Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Effects of Mixed Dominance

Tks aculady. Its so true about arming him for when he needs it. Who knows? I will soldier on. And it's certainly true about life being hard in the classroom. He enjoyed his accelerated math in school because that involved working in front of a computer without input from the teacher. But once it was regular work where he had to pay attention to instructions, he was lost. We pulled him out to homeschool last year shortly before we knew about his APD. Not that we needed the decision to be affirmed, but everything became crystal when he was diagnosed.

Mich, we tried martial arts for a year. He really hated it. Swimming- it's at least 4 years of private lessons. We switched him to group to make the lessons less intense and more interesting when he became water safe. But yes, this is hard going. Biking- no balance yet. The kinesiologist has a gradual plan to work all these in. At home, we try to play ball sports.

It's a good reminder not to belabor his weaknesses. Luckily we live in an area where, for lack of a better way to put it, nerds rule. He's a very confident boy . People wonder why I put so much emphasis on sports. But it's a very enjoyable and natural part of life that I don't want him to miss out on.

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We've found that individual sports work best for my son. Field sports are overwhelming for - it is too hard for him to know where he is in space, to anticipate and to react. He has found that he can be very successful in sports like Archery, golf, hiking, track and field. He competes against himself, can follow a routine and doesn't have to deal with the confusion of field sports. He even enjoys climbing - although this is more of a challenge for him.

Blob,

My DS couldn't really swim or ride a bike until he was 11, but he wanted to do both of those things very much, so we kept at it. I believe that the horseback riding primed him to be able to make the leap in both of those. Don't get discouraged, even when it seems slow going. For our sanity and his, we really tried to keep the focus on having fun, and disguised "therapy" as games where possible. Straddling floats and having to keep upright while shooting water pistols at each other in the pool develops core stability, balance, and hand-eye coordination, but I can't say that my boy ever complained about doing that kind of therapy, even when it was really hard.

Individual sports played for fun have been much more successful here, for the all the reasons mich covered above.

I'll also risk losing my "Good Mommy" credentials here by being saying unabashedly that video games have been a great asset in developing visual processing skills and fine motor control for my son.

Can we move to your neighborhood, please?

My eldest was reticent to try a bicycle at ten. We tried the following approach, and it worked quite well for him:

1. Buy Razor scooter; let child become proficient at balancing on the scooter. Knee pads and are a must (plus the helmet, obviously). Elbow pads help too. Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.

2. Once he was proficient on the Razor scooter, we introduced an undersized bike (low enough that his knees bent somewhat when his feet were flat on the ground). We let him glide on it down a small, gentle hill (we used our driveway). We encouraged him to pick his feet up while he glided and to attempt to steer.

This wasn't such a big deal because he already had momentum from the hill (but not so much that he was going scary-fast). Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.

3. When he got good at this, we encouraged him to pedal.

Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.

4. When he looked ahead most of the time, could pedal, steer, start, and stop, we got him his own bike. We let him ride it with the seat a bit low initially. This made stopping and starting easier because he could put his feet flat on the ground.

HTH; I have no idea if this method would work for someone else.

Val

You gave me goosebumps Val. This is EXACTLY how my son learnt to ride the bike!

Tks guys! The advice and support is invaluable!

He can't scoot yet. But the low bike is a great idea! Val, how did you know he tends to look down instead of ahead? <grin>.

The good thing about sports is that it's fun enough for some self motivation to happen.

Tks once again .

That is too funny!

Justed wanted to pass on info about a therapy that is supposed to address bi-lateral integration issues. "Brain Gym" uses exercises to help overcome mid-line, dominance issues. It was recommended to us when we had my son fully evaluated by a private OT. We decided not to embark upon yet another therapy, so I cannot comment on the efficacy. But, it is something to consider.

http://www.braingym.org/

Thanks for this, mich. We too are cutting down on therapy. Just finished 10 straight days of bone conduction, groan. Fired the speech therapist because I suspect she hasn't worked with with APD kids before despite what she told me ("He can't understand my instructions." Duh! ).

I have a book on Braingym somewhere and will look it up. For now, we'll just relax, focus on sports and have fun .