So I've posted on here many times, trying to put my finger on what, exactly, is going on with my son. He is almost seven years old. His younger brother just turned four and I see how easy things are for him and it has really put into focus how much my older son struggles with some things. I'd like to provide a list of things that I am observing and see if any of this looks familiar to you. I'm trying to figure out what we are looking for and what kind of tests/doctor we should consult to help us figure out what is going on.


- My son is an introvert. He has some social skills challenges and participated in a class for social skills from the age of 4-5. He has a hard time making eye contact and often looks in another direction when people speak to him. The psychologist who worked with him said that she did not recommend testing for ASD. She said he's just a quirky, brainy introvert.
- He is really slow. Over the last year he has begun to talk very slowly. He moves very slowly when getting dressed. He pauses for so long during stories that we completely lose interest. His processing score was exactly 100, which was more than forty points lower than his VCI and almost forty points below his FSIQ (he took the WPPSI when he was almost five). The administering psych wasn't so concerned about the processing speed and said that he is careful and meticulous. She also thought his fine motor skills contributed to the slow speed. I'm mentioning it, nevertheless, because it may be relevant.
- Over the last year, I've noticed that my son experiences more difficulty with staying on task. He constantly gets distracted by things when in the middle of a task. For example, when we are rushing to get out of the door in the morning, he will stand in the bathroom and make silly faces in the mirror or stand and examine a flashlight very carefully. When I ask him why, he says, "Oh, you know me, I live in my head." His teachers have reported that he responds to redirection and he's mostly focused in school. During his WPPSI, the administrator reported that he is "extremely focused" but this is not what I see at home unless he is engaged with reading or playing. When reading or engaged in something, he really does have extraordinary focus.
- He often doesn't hear what I say to him. He asks me to repeat myself. I do not believe he has a hearing issue, as the doctor has checked his hearing.
- He had an excellent working memory when tested and remembers facts but struggles to remember what I just said or what he did all day (maybe this is part of being 6?)
- He struggles with handwriting. It is slow and laborious. He doesn't seem to have developed automaticity. It's not neat but not really messy, either. He mostly writes in capital letters and struggles with incorporating small letters. He has a much harder time copying text than just writing from memory. He has a very hard time reducing his thoughts to writing. I've asked his teachers and they always agree that he struggles with writing compared to other areas at school (he excels in math and reading) but they believe his writing is age appropriate. His first grade teacher did note that because writing is so difficult for him, he oversimplifies his ideas when recording him. She also recommended against accelerating him to the next grade for math because she didn't think he could keep up with the writing requirements. She has noted that he strongly prefers mental math to writing anything down. When he is not at school, he avoids writing and draws very little.
- His drawing is simplistic and not a favorite activity. He used utensils early and can do Legos and use tools fine. His hand is weak and he seems to have trouble maintaining appropriate pressure when we hold hands to cross the street (he lets his hand go limp). He finds buttoning shirts difficult.
-He's not clumsy but he's not athletic, either. He's very physically cautious. He walked on the later side (15 months) but he's really tall (99th %) so his doctor wasn't particularly worried. He can ride a bike. My husband and I were never interested in or good at sports so we never worried about this.
- He has some verbal and motor tics. The verbal tics really started over the last year and are currently largely absent. We are keeping an eye on it and he does not have a diagnosis.
- He still cannot say the "r" sound properly. A speech therapist I know said we shouldn't worry yet but I'm just mentioning it in case it is relevant.

After reading the other thread about DCD, that made me wonder if my son has that. I read a bit about it but the clumsiness didn't ring true. I've also thought about dysgraphia but I recognize that this might be normal six year old boy behavior and not an actual issue. Am I missing something else?

Thanks for any ideas you might have.