caling all mom's with older preemies are they having trouble learning in school?

Jenn - posted on 01/07/2013

Our preemie is now 7 (former 24 weeker) even those that had it lucky health wise in the NICU (like our son) are still subject to IEP, learning delays, speech issues, and parental stresses about school. Our son receives o/t and speech four times a week between private and school. He is on a swim team and excels (ironic since he can hold his breath longer than a 10 yr old, Thank you nicu??????) He starts horse therapy in March because we are trying to come up with new ideas to continue his progress and not hit a "wall" as one counselor at his school told us.

He has had numerous tests/evaluations ran and ultimately it always comes back to global developmental delay stemming from prematurity diagnosis. His speech is still a big barrier for many reasons including all the standardized testing that is done nowadays. He is easily distracted but he has excellent behavior. Medicine is not option for him because of weight (picky eater) and 5 out 7 of his doctors are against it in his case.

Jennifer - posted on 11/19/2012

my doughter get over walpm too and confess and crys if there a big croud but she did it and i was roth behind her when the cossert got done what to do

Jennifer - posted on 11/19/2012

yes my doughter was born early and know she 10 she has iep and leaning problem it hard to get anwsers shse was born 27 weeks and know playing the trumpet we were in hanover darthmouth for 6 weeks with her and had a 12 mon old doughter it was hard she brite but emotion al and shy i dont know what to do is becase she older and realizing stuff i dont know.

Jennifer - posted on 09/26/2012

My daughter who is about to turn 15yrs old was preemie at 28 weeks 2lbs at birth. I came to this web site because for yrs my daughter has been an average student, I wanted to see if there was other preemies out there who suffer with some learning probs. For yrs we have had constant problems with school it's unreal. Now that she is in 9th grade the same cycle is happening again. She cannot multi-task, she gets over whelmed easily, can't concentrate or stay focused. She can't keep up with daily school work, and for yrs has had a hard time with learning in general. My husband and I have had to stay one step of her all the way. As she got older we hoped that she would mature and grow out of this stage. I have confronted the school and teacher over the yrs about her and I've always got the same response, "Her grades look good why worry" Well, it's been year after grueling year of non stop tutoring, and battling with homework every night until bed time.

I wanted to see if this was going on with other parents of preemies.

Also, she is very sensitive to pain,

She has a few friends , and stays quite trying not to drawl attention to herself. In a social situation she doesn't respond like a normal teenager.

Plus, when her permanent teeth was starting to come in we learned she has several in the front that would be missing. They just never developed.

Is there anything out there to test her learning?

Missy Ann - posted on 07/02/2012

HI,my daughter was born 2mths early-1 lb 8 ounces, has had multiple surgeries, and now she getting ready for school, but i am having an extremely hard time keeping her focused, and completing full sentences.She sometimes talk to people and make it seem as though she is a third person like for instance her name is Pria, she will say "pria wants to go to the park" I know kids can be cruel in school and she is very shy , so i really need help with trying to get her prepared before it gets any worse.

Heather - posted on 04/18/2012

My son was 2 months early and only 2 lbs 14 oz. He has always loved to read and has been in his school's gifted program. Most things come very easy for him. He's 14 now, so his personality needs a little help, but no problems with learning difficulties. He never needed oxygen, though, and the pediatrician never needed to adjust for gestational age. His milestones were always hit in the time that was considered normal for his actual age--not gestational age. He did have speech therapy in Kindergarten, but by first grade was cleared.... He is now 5' 9'' tall and thin like his dad at only 125 lbs. He also has asthma, but that tends to run in my husbands family. He needed no breathing assistance after birth, so not sure if being a preemie had anything to do with that.

