that will give you homework after each session and help you focus on these at home ST is a 24/7 at home

I agree with the person who said to ensure she isn't having small seizures

If your child's teacher is saying she needs to be in special ed or a lower class then there is something wrong. She needs to be evaluated. Pediatricians aren't qualified to diagnose this. You need an educational psychologist or an agency that will put her through an assessment for disabilities. Not trying to be mean but if there are problems you need to get her on the right track sooner rather than later after they've held her back a year or two.