Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school putting a gifted child into Special Ed preschool?

Mk13, that sounds like the way to go. I would expect them to have all the necessary expertise and be thorough in their work.

I hope you get some rest soon...

DeeDee

I'm curious on the eye contact, at what times you do get eye contact. I hope I don't come across as questioning of there being concern over ASD spectrum, I'm not at all (and the empathy issue must be concerning). I'm just plain curious as your DS sounds obviously bright and easily bored if there is a component of oppositionality or boredom. Ie do you get some good eye contact if you say something funny or unexpectedly novel, "Guess what I saw today, a dog with wings", or "how about fried bunny for dinner?".

Polly

he's very rarely making any eye contact at all. I'll have to try the tip you mentioned. The eye contact has been a real problem for good 2 years now. I really stress it that he looks at me and keeps his eyes focused on me when I'm talking to him but he just can't do it. His eyes wonder all over the place or he won't raise his head at all. It's very different from what he was like even as a baby ... from the day he was born he would look straight into my eyes anytime I'd hold him. He was born 3 weeks early via emergency c-section while my husband was on the road and when he came home 8 days later, first thing he noticed was that DS4 was looking at us like he was an adult and like he understood everything that was going on. He's still getting a speech assessment on Saturday ... I keep thinking if he has some sort of language processing issue, which could possibly be the reason behind the lack of eye contact?

... funny ... just now, I got the most eye contact in months from him ... he's zoning out on Melatonin! lol ... so, his brain working too fast and making it hard for him to make eye contact is also a possibility?

... still, that doesn't take away any of the other spectrum-like behaviors ... one other that stands out in my mind ... from about 9 months of age till maybe 3 years old he was fascinated by spinning wheels ... cars, strollers ... anything with wheels, he'd keep spinning them and looking at them for a very long time. One of the first odd behaviors we noticed.

I am not one of the people who believe vaccines can cause autism ... BUT when he was 4 months old, by mistake he was given 4 of the same vaccines he already received 4 weeks prior (the doctor's office forgot to update his records at the 3 months visit) ... and nobody realized it until I started asking questions about why is he getting the same vaccines he received at the previous visit. They all said it's no big deal, it happens, it doesn't cause any harm ... but at the back of my mind, I have been always worried WHAT IF? It was basically a vaccine overdose as they should be spaced further apart ... so, yes, I have always been scared will be dealing with some issues later on. But that is just a theory ... uncomfortable, to say the least ... but only a theory.

So maybe eye contact is best when he's relaxed and everything around is quiet or dim? A component of anxiety/stress/hyperarousal (from any cause, stress from trouble processing speech is one possible cause), or some sort of distractibility (visual, auditory overload, etc). (I'm just thinking aloud, I have no training whatsoever). I asked about the fried bunny as that's my tactic when DS (or DH) is preoccupied, turns out they are usually listening at some level to me.

DS4 has a really bad Sensory processing disorder. He seems to respond the best when he's in another room. I always joke about him needing to be around the corner to actually pay attention to me.

PDD makes sense but I do keep in mind it might be a misdiagnosis. Hopefully the further testing will give us more clear answers.

another update - DS4 had a speech evaluation done yesterday at the place where he gets OT and PT. The lady who did it is the main ST there (and one of the co-owners) and she came to the conclusion that he's not really having any speech issues (I was worried about him not processing verbal info correctly as a lot of times it's like talking to a Martian ... you give him a question and he answers something completely different ... and I don't even attempt to have a conversation with him as it turns into a long monologue from him) ... I always say he looks like his brain just can't stop and is always spinning ... and she basically supported my view on it. Said it's not that he doesn't understand the question ... but for him the simple "correct" answer isn't enough and he has a need to tell us a lot more. ... like ... she showed him pictures and asked "which boy is wet" ... and he showed the picture and added "this boy is wet because he got caught in the rain and didn't have an umbrella and now is standing there in a puddle!" (this is the kind of sentences he uses ... they just never end) ... she went on showing him other pictures and doing other problems with him and then said there's no need to test further. That he knows well beyond his age level and the one big problem she sees with him will come when he's in a group of more kids and he'll need to be quiet and let other talk ... SO, he's starting their small group Speech/Occupational therapy next week. I think we'll cut down or completely cut out his PT as he doesn't really need it at this point and just keep his OT every other week and add this group session instead. Whether he does end up going to the special-ed preschool or not, I really want to give this group approach a try since it will give us a better idea of how he'll do following directions while with other kids! (on a side note ... DS2 ... the one who can't stand other kids in a radius of 6-10 feet will be starting a group OT as well ... they just last week created one for his age group! I'm so excited!!!)

But, back to DS4 ... he was a riot during the testing! lol ... She'd show him another set of pics with kids standing, holding balloons and ask "which boy has the MOST balloons?" ... and he'd first point to the one with none and say "he doesn't have any" ... next one "this boy has one" ... next "this one has three balloons" ... and then pointed to the correct picture and say "this is ME! I have the most balloons!" ... the speech therapist ended the session just telling me that DS must be a lot of fun to be around (yea, try that 24/7 though!!! lol) and that she wouldn't worry about speech and speech processing itself but really only about how to get him to follow directions and be in a group rather than do his own thing.

So, I guess this is all good news!