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You are here: Experts > Parenting/Family > Parenting Special Needs > Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) > My son
Expert: Norm Bishop
Date: 9/9/2008
Subject: My son
Question
My son is 8 and in 3rd grade. At the age of 6 he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD, and Sensory Processing Disorder. He has been telling me a lot lately that he sees things different than anyone else. That he is one of a kind. I have been trying to figure out what that means but have been unable thus far. When reading with him last night, I noticed that he would add letters to a word that were not there when reading, he would switch a s for a h in a word or vise versa. He would read a large word perfectly, but mess up on a 3 letter word or less. He also has extremely bad hand writing, completely blending words and spelling them incorrectly, far worse for his grade level. Do you have any suggestions about what might be going on?
Answer
None of those disorders would be that related to what you describe with the reading. Tourette's would cause him to tic, (repetitive movements or verbalizations that he has no control over). ADHD would cause impulsiveness and organization problems. OCD is a condition where a child is very defiant and Sensory Processing is not clearly defined within the educational community. Therefore, from what is described there are two possible scenarios going on here. Between the ages of 5 and 8 children's visual integration systems between the eye, hand and brain are completing development. It is not uncommon for 5, 6 and sometimes 7 year olds to struggle with what you describe. Typically when it carries over to 8 or older, then the brain may not fully integrate in this area. We label this dyslexia, which is an extreme form of a reading difficulty. I would suspect that this is the problem. In that case he would need a really well trained reading specialist or special education teacher to help him learn to read. Dyslexia doesn't go away, but the right techniques can teach students to compensate for it.
If he is not already diagnosed as a student with a disability (special education), then you should ask for his school to conduct an evaluation to see if he is eligible for special education services. (That is if he attends a public school). (If he attends a private school, the district which the school is located within is responsible for evacuating him). This evaluation is free to you and part of the Individuals with Disability Education Act, finding and providing service for all students with dualities.
I would not panic at this time, great things can happen. I have taught one particular student who could only read 11 words half way through 3rd grade to read at grade level within two years. She graduated high school with honors a year of so ago and is in College becoming a teacher. Definitely follow up on the special education evaluation.
Norm
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