Susan - posted on 04/17/2012

Hi i have twins that were born at 30 weeks and jean pierre and damian are having concentration problems in grade 1 with untidy handwriting. im a single mom for seven years now, we have done speech theropy, OT, even Children theropy. Keep strong. what i do with my boys i keep their diet healthy and keep them motivated with a gold star system. it does not always work, we have our days but i know what you going through. good luck and my thoughts are with you.



regards

susan

Crystal - posted on 04/10/2012

My son is four years old soon to be five in three weeks, former 25 weeker 1lb 4oz. He is currently in Pre-k and struggles with his fine motor skills. My son is very stubborn and almost will never for lack of a better word "perform on" command Both of his teachers tell me how smart he is and they know he can do what is asked of him but they can only assess what they actually observe. I am so concerned that he will fall more and more behind as the years go by. I am so lost as to how to motivate him to participate during small groups at school. His teacher has shown me a few exercises to help develop his fine motor skills and honestly he is not interested. I'm trying to get him to at least learn to write his name but he is much more interested in banging the pencils, markers etc than writing with them at times. The only true shapes I can get out of him is a circle and an X squares are impossible. I'm just worried that I'm not doing enough to help prepare him for kindergarten. I don't want to push so hard he gets frustrated and gives up. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Staci - posted on 04/02/2012

My son is now 9 and in the 3rd grade. The doctors told us that he "caught up" but I don't think he ever really did. At age 2 1/2, we enrolled him in early intervention and speech therapy because of a speech delay which was probably because of his premature birth. After 3 years of speech therapy we hoped that would be our only problem. But in Kindergarten, he was diagnosed with ADHD, and each year the issues have continued to build. Now we also have a diagnosis of anxiety and now they are talking possible sensory processing disorder and borderline asperger's (high functioning autism). We are just starting the IEP process and its a full-time job being his advocate, but that's my job as his mom. He's starting to get the help he needs. Some days are really hard, but other days are big successes! We live to have those kinds of days.

Karen - posted on 03/29/2012

My son was born at 35 weeks due to complications I had. He was a "healthy" preemie. He is now 15 and a freshman in high school. He is mentally astute and has a wonderful personality and sense of humor. However, he is and and always has been emotionally and somewhat physically immature. Balance was always an issue until we enrolled him in martial arts. He has minor foot and leg issues from a slightly twisted shin bone. He repeated 1st grade because he wasn't ready to move on. He does very poorly in subjects that do not interest him and is difficult to motivate. We are currently using low doses of Aderall to help his concentration skills. We have been given a lot of possible diagnoses - ADD, ADHD, ODD, Dysgraphia, etc. He does not have a recognizable disability, but obviously there are issues. The high school counselor is FINALLY adding him to her academic advisory group, where he will get more individual attention. We want to do what is best for him, but it is a struggle. Some days are better than others. We get through with prayer and a somewhat warped sense of humor.

Jennifer - posted on 08/08/2011

i have a son that was born 3 months early. he's lung wasnt fully delop at first he grew out that in few weeks he is 14 year old and he 6ft he just wonderful very proud of him

Jennifer - posted on 08/08/2011

i have a son that was born 3 months early. he's lung wasnt fully delop at first he grew out that in few weeks he is 14 year old and he 6ft he just wonderful very proud of him

Rochelle - posted on 05/18/2011

Hello Guys, I know this was posted a long time ago, but I am need of help for my older preemie. My twins were born at 24 weeks and 26 weeks, our daughter passed away, and our son is now a crazy happy little 7 year old boy. He was just diagnosed with ADHD this passed winter.

Kellie - posted on 11/26/2009

My son is in grade 2 and wears hearing aides, he is a very slow learner and is a bit more immature than the other kids, but he does get there in the end.

Tonya - posted on 11/24/2009

I'm a mother of 2 month preemie twins, my son is deceased and my daughter is now 8. A few yrs ago we tested and found out our daughter was developmentaly delayed, @ 18 mos she was on a 1yr old level and @ 3 she was on an 18 mo level. Now @ 8 she's 2 yrs behind, she struggles in math and has been tested for dyslexia, she writes and basically sees numbers backwards but upon adding(numbers backwards) she gets the correct answer. Her reading has increased greatly this school yr, but not so much her comprehension. You can explain something to her and 5 mins later she forgets.
overall, her hearing is good though @ times I question her barriers of sound, she wears glasses and it has helped reading tremendously.
there are other things we deal with but hoping in time it gets better, it stresses me so I can only imagine what she feels.

I do recall being told preemies have learning barriers but I don't think its a high %, my youngest was 6 wks preemie and has a sponge for a brain, she soaks it all in and has a great memory. *i believe my daughters disability is due to her illness @ birth and medicalstruggles for her first 3-4 yrs after birth. She did awesome in prek but declined in K but more in 1st,.

