Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion I miss Kriston....

Hi All
I'm really interested in what you are saying about ELD but didn't want to hijack this thread. I've started a new topic in the 2E forum so if you have a minute could you check out my questions?
Cheers
abra

I'll try those tests tomorrow, Mom0405. He has pretty good coordination, I think, so I doubt they'll be a problem. I don't think he has vestibular issues.

I do think he has trouble not just with producing answers, but with understanding the questions when he's asked. He often looks to me when another adult asks him something. All along, I thought he was being shy (which seemed odd because he is not a shy kid and never has been). I realized after his visit with the Language Pathologist that he's looking to me to translate the question for him, or at least to repeat it so he can understand it.

That's not a symptom of ELD, is it?

And friends, please feel free to hijack this thread. You won't offend me!

I don't know Kriston. I find myself repeating things for DS often; but most of the time it's due to making sure that he is paying attention first. He is distractable, especially in a new setting. His mind spins with all the things that can be made with new objects.:) Sometimes I have to re-word things, but not that often. I do not know if that's an ELD thing, it sounds more receptive than expressive; but you would have to be more specific. Does he not understand; or does he just need it repeated because he was dwelling on part of the question? My DS tends to dwell on parts of the question; so he doesn't get the whole thing, and it needs to be repeated for its entirety. Can you give an example? I hope that you get some answers soon.

He really doesn't understand. He pays attention. He doesn't seem to be drifting off into his own thoughts (although that's admittdly hard to be sure about). It really seems like he just doesn't understand.

The stories that the SLP read to him: she said most kids do well on the first one and get worse as they go along because they get bored and lose focus. But DS6 turned that pattern on its head. He missed every comprehension question on the first story, some to the point of giving the opposite answer that he should have given. He got not one part of a single question right. She read more stories and he got better as he went along. She said that was unusual and indicates a problem.

No one who has tested him thinks he has any sort of attention issues. He focuses. He doesn't seem to latch on to one part of the question as a general rule. He just doesn't understand what he hears.

Even if he's looking right at an adult who is asking him questions, even if he knows a question is coming, he generally cannot answer it unless I repeat it or even translate it sometimes. He definitely has an easier time understanding me than he does other adults. Even his dad has a harder time than I do with getting through to him.

That's why ELD doesn't seem as on point to me as some sort of auditory processing disorder, since an APD can cause problems with both hearing and reading, as well as with understanding and producing spoken language.

This sounds familiar. Ds8 has APD. I brought him to a speech therapist who proceeded to give him the generalized approach to treating CAPD, ie, giving him word pairs and asking which sounds the same or different, questions that relate to auditory memory etc. According to her, he scores around 40% with her. When I did similar work with him (part of the program is for continued practice at home), he scored a 100% each time. I even tried the more advanced sections of the book she said he wasnt ready for. It didn't matter- he still got 100% or nearly there. I asked him why and he said he's just so used to my voice, but he's not familiar with hers.

Kriston, does your son attend any external classes? What does the teacher say? I had had one or two comments that ds would volunteer unrelated information, but I didn't think much of it till the diagnosis.

Kriston, he is so fortunate to have you as a Mom!!! It does sound more like auditory (although I haven't made myself an expert on it) than just expressive. Will you be getting his testing back soon?

My DS was totally confused with T/F questions. He doesn't get that part of the sentence could be right or wrong; he's been use to multiple choice questions. I don't know what this is about; but I figure that it will just take practice. Is this more abstract?

Making a comment about blob's...I know that I absolutely cannot hear some people if they have low-toned voices; and I totally zone out. My overall hearing is fine. It seemed rude of me; but I didn't realize it until a few years ago (so it's not old age:). Now I just have to tell them to pretty much yell.:( I had to sit in the front row in classes or I'd zone out.

Please let me know if you need anything...and keep us updated.

Kriston, do you think he really needs you to restate the question, or is he using that strategy to buy time for processing his answer (i.e. producing language which you already know is difficult for him)?

I think he really doesn't understand. After restating/rewording a couple of the developmental pediatrician's questions to him, I got worried that she'd think I was a control freak, so I didn't say anything after one of her questions. I just waited. He looked at me the way one looks at a translator when one doesn't understand the langage: expectantly and with a sense of growing helplessness and fear when I didn't say anything. He wasn't thinking. He was waiting for me to help him.


He does attend a school-for-homeschoolers part time. However, he's probably *the* youngest kid in his classes, and he's so smart that I think he covers pretty well. His kindergarten teacher didn't really see it. But teachers of kids this age tend to "talk down" to kids--including repeating the same basic directions multiple times and using easy vocab--and people who do those things are far easier for him to understand.

He doesn't generally volunteer unrelated info in class, I don't think. At least not in any way that's unusual for a 6yo. But he *does* interrupt conversations with non sequiturs at home all the time. It's not rudeness. He's a kid who values manners. It's like he just doesn't even hear that people are talking. That's actually one of the things that made me think something wasn't right. It's like conversations going on around him are just background noise.

I suspect he comes off as a "normal" 6yo to his teachers right now. But so far I haven't see a lot of improvement in how well he understands what he hears, and I think there will come a day in the near future when more is expected of him and he just won't be able to give it. He'll seem inattentive or rude or not smart or like he doesn't care when (I think) the problem is really that he simply doesn't understand what is said to him.

I can't help thinking that college lectures will be a nightmare for him if we don't work on coping mechanisms early. Like now!

Kriston, I am assuming that he's had specialized hearing tests done as well for tones, etc.? I am grasping to try to help.

No, tones only so far. But I don't think it's a hearing problem; I think it's an understanding problem. I have never had any reason whatsoever to suspect hearing issues. It just doesn't look like that.