chay-- thank you for asking that question!
Pemberley-- I thought I knew what there was about processing speed (not much) but your link was helpful and I had a bit of an aha moment understanding this better for the first time. Some behaviors I had attributed to ADHD may be part of his substantial processing issue. Most notably the inflexibility and over the top transition issues. He gets SOOOO stuck!! We use Michelle Garcia's social thinking curriculum concepts with this but there are times it is just truly unmanageable. At those times I have often fantasized about having a child who COULD be distracted by something else. Mine never forgets.
After reading what was available at that link and googling a bit myself, I feel more enlightened about why we get some of the odd reactions we get. Lots more is making sense! In light of this, we changed things today regarding our homeschool approach. I added more structure with a healthy dose of flexibility and choice. I divided our day into 3 sections in which each began with a meal or snack and ended with free play. Transitioning out of play to eating should be easy for him. After the meal is a favored learning activity that he will be excited to do. Previously he was getting stuck in these endless loops obsessing about something and either working too much (to point of irritability) or too little on learning.
I also realize that the complaints I heard in my last school meeting about him totally fit with the descriptions of the impact of processing speed. He's in the 16th percentile there... that is HUGE (!) but he is brilliant also and presents as such so teachers are beyond frustrated when the processing roadblocks show. It seems so illogical to them that he could have any such impairment and they chalk it up to behavior issues... I wish I had had the knowledge to address that better in that meeting. Going forward I certainly get it better.
KJP-- I'm sorry you have that thought of the possibility of physical damage--that is such a painful thought. We are still dealing with psychological damage (PTSD) in our son from the special private Gifted School we paid so much for. I try to remind myself that we can only work with the information we have to make our best choice. When we knew more, we made different choices. I also tell myself that I need all my energy and attention... I don't have enough to spare any dwelling on the past. I'm trying to keep learning and moving forward. I hope you find better days ahead now that you are learning so much about why everything has been so very, very challenging.
