Processing Disorder?

Updated on November 19, 2008
K.B. asks from Somerville, OH
4 answers

My sons father and I went to Parent Teacher Conferences this week. We got some good news, some bad expected news and then the news that kind of startled me a little.
First off here's a little background of my child and how he behaves.
He is a 5 year old boy who is ALWAYS doing something. He does not ever just sit in front of the tv. He might sit and watch Sponge Bob while lining his cars in line maybe by size, colors, or his favorite. He is well behaved, rarely needing major punishment, merely minor redirection, a reminder of the rules works fine. He is sounding out words and reading just above his level. He can sit and listen to stories, as long as there is background noise either a tv or radio. He is very smart but has a VERY hard time answering questions for me or any teacher at school. If he doesn't know that it is garunteed to be correct he won't answer at all. We have always just said he's a bit of a perfectionist and that it goes along with his need for things to be cleaned and organized. When he gets stressed he cleans, vaccuming multiple times a day with music turned up to hear over the vaccum, and throws a fit everytime I turn it down even though he knows the rules. He's behind on fine motor skills, but starting to catch up with daily work at home. We are keeping up with the class with things such as writing and shoe tieing by working for hours each night on school work. He has a very hard time being told what to do on a worksheet and then doing it, at school and on homework at home. I have to review the directions over and over again for him to figure out what to do. He gets confused with his school work all day. He does have minor hearing loss, but not enough that he cant hear the teacher and understand what she is saying.
His dad plays it off as a stubborn perfectionist and he needs to get use to the fact that he will be wrong. His dad's parents say he's being a brat and needs to just grow up. They believe the solution is to just tell him his work "sucks for a 5 year old and he needs to do a better job." (Yes in those words :()
His teacher in preschool said if he wants to answer he does and it's right and he's very smart but if he doesn't want to answer he just won't. All of this together is leading to great problems in school. I can get him to do the work at home, but he can not seem to do it in class. We do know that he does much better in small groups.
His kindergarten teacher is very very discouraged. She said she feels bad and that maybe it's part her fault for not gaining his trust yet. I don't think that's the problem either. He LOVES his teacher. Back to the beginning (FINALLY) she is worried it's some sort of processing disorder. She said she has never had such a hard time getting a child to answer questions and do the work and yet she can tell he knows it. She's at a loss. It's in his brain, he either can't get it out or refuses to do so.
Has ANYONE been through this? Have any ideas how to encourage him to do his work correctly at school? Or have any ideas if there is a disorder or just plain stubborn? I'm at a loss and getting frusterated because I too know he is very smart, far beyond what he shows most people. He has hit all milestones on target (except fine motor skills). Sorry so long. :(

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K.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

You can talk to the school and have him evaluated by the OT and school pysch for sensory processing disorder, ADD/ADHD etc. and see if any OT would help him. Let the school know the teacher brought it up and you want him evaluated. He may not qualify for OT within the school and if he doesn't they can guide you to outside services. There is a very good sensory integration center in Blue Ash (if you are in the Cincinnati area).

You can also talk to your doctor. They, too, can provide the necessary testing.

2 moms found this helpful
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J.A.

answers from Cincinnati on

It could be many things which may make it harder rather an easier to answer. For example, it could be a nutritional issue. Perhaps the brain is not getting the proper nutrition needed to properly function. Really take a look at diet and see what he is eating. Most foods have little nutritional value even the "fresh" stuff in the produce section can be low on the scale. Think about it. Unless you know the producer, you don't know what type of soil it's grown in or how the farmer cares for the crop or even how early it's been picked to last through shipping. Yes it's better than the canned or frozen king but it's not 100%. You may want to consider supplementing his diet with (I would strongly suggest) antioxidants. There are some very good products out there (Juice Plus which is whole foods and Market America which has a fabulous product, OPC-3, that has provided many, many, many people relief from ADD, ADHD, focus/thinking issues.) There are also very good holistic approaches that have helped many many people. One is CranioSacral therapy and another is Neural Organizational Technique. These therapies target the brain and spinal system helping to maximize its functionality. They are non-invasive and typically provide relief if not reversal of symptoms in a couple of sessions. If I can be of further help, feel free to email me @ ____@____.com luck to you!

1 mom found this helpful
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C.F.

answers from Cincinnati on

Hi K.,
Thank you for sharing your story and reaching out for help. I am a SAHM, but I used to work as a therapist with children with behavioral and emotional issues. It sounds to me like your son may have obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD) or obsessive compulsive personality disorder(OCPD). I would encourage you to read some info about it and see if you think it fits him. Here are some links: http://www.massgeneral.org/schoolpsychiatry/info_ocd.asp, http://www.ocdonline.com/articlephillipson6.php, http://www.helium.com/items/805000-parents-can-affect-obs.... (My father-in-law has OCD.) Good luck and let me know if I can do anything else to help.

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D.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

I've been through a very similar situation when my oldest was in Kindergarten. He also would "refuse" to answer. And by golly, you could NOT make him. He was found to a language processing 'disorder' (for lack of a better word).
He spent time each week with a speech and language therapist provided by the school, at school. (the evaluation was done through school)
They worked on goals such as: establishing appropriate eye contact with listener/speaker, decreasing response time after being asked a question, expected to comment when appropriate.respond to yes/no questions. They also worked on initiating greetings/farewells upon entering/leaving a room, asking for assistance to complete a task when directions were not understood or missed. His difficulties were in the area of Pragmatic Language.

--he is now 25 years old and still tends to be quiet, answers only when directly spoke to (except when aggravating his brothers!), has a hard time asking questions-but we've learned his 'signals. Prefers not to use the phone

BUT he has graduated, has a good job, also owns his own house, has to deal with 'homeowner' things himself-and he does. And is (from what I hear) much more talkative around friends than family!

I hope this helps, it's been so long ago that I had to dig out the evaluation papers from back then, and sometimes I forget all that we went through.
You may contact me directly if you'd like more info/details. I have another son that has some language processing issues also. I'll do my best to help.

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