Concerned about my 11yo son. Does this sound like a disorder of some type? Developmental?

[Anonymous]

Thanks PPs! Op here. He raised a question today that made me wonder if it could be intellectual struggles somewhere connecting this but I am not sure which specialist would be able to pinpoint that. He asked if June had passed already.

We have previously discussed that school gets out in June many, many times. This reminded me of similar times he’s asked questions along these lines that made me wonder if he isn’t retaining information perhaps. Can intellectual struggles present in physical difficulties like coordination to get out of the side of the pool from my recent example?

I’ve been making calls to the resources shared here and in the other thread. Thank you all for your help!

[Anonymous]

My 11yo DC just asked me if next month is June or August. They have a solid case of ADHD, normal intelligence. I've always known they were slow to learn days of the week etc. I think it has to do with ADHD time blindness?

I have been a PP before on this thread. I would really suggest testing that could result in some sort of diagnosis so you can learn more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PPs! Op here. He raised a question today that made me wonder if it could be intellectual struggles somewhere connecting this but I am not sure which specialist would be able to pinpoint that. He asked if June had passed already.

We have previously discussed that school gets out in June many, many times. This reminded me of similar times he’s asked questions along these lines that made me wonder if he isn’t retaining information perhaps. Can intellectual struggles present in physical difficulties like coordination to get out of the side of the pool from my recent example?

I’ve been making calls to the resources shared here and in the other thread. Thank you all for your help!

My son couldn't get a handle on time ans dates either. I highly recommend you go see a Root Cause Neurologist, developmental pediatrician or highly progressive psychiatrist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I’ve requested developmental pediatrics referral, specialist referalls, I have asked about autism, I was told things like not all children are “athletically inclined” and that clumsiness didn’t qualify, “sometimes it just takes time to figure out how he learns”. But I continue every year to see what I can determine from the school and medical side. It’s just finally I hav the school willing to do an IEP evaluation and now I cant seem to get a pediatrician on board for further evaluation. Neuropsychologist aren’t covered by our insurance.

I just feel like I’m out of options in a way.

For the pool situation, it is something I really don’t know if he had ever tried on his own before. I know instructors have always helped with getting up onto side when you jump in from seated positioning. Then I am hit with the realization again, if what is he capable of vs. what do we just hop in and help him with and does that mean he hasn’t learned it properly.

Milestones were not a problem, and a lot of the verbal side wasn’t that he didn’t have the words for what he wanted to say, it was doctors who would say it’s a timid, shy, kid, common response path. He will talk and does talk when he wants to. Many responses of how they see children every day and this was all within the range of nothing concerning .

I also struggle if maybe I’m looking too deeply and this is all a part of development.

We pay for therapies for our child that insurance doesn’t cover. What would happen if you counted up all the money you and your spouse spent on yourselves in a year? Last year, I cut my monthly discretionary expenditures to about $50, plus I found myself cheap/free Christmas and birthday presents. (If you look all year, you can find a new enough book at a few little library.) I didn’t buy brand new clothing, I cut my own hair, and we rarely ate out. DH also saved money from his budget. We’re in a fortunate position where we raised about $2,500 in a year from those kinds of drastic cuts. I’ve paid the price for sure, but my kid needs the help. That’s the only way we could pay for it because we’re also paying for other therapies.

The other thing to remember is that drastic cuts can be for just a season. I’m going for my first haircut in ages this week, I bought a new shirt this month, and we ate out for Mother’s Day. All this to say, don’t automatically rule out a neuropsych because insurance won’t pay for it. You might decide that you’re budget has more wiggle room than you’d thought.

Dp. A neuropysch runs about 5k and it isn't even clear that this would be helpful for OP (speaking as a parent whose child has undergone one within the last year).

OP, the poster saying this is not a ped issue is right but the ped may be better able to guide you to the appropriate next steps.

I know you said the ped didn't take you seriously before, but I wonder how that conversation went. It's so easy to forget details during a short checkup. Were you able to go into as much detail with your ped as you have here?

Seeing an OT sounds like a good step, but I would worry that an OT could find issues that do need to be worked on, while missing other potential medical problems.

99% chance that for whatever medical problem is found, the recommended treatment will be OT or PT. We don't have gene therapies yet. Doesn't sound like anemia cured with a vitamin.