Request help NOW, don't accept nothing less than yes we can help. You're her advocate, if you don't speak up or fight for what she needs, noone will.
Goodluck and if you need any assistance I'm more than willing to help. The great thing about once your child starts receiving help, you are a part of the committee and not only can you implement change you can decide to accept or disagree any new ideas etc...

Wanda - posted on 11/24/2009

My sons not in school yet but this topic came up at his last follow-up. They (the medical professionals) are now looking at extending the age when a preemie is considered 'caugth up'. We were told that a lot of docs are now correcting until age 3 and that may change soon. We were also told that they're working with the schools in regards to preemies and preemies may be able to start a year later than they should i.e. a baby is born in November 2000 instead of February 2001. instead of starting school in 2004 they would start in 2005. (kids here start school at age 4 which I think is too soon but that's another topic). The reason they are doing this is because preemies, especially the really early ones, seem to be having a lot of learning issues. They hope that by allowing them to 'stay home' for that extra year, it'll give them a chance to catch up a little more before introducing them to mainstream schooling. I think this is a good idea.

Julie - posted on 11/24/2009

My 6-year-old son has been dealing with developmental delays since he was 9 months old. Thanks to years of various therapies and lots of hard work, he's in a mainstreamed kindergarten class this year, with an IEP, receiving services, and having a lot of success. Has your daughter ever been evaluated? Even if you were told she would outgrow it, she may still have issues. Good luck!

Davina - posted on 11/18/2009

My oldest son is almost 8 years old (born 2002) and by the time he was 2 we really believed that he was caught up...no more needing to adjust his age anyways, And only since him being in school have we found out otherwise. We've done ALOT of work in the last 2 years. He was way behind in the audio/visual basic realm. In ECS we found out that when your child is 5 they should be able to repeat 5 tasks. (Eg. Go to the bathroom, flush the toilet, wash your hands, clean your teeth, close the door.) Maybe not that complex. But you could use colors, shapes, whatever. Joseph couldn't do 2. So the school that he was in they worked with him and from Kindergarten and grade one they got him up to speed on that with alot of effort. Another thing was that he could NOT look at the blackboard and write it down or even follow it. counting static shapes was a real problem too. However 3D shapes were of no problem. But if we got him to cross out the shapes (instead of pointing to them) he was fine. The next thing was fine motor skill, and gross motor skill so last year we started with a pysio therapist to find his full range of motion and in turn we found out that he had difficulty with MIDLINE (so left and right brain communicating), and he REALLY wanted to play hockey (Can you imagine?) We did actually put him in hockey and it did him a world of amazingness (I know that's not a word...) after a few months he was discharged from physio, which we attribute to hockey because of the range of motion to play it. So for now, hockey is kind of like therapy. He also has a really hard time staying focused and on track. So we have decided to homeschool him to see if we can teach him how to zone in and stay focused. The whole caught up by age 2 thing makes me mad. I believe we (he) will always have residual affects of prematurity, however I also think it's important to love our kids for "who" they are today, and not who we want them to be or who we expect them to be.

Davina - posted on 11/17/2009

Quoting Keri:

Preemies have a higher incidence of learning problems that many time aren't evident until they really get into school. They also have a higher incidence of ADD/ADHD and dyslexia, and typically will struggle more with math and science than anything else. My daughter is just going into kindergarten, so I haven't seen any yet, but I would maybe schedule a meeting with your school's special education teacher to see if there are some things that you can all do to help.

Actually, studies show that preemies born before 32 weeks "tend" to have a more difficult time with reading, phonics, and writing.

Alonna - posted on 11/17/2009

My daughter will be 9 in three weeks and she is struggling in school. Math is her worst subject. I'm in the process of having her tested for any learning disabilities, especially ADD/ADHD.

Susan - posted on 11/13/2009

My 24-week preemies are now seniors in high school. My daughter technically "caught up" in kindergarten, although she was a pretty middle of the road student until high school. My son continues to have learning issues to this day, which present challenges as we look to his future, but he is doing very well and technology is his friend.

Learn everything you can about how your child and how she learns. An outside evaluation can really help with this, although can be expensive. We found it to be a worthwhile investment since it was something we used for years (in fact, we are still using it as our son gets ready to graduate from college.

