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IQ Scores and Symptoms?

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Hello, I have some questions…I have a 7 yr. old son. He has been diagnosed dyslexic. This is a sure thing and he is in classes and making huge progress. (also in gifted class once a week) My problem is that he has always been different and quirky. From infancy. Talked late, then a lot all of a sudden. Spent lots of time alone when he was little, in his own little world. He’s extremely dreamy, huge imagination-he ‘becomes’ characters in his mind, even dressing the parts. Great artist. The things he says sometimes just blow my mind. If the subject interests him, he will talk a lot about it and always throw neat twists into it that we have just never thought of before. He seems to worry a lot. Has tons of fears and night terrors. Hasn’t slept alone in over a year. He’s not hyper, so ADHD never fit, but he has a lot of difficulty concentrating at times. He’s in 2nd grade now and socializing ok, but in k-1 he always sat outside the group and wouldn’t participate, wouldn’t speak if the teacher asked him a question, etc. He’s done better this year. Another thing he does is get very tense and stressed when we go to busy public places (mall, etc.) He is very bad about wandering off. He will just see something and be GONE! No sense of direction at all, no sense of time, gets car sick. Some of this I think is the dyslexia, some not. He also has spells of being the sweetest child, even though he’s always extremely self centered-he just doesn’t seem at all aware of others feelings. Then he’ll have spells of being sooo angry all the time. Just hateful in the way he speaks to everyone, violent. Rages. It went to a whole new level this fall (right after the time change) November was hell. He threw things, hit us, huge