My son will be 5 next month and was a late talker. (As was his father & uncle.) He was about 3 1/2 when he finally started talking for real. He still has language and articulation issues and receives speech therapy 2x per week. His pre-k teacher reports that he has trouble focusing and often needs to be told instructions 3x before he understands. (She also reports that some days he’s fine: very verbal & focused.) He recently was administered the WPPSI-III IQ test and his full scale %ile rank was 30. He also was given the Stanford Binet V and was found to have an IQ of 86 which is 18% full scale. Both psychologists who administered the tests said they had problems keeping him focused. The SB tester said he just “didn’t seem to understand” simple instructions.
He’s a very sweet kid, not hyperactive, very well behaved, listens when told what and what not to do, but just doesn’t seem to “get it” a lot of the time. For example, today I was planning to go out and run an errand (my husband was home to watch him) and he kept perseverating, “Did you go yet? Did you go yet?” When I would tell him, “No, but I’m going soon.” he would say, “Yes? You went?” I would repeat, “No, but I’m going to leave soon.” and THEN he would say, “OK.” (Until he asked me again 10 minutes later.)
This doesn’t happen all the time. Most of the time he is a well functioning, great kid, but all his peers seem much more “present” somehow.
Do any of these “symptoms” (for lack of a better word) sound familiar to anyone? Thanks for any and all input.
Beth in FL
I agree with karen but wanted also to add that you might also have an audiologist test him for auditory processing issues. My son scored similarly on an IQ test at the same age and the tester made the same sorts of comments. Turns out he really could not understand directions due to auditory processing deficits. Like your son, he had years of speech therapy already. We did a program called Fast Forward when he was 7, and afterwards there was a big improvement—both in functioning and on IQ tests—he is now solidly average.
There are lots of reasons for the same symptoms and so you really do need to find some good people to test him. There are lots of things you can do to help him, once you understand what is going on.
Beth
Re: What's wrong with my son?
You might want to start by asking your pediatrician for a referral to a developmental eval. clinic or developmental pediatrician; for such a young child(?4yrs old), taking an accurate history is very important to a diagnosis. Do you have concerns about social skills, interaction, use of language, eye contact, and ability to do simple things like dressing, toileting, etc? Yes the IQ info is a start(average IQ is 90-110, so 86 is in the ball park), but more info. is needed.
Re: What's wrong with my son?
It certainly could be auditory processing, although most tests for that are normed for children over 5 or 6. So you probably won’t be able to get that testing yet. However, I agree with the others who suggest a full developmental evaluation in the meanwhile. It’s good that he is in speech-langauge therapy. That person should be in tune to possible auditory processing issues and working on that area as well as artic and language. You might want to check out the book, “Like Sound Through Water” by Karen Foli, too. It is the story of a family who searched for a diagnosis for thier son and finally found auditory processing disorder.
And don’t worry, IQ scores don’t mean that much at that age anyway.
Janis
Re: What's wrong with my son?
Another good CAPD book is “When the Brain Can’t Hear.”
I agree with everyone else that you’ll need more testing to discover what’s going on. The best places to look might be a University, Regional Center, or get as much information as you can from the local school district. Try to find out who might be the best Neuropsych in your area. “Grill” your pediatrician for as much information and/or referrals as possible.
One more idea: This is something I like to do every once in awhile, go to a local bookstore and just sit down in front of the Special Needs section and start reading! I’ve done this before. You can learn a lot just spending a good hour or two going through books. I’ve also found good books at the library too, but there’s often more up-to-date information at a book store.
Good luck to you, and just remember you aren’t alone.
neuropsych testing is for school age kids, not 4yos
There are limited numbers of psych tests for 4 year olds; a devlopmental pediatrician is the appropriate starting person for an eval.
UWSmom,
At this age perhaps you can get a clearer picture by getting a more comprehensive evaluation by a neuropsychologist? SOme other posters here may have more informed ideas for you, but I think you need to do some digging - a full speech/language eval and auditory processing jump to mind. Are there motor issues? Who administered the IQ tests and were they part of an overall eval? Tell us more and hopefully we can help…
PS, I’m guessing from your name you are from NYC? I’m a former UWS mom myself.