A Child's Birth Month Could Put Them at Risk for a Disability Diagnosis, Study Finds (public schools)

[Aeran]

Interesting study.

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...NAlRdPW89cDXjc

The younger a student is for his or her grade, the more likely it is that they will be diagnosed with a learning disability according to a new study by the city's Independent Budget Office, which examined the records of 290,000 public school students.

They found that 22.7 percent of students born in November and 23.1 percent born in December were classified as having a learning disability, compared to 16.5 percent of those born in January and 16.8 percent born in February.

The city's public schools require that children who turn 5 years old by December 31 must go to kindergarten. It's one of the latest cutoff dates in the nation. It means that many students must enter kindergarten when they are four. Some experts say that puts them at a disadvantage compared to students well past five and a half years old.

[popartist]

I dunno, I was born December 31 so entered kindergarten at 4 and a half and after I skipped third grade my peers were as much as a couple of days short of two years older...maybe socially I was at a little disadvantage but I never was disadvantaged as far as learning - in fact I was always near the top of the class.

[city living]

Originally Posted by popartist

I dunno, I was born December 31 so entered kindergarten at 4 and a half and after I skipped third grade my peers were as much as a couple of days short of two years older...maybe socially I was at a little disadvantage but I never was disadvantaged as far as learning - in fact I was always near the top of the class.

That is you. You cannot generalize.

There is a reason most other places have a cutoff for kids that are born in September/October. I also know a lot of kids born at the end of the year who do just fine, myself included.

Eventually kids catch up anyway. But why develop an IEP that is unnecessary.