Aspergers Question | ADHD Information

SCHOOLS DON'T TEST MOTOR SKILLS EXCEPT AT PRESCHOOL AGE UNLESS YOU REQUEST IT. We HAVE HANDLED MORE OF DANIEL'S MOTOR SKILL DIFFICULUTIES. GM IS MORE A ISSUE THAN FM NOW. HE DID HAVE BOTH  AT ONE ONE TIME THOUGH. SOME DON'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HOW SENSORY- MOTOR THINGS EFFECT LEARNING. OURS HAS NOT. GOT THIS AT ALL. STINKS AT WHAT THIS SCHOOL DOES KNOW.

 

Lovemyboy,

You may want to check this website out:

http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html#reading

[QUOTE=joemom]ladym the poor handwriting is also something that goes along with ADHD[/QUOTE]

Yep, I know this to be true in myself. I have ADHD, and if you look over my elementary report cards, across the board "handwriting- below average". My handwriting is still poor, and I prefer to type, which I can do well. I would almost bet that I have a learning disorder of some type. I am constantly, especially while typing leaving out words, or replacing them with a word that starts with the right letter, but is the wrong word, or sounds similar to what I'm thinking, but is a completely different word.

My son just has to much "other stuff" that can't be shoved into the ADHD category, and treatment for ADHD never worked for him, so he most definitely has something else going on. No one doubts that, we just haven't' been told exactly "what" yet.

I'm the complete opposite in that treatment has worked perfectly for me.

ladym38907.4048842593good luck with the diagnosis Ladym, you sound like such a good mom. I am sure you will get he best for your sonlovemyboy, you might look at the other LD's such as dysprxia and dysgraphia, or others, and see if he fits into one of those.  They don't get much hoorah here in the states, like dyslexia does, but I think, in Europe, they have subcategorized more, so there might be more specific answers and help for childred with these more specific diagnoses.  Yes, my son also has poor fine motor development. It's been noted by his pediatrician, his teachers, and now his new doctor as well. I am guessing they will be testing this further when they do the rest of their testing. I don't know at this point, how delayed his fine motor development is. His handwriting is generally not legible.  He never would color, flat out refused, still hates it, and doesn't like to write either. He also tries to get away with eating with his hands when ever he can. I think using a fork is difficult for him. He has reading comprehension problems and difficulties with Math. Also spatial problems. That combo sounds like dyslexia .  He reads the words correctly. Also he writes his numbers correctly. Don't dyslexic people write things backwards?ladym the poor handwriting is also something that goes along with ADHDBut poor handwriting is also part of ASD (I know it can also go with ADHD). My son is 13 and still can't write. He has to print or use the computer. In many ways, the two disorders overlap, but ASD is far more severe, and stims often don't do much for it. Interventions for ASD can help. My son couldn't even print in a legible way until two years ago. Now he prints, but messes up the puncuation a lot and his spacing is also poor. It's legible, but looks more like a firt grader did it...MomWI38907.2598148148I suspect that my son may have Aspergers along with his ADHD? He seems to be anxious even though it's summer and he is not taking his Ritalin. He chews on strings on his clothing and his keys etc. I was wondering if a child can have learning difficulties and still have Aspergers. Yes, absolutely.  What types of learning difficulties does he have?Absolutely not.  It is estimated that only 10% of dyslexics do reversals.  Because this is an interesting aspect of dyslexia, it is always associated with it.  In actuality, what MOST dyslexics do is transpose, but this is often looked at as a spelling error and not a sign of dyslexia, by educators who are unaware of this. 

What does transpose mean? Is dyslexia hereditary? How can I get him tested for it? Who does the testing?

The chewing could be sensory related, which is really common with children on the spectrum.

How is he socially? My son is undergoing testing for Aspergers right now, and his initial diagnosis was ADHD. He also has problems with academics. He tries to be social, wants to be social, but just doesn't act appropriately. He doesn't read people correctly, and doesn't know how to play with kids. If they can't ride bikes, or run together, then he is completely lost. If kids try to just sit and talk to him, or try to play something that doesn't involve constant movement, then he almost instantly tries to wrestle. Then within 30 seconds of that, he thinks someone has hurt him, and he turns it into a fight. So as you can imagine his friendships are just not developing like most of the other 9 year olds are beginning to. Even if friends try to tell him that something is bothering them, he takes that as some kind of positive attention and increases his behavior.

He talks well, but it's practically non stop, and he doesn't do well with give and take conversations. You can ask him questions and he will listen for the answer, and respond, but to just sit and have a casual conversation, he talks "at you", not "with you", and almost always reverts the conversation back to his area of interest... anything with a motor.

I'm realizing that most of his blow ups revolve around sensory issues, transitioning, or him perceiving a situation in the wrong way.