Be proactive, get to know your child's teachers. Be visible. Ask for an evaluation. Early intervention is extremely important. This can be a difficult and highly charged emotional experience. I found it important to remind myself that (almost) every one we worked with had my son's best interests at heart. Best of luck to you and your daughter. We all learn a little differently, it just takes time to figure out how we learn best.

Lesha-May - posted on 11/13/2009

My daughter is 5 and shes already gone up 5 reading levels and shes only been at school for 6 months, shes great at maths, writing and is a great artist. It thought she was going to have problems learning letters coz I heard dyslexia is common with prems but shes had no problem at all. I think it depends how much learning time you put into them from birth. Theyre little sponges when theyre little, they absorb so much into their wee brains.

Angelia - posted on 11/12/2009

both of my boys are preemies and have ADHD. there is a strong possiblity due to them being preemies, but it also runs in my family. i will say that my oldest wasn't put on anything until he was almost 8yrs old. the docs didn't want to do anything until he had been in school a few years and was older. as soon as he started taking it, he noticed a big difference. he told me that he was now able to concentrate...........my youngest is 6 and a half and has just started meds. as a mom i would say to keep shearching. moms "gut" can tell you alot!!!

Gretchen - posted on 11/12/2009

My son who is now 6 (soon to be 7) has had trouble with speech development. He also seems to have hearing issues occasionally which may be due to improper ear development. He has behavioral problems at school. When he can't express himself he acts out by hitting or crying. The school's speech therapist has been working with him since he was around 3 to help him learn to use his words. He's an intelligent boy, he just has problems expressing himself.

Emily - posted on 11/12/2009

sounds exactly like dyspraxia/ sensory intergation disorder. take her for neuropsych exam or at least have her evaluated by physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech.

Emily - posted on 11/12/2009

My daughter is in first grade and is having trouble, and yet she does not fit well into any diagnosis. Have her tested through neuropsych. It should give you an idea of her difficulties. My daughter has dyspraxia.

LIZ - posted on 10/25/2009

They wanted to hold my twins back.. I said "ABSOUTELY NOT!".. they are already a year behind, due to their birthday falling in Dec... so I wasn't gonna have that. We hired tutors.. and they are staying up, not where I want them to be... but.. doing better..

Nicole - posted on 10/23/2009

My son is 7 and was born at 28 weeks he is in the 1st grade and has been suspended 6 times since starting his school career, because he doesnt sit still for long and isnt following directions right away. he understands the school work but works better one on one then in a big group. What kind of trouble are you having at school?

LIZ - posted on 10/14/2009

YES.. TANYA, my twins are nearly 9.. will be Dec. 20th,.. and they were premie's.. and we are having a time with school..... any suggestions???/ I AM OPEN FOR ANYTHING..at my wits ends...

Tamara - posted on 09/30/2009

yes i am having this problem now...my daughter is 7 and repeating 1st grade...i don't really know what to do. She is getting extra help, but is still struggling to keep up

Sharon - posted on 09/30/2009

2mos. preemie @ 3lbs. 1oz. My son had lots of problems at first. Hole in heart, swollen testicle, low iron, tail end of spine was not finish, yellow jaundice & stayed in incubator for 3wks. Everything healed on it's on, didn't need surgery. Came home 5wks. later. Nurse visit to draw blood for jaundice & iron for month. It was hard but we are blessed. Tony was tested at 4 because I complained about his speech. No one could understand him not even my hubby. Only I could, he passed everything above 100% except speech at 59% children his age. Speech was on 2yr. level. 1st grader now, honor roll math, science, reading on 3rd level. They wanted to skip him, but I said no. His speech got alot better. I always homeschool him also. So we made it through!!

Kristen - posted on 09/30/2009

My son is 11 1/2 now, and was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 5. We're also starting testing this month for Asperger's Syndrome, as socially he has a LOT of problems. The thing is, my son's really intelligent, but has an extremely difficult time in expressing himself. We have him in expressive group therapy with other boys his age, and it's been a wonderful help. Now, of course, every preemie's situation is different - mine actually fell on his head onto the birthing bed, and later had a bad case of viral meningitis at 3 months... soon after he'd been released from the NICU.

