Dd falling way behind, your thoughts?

[nomadwantshome]

Dd is 7 and she is falling behind at school. At the last parents evening I was given an Initial Concerns report and she has until May to improve. After that, she will get SEN help.

She just doesn't get maths unless I show her with groups of stones for instance. She doesn't get rote learning but she can do her times table. She just doesn't seem to understand why she needs to do it. She struggles with logic and mental arithmetic and she doesn't get sequencing.

Her reading has improved but her comprehension is going down hill. Her spelling is erratic but not too bad.

She struggles socially and gets upset about having no friends. From what I can gather, she often wants to play her games but nobody else does. The teacher thinks she expects absolute loyalty and then gets stroppy and sulks. She has been like this since little.

We obviously help her with homework, tell her that playing in turns is good and we invite friends over for tea. She is in brownies now, which she seems to like.

I suppose the point of my post is to get some ideas or pointers. It's really upsetting to see dd so miserable and calling herself stupid.

Can she have SEN needs without having a recognized disorder? Her db is 6 and is suspected ADHD and the complete opposite to her. He takes up alot of our time and energy which can't help things. I wonder if she does have a learning disability that perhaps we should consider at least to rule some out?

I just feel like there's a chasm between her and the outside world and it's agonizing to watch. At home she's usually loving and gregarious, particularly with adults and younger children. She is brilliantly artistic and very imaginative, writing reams and reams of stories. She just doesn't seem to fit into academic life with children of her age.

Sorry veery long!

nomadwantshome

The part of the brain which controls Sequencing also controls auditory processing, or processing sound based information including speech. Those who are visual-spatial learners tend to have a weakness in this area of learning. you could have a look at Visual-Spatial Resource
Another possible potential problem could be so form of auditory processing disorder (APD) or listening disability. According to the UK Medical Research Council 10% of children have some degree of APD including those who have had Otitis Media with Effusion (Glue Ear). APD is one of the underlying cognitive causes of the developmental dyslexia symptom.
The maths issues could be part of Dyscalculia

You may want to post on SN Children board as much more traffic there.

These could be traits of autism / aspergers which can be subtle in girls so not picked up to later. Also it can be mild, moderate, severe or borderline so can be bits of it.
I would read up on ASD in girls and see if any of it fits.
Cerebra is a charity for neurological disorders which has a free lending library of books - I think there is one called Aspergirls - you just register and they post you books

There can also be problems with maths similar to dyslexia - dyscalculia

Or she could just need information provided visually - not everyone has the same learning style. I have DS1 who excels academically and is very logical and it all comes easily; DS2 who is creative, artistic and dreamy and doesn't get maths in the same way as other children at all - the phrase used is he comes at it from left field - he is just as bright as DS1 but totally different interests and ways of looking at the world and school way of teaching does not work as well for him; and DS3 who has quite severe ASD, language delay etc.

It is common in ASD or related conditions to be good at word recognition and so reading age can be high, but to struggle with understanding, so over time it becomes clear that level of comprehension is well below expressive language. She is about the age when that would be becoming apparent. A speech therapist or Ed Psych can test her expressive and receptive language levels quite easily and identify any gaps.

Personally I would accept the SEN label but on the basis the school get in a SALT or EP to do some testing / observation.

Once you know if there is a cause you can do lots e.g. lots of work can be done on social skills, presenting info differently.

My DS2 has actually enjoyed maths more since they have had to do their homework on the computer. They have a site called 'my maths' and since then he has found it easier for some reason I don't really understand - might just be more motivated by screens! There are lots of similar sites and a lot of free resources online

I have often thought if DS2 would be better in a montessori / steiner type school where its more active hands on learning and creative as he does not fit the conventional mould (but he is clearly not ASD, just a very visual learner and a massive fidget)

Wow thanks for the lengthy replies. Dolfrog I suspect I suffer from APD and you have replied to some of my posts on the past, also on yahoo groups. I didn't consider APD as, well I suppose, she seems to process what she hears perfectly ok but this might be just in the home setting. Goodness it's so confusing!

I have researched around a bit and wonder if she's ADD as it really seems to fit with her.

Agnes I will look at aspergers again, are you thinking this because of social skills? I ask this as she seems so compassionate and gets my cues, you know often interpreting my moods. I'll also post on the other board, many thanks.