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Specialist thinks DS has aspergers. Why can't he concentrate on his studies but is capable of playing 2-3 hours on pc

16 replies

NK3cd8d75cX114b1ceead5 · 23/10/2007 12:00

Hello everyone, I'm new to the group. I've got an 8yr old ds who after nearly 2 years of tests, the specialist thinks he has aspergers although he is still undergoing further testing. He doesn't appear to have the signs of aspergers except that he finds it incredibly difficult to express himself both verbally and on paper and you usually have to repeat a question 2 or 3 times before it sinks in. It doesn't help that we live in Spain and so he is bilingual and having to cope with 2 languages. He finds it hard to concentrate and is also very slow and can take up to 3-4 hours completing homework which should take no more than 1 hour. I was also wondering why he can't concentrate on schoolwork but can play on the pc for up to 2hours at a time.

OP posts:
staryeyed · 23/10/2007 12:05

Could it be that the computer is very rewarding for him but his school work isnt?

Have you tried fish oils/ cod liver oil for increasing concentration? Lots of research to say it works. In our experience it has helped.

covenhope · 23/10/2007 12:06

Hi

I have a DS with ADHD and he too can't coincentrate but can hyperconcentrate on a computer game. I think it's fairly common. I expect someone will be along in a minute with a scientific explanation

NK3cd8d75cX114b1ceead5 · 23/10/2007 12:59

Thanks for your replies. He takes EyeQ Chews but to be perfectly honest, I can't see any notable difference. I daren't take him off them just in case they are actually helping. We took him off Concerta 18 as it didn't seem to have any effect so last week the neurologist prescribed Rubifen 10 but I haven't gone to pick up the prescription yet as I've read so many negative comments.
Don't know how to get him to speed up with the h/w. Tried everything: can't play until it's completed, splitting the work into smaller sections and having a small break in between, rewarding him with a small treat for getting it done quickly. Last weekend I told him that if he got all his hw done on Saturday, I'd take him to the cinema on Sunday. Anyway, he didn't get it done and just said that he'd ask for the dvd for his birthday or Christmas.

OP posts:
staryeyed · 23/10/2007 13:10

Maybe dont stop but change brand not We found Eskimos kids oils worked and now use Nordic cod liver oil. Expensive but quality and mercury free.

For us sorting out Ds nutrition is definitely helping. Cut out all the baddies E numbers colours, artificial sweeteners. Not a miracle cure but worth a try? Sorry if you have already looked at these things- don't want to patronise.

KarenThirl · 23/10/2007 16:20

Mine ds age nearly 9 is the same. For him, it's largely down to his level of interest (like with your ds' computer games) - if a subject is attractive to him he'll focus on it for hours if he's allowed but being forced to do something he regards as pointless is torture for him. We use reward strategies too with mixed results - the most productive is a family movie night on SAturdays if all the homework is done by then, and we take turns to choose the movie, have favourite food for tea etc.

For J there's a considerable difference between types of homework. He's very advanced at maths so finds that easy, therefore it's less effort to get him to do it and the reward incentive is more likely to work. However literacy is a real problem for him as he finds it so difficult to think abstractly, eg questions such as 'How do you think such-and-such character felt when...?' - he's never been in that position before so can't relate to it, so can't answer the question as it's not in his scope of experience. So a lot of it depends on whether or not he is actually capable of the task and if not the incentive will make no difference.

Are your son's teachers aware of the difficulty he's having producing work? Perhaps they can suggest some strategies that you haven't already tried. It's worth asking, but I suspect you're probably doing all they'd advise.

A lot of children with AS have a very definite distinction between home and school and can't accept doing schoolwork at home. School is for work and home is for relaxation or whatever. It's rarely a conscious choice but a difficult problem to deal with nonetheless.

Fish oils and diet do make a difference for a lot of children but even with all those interventions in place for several years, J still has huge difficulties focusing on homework.

But in answer to your OP, what you're saying is very common in AS. I'd say more children have problems with homework than not.

needmorecoffee · 23/10/2007 16:28

Computer games are fun and schoolwork isn't? I can spend hours playing them myself yet come over all hysterical at having to do housework.

alison222 · 23/10/2007 18:52

Hi, My DS is nearly 7with AS and has exactly the same problems too. Karenthril has described it exactly for my Ds too. Computers are fun, easy and logical to use and he is very interested in them. He finds maths easy but literacy much more difficult.
He has also just been seen by an OT for handriting difficulties as he complains about getting tired hads and turns out he does have real physical difficulties too which we are beginnig to address.

With literacy things have to be boken up into small manageable chunks for him, and the process of what you are trying to achieve overall explained to get any results.

