If you haven’t given up on the notion of your child attending university or college I recommend you get your child tested. The results will entitle your child to accommodations not only in elementary and high school, but at university as well. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done if you’re hoping the education system will foot the bill. It doesn’t hurt to ask. I would start with your child’s teacher, and work your way up the ladder. What usually happens in elementary school is children are identified as needing learning assistance and attend weekly or bi-weekly sessions. In my son’s case (high school) he was given a screening assessment which clearly showed he was not achieving his potential. This is where things can get tricky, because you would like to think every child attending the Learning Assistance Centre will sooner or later get tested. The system, however, doesn’t work that way. Typically a selection is made as to which children can benefit most from the complete psycho-educational assessment. Your child might be placed on a waiting list, which doesn’t mean much either. Children can be on the list for years. Our son was put on a list in grade two, and it never amounted to anything until he got to high school, and that was only when he was attending a completely different district.
If your child is not eligible, you’re always free to place him or her in another school or district for that matter. In our area students are free to attend any school they want, so long the school they want to go to has room for them. Usually the deadline for submitting applications is in January or February of the year you are applying for. However, keep in mind, there are no guarantees on how everything will turn out.
Your other option is to pay for the assessment yourself. You could ask around, usually somebody knows someone who has gone through a similar experience. Only a Registered Psychologist is qualified to give a psychoeducational assessment. It will cost you around $2,000 to $3,000 (maybe more), depending on how many tests your child needs, and how many hours it takes. You may find something online which doesn’t cost you anything, but it won’t hold water when it comes to providing your child with accommodations at the university level. That reminds me of an IQ test I once took online. It was kind enough to give me an IQ of 130. I couldn’t stop laughing; either could my husband. I had to finally tell him to stop laughing: it wasn’t that funny.