My 12-year-old son has several hidden disabilities--migraines, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, hypotonia, and scoliosis. He used to have mild sensory issues, like problems with clothing tags and socks. Last night his musical theater group performed the song Edgar Allan Poe from the musical Snoopy at a talent competition. There were a lot of very talented people performing at that competition. Five of the singers I listened to at the competition sounded to me like they could easily make it to Hollywood if they ever tried out for American Idol.
My son's musical theater group had practiced really hard the night before the competition, with last minute changes to the choreography and lots of things to remember. Three hour rehearsals are hard for my son because of the hypotonia and low endurance. He had to step up on a box during the song probably 20 times as they went over it again and again. I didn't realize how hard this would be on his knee and legs. He didn't ask to take breaks other than the quick trips to the water fountain that the director gave all the other kids. He didn't have a headache. His endurance seemed better than night than it usually is. Everything went so well.
When he woke up the morning of the performance, he could barely walk. His knee was really sore and he had one more rehearsal before the performance that evening. He was really worried that he would let the other kids in group down if he couldn't pull it together and do his part well, so he made it to the last hour of the last rehearsal. He forgot to sing some of his lines as he looked at the box he was supposed to step up on because he was worried about the pain, but he he did get up on the box, once the pain medication finally started working. He didn't have any problems the rest of the rehearsal, but he was still worried that he might mess up and it would ruin the rest of the group's chances of winning.
When it came time for him to perform, he didn't seem to be in any pain whatsoever. He was Linus. His timing, his singing, his acting, everything seemed perfect. He got up and down from the box with such confidence. He and the other kids in the group did so well that they won first place.
It still seems kind of funny to me that the neuropsychologist that tested my son in one all day session at age 11, when he was getting a migraine, when he has always had fatigue and endurance issues, said his verbal IQ was in the gifted range but his "performance" score was spiky so she diagnosed him with dyspraxia. As we were leaving her office she made a comment, something like yes, he has a high verbal IQ, but I wonder which IQ score is the best indicator of his potential, as if the lower performance score could really cause some problems. I am still trying to figure out what kind of problems his spiky "performance" IQ is supposed to cause. How could he possibly have a motor planning disorder and remember last minute changes well enough to help his group win first prize?
