Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion STILL not listening, or only to me...

There are other options besides these.

Our DS9 had trouble learning that an instruction made to a group applied to him. This was fundamentally a social skills deficit; he just didn't see himself as part of the group. We have had to work hard on "checking in" and staying checked in.

In addition, as Aculady said, an instruction given indirectly ("class, we're on page 46"-- with no explicit direction about what to do about that) was completely incomprehensible to him. (You can imagine him thinking "so? you're on page 46, what does that have to do with me?")


Yes, that's the sort of thing I'm getting at. Implicit language was lost on my DS for quite a long time.


FWIW, difficulty with this kind of transition, and the issues you and I outlined above, go together as part of Asperger's in my DS. And yes, people often mistake them for attitude when they're a genuine processing problem.

I know you had an eval recently-- did you discuss any of this with the tester?

Agreeing with Grinity-- you're seeing something that's not just a school problem here, and IMO these issues are worth working on.

DeeDee

listening and paying attention are skills that can be improved. Have you tried music lessons? We got my third grader into that a year ago (piano); he is hearing impaired and obviously could use some listening improvement. It has helped alot and has spilled over into other areas of his life and school.
Or sports or dance- we also had him do these little musicals/dance programs at our local art center.

Yes, she recently started violin as well as guitar. I am of the same mind, that these things will help her learn to listen better...

DeeDee-our evaluator said she did not see glaringly obvious signs of AS, autism, even the ADHD, she's not completely convinced it's ADHD, but possibly learned dysfunctional coping skills, so we will revist the ADHD issue soon...we are being called for a consult with developmental behavior, so, maybe...

I did ask her about some of these issues today. She said specifically that she does feel confused sometimes when she is told to finish one project, then it seems that suddenly they are told to pick up, etc. I know part of this is her own perrfectionism...say we are making cards, the other kids her age draw a simple flower or heart and take 10 minutes. She would spend an hour, if allowed, with fancy embellishments, etc. I am pretty good about giving the kids plenty of transisiton time, but not everyone is me, right? lol!

She also does some other "odd" stuff...like lately she plucks a hair from her hair and tries to floss her teeth with it (ick) or tap dances around (she doesn't take tap lessons). She fidgets less than before, but she's also not confined to a seat in a classroom like before...

*sigh* again, lol!

woohooo!!! appt set with developmental behavior clinic for the end of the month. They told me that this is the Dr who will be able to say, with at least some real authority, whether or not it actually is AS, NVLD, ADHD, etc...or none of the above? lol!

I don't agree with the teacher's comment that it's inconsistent to say that her voice is soft and yet be bothered by clicking noises. To my way of thinking, the clicking noises could be so overwhelmingly distracting that she can't hear anything else! I have moments on occasion (thank goodness not all the time) when there is a "minor" noise that is so irritating to me that I can't escape from it. Also, once in a while there is something odd with my eardrums or something where paper rustling noises get all blown out of proportion in my hearing and it feels like they are banging inside my ears. I don't know if it's just an acoustic thing with a piece of earwax or what -- this happened for an extended time many years ago when I was considering applying for a job with the post office, and I never went because I couldn't stand the idea of all that mail rustling around in my head.

And there is also the fact that, despite having no hearing problems, I frequently have to watch people's lips moving in order to actually think about what they are saying; somehow the words just don't register unless I see them. DS9 has some of that as well. It may be an AS thing, I'm not sure. It's not that I can't hear the words, just that sometimes they don't get into my consciousness.

CAPD? NVLD? and apparently CAPD and ADHD can look a lot alike, at least in some kids...

anyone have one like this with CAPD or NVLD? I'm honestly still suspecting even high fx AS, but all those ideas are more like differential DX or looking at lists and thinking, yes, that sounds like her...

master-are you SERIOUS with the hair thing??? lol!!! my brother had tricotillomania (sp) when he was a kid and he is way up there IQ wise. She goes through phases of these "tics" and someone also suggested it might be sensory, but, I would think the evaluator would have picked up on anything big like SPD...

Nautigal-I have sensitivity to certain kinds of noises as well...I think that's why I like to leave my tv on all the time, to drown out other sounds. For me, I can't abide most video game noises, the sound of my own breathing in the dead of night and the way my youngest whispers under her breath (UGH UGH UGH!!) lol!

My 8 yo dd has a similar issue with noise. She can't stand the noise in a regular classroom and comes home with headaches after school. She also struggles with the slightest background noises in the classroom and when the teacher lectures to the class as a whole my dd has a hard time understanding so the teacher will explain it one on one with her and then she comprehends. I think when the teacher is speaking to the whole class it's harder for my dd to focus on what the teacher is saying. She also will take a lot of things I say literally but I can't tell if she's doing it to be a smart aleck or if she really means it.

sometimes, when I am reading comments and posts here, I think...

I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE! lol!

Me too. Happy new to all who celebrate it.