DD1 to be viewed by child psychologist

[qwertpoiuy]

My DD1 is 5yo and started school last September. I have 3 children altogether and she has been my easiest child, a wee pet, never took tantrums, only had to be told not to do something once.
She attends a speech therapist as she was born with a cleft palate. It was noticed there her concentration is very poor. I was given exercises to do with her which I carried out but with a bit of frustration, as she switches off very easily!
But her teacher is not happy with her either. She says the same about her concentration, also that she doesn't follow instruction (she doesn't seem to understand what's been commanded of her), she's not motivated by getting stamps in her discipline book, plus she doesn't interact well with other children in the playground.
Recent exercises at the Speech Therapist revealed normal scores, but her concentration scores were at the lower level of normal whereas the expressive scores were above average. This seemingly indicates that she has a problem taking in information and processing it, but her speech and her way of expressing sentences is excellent. If all her scores had been the same, it wouldn't be a problem, but the difference in scores indicate a problem somewhere along the line. She was referred to a Child Psychologist to try and unlock whtatever is causing her problem. There's one visiting her school on Tuesday and she'll be observed for an hour during class and in the playground.
This is all so familiar to me because I have the same problem, and i feel it has hindered me all my life - i was suicidal at one point because I always felt like a misfit.
Sorry for being long-winded, I tried to keep this as brief as possible. I'm just wondering if anybody had the same experience, and if the Psychologist helped. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy she's having the help - I could have done with it myself. I just feel so sorry for her, and I'm also worried they won't get to the source of the problem.
I'm going away for the weekend so I won't be logged in, but I will be back to read your replies tomorrow afternoon, wich will be greatly appreciated!

[twocutedarlings]

Hi there,

Sorry you going through all this, i been exactley where you are now and know just how stressfull it is.

Is it an educational psyc that coming into school? Im sure that this will be a great deal of help for school and may just give school and yourself an idea of why your daughter is having these problems.

Alot of what you have writen about your DD i see in my own DD. She is the same age as your daughter, and she has a Dx of Aspergers. It can be a genetic condition so this may well explain some of the difficulties you have faced in your own life.

Have a look at the NAS website for a more detailed information.

You really need your DD to be seen by a clinical psyc or a developmental pead. The Ed psyc, may well come up with some usefull tactics to help your daughter cope better in school, but they cannot dx a condition.

There are loads of mums on here with childed on the spectrum, you will find a wealth of experiance here on MN. Take a look at the speacial needs board.

I truely hope that this has helped.

(((hugs)) and Good Luck xx

[Poppychick]

I think it should be seen as a good thing - she will probably get some more support in school on the back of it and maybe even funding which can only help her overcome any 'barriers' that exist.

I think the whole system and people's attitudes have changed since we were at school and hopefully it won't be a burden like it was for you.

Good luck.

[improvingslowly]

not following instructions - not seeming to understand in classroom situation - could this be to do with poor auditory processing? (is your dd better if given things to do in written form, or is 5yr old too early to work thru list?) have you asked the speech therapist about auditory processing?

NB can your daughter touch right hand to left leg if you ask her to? Is she sensitive to peoples different tones of voice?

[sailingduo]

hi--is yur health visitor involved in the decisions or just the school? If it is just the school it will probably be an ed psych rather than a psychologist. in which case, i would advise going to your GP and asking for a referral to child pschology.
good luck

[dizietsma]

Read some [http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Children-Learn-Penguin-Education/dp/0140136002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=boo&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 ks&qid=1203821272&sr=8-1 John Holt]. Some kids just don't fit the tick boxes, and it needn't mean there's something wrong with them, but perhaps something wrong with the systems they have to interact with being too "one size fits all" IYSWIM.

[mummynumnum]

I am a SENCO and I have found ED Psychs v useful in referring to a paed/clinical psych v quickly if they suspect something that may need a formal diagnosis.

[TotalChaos]

strikes me that a problem with understanding language could well be at the bottom of a lot of the school problems - possibly some sort of visual reminders would help at school?

[flamingtoaster]

Is your DD left-handed? Some children have mixed laterality - e.g. they are left-handed but have a right dominant eye and this can be related to concentration problems and understanding sequences of instructions.