NK3cd8d75cX114b1ceead5 · 23/10/2007 19:22

As I mentioned earlier on, we live in Spain. I'm finding that DS is getting a huge amount of hw everyday (at least 1-1 1/2 hrs but as he's slow it ends up being 3-4hrs) - is this the norm in the UK? I also have to sit by his side and guide him each step of the way otherwise he'll just sit there staring into space. Like everyone else who has posted today, he's also good at maths and is ahead of others in his class but if he's given a mathematical problem to solve the words baffle him and he often gets the answer wrong. What I find strange is that DS absolutely loves reading and has no problem with writing (copying) and spelling but is incapable of relating to you what he's just read. Each day I ask him what he had for his school dinner and for the life of him he honestly can't remember.

OP posts:
sasquatch · 23/10/2007 19:47

Have you heard of auditory processing disorder?you could try googling NIDCD as i cant do links. I looked at this, my ds also has problems with written h/work and concentrating and has just been diagnosed with HFA.
Personally i think 1 1/2 hrs homework is way too much anyway.

Troutpout · 23/10/2007 21:23

Is that my boy you have there?! He sounds exactly like my boy Nk.
Ds is resentful of homework and finds it very hard to complete at times simply because it eats into his time when he could be doing the stuff he really cares about.
First thing is...have you talked to school about it? There may be some arrangement you can come to. I got to the stage last year when i just drew a line under what he had done and wrote the time taken on it.
After that they began to set more appropriate homework for him ...ie some challenge work for maths which were sometimes just a few quite complicated exercises and avoided doing all that reams and reams of sums which were all the same.
Timers sometimes help..he could tell the time perfectly at 3 years of age..but still at 10 has no concept of minutes passing or what 20 minutes feel like (specially when he's within himself)...so sometimes a kitchen timer helps to keep him on task. Only works in short bursts though i find...ie ever other week or so..otherwise he becomes immune to it.
Also a visual list of what he has to do... broken down into stages helps (even if it's a maths problem). I usually write this out and put it to his left (he's left handed) and he seems to see (notice) it better on that side.
I am trying a social story about homework with him at the moment ..getting him to read it though every now and again...can't say if it's having much effect atm though!
Ooh you have my sympathy....

macwoozy · 24/10/2007 00:09

My ds is exactly the same. He can spend all the hours he's allowed concentrating on a pc game, but try and encourage him to spend just a little time on homework, and he reacts as if I've told him he can never play with his fave toy again, he gets really angry. We both find it very emotionally upsetting, to say the least, when that bloody homework book has to come out. His latest homework is to write a short story. He is just not capable of doing anything like that, and yet his teacher gives it out not realising the stress that it causes at home. Mind you, the amount of homework your ds has to do is far too much, I can't see how any child could concentrate for that long every day.

colditz · 24/10/2007 00:12

Shouldn't be getting an hour of homework at 8 years old. Far too much.

colditz · 24/10/2007 00:14

Don't make him sit for 4 hours doing homework. That, on top of school, is giving him a 10 hour day in a job he hates. He must be exhausted - he is only 8!

Talk to the teacher, explain it is taking too long, and you will be working at it for 30 minutes then it is going AWAY. Maybe she will then start to be more realistic about his capabilities.

KarenThirl · 24/10/2007 08:07

Homework guidelines for primary school children are:

Years 1 and 2: 1 hour per week
Years 3 and 4: 1.5 hours per week
Years 5 and 6: 30 minutes per day

The guidelines for secondary school children are:

Years 7 and 8: 45 to 90 minutes per day
Year 9: 1 to 2 hours per day
Years 10 and 11: 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day

It may be different in Spain but if your son can't manage it, then he can't manage it. He's getting too much and is under too much pressure.

NK3cd8d75cX114b1ceead5 · 24/10/2007 12:37

There's real pressure on the kids over here and I really sympathise with them: primary education is split into 3 cycles; Cycle 1 is years 1&2, cycle 2 yrs 3&4 etc. Anyway, if the child doesn't perform well enough at the end of the cycle then he/she has to repeat the year. DS is now in yr3 but some of his classmates from last year are repeating yr2. I have a meeting with his teacher next week so will speak to her about the hw situation to see if there's a way of reducing down his workload. At the moment, they have to copy all the questions from the textbook into their exercise books and is so time consuming and that's before he's even having to think about answering any questions. HW over here is 1-1 1/2 hrs on a weekday and 4 hrs at the weekend. DS does have an extremely long day as a normal school day over here is 9-5 with a 2hr lunch break. Weekdays are so stressful for all of us; him as he doesn't like doing his hw, me cos I have to sit by his side constantly and his little sis (3 yrs) who wants attention but can't have it as I have to sit with DS who can't have any distractions. More managable when DH is around but he has to travel for work and is out from Tues-Fri.

OP posts:
Tiggiwinkle · 25/10/2007 13:18

My DS is 8 and has AS. He is like many of the others on this thread (exactly like yours Karen!). He simply would not do that much homework. Children with AS find the school day tiring enough and hate doing schoolwork when they are at home. This situation must be very stressful for you-are the school not able to take his needs into account at all?

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