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Behaviour/development

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7 year old can't concentrate

4 replies

Santasjinglebelle · 19/07/2018 19:30

7 year old DD2 seems unable to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. Every weekday morning she uses the bathroom first but by the time DD1 (8) has used the shower and finished dressing for school, DD2 will still be sat on her bed, naked but for a towel, staring into space. She is bright, her reading age is 12/13 years and teachers say she far exceeds learning targets for her age (despite being “a bit of a daydreamer” in class) so I don’t understand why she takes soooooo long to do everything. If I ask her to bring me something from the next room, she’ll get distracted on her way there, returning 10 minutes later to ask me what I wanted! Brushing her teeth can take anything up to 20 minutes due to all the ‘stop and stare’ breaks. DH and I can't decide the best route – stand over her barking directions and hurrying her up (effective but stressful and unpleasant) or work around it and pray she grows out of this. Could this be a known “condition” of some kind? I’ve tried online DIY Autism tests on her and she flew through no problem.

Advice appreciated from anyone who's been here and found a solution.

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 19/07/2018 22:36

She sounds pretty much like my two to be honest. If you think there may be something more to this, have you read up on ADD?

Santasjinglebelle · 20/07/2018 11:33

Thank you Jilted. I've only heard of ADHD before and had it linked in my mind with hyperactivity so would never have researched that. What I've read so far does seem to fit dd's behaviour and has flagged up other things that I might not have tied to what we've seen so far. Now for some coping strategies.....

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 20/07/2018 15:38

If you think she may have add, it might be worth posting in the Special Needs section. I think you have to opt in to see the threads but there are sone very lovely and experienced MNers in there. It might also be worth getting her referred for a formal diagnosis so that she can have extra time at schoo, for exams Thanks

Mynd · 29/07/2018 00:50

I was like this as a kid. I had a very high reading age (was reading grown-up books aged 7) and lived in fantasy land. I'd zone out and surface to find that a lot of time had mysteriously slipped by - I'd struggle to eat school lunch in time, do school work in class etc. People thought I was stupid because I was so very slow, but my IQ turned out to be 137... I thought fast but barely moved! I'm bipolar with ADHD traits as an adult, and am now a highspeed problem-solving demon, so the body does catch up with the brain at some point. My own 7 year old daughter is now exhibiting the same traits.... now I understand why everyone around me was so frustrated all the time :-D

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