Help needed for 8 year old boy.

[annaseal]

Hi, I was always a silent reader in this forum. I really like mumsnet and thought I would discuss with you about my 8 year old son today. From his childhood he was very advanced in reading. No way I am saying he is super intelligent etc, but he always had very good reading skill, comprehension skill, very very curious on everything, picked up things of his interest very easily and had the knack of applying anything he will learn where ever he can. He would love to rhyme and would rhyme with any thing anytime. I must also mention he is privately educated from his childhood and is in the best prep school of the locality which he started from year 3 through selective entry.

So far so good. Now his dark sides: He was always too stubborn, very loud and vocal. Too slow, so still cannot finish any task on time. At 8 years of age he still cannot carry on concentrating on a single subject for long, if he is not interested. He can go on and on conversing for things which interests him. Can become very frustrated when he becomes bored and starts throwing arms and legs, cry etc etc. As a result his grades suffer a lot. Teachers ever since he started school complained him to be inattentive and chatty, would majority of the time have very bad handwriting if asked to hurry up and finish task on time. But always teachers said and admitted he has great potential.

It is very difficult to discipline him as he is very very emotional. He is also very very forgetful. Will never take his guitar unless I remind him and few days in year 3 he went to school without his school bag. Lost socks, sport shoes so many times.

I have made an appointment with Dr Peter Congdon so he can assess him and suggest ways of dealing his behavioural issues. I do feel he is underachieved in school because of his behaviour. He cannot understand if asked not to do something he should not do it. My relation with him goes downhill as soon as the school term starts and I am paranoid again as the school's reopening.

Anybody who is familiar with this sort of behavioural issues? I would appreciate any suggestions.

[mrsshears]

No advice as such, hopefully someone will come along soon with some for you, i just wanted to say we saw peter congdon with our dd and i cannot recommend him highly enough.
He was excellent with dd, who is not an easy child and quite complex, dd took to him really well and he also gave us the answers we needed

good luck x

[annaseal]

Thanks Mrs Shears. Hope we will get some answer on that day.

[StillSquiffy]

TBH some of those behaviours are like my son who is (amongst other things) dyspraxic, with ADHD. ADHD in particular exhibits sometimes as fidgeting and inability to concentrate when not really engaged. The lost socks, bad handwriting and slowness are very typical of dyspraxia.

[madwomanintheattic]

Gifted does not preclude disability, that said, he sounds like lots of 8yo boys. They aren't renowned for their ability to concentrate on school work and remember their kit...

That said, he sounds like ds1, whose official dx is ADHD, aspie traits etc. but lots of similar kids have other dx. sometimes I think the dx is just a general best guess depending on the assessors speciality!

You might want to read 'misdiagnosis and dual diagnosis of gifted kids', but the Ed psych report should give you lots of info. Has he ever been formally identified as gifted?

[annaseal]

Hi madwomanintheattic, love your nickname :-)
As he went to private school from four years of age, he was grouped among best three in the class for english and maths. So never required to assess to know if he is among "Gifted and talented".

To be honest he gave me lot of hard time before but always thought I will give him more time as for some things develop bit late. Unfortunately, from year three his schools started doing tests where he did not manage to finish things on time and his grades suffered a lot. His school also is suggesting for his unattentive ness and unable to finish tasks he will be put to mid maths group. So you see now I really need to kow what is atually wrong with him before he is put into wrong group or his capability misjudged just because he is slow in writting.

Thanks to stillsquiffy as well. I am looking forward for the asessment now which is fixed on27th September.

Regards

[LadySybildeChocolate]

Sounds like my son, he's being assessed for dyspraxia. He can stand next to his shoes, and not know where they are. It drives me nuts! His handwriting is messy, and he cuts corners because he finds it painful to write (and probably so he can move on to something more interesting).

[imnotmymum]

I think you are talking about my boy although he is excelling at school so not underachieving but he really would forget well everything unless I had his laminated sheet next to the door to tick off.

[minceorotherwise]

Sorry to be off topic, but where is Peter Congdon based ?
Thx

[annaseal]

Hi all, Dr Peter Congdon is based in Sheffield.

[mrsshears]

He was in solihull when we saw him at the gifted childrens information centre, has he moved?

[annaseal]

My apology, I was dreaming while typing. He is based in Solihull.

[annaseal]

Hi, we had the assessment last Thursday. Still waiting for the written report. But what came up in the assessment is he has scored exceptionally high in all except his processing speed which is just 100. And that is bringing the score down, though even with that he is gifted overall.
Also he has a degree of despraxia.
So his brain can understands,calculates and process things much faster but when he tries to write them down he struggles and that creates huge frustration. He is very emotional as well.

Now I tried to google about this processing speed and how it can be improved. Found an old thread in mumsnet as well.

He said DS can get extra time for writing exams based on his report. But is it his processing speed or his dispraxia?

Can I ask if any one dealt with or faced this kind of situation?
If he is slow in writing even getting extra time might not help? How much extra time they usually get?

See, my mind is full of questions.
Academically, he is already learning couple of years ahead for maths and english. He has huge thirst in science. He reads a lot at home as well.

But not sure what and how the situation can be improved.

Any suggestion will help.

Many Thanks