Anyone can Point me in the Right Direction

amother

Mon, Mar 26 2012, 6:58 pm

My son is 5 years old. Since I remember him, he talks extremely slow. He also has a problem concertrating when someone around him talks or distracts him with anything. Also, he cannot follow a 2-step command. He will do the first step & totally forgets that a second step even existed. Lately, his teacher started complaining. He says he has no problem with learning. Just that he speaks very slow. Slower than any child in all his years of teaching. Does anyone know what his prpblem can be? Any information will be appreciated. I did make an appointment to see my pediatrician, but would like to hear from fwllow amothers too

seeker

Mon, Mar 26 2012, 10:16 pm

I don't think you have to be scared of anything at this point, I just think you should have him evaluated by a psychologist or CPSE (board of ed eval) so that you can try to pinpoint where the problem is coming from and what, if anything, you should do about it at this point. Please don't be scared by the suggestion of a psychologist or whatever it is that scared you, they are helping professionals. There is a whole range of problems that even normal people have; an evaluation is not a death sentence.

By "psychologist" we do not mean the person who does play therapy or whatever... if you decide to go the private route instead of going through your local education department, please make sure to find someone experienced in educational and/or developmental evaluations. You REALLY want to find out what's causing this as specifically as possible; people who lack the evaluation experience and expertise can inadvertently cause a lot of heartache by leading people to waste years barking up the wrong tree.

yiddishekup

Mon, Mar 26 2012, 11:35 pm

Yes, seeker made her point quite well. I'm sorry if I scared you. That really wasn't my intention. I too have had minor issues albeit different then the ones you describe with a kid. I made the decision to see a child psychologist without being encouraged by my regular pediatrician. Nothing earth shattering bh but the visit and advice were helpful and worth it!

amother

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 6:37 pm

My pediatrician diagnosed him with stuttering. he says that the slow talking is a stuttering issue. About him not following commands, he says that this is normal for a 5 year old playfull child. I shouldn't worry about that

seeker

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 7:19 pm

If it's offered by your local board of ed and the teacher wants to put through the recommendation, I'd want to have him evaluated from that angle anyway just in case. It sounds like a very "gray-area" kind of situation that could be nothing of concern, or could be something. I'd want to know.

For example, it's true that it's possible for a 5-year-old to fail to follow instructions due to normal, age-appropriate distraction. But it's also possible to come from a number of problems that would be nice to rule out. (You also didn't say how complicated the instructions are. I would definitely want a child to be able to follow 2 steps such as "Get the legos and put them in the box." If he misses sometimes, then I'd call that distraction. If he misses every time, I'd be worried. But if you mean two more complex instructions like color the gimmels and cut them out, I'm not as surprised if he gets lost in between)

seeker

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 9:02 pm

OK, that doesn't set off alarm bells in my head. "Undress" is a bit of a big job that could have a number of parts to it, some kids just need more specific directions to walk them through it. I thought you meant two steps like, put your fork in the sink and throw out your plastic plate. If you said, "Take off your shoes, socks, shirt, and pants," would he be more likely to do it than when you just say "Get undressed"?

Ema29

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 9:55 pm

The stuff you describe is very familiar to me. I never met your child so I will not claim to KNOW but I will tell you that what you describe sounds very much like what children with auditory processing issues or others with ADHD experience. Too many pediatricians blow this stuff off, and hearing that a pediatrician attributes difficulty completing tasks and difficulty keeping his train of thought when there is background noise on a stutter is very disappointing. If you are not exaggerating the situation, I would suggest pushing for a recommendation for an evaluation by someone who knows those things. Talk to an OT or Speech therapist friend. If you go to a psychologist it would NOT because of mental illness, it is just to figure out his thinking processing to identify ADHD or distractability etc. Not something to fear at all. Good luck and don't let it go too long. Once the kids fall behind in school it is hard to play catch up. Please don't be scared though, and don't forget we are all here for you! Smile

seeker

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 10:10 pm

Never heard of ADHD associated with slow speech, and also getting distracted while undressing (for example) is close enough to the norm for this age group that it wouldn't make me say "Distracted! ADHD!" either. But it would make me ASK (not tell, say, diagnose, or anything - just ASK) if there is an underlying cognitive processing difficulty. (This situation doesn't say "auditory" to me either. But again, I really can't say from this limited point of view.) As Ema29 said, I don't think it's worthy of panic AT ALL - just that all of these things, IF they are in fact present, get harder to remedy later on. Little problems that are ignored grow very suddenly into big problems at inconvenient times. IYH my bracha to you is that there should be NO problem, but that you will feel comfortable and confident knowing that you did the best for your child just in case.

Ema29

Tue, Mar 27 2012, 11:50 pm

ADHD is very much connected to getting distracted between steps (more common with the non-H kind). When you say he 'gets distracted while getting undressed' it sounds very "normal" but the original comment was about not being able to complete two step commands, which is a red flag at his age. Having trouble speaking when there is noise or others speaking is very typical of some auditory processing, not auditory, deficits. But that is because I thought you meant (in the OP) that he had trouble concentrating on what he himself is saying if others are talking around him. It is not typical of a child that age. But that does not mean he HAS that, it is just a very good reason to look into it. Don't forget that rewording everything to sound typical does not change the fact that a teacher is concerned, and you are concerned, and it does not make him struggle less. It is worth getting a professional opinion from someone familiar with auditory processing or word retrieval and the like because it may be nothing, or it may be a little something. Either way, too many parents let it go because a meant-well friend told them their first cousin was just like that and it was nothing. Let the right people tell you it's nothing, you'll sleep better!

Last edited by Ema29 on Wed, Mar 28 2012, 12:02 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Wed, Mar 28 2012, 12:55 am

OP here. Thank you all for your responses. I read online about Auditory Processing Disorder. He does have 2 of the symptoms listed, but a lot of them are not his problems. they list:
have trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally
have problems carrying out multi-step directions given orally; need to hear only one direction at a time
have poor listening skills
need more time to process information
have low academic performance
have behavior problems
have language difficulties (e.g., they confuse syllable sequences and have problems developing vocabulary and understanding language)

Should I get him evaluated, & if so, by whom?

seeker

Wed, Mar 28 2012, 2:01 am

1. Not every person with a given condition will experience all of its symptoms.

2. There are any number of possible explanations other than auditory processing disorder.

Q.e.d. It still makes a great deal of sense to pursue an evaluation considering that his teacher raised concerns that you perceive as valid (I.e. It's not that the teacher said something and you said "huh, I don't notice that at home at all," but here you share the same concerns which to me says worth checking out.)

As for who should do the eval, it depends where you are. If you are in NY or another place that is fairly friendly about evaluating preschoolers, may as well start with the board of Ed, ask your teacher to point you in the right direction or call an agency (e.g. In NY yeled vyalda). If you do not have those services available where you live, then the person you're seeking most probably calls themselves a developmental psychologist or educational psychologist.