New LAP scores todayWe got Adams new LAP scores from his teacher today and I'm not sure what to think. I think part of me is disappointed, part of me is happy, and part of me is .... well, I don't know but I'm not sure what I expected. I guess I just wish I knew where a good place was for him to be on the LAP considering he's in preK-4, and I wish the schools down here had the balls to say, "Hey, according to these scores, your kid qualifes for a dx of xxxx, or xxxx". I thought he was doing so good, and then to see it on paper it's like getting sucker punched. Here are his scores- his teacher said the scoring months go from 42-47, then 48-53, then 54-59, then 60-65, etc and even though a child may score halfway or three quarters of the way through a set of skills if they don't complete all of them for that age range they HAVE to give them the month that range started with. So, for instance in gross motor skills Adam was able to do everything in the 48-53 month range except for the last two things, so she had to give him a 48 month developmental domain Chronological Age 52 months Developmental Domains: Gross Motor- 48 months Acquired Skills- stands on tiptoes with hands on hips, marches rythymically to music, pedals tricycle around sharp corners, hops on 1 foot, walks up and down stairs with alternting feet/emerging skill- hangs from bar and touches toes without bending knees Fine Motor- 60 months Acquired Skills- cuts out square with scissors, uses pencil sharperner, inserts pre-folded material in envelope, folds and creases paper horizontally, vertically and diagonally/ emerging skills- making recognizeable object out of clay, ties knot Pre-Writing-42 months Acquired Skills- prints any 2 letters without a model, draws person with 2 body parts, copies a cross, t and h/ emerging skills- holds paintbrush and pencil with thumb and finger instead of fish, paints unrecognizable picture, copy square, v, and simple word Cognitive- 54 months- Acquired Skills- Names 8 colors, Gives 3 objects on request and names numerals 1-3, points to shapes, names missing objects, names cause for 3 events and consequences for 2 actions/ emerging skills- imitates tapping pattern, names familiar melody Language- 42 months Acquired Skills- Demonstrates understanding of 4 prepositions, points to 8 body parts, names 10 pictures of common objects, responds to how, where, and if-what questions/ emerging skills- uses regular plurals, speaks intelligibly (Adam is apraxic) Self Help- 48 months Acquired Skills- Buttons and unbuttons large buttons, puts shoes on correct feet, goes to toilet alone, puts on coat, pours from small pitcher without spilling/ emerging skills- holds spoon and fork with correct grip, dresses and brushes teeth without assistance (we still have to supervise) Personal/Social- 42 months Acquired Skills- Tells full name, calls attention to own performance, tells age and gender, takes turns, names 3 emotions, shares toys, plays with other children associatively/ emerging skills- plays with other children cooperatively, participates in dramatic make believe play
So, if Adam were your child what would you make of this? Would you take the areas that are 48 months to mean that your child is almost on target for his age in those areas since he has alot of the skills? And what exactly does emerging skills mean??? Does anybody know for sure? The term emerging makes it sound like your child is starting to do that, but I have a feeling it means your kid is NOT doing this yet and these are the skills in that developmental domain range that he doesn't have yet. I think they are very sneaky to give it that label. Or maybe I'm wrong. My biggest concerns are personal/social and pre-writing. He has major hand weakness which he NEEDS OT for, and the school refuses to provide telling me that the ONLY way he can qualify for OT is if he can't feed himself Language I'm not too, too concerned about as I know it is his articulation holding him back. Julie...looking at the ranges of the scores is striking. I would think they with the exception of social and language...your son is blossoming. I would bet that many NT boys would score similarly at his age. Especially in the language and social areas. All of his other scores seem to fall within normal, expected ranges. As for emerging skill...I recently took a Greenspan course online. Many of the test questions were regarding whether a child had a skill...and if so, at what stage: Doe snot have skill; Emerging Skill; Mastered Skill; It was the part of the test that folks had the most difficulty with because it is so very subjective. So based on that I would assume that Adam is showing signs of a particular skill, but has not yet mastered. Sorta sucks when it lowers the score in a particular category. I would be rather peeved about OT. OT is given out is our district like candy...but you can't get PT for the life of you. I am fighting that fight as we speak. I would say...both of you are doing a great job. Congrats, Mommy.
I'm not familiar with LAP scores, but just reading the age ranges, it looks like he is doing really well. I don't know much about your situation, but I'd bet a year ago those scores would have shown a lot more delays. I know what you mean about feeling sucker-punched. I recently had a very insensitive psychologist tell me repeatedly how delayed DS is without any mention of the amazing progess he's made - having it in black and white just makes it that much more stressful. I think that emerging skills are ones that children are starting to learn but haven't mastered - could be wrong on that. It's shameful, though, that with a pre-writing delay, your school turned down OT. That's the specific thing that got my son OT through the school to begin with! That's specifically an academic delay, so it seems they should have to provide assistance for it. OT can address play skills too, so I'd be pushing to get him services based on those two issues. Hang in there. Honestly, if my son gets scores like that in a year's time (when he's Adam's age), I'll throw a parade! You're doing a great job mom! |
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It's ridiculous for his fine motor to be so advanced and his pre-writing to be so delayed....