We started out with a 504 plan when he went into 2nd grade, and have progressed to an IEP. I'd definitely suggest you talk with your school's counselor, principal and special education teacher and see if you can set up testing for your child through the school (that way you don't have to pay loads of money); that'll get things rolling on setting up educational assistance for your daughter. Hope this helped!

Michelle - posted on 09/30/2009

As a mother, the comments and experiences you have all went through worry me. My preemie is now 6 and will be starting grade 1. She does like sitting too close to the tv and when she is on her computer drawing in the paint program she pulls the screen downward. I have adjusted the brightness and contrast to get her to stop. I think I will have her eyes checked now and ears for good measure. She has been in school since she was 3 and didn't have problems or any complaints until she was 4 1/2. The past two years the teachers have told me that she doesn't complete her assignments on time, she doesn't care for group activities and talks to herself a lot. She is a bit of a perfectionist so not completing her assignments on time was chalked up to her not wanting to make mistakes. She hates when things are wrong or look messy. As for group activities they said it was because she was used to being the center of attention. I have 3 daughters but the age difference between her and her sisters are 12 and 16 yrs. So she does get a lot of attention. That is the excuse for her talking to herself too. When everyone is busy she will go off and get her stuffed animals or dolls out and as she says, tell them stories.

I know that doesn't sound like much but her progress reports were quite a surprise. Such as she doesn't recognize letters or can't express herself verbally. Doesn't know the difference between living and non living things. We were shocked. I went online to find games and activities to test her knowledge and she did fine. She could do everything they were telling me she couldn't. Being a teacher I thought it might be her lack of confidence in groups. It just didn't make sense. I keep up on all she does at school and review her lessons with her. We tried different things and she improved some when I started coming to pick her up at least twice a week if not more from her classroom where she would be sitting with her teacher. We would discuss the days classes. Being visually involved helped. Her final evaluation was much better. I worry about missing the signs. My daughter had 3 holes in her heart and had open heart surgery at 5 months. I have always concentrated on problems stemming from that and never thought much about problems from being a preemie. Her pedcard told me since the operation my only concern is physical (she will be on the petite side, get sicker easier, and have to watch out for foods that constipate her) as for her mental capacity and social skills she was normal. Babies double their size 3 times within their first year and she didn't get that opportunity being sick. She gets taller and but weight wise she is a stick despite her very healthy appetite. Knowing if she has a problem or if its due to the excuses given that I mentioned above worry me. I'm afraid of missing some sign.

Michelle - posted on 09/30/2009

Quoting TANYA:

caling all mom's with older preemies are they having trouble learning in school?

my daughter is now 8 1/2 and still has learning problems they told me she would outgrow years ago,now they say it's probably a effect of premature birth,im curios if anyone else has children with this problem.

As a teacher I must say...... do not listen to a teacher that tries to guide you on health or learning disablities unless they can prove they are qualified to do so! Too many teachers label students or tell the parents it will be ok or give them time etc. Some teachers are afraid of being blamed for a students low performance and try to smooth it over with parents, down play the situation. Others on the other hand go overboard with labeling. Do ask if they have noticed anything or how your child is doing, even how your child is doing compared to other students.

As for a doctor telling you she would outgrow it. That is a generalization to me. Unless they have followed your child physically and mentally since they were born, I dont see how they can say that. Everyone is different, even preemies. Finding out if your daughters learning problems are linked to being a preemie might put you at ease knowing where it stems from but it does nothing to help her. I would do as the other noters have suggested.  You can also have your child tested for learning disabilities by talking to the Principal or Director of Special Education.Tell him or her that you would like your child to be evaluated for a learning difference. You will probably need to make a written request too.  helpguide.org is a very helpful site. Good luck

Andrea - posted on 09/29/2009

Hi. My son was born at 34 weeks and struggled in school. The summer after finishing the fourth grade, things seemed to be clicking for him. My daughter born at 27 weeks just turned 8 earlier this month. She did an extra year of pre-school to try to give her a head start. Unfortunately, she still struggles. I think eventually things will fall into place for her as well. My suggestion would to be to trust your gut instinct. As her Mom, no one knows her as well as you! Push for what she needs and don't be afraid to fight for it, if necessary.

