About Michelle Fattig Expertise I can answer questions about educational testing, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Special Education, IEP, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Parent Advocacy, Response to Intervention, living and parenting with disabilities, parent rights in special education, school psychology, and more. I cannot provide a medical diagnosis.
Experience I am a school psychologist, medical technologist, author of the Annie Books series: Experience Aspeger's Syndrome and Attention Deficits Through the Eyes of a Child, RTI facilitator, ILCD facilitator, parent advocate, presenter, and researcher. My children and I have Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Organizations National Association of School Pyschologists, American Medical Technologists, Learning Disabilities Association of Nebraska
Education/Credentials Ed.S. in School Psychology, doctoral studies in SPED Law, SPED Systems Enhancement Leadership, and doctoral candidate Education Leadership. MT(AMT) and MLT(ASCP)
Question QUESTION: I have a 5 year old son. We have been round and round with him and school. He is set to have another IQ test next month. He is a very bright little boy. He is always trying to figure out how things work. He LOVES trains. all kinds. He know things about trains that I have no idea about. He enjoys playing with other types of toys, but loves trains the most. His toy selection is a variety of dinosaurs, cars, and He-Mans. He is a fast learner, but has a real hard time staying focus. He responds to his name when called to. He does however have a hard time keeping eye contact when being talked to about his behavior. It's hard for him to sit still for long periods of time. He was tested last year and had an IQ of 120, the psychologist felt he undertested, because he was distracted easily by the surroundings(other children in the room). When he was tested at age 3 3/4 we were told he was learning at a 6 year old level, but socially he was lacking. He tested at 60 % for social skills of that of his peers. We have very few behavior problems at home, but at school he is disruptive in class. Sometimes he doesn't complete his assignments correctly in class, but when we complete them at home, he follows through with some direction from me. What are your thoughts?
ANSWER: He sounds like my son at that age. Although my son preferred pokemon or ninja turtles to trains! Without medication my son tested in the 112-128 range IQ, and with medication he tests in the 138 to 140 range. This may be a helpful site for you to get started:
and this is a nice site to help teachers and professionals better understand: www.anniebooks.com
I hope this is of some help. Please let me know if you would like any more information.
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QUESTION: Thanks,
Are you thinking he could be both? That's my thought, yet no one has gone in that direction just yet. I'm hoping with his testing in the next month we can get some answers.
Answer It very well could be both; however, in order to be on the spectrum you would need to evaluate his response to change and sensory issues. Typically, kids on the spectrum have an under response or over response to change in routine, change in expectation, sights, sounds, smells, textures (tags, socks, certain fabrics, etc.), gustatory (gag reflex at certain tastes or textures, and other. We tend to have an extreme emotional reaction to things that others may not perceive as a "big deal." A good website for this:
I am adding a questionnaire that you may consider providing to the school psychologist:
EARLY CHILDHOOD/PRESCHOOL PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name of Child: _____________________ Date of Birth: ________ Age: _______
Name of Referrer: __________________ Relationship to Child: ______________
Parent/Guardian: ______________________________________________________
Names Address Phone
Date of Referral: ____________
Referral Concern (Please list any concerns about child’s communication, behavior, or development): _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Medical History:
Pregancy: _____________________________________________________________
Prenatal: ______________________________________________________________
Birth: _________________________________________________________________
History of Chronic Illness, Head Injury, Ear Infections, Hospitalization, or Accident: ______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Mother: ____________________________ Father: ____________________________
Siblings: _______________________________________________________________
Family History (Special Education, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health): _________________________________________________________
Who lives with the child: __________________________________________________
How does the child relate with:
Mother _________________ Father __________________ Siblings _______________
Family activities: ________________________________________________________
Does the child experience difficulty with peers, extended family, or social settings?
_______________________________________________________________________
As an infant, did the child experience difficulty with colic or soothing (stiffen or pull away when cuddled or stroked)? ___________________________________________
Communication:
1) Does he or she respond to his/her name: Never Sometimes Often Always
__________________________________________________________________
2) Does he/she express her needs or wants: Verbally Pointing Pulling Tantrums
___________________________________________________________________
3) Does he/she talk like children his/her age? ______________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4) Does he/she follow simple or complex directions? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5) Have you ever wondered if he/she is deaf? _______________________________
6) Does he/she seem to hear at times, but not at others? _______________________
7) Does he/she ever seem lost in own little world or stare off? _________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8) Does he/she mimic, copy, or like to immitate? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9) Does he/she seem to have lost words, or say fewer words than before? _________
_____________________________________________________________________
Social Concerns:
10) Does he/she smile at family members? __________________________________
11) Does he/she smile at strangers or become overly frightened by strangers? ______
____________________________________________________________________
12) Does he/she prefer to play alone or overly dependent on parent/caregiver for entertainment (you are his favorite/only toy)? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
13) Does he/she get things for self? _______________________________________
14) Is he/she very independent or overly attached (extreme separation anxiety)? ____
_____________________________________________________________________
15) Has he/she met milestones early or unevenly? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
16) Does he/she seem to avoid eye contact or have too much eye contact (watching without mirroring or reacting like a little professor)? _______________________
_____________________________________________________________________
17) Does he/she often seem “lost in own little world”? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
18) Does he/she seem tuned out or uninterested in other children? _______________
____________________________________________________________________
Behavioral Concerns:
19) Does he/she seem to have exessive tantrums or emotional outburst with little or
no provocation? ____________________________________________________
20) Does he/she express frustration or over react to small changes or routine? ______
_____________________________________________________________________
21) Does he/she demonstrate a lack of understanding in playing with toys (excessive mouthing, banging, lining up, sorting, focus on one part like spinning, or lack of interest)? __________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
22) Does he/she seem to get stuck on things regularly (wants to stick with one activity over any others, watch the same movie over and over, read the same book over and over, or other)? _________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
23) Does he/she have unual attachments to objects? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
24) Does he/she toe walk or have unusual facial movements/grimacing? __________
_____________________________________________________________________
25) Does he/she make any unusual hand movements or spin for long periods of time?
_____________________________________________________________________
26) Does he/she seem overly sensitive to textures or sounds? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________
If Age Appropriate:
27) Did he/she babble by 12 months? ______________________________________
28) Did he/she gesture (point, wave bye bye) by 12 months? ____________________
29) Did he/she use single words by 16 months? ______________________________
30) Does he/she seem to have an unusually advanced vocabulary? _______________
31) Does he/she seem to have an extremely good memory? ____________________
32) Does he/she demonstrate two-words spontaneously (not echo) phrases by 24 months? _________________________________________________________
33) Has he/she demonstrated any loss of language or social skills of any kind? _____
_____________________________________________________________________
(3-4 years of age)
Cognitive:
34) Show him/her a doll or stuffed toy, touch one to a box and have the other
pretend to look in the box. Ask him/her “Which one knows what’s in the box?”
Response: ____________________________________________________________
Let me know if you would like any more information. -Michelle
