I just wanted some advice. I have asked my GP surgery about an LD review now my son has turned 14. They have said he isn’t entitled to one, as he is coded as having Learning difficulties and not Learning disabilities and they can’t find any letters to say he has learning disabilities, only ones that state Learning difficulties. They only get the reviews annually if they are on the disability register. He isn’t. He has a chromosome disorder, GDD and speech delay. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you ☺️
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This was my social workers reply when I asked this question for you. Yes, it’s true. It would need the Education Psych to confirm IQ and Learning Disabilities for him to be placed on the disability register. but she said very frustrating and sad for you though so at least now you know what you would need.
So annoying it won’t allow me to load so I’m going to type it for you. A learning disability is different from a learning difficulty as a learning difficulty does not affect general intellect. I hope that helps as I didn’t know this either.
I believe that the language has probably changed since your son received his diagnosis, and this change is what has caused your current difficulty. My son is twenty. I studied SEN in the 1990s. In those days, in the USA they made that distinction. Thry used the term “learning difficulty” for what we would call “specific learning difficulty”. I might be wrong, but I seem to recall that they said “learning disability” for what we called learning difficulty. Now in the USA the new term is “intellectual disability”. In the UK, when my son was in primary school around 2010, I was told that “learning difficulty” was the educational term while “learning disability” was the social care term.
If your son has a global developmental delay then that generally implies that he has a reduced IQ: one way to measure IQ is to divide developmental age by chronological age and multiply by one hundred. My younger son consistently hit his milestones around twice the age that his typicslly-developing brother did. Therefore I would estimate his IQ at fifty and say he has a fifty percent developmental delay. That means he would be seen as having a moderate learning disability, but he is autistic too - he had a late diagnosis - and the autism adds extra complexity to his support needs.
I think you should ask your GP to refer your son to CAMHS (overburdened though that service is) and ask for an assessment on the basis that, at 14, a person is beginning the transition to adulthood, and now is the time to perform a re-assessment of his psychological needs and of his psychiatric condition. This will help you to map out the kinds of interventions that will support him over the next ten years. When my son was 14, we gradually switched his medical care from his paediatrician to his GP. That meant that when he was 18 his GP was managing his various strands of medical care: audiology, vision, cardiology, hormones, and was managing all the referrals. Someone else I spoke to said their child’s medical care fell off a cliff when they turned 18 because the paediatrician just dropped them. It isn’t quite so bad now, I believe, but it’s a good idea to start your research now. The Care Act of 2014 has a bit in it about transition to adulthood.
Yes Learning Difficulty and Learning Disability are very different as Jo has described. A psychologists Assessment would determine if he has a Learning Disability.
hi yes my daughter only got a ‘diagnosis’ of learning disability from IQ outcome on report from Ed psych. I had to pay for the report but it was worth it because without it she wouldn’t have had the support she needs. It doesn’t seem right that this is the only factor that made the difference but it that seems to be how it works
Could you ask the school to get an educational phycologist to assess him ? I know it was them that assessed my daughter but was around age 3 but I really can't remember that far back to who actually diagnosed her as having a moderate learning disability but pretty sure it was educational phycologist but I could be wrong
Hi, I'm glad you have got some information rom Jofisher. My son (10) also has the same diagnoses as yours. His chromosome disorder does have intellectual disability as one of the symptoms but I wonder if that would be enough to class him with LD. Are you looking to get continued support for him post school? I'm wondering if this is something I need to look into (sorry to jump on your post but it struck a chord).
Hi, As I understand it to have a diagnosis of a recognised learning disability as far as the nhs and social services are concerned a person needs to have an iq of 70 or under and also difficulties with everyday tasks. Although my son had always had all these issues it was only when he reached age 17 that I took him to his gp who referred him to the nhs learning disability team who assessed him. He was assessed by a clinical psychologist who spoke to me, him and asked him lots of questions. He was found to have a recognised learning disability which then opened the door to support services. At school he was only recognised as having a learning difficulty so he wasn’t entitled to any extra services. This was before the internet so I just trusted the system ( big mistake)? I would suggest you get a referral to learning disability services in your area for an assessment. If your son doesn’t meet the full criteria he may still be able to access help in the future such as help to get a job. At age 16 further education colleges have courses for people with learning disabilities which helped us post school.
You need to ask for him to be placed on the learning disability register first. Once that step is done you can ask for the annual health check. I would make sure your GP has any evidence that suggests LD. For example, an Ed Psych eval that gives an IQ score, an EHCP showing he's placed in SEN school, any documents from professionals that mention learning disability. Make copies of everything and ask for it all to be added to his record. Then ask about getting him on the register. If you still get nowhere, complain to PALS.
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