Did you know they have found 70 to 80 percent of autistic people have a functional fokate deficiency that doesn't flag blood tests? I wouldn't be so quick to write off anemia or any other nutritional issue.
The same deficiency is being found in everything from hypermobility to epilepsy

[Anonymous]

I have two kids with similar symptoms.

Both have ADHD, language-based learning differences (one mild and one very severe), and developmental coordination disorder (one severe and the other milder -- flipped from LDs) -- and they also have all sorts of processing issues. One of them was very social and outgoing, though he has become shyer as a teen and the other hand major social anxiety (saw a therapist who specialized in selective mutism for YEARS).

I think how a kid presents is part personality, part challenges and strengths, and part life experiences and feedback. Even though the anxiety is obviously biological and part of who he is -- my more anxious son really got a lot better when we put him in the right school environment and supported the LD.

It is a constant challenge to support a kid's areas of weakness, while keeping the strengths growing... but I found the concept of scaffolding to be a good guiding principle.

I want to also add that regular pediatricians and most teachers were of no help or value ever. My kids are both very bright and were not behavior issues so that "ruled out ADHD" for them, which was ridiculous especially for one of them who has always been extremely hyperactive and impulsive The best thing we ever did was start therapy with a wonderful psychologist for my eldest's anxiety. She was so knowledgeable and got to know kid well and eventually encouraged testing where we learned so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a motor planning problem.

Came here to say this. Motor planning difficulties would make anyone anxious. I’d get an OT eval.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lady, I think you need to shell out for the neuropsych exam finally. It's long overdue and putting it off is just delaying the help he needs.
You are his parent, no one else is going to do this for him.

This my son had issues very similar to yours. Pediatrician didn’t think it was a concern and the school didn’t think it was anything other than behavioral.

But my kid was suffering and so I sought out and paid for the independent neuropsych report which gave me the diagnosis and treatment recommendations and pointed me in the right direction.

I was then able to use the report to obtain the services of other professionals OTs, auditory specialists, ENTs, which were paid for by insurance, and they in turn provided additional diagnosis and treatment plans which were also covered by insurance and or the IEP plan.

Get the neuropsychologist evaluation.

The OT was probably the most beneficial for my son. No one suspected that he had issues because he was very athletic. but the OT was able to tease out the blind spots, that others couldn’t see. It was hard as a parent to see how hard certain movements and tasks were so hard for him. He was in OT for 1.5 years and of all the treatments they were the most beneficial and successful.

Get the neuropsych evaluation .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a motor planning problem.

I was coming here to say this. Maybe apraxia. I'd suggest either an OT or a PT eval or maybe both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PPs! Op here. He raised a question today that made me wonder if it could be intellectual struggles somewhere connecting this but I am not sure which specialist would be able to pinpoint that. He asked if June had passed already.

We have previously discussed that school gets out in June many, many times. This reminded me of similar times he’s asked questions along these lines that made me wonder if he isn’t retaining information perhaps. Can intellectual struggles present in physical difficulties like coordination to get out of the side of the pool from my recent example?

I’ve been making calls to the resources shared here and in the other thread. Thank you all for your help!

It could be a working memory deficit. Suggest a neuropsych eval. On top of PT/OT. Perhaps speech language as well, as there could be a receptive language or auditory processing need.

And no intellectual struggles don't present as physical difficulties, but there could be co morbidities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the above. I would try an OT evaluation first and then go to the full neurophysiological exam if needed.

+1. We wasted much too much time asking the pediatrician what she thought, who we might want to go talk to. She had no clue. Do OT and a neuropsych. That’s the only way to know for sure. Pediatricians are out of their lane here.

[Anonymous]

My DD sounds like this and she has dyspraxia. The things that most kids pick up intuitively, without explicit instruction were a challenge for my kid. It became overwhelming, all the basic things she struggled with - putting a card in an envelope, taping a poster to a wall, putting on jewelry, tying shoes - not to mention more complex things like preparing food, etc.

I felt like I had failed her as a parent by not showing her how to do all these things early on, but it was literally EVERYTHING because her challenges were so pervasive - things most parents wouldn’t even think to teach their kids because it’s such basic stuff (like your example of the light switch) and I had unconsciously been helping her/doing too much for her, because it was just easier to get on with our day.

You are describing motor planning challenges, which can impact sequencing/following steps and even academics (how is your son at tied problems?).

[Anonymous]

^*word problems