some of you know that hubby and i had mapboy tested for some of his quirks! well, today i met with the good doc to go over the results. i find it all quite fascinating and really quite exciting. for several years i've wondered if i am just a really bad parent. well, today i felt hope. i'm not a bad parent. i have a child that has some struggles - much like any adult. but that is where the problem is - helping a 7 year old cope with adult type problems.
basically, his intellect was off the charts for his age. no surprise there to those of you who know him. he processes information extremely fast and stores it in memory forever. he reads by memory, not phonics, and obsesses over other interesting educational items. socially, he isn't that great, but amazingly is coping quite well considering. he struggles to relate to kids his own age but is starting to make some strides in that way. the good doc gave some suggestions in that area.
the one thing she found that totally shocked me, although knowing hubbies family shouldn't have been a huge shock, was that he has anxiety issues. what i thought was depression or ocd is really anxiety. when something changes in his day he reacts not so well. it is anxiety: he can't grasp the changes and process them. even though he processes learning fast, this is a difficult thing to him. and when he can't process the change he worries.
the sounds - well, that is sensory related. and i get to make an appointment to have an OT observe him and teach me how to feed him a sensory diet. it is a sensory coping method for him to make sounds. in the mean time i get to try to replace that behaviour with something more pleasing. when i asked if silence would work she laughed and kindly told me probably not. but help him find something else to do. his input and output are different. he can be as loud as he wants, but doesn't like other people's noise. this will most likely involve using headphones to train him to drown out other noise in a positive way - other than creating his own to out do the other.
so...all in all, i'm pleased to know a direction to go for help. he was not diagnosed with auspergers like we had thought. while he is definitely showing some of those issues, his struggles are not across the board. so for now we will pursue help in these areas and see what happens.
with summer approaching i was told to create a daily/weekly schedule with him. and try to teach him how to be flexible within that. sounds interesting to me. i'm also supposed to encourage intentional, short play dates. ones that won't overwhelm him but enable him to have positive social interaction with peers. sounds like a fun summer!!!!!
as we proceed i'll keep you posted with progress. the good doc thought we would see fast progress with a sensory diet in place.
basically, his intellect was off the charts for his age. no surprise there to those of you who know him. he processes information extremely fast and stores it in memory forever. he reads by memory, not phonics, and obsesses over other interesting educational items. socially, he isn't that great, but amazingly is coping quite well considering. he struggles to relate to kids his own age but is starting to make some strides in that way. the good doc gave some suggestions in that area.
the one thing she found that totally shocked me, although knowing hubbies family shouldn't have been a huge shock, was that he has anxiety issues. what i thought was depression or ocd is really anxiety. when something changes in his day he reacts not so well. it is anxiety: he can't grasp the changes and process them. even though he processes learning fast, this is a difficult thing to him. and when he can't process the change he worries.
the sounds - well, that is sensory related. and i get to make an appointment to have an OT observe him and teach me how to feed him a sensory diet. it is a sensory coping method for him to make sounds. in the mean time i get to try to replace that behaviour with something more pleasing. when i asked if silence would work she laughed and kindly told me probably not. but help him find something else to do. his input and output are different. he can be as loud as he wants, but doesn't like other people's noise. this will most likely involve using headphones to train him to drown out other noise in a positive way - other than creating his own to out do the other.
so...all in all, i'm pleased to know a direction to go for help. he was not diagnosed with auspergers like we had thought. while he is definitely showing some of those issues, his struggles are not across the board. so for now we will pursue help in these areas and see what happens.
with summer approaching i was told to create a daily/weekly schedule with him. and try to teach him how to be flexible within that. sounds interesting to me. i'm also supposed to encourage intentional, short play dates. ones that won't overwhelm him but enable him to have positive social interaction with peers. sounds like a fun summer!!!!!
as we proceed i'll keep you posted with progress. the good doc thought we would see fast progress with a sensory diet in place.
Comments
love, Brooke