Need info from learning disability parents - Learning Disorders Message Board

Shmolissa · 06-24-2004, 07:12 AM

What were some of the things that indicated that your child had a learning disability before he or she was tested and diagnosed?
My son's school wants him tested for ADD because he is having difficulties with his school work. I personally think he has low self esteem steming from severe speech problems which have since been cleared up considerably from adenoid removal surgery. I want to compare information from you, with information from ADD parents so that I know how to respond to his diagnosis after he is tested.
Thanks in advance for you help
Mel

djrsmom · 06-29-2004, 07:33 AM

Hello Mel,

I am a new member but my son is 16 and has had many learning disabilities and ADD. When I first suspected he was having some problems it was basically because he did not seem to be able to follow through with simple instructions or complete simple tasks. Also I homeschool and when he was in Kindergarten we would go over a letter for about a 1/2 hour (writting in sand, molding letters out of playdough, etc.). When we were finnished, I would excitedly say, "So, what letter did we learn today?" He would look at me and say, "I don't know" He had a terrible time blending letters together and reading. He would get very tired when he read and could not recall names in stories, but would have to sound them out everytime. He also had a hard times writing. He is now older and can explain to me how he feels. What he says is that he tries to concentrate, but has a very hard time. He gets distracted very easily. I could go on for a long time. My boy has really struggled through the years, but can now read and write and is very good in math. He still has trouble with memorizing things and spanish is very hard. The neurologist said he had no sustained attention.

Fell free to ask any questions and hopefully I can help!!!

Pat

dreamfroggy · 07-23-2004, 09:42 AM

hello mel.
don't know how much help i can be, but like pat we knew at a young age that our daughter had add. she was two. i think i was more aware of it as add/adhd runs in my family so i had a pretty good idea what we were dealing with. her kindergarten teacher told us several times that she felt that "b" was having trouble but was really to young to test. that didn't get done until she was in the third grade. she was also diagnosed at the same time with an ld in reading comprehension she reads all the time but it never seems to stick with her. her math skills are very good but she often refuses to do what she needs to do.

it seems to me that low self esteem goes hand in hand with add. our kids feel bad enough about themselves and often times the other kids pick up on that and feed into it.

I was wondering pat: at 16 is your son at times inmature? although she is 13 at times you really do think you are dealing with a 2 year old. then at other times she acts very grown up.
both of you feel free to e-mail me. i am always looking for others to share thoughts with.

djrsmom · 07-23-2004, 02:24 PM

Hello Dreamfroggy,

Yes, my son is immature in many ways for his age. My other son who is 2 years younger is more mature in many areas. However, he has done alot of maturing lately I think. One of the things that has made this difficult is he is such a big boy. He has been 6' for awhile and weighs about 190lbs. He works out now and is looking very grown up.

Something I wanted to mention regarding his learning disabilities. Since I originally posted my first message I received 2 messages from people telling me it sounded like my son had Irlen Syndrome. I bought the book recommended and looked at the website and I am convinced that is his problem. I showed him the examples from the book what the printed page could look like with a person with this syndrome and he told me that is exactly what it looks like when he reads. I am going to take him to the clinic for an evaluation in NY city. There are some pretty simple questions you can ask your child regarding what they see, when they read, that I never thought of ever asking. I feel so badly for my son that he had to struggle for so long! You would be amazed at what the words looked like when he tried to read them! I am totally impressed that he can read at all! The name of the book is Reading by the Colors, by Helen Irlen. The sydrome is also called scotopic sensitivity sydrome. Just google it and you will get alot of info.

Just to add to the immaturity thing, My son really showed a big difference in the last year from 13 yrs. old. They do grow up!!!

Pat

PinkPiglet · 07-29-2004, 10:48 AM

I can so relate with djrsmom. My daughter is 6 and we're in the process of having her assessed for ld. She can't remember letters. Sounds of the letters make no sense what-so-ever for her. We homeschool as well.

I also have a 10yo that was diagnosed ADD in grade 2. We discovered last year that he actually has Asperger's Syndrome (a form of Autism). He couldn't pay attention, gets very hyper but somehow I didn't feel ADD fit him. If you do a search I know there are online interactive questionares you can fill out and they may give you an idea. ADD and Asperger's are both in the Autistic Spectrum so AS is often misdiagnosed as ADD.

Things like not being able to focus are only part of the whole thing. My son hyper-focuses on things and you can't get him away from that topic. Even if he's not doing it he talks about it. Makes for interesting conversations! lol

I know this probably isn't that helpful but I just thought I'd share our story.

Jeannie