Looking for help please!

Hi LAF,
I am doing some research that might or might not be relevant, but I thought that I’d mention it.
You might be familiar with Minds Eye, which is the ability to ‘picture things in your mind’.

Though I’m researching a parallel to this: Minds Ear. Which is the ability to ‘imagine sounds and words in our mind’. As you are reading this, you can probably hear the words in your mind, without saying them out loud.
When you are thinking or remembering something, you probably hear what you are thinking or remembering in your mind/ Minds Ear.
But consider the difficulties you would have, if you hadn’t learnt how to ‘imagine sounds/ words in your mind’? To use your Minds Ear?
The ability to do this, is not something that we are born with. But is instead, a skill acquired through practise.
Yet, I have found that many children never developed the skills to use their Minds Ear. Simply because they never knew that people could actually do this?

So perhaps you could simply talk to your son about this, and find out if he can ‘imagine the sound of words in his mind’? Can he imagine a sentence in his mind? Think out loud, in his mind?

This might or might not be relevant, but I thought that I’d mention it.
Geoff,

My dd has complex LDs but a high IQ. When she was your son’s age she had a great deal of difficulty learning anything. The school tried what they knew but it just didn’t connect with her. We ended up taking her to a Neuropsychologist who was able to dx her with LDs and provide a lot of information on what could be done to help her. She also had evals done by specialists in OT and Speech/Language.

She ended up needing a lot of therapy. Sensory integration and auditory integration therapy, visual therapy, glasses, books on tape, medication, etc. After many years of work, she is doing amazingly well.

I would recommend getting independent evaluations in all the areas you are concerned about. This should give you more thorough information about how your son learns and directions to go with therapy to help him.

((Hugs))

I second the recommendation to get a complete neuro-psychological evaluation. For what you describe, I think most medical insurance programs would cover this eval. Try calling your insurance company and asking. Also talk to your GP or pediatrician about getting a referral. A neuro-psych should be able to order the correct tests to identify or rule our medical conditions. (Neuro-psychs are medical doctors, whereas psychologists have Ph.D.s and usually do not have a medical degree.)

Has he had a private speech and language evaluation by a speech pathologist? With articulation problems (and possible receptive language problems), this eval would probably be covered by medical insurance. Try finding a good speech pathologist in your area, call their clinic, and ask about an eval. They handle insurance companies all the time, so can usually give you the *exact* coding or wording necessary for coverage. Take this info to your GP or pediatrician to get a referral with the correct coding or wording.

For the sensitivity to sounds, TLP (The Listening Program) can be helpful. This can be purchased online at used at home. See http://www.rmlearning.com/auditoryprocessing.htm for more info.

I don’t think seizures can be ruled out with an MRI. I’m pretty sure you need an EEG for that.

Is homeschooling a possibility? There are quite a few families who homeschool special needs children, and very good support groups online. There is a wealth of curriculum materials too that can be used by a parent at home.

Nancy

Hi LAF,

I also agree with reply from Nancy, need to get a complete neuro-psychological evaluation. From this evaluation, which is about 6 hours, you can walk away with lots of answers, and of course opens up many more questions. But you’ll be on the right track. My son is now 10, he had an eval with a Neorologist 2yrs ago first, who dx him w/ Non-Verbal LD, among other LD’s. He then had a speech and language evaluation and a neoro-physc eval. This determined his def’s in language receptive and expressive; as well as attention and processing issues. It was also noted by the school dr in 1st grade that his attention def is almost “seizure” like. The next year, 2nd grade teacher said the same thing to me. I then brought this to the attention of his dr and we scheduled an EEG, this determines brainwave activity and would determine if there are any seizures. We had the test, which was about 90 minutes. The dr said there was nothing, so we ruled it out. I hope some of this info helps you out. Good luck! KIM

Has your child been seen by a neurologist to rule out epilepsy or other disorders? A mild seizure can result with the child not remembering what was said or what has happened.

Coping with learning disabilties is so difficult. I remember feeling so helpless at times, and found it most difficult when my daughter struggled with her self esteem. She often would say “I’m so stupid”, or “I hate myself”. I would say that this is one of the hardest parts of a child having a learning disability.

You are doing the right thing by asking lots of questions and learning as much as you can about your child as a learner. This greatly helped me to make sure that my daughter got services that really worked for her style of learning. You sometimes have to have a real “in your face” approach with the school, while still maintaining a positive relationship with them.

I can’t give you advice specific to your son’s education, but I will tell you that things will get better as he gets older. Once they figure out what he needs and put services in place for him things will slowly get better. My daughter was in 1st grade when we began the process, and it took until 5th grade to start noticing that things were getting better. Now she is in high school and doing great. It will get better.