As mummynumnum has said Ed Psychs are good at identifying whether something is just asynchronous development which often occurs (especially with bright kids) but which will even itself out later, or something which needs help now.

[upsidaisie]

You could have described my DD though a bit younger - speech issues but not cleft palate related. We started her on omega-3 fish oil capsules and whilst we are still not convinced all is well it has made a difference. Worth considering if you don't already use them.
Hope it all goes well.

[twocutedarlings]

Flamingtoaster (sorry for the hyjack quertpoiuy)

Do you have anymore information of the left handed and right dominent eye. My DD is left handed but right eyed IYKWIM.

She has very poor concentration but i alway but it down to her condition.

Id be really interested to research this.

[flamingtoaster]

twocutedarlings - I can't find my best link for laterality (I'll see if I can find it) However, if you ignore the heading at the top of this page - some of the links will start you off on your researches!

pages.prodigy.net/unohu/dominance.htm#LateralisationProblems

Obviously take some of the suggestions in the links with a pinch of salt (e.g. plugging the ear to change ear dominance).

I discovered a child I tutored had mixed-laterality and got his Mum to start him on Omega3 Fish oil which upsiedaisie has also mentioned - this definitely helped his concentration. I found I had to teach him in a very different way to get things through. As you'll discover when you start researching mixed laterality is often seen in dyslexics. With laterality it's often difficult to unravel what is cause and what is effect but it is a fascinating topic.

[improvingslowly]

flamingtoaster - do you have any experience of 'The Listening Programme'? My friends son (aged 9) has dominant left ear, and has not established dominance to one particular side of body and has poor auditory memory and difficulties at school. He has just started doing various coordination exercies, but 'The Listening Programme' www.learning-solutions.co.uk/listening_program.php came up when i was looking htings up, and i wondered if nanyne had used it and whether it had been useful or not...

[CarGirl]

I only read the OP and skimmed the rest, there is an Auditory Processing Disorder (Dysfunction) website and support group it does sound like this could be it. I am a very mild sufferer and it only affects things for me like writing down numbers (i'm fine with words as obviously they are a learnt pattern) and I find using the phone tricky and hearing properly when there is background noise etc. Adults on the yahoo group share other symptoms and seem much more debilitated by it - labelled at school as being SEN etc.

My other thing is foreign languages - I'm useless both written (had to learn it all parrott fashion) and aural because I can't "hear" (ie process the sounds) very well.

[CarGirl]

I also think that ADP has only been newly recognised as such.

[improvingslowly]

this is the website i meant www.thelisteningprogram.com/

[improvingslowly]

cargirl -thanks

[qwertpoiuy]

Thanks ever so much for all your replies! Flamingtoaster, what you say may make sense as DD1 was left handed as a baby but changed when she was about 3yo. Maybe her brain hasn't adjusted to this. I'll mention it to her teacher.
And CarGirl, that ADP sounds familiar to me.
I'll let you know what report comes back from the Psychologist.
I also feel much better after reading your replies.

[flamingtoaster]

improvingslowly - sorry, I don't know anyone who has used The Listening Program

[qwertpoiuy]

Twocutedarlings, I looked up a website on Asperger's, and while she has a couple of the symptoms I don't think she has the condition.
CarGirl, I am very interested in that condition.I've read up on it and I really think it's what i've had all my life, and my liitle girl has inherited from me. It's so great to know there's a name for it.
My teachers thought I was deaf or stupid and responded by slapping me or screaming at me. I was not deaf, I could hear everything that was being said to me but I couldn't seem to take it all in. It has affected me socially too, I never fitted in with any crowd because I suppose I didn't know how to. I've been bullied because of it, as I haven't been able to stand up for myself as I can't think quickly. I have a good job now and I love it, and life is good for me now, but I'm always terrifed of new situations.
Thank goodness teachers have more understanding nowadays, and DD1's teacher picked up her difficulty. The child Psychologist viewed her and talked to her on Tuesday and apparently DD1 got on very well. Now CP wants to interview me next Thursday to find out her background. I really want the best for my beloved DD1 and hope her life will be better than mine was. Did you have any treatment, carGirl, and did you experience any improvement?

[qwertpoiuy]

Bump!

[Podrick]

I have tried the Listening Program with my dd - she found it highly unpleasant and I have blown a lot of cash to no effect.