“Bill”
A middle school student with declining grades has become
more disruptive in class
Situation:
Bill is in the eighth grade at a local public middle school. While his grades declined slightly when he started middle school, his parents attributed to his adjustment to the larger environment. However his grades began to drop sharply. He doesn’t bring his homework home and he does poorly on his tests.
Bill’s parents have received several calls from the school about his disruptive and off-task behavior in class. He has always struggled in school and his reading skills were often below grade level. The school’s solution, they told his parents, was medication and therapy to help with what they belived was a social-emotional difficulty. His parents were not so sure, so they requested an evaluation from KSA.
So what’s the problem?
What’s causing Bill’s grades to drop and his behavior to change after starting middle school?
Resolution:
Social-emotional testing revealed that Bill was depressed, and that his symptoms were related to situational factors and inadequate coping skills. Psycho-educational testing identified Bill’s problems with such basic reading skills as phonemic awareness and memory for words; which, until recently, Bill could compensate for by using his excellent reasoning skills.
Key Factors:
- Bill’s grades dropped sharply once he started middle school.
- According to the school, Bill’s behavior is disruptive and off-task in class.
- The school recommended that Bill be evaluated for therapy and medication.
KSA helped Josh by:
- Diagnosing Bill with a reading disorder.
- Suggesting that he receive specific classroom accommodations and individual tutoring to rectify his reading weaknesses.
- Recommending short-term psychotherapy to help Bill understand his learning style, improve his self-esteem and expand his repertoire of coping skills.