Tracy - posted on 09/28/2009

My son is 4, and was born at 26 weeks. I noticed about 2 years ago that he was not where maybe he should be. I had him evaluated and he is classified as special needs and has been getting pt and speech for about a year and a half now. He also has problems with erelating to other children. They told me he would oput grow his issues by 2, but that never happened. In my experience the best thing to do is be your childs advocate! If you think a test or a class could be beneficial speak up, because teoo often then not these teachers and doctors do not know our children well enough to determine these things.

Jennifer - posted on 09/20/2009

As a former teacher I have had many students with learning disabilities that were connected with thier prematurity AND many students with learning disabilities that were not connected with prematurity! I think the one thing in your post that REALLY caught my eye was when you said "still has learning problems they told me she would outgrow years ago". You DO NOT EVER "outgrow" a true learning disability! You learn how to learn inspite of it, but it never goes away. I state that not only as an educator but as an adult who has and will always have ADD & dyslexia. My son was a 29wker whom we were fortunate to adopt. We were "matched" with him when he was a month old and still in the NICU. As they were "disclosing" to us "possible reasons to not adopt" (yeah right!) they stated the info on preemies having a high link to learning disabilities when they reach school age. Our response was if he were our bio child his likely hood of having a learning disability would be just as high! :-) He was delayed in most of his milestones up to two years of age, now at almost three and half he is considered "caught up", except we have not crossed the "school age" bridge yet. But when we do get there, due to my experiance, we will accept what ever might be. We will learn what to do to help him be most the sucessful HE can be, and teach him how to handle any learning issues he might or might not have. Like I said learning disabilities never go away and I have found that they stopped standing in my way when I started embracing them for what they were. Some of the most gifted people in history have had noted learning disabilities! My favorites are Einstein & Robin Williams! :-)

Emma - posted on 09/17/2009

My son was born @ 25wks weighing in at 1lb 14oz, he had home oxygen for quite a while, has chronic lung and wears glasses(so does his dad)

He was delayed with his speech until we tried baby signing at 2yrs(he understood but just couldn't speak) his speech improved very quickly and he now gets compliments on his vocabulary and his turn of phrase.

He's now six and although he's a very bright child (in the top 6 of his year) he struggled with the social aspects of school, couldn't conform to the rules, couldn't remember names of the children wouldn't finish work(understanding there, ability ie reading and writing was there just happily in his own world) he excels at all subject(especially maths , science and computers) except P.E.

He's currently in the process of being tested for aspeargers/HFA and we should hopefully find out before Christmas, although we've already seen an improvement at school thanks to them implementing some new strategies this year.

Denise - posted on 09/16/2009

I have a 14 yr old preemie. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was around 5. The dr. put him on medicine. During the course of 7 yrs they had him on 3 different meds. The last med they put him on was concerta (which he is no longer on) that we later found out was the main reason for his blackouts, dizzy spells and chest pains. He has a learnin disablity that can be taken care of with the proper tutors. He is a freshman in high school this yr and unmedicated. Talk to the principal of the school and see if there is any information they could give you.

Debra - posted on 09/13/2009

My son was 2 months early, he's now 16 years old. He used to have trouble consontrating on his work but he has out grown this. I took him out of public school at the begining of 3rd grade and have been homeschooling ever since. His grades are wonderful and he's doing great. They told me he was never going to come out of the hospital alive... He's now very healthy and very bright!

DeAnne - posted on 09/13/2009

My duaghter was born 8 weeks early and is now 16. She was finally diagnosed with a reading disability when she was in third grade. The teachers just kept daying that she would grow out of it, but I knew there was something else wrong.



She has gotten extra help in school since then with special IEP plans and has made alot of progress, but still is not at level with her peers.

I would ask your school system what kind of help they can offer her.

Malena - posted on 09/13/2009

MY SON IS 6 YO AND BORN T 26WKS. HE WAS 1LB 12OZ. HE ALSO HAS TROUBLE WITH MATH AND WRITING LETTERS BACKWARDS. ALL HIS TEACHERS HAVE SAID HE IS EXTREMELY BRIGHT. HE READS WELL. I SAY BE PATIENT AND SEE WHAT HIS SCHOOL HAS TO OFFER. ALSO ASK YOUR TEACHER WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP HER AT HOME THATS WHAT WE DID AND WITH US WORKING WITH HIM AT HOME HELPED HIM THRIVE IMMENSELY. NOT ALL OF US CAN AFFORD COLLEGE PREP SCHOOLS BUT HONESTLY I DO NOT THINK YOU WILL GET ANY FURTHER THERE THAN IN PUBLIC SCHOOL.

