She has pretty much always walked around with 'blinkers' on - she doesn't see or hear things going on around her at all sometimes, because she's so engrossed in whatever she's thinking about...
I always thought she'd just grow out of it, but I'd say it's actually gotten worse recently rather than better. My other child is a 21 month old who was born with a spinal condition.
Just a thought, but has she ever been evaluated for absence seizures? While it is certainly possible to be so engrossed that you don't see or hear what is going on around you, (I frequently can't hear when people first speak to me when I'm reading because my auditory system is otherwise engaged), I have seen a number of children who had actually had absence seizures but who presented as otherwise normal children who were inattentive and disorganized and often "in their own world" - and it is certainly possible to have both things going on at different times. A positive history of neural tube problems in close family members doesn't do anything to convince me that that this shouldn't be looked into further. Diagnostic testing (but not treatment) can be covered by the school as part of the evaluation for potential disabilities if the inattentiveness and disorganization are interfering with her educational functioning - which they are, if you are having to give her increased support with homework, remembering assignments, etc.