All of this is pretty common with Aspergers. Where my son strays a bit is that he doesn't have an expertise in one particular area, like many Aspies do. But not all kids will have all symptoms. He borders on the obsession issue, but he has interests that are intense enough they are not normal. They border on Obsessive, but still aren't obsessive. He has since he was 3, had a strong interest in anything with a motor, lawn mowers, snow blowers, 4 wheelers, motorcycles. He would bolt out of the house at 3, and I would find him hiding in our sheds, or my brother in laws sheds next door, getting into tools, to start "working on" things with motors. He still does this. He goes outside and I know that within 5 minutes he will have found a way into the sheds, and he will be working on something. He can spend an entire day just watching my older nephews work on their 4-wheelers. Anytime you ask him what he wants for a birthday, Christmas, it's always a motorcycle or a 4-wheeler, etc. Okay, so you get my point, a bit obsessive

He also lacks imagination, has never played with toys unless they have a very specific purpose, as in cars, board games, cards, video games, or something like air hockey. You give him anything beyond that and he simply doesn't know how to play with them.

Any of this sound familiar to you? Again, I don't have a formal diagnosis, he has to go through more testing, but his doctor feels this is what he has, and the more I read the more convinced I am that there is no other answer.

Anyway, most Aspergers children have AD/HD symptoms, so that's not unusual at all.

Anxiety is pretty common with both ASD and AD/HD, and people can fidget with anxiety too, so I'm curious as to what else you see?

My son is 11. He doesn't play with kids very well. He tries to boss them around. He also gets quite impatient with them. He wants to be outside riding bikes and running around. He will play computer games with them inside also. He makes inappropriate comments to them as well. He relates better with younger kids.

If my son is obssessed with anything, it would be construction. He can watch it for hours. In fact I first experienced this when he was 1 1/2. We watched for 1 1/2 hours. My dad fell asleep in his van when my son was 3. My son watched for a few hours. He has all the mighty machine movies and DVDs. Along with construction toys. He has a big digger that he still takes out to the park to play with frequently.

My son doesn't seem to have much imagination either. He loves computer games. He also enjoys board games.

I didn't tell his pediatrician about his anxiety. I was afraid that he would want him on an antideppresant along with his ritalin. I don't want that. I'm not sure that antideppressants are safe for kids. I guess I should tell him.

Ladym does your son have any fine motor difficulties? Mine has poor handwriting.

Yes, dyslexia is thought to be inherited.  I always advise having someone who is a specialist in testing for dyslexia to test a child.  Schools often will not recognize it, unless a child is reading grade levels below his academic level; whereas, a private dyslexia expert looks for patterns and does not concern himself/herself with the child's reading level.  Many dyslexics can read.  It's how they read that is the problem.  My son scored in the 2nd percentile on fluency the Grey Oral Reading Test, yet he scored in the 50th percentile in comprehension.    He missed half the words on the page, but he could figure out what it was about because his oral comprehension is so high--90th percentile.  He just "filled in the blanks" .  You often will see this kind of thing with dyslexic kids.  They have amazing compensatory skills.  This is the kind of thing the private evaluator looks for, whereas schools will say, "His comprehension is in the 50th percentile.  He's fine." 

I am not sure if things are the same in Canada, but I recommend parents in the States call their local chapters of The International Dyslexia Association and tell the office that you are looking for someone who is considered an expert in the "dxing" of dyslexia.  I also suggest calling local parent support groups. 

And transposing--writing able as abel, over and over and over, no matter how many times the child is corrected. 

Some common signs of dyslexia in a child your son's age are:  being unable to write the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase, from memory, in both cursive and print; comprehending what he is reading MUCH better when reading orally, than when reading silently; substituting and leaving out words when reading orally; reading slowly and laboriously or quickly and incorrectly; great difficulties spelling; disliking and avoiding reading; unable to read scientific or highly structured texts, like textbooks; difficulties with writing.  Math difficulties will include such things as being unable to memorize multiplication tables, having difficulties remembering the order of operations in long division and column multiplication, difficulties lining numbers up in long division and column multiplication, confusing signs so that the child multiplies instead of adds or subtracts instead of adds, and difficulties reading and understanding word problems.  Usually, the child's higher level thinking skills in math are much more developed, than the child's ability to perform the equations (my son scores in the 90th percentile in mathematical logic and the 10th percentile in being able to solve equations).

Hope this helps. 

I think I should maybe have him tested for dyslexia. He reads very fast and substitutes words. He does understand much better when reading orally. He does spell well though. He really doesn't particularly like to read though. He also did well on his multiplication tables. Dyslexia is not in my family that I know of. It could be on his dad's side though.

I'd test him for ASD and the dyslexia testing would go along with it, if you see a NeuroPsych. Here's a great forum, that looks just like this one, that would have parents who know a lot more about Aspergers than they do here. Here there are only a few of us familiar with The Spectrum. There everyone is. LD's are part of the Spectrum. Most kids do really well in one area and don't "get" another, but it varies.

www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asp

 

I agree with MomWI about having him tested for Asperger's, if you have any question this may be his issue.