Janet - posted on 09/13/2009

My premature baby is 10 years old, has no learning problem, my daughter was 27 weeks weigh 1lb 2ozs....I would first get her eyes and hearing check. My daughter has been wearing glasses since she was 7 months old. I was always told by her doctors that premature babies need regular check on their eyes and hearing. This can make a big difference in every child learning skills. When my daughter was 4 years old her preschool told me, my daughter needed early learning intervention, because of speech and other learning concerns. I immedately switch her to a college preparatory/private school, so she would received one on one attention. Her class only had 12 students, this I feel worth every penny I paid for private school. This is her first school year in public school and I was asked by her teacher last week to have her test for the gifted program. I know private school may be an added expensive, but I feel my child had a great start because of the special attention. Also make sure you do your homework when selecting the correct school that matches your child needs. I highly recommand college preparatory schools. The cost is high...but what price can we put on our children education...

Kelly - posted on 09/12/2009

my daughter, who was born at 28 wks, 2 days and weighed just 2 lbs, 5 oz is now in the 8th grade. In first grade she was diagnosed with ADHD and she was always struggled with reading. SHe maintains a solid B average (even made the honor roll during the 7th grade for one of the marking periods). She is one of the younger kids in her class and sometimes struggles with her work but overall does very well.

Kristi - posted on 09/12/2009

My son was a 28-weeker and has struggled with most of his developmental milestones. He is now in 4th grade and is in a mainstream classroom with individual help when needed. His biggest issue is math. It can be extremely frustrating at times - especially at homework time. There should be lots of help available through your school. Just be adamant about wanting testing and help. It is illegal for the school systems to not provide help if needed.

Tammy - posted on 09/12/2009

My daughter is 15 now she was 3 months early weighed 2 lbs 3 1/2 oz they only thing that was wrong with her was she was tiny, she hasn't had a problems at all and I have to say I am very proud of her she has been on the honor roll ever since she started school.

Johana - posted on 09/11/2009

My daughter needs glasses. I didn't know that, until she got to 1st grade. I had noticed she would get too close to the TV but it never occured to me that she couldn't see from far. Until, her teacher mentioned she was having difficulties completing her class work. I would get on her case thinking she was just being lazy. But little did I know, she needed glasses to see better. Her prescription is high though. Now, she is doing alot better and in 3rd grade.

Ali - posted on 09/11/2009

hi tanya....my twins were born at 33 wks.....weighing 4lbs 8 oz. and 4lbs 11oz......they were slow with every milestone stone....their doctor said they would probably catch up after the first yr. but that hasnt happend.....they are very social and well liked in school but when it comes to learning they have a difficult time.....they have struggled in school from day one....they r 7 and a half and in second grade....one of my daughters has improved dramatically over this past yr. but my other daughter really struggles especially in reading and math. She still writes letters backwards and is easily frustrated when doing her homework...she gets individual attention which hasnt help like i thought it would.....we r looking to get her tested for learning disabilities this yr. Good luck and dont give up.....i have faith my daughter will eventually get to where she needs to be.

Tara - posted on 09/11/2009

Yes, my dtr is 8 1/2 and was struggling with math and reading. They tested her for special ed but she did not qualify. We worked really hard over the past few months and she is turning the corner. It seems all of a sudden thing are just "clicking" for her. I think it just took a bit longer for her. She has had a significant health history with Asthma and hospitalizations for breathing problems. It has set her back a bit. She was born at 33 1/2 weeks.

Elyse - posted on 09/10/2009

My daughter was 2lbs at birth, she was an IUGR baby (basically she didn't grow correctly because I had high blood pressure). I was also told that once she was about 5years old she will catch up to all the other kids. She had to go to a special education preschool and now she is in regular kindergarten but is very behind. She turns 6 next month so she is older than everyone else in her class but she is having a lot of problems learning.