polarbear: the test involved sitting at a computer and pressing a button first when she saw the letter "a" and then in another round when she saw the letter "x" followed by the letter "a". She was obviously anxious about this test when we took her for a break right after - it really bothered her. The first test "without condition" she scored low average, the second "with condition" she scored <1%. When the neuropsych showed us the printout I saw that there were places where she hit the button for the letter following the "a" - so she saw it but her reaction time was too slow to count. Instead it counted as 2 errors - one for missing the "a" and one for hitting it for the wrong letter.
My guess is that once she saw that she made a mistake she froze up - her perfectionism shows itself in a fear of disappointing the adult asking her to do something. So visual perception to see the letter, fine motor to press the button and perfectionism realizing she was doing it "wrong" equals a perfect storm of anxiety shut down.
Obviously the neuropsych is MUCH better trained than I am so I don't want to say he's wrong but really - 100% of kids her age do better attending and NO ONE has ever indicated concerns about ADHD? I was at the library today talking to the children's librarian about all this and trying to find out about audiobook options. Even she said - "That's not possible. Even as a baby she always was attentive. She always paid close attention at story time - even while the other babies were wandering around exploring." In other words - not only did people never notice a lack of attending they even remember all these years later just HOW WELL she attended. If he measured her at 30th percentile I might be more likely to accept it but <1% - that just doesn't fit.
The story about your FIL makes my heart hurt. My own FIL is 85 years old. He is the one who turned down special ed help for my DH's obvious dyslexia when he was a child. If we talk about DD's LD issues in front of him he breaks down crying talking about how miserable school was for him. "They just told me I was stupid or lazy..." No, I think he is definitely ADHD and has some significant LD issues but no one knew about that back in the 1930's and 1940's. They were just unlocking it in the 1970's when DH could have been helped but his parents declined. In this regard I know DD is so much better off. It's still going to be a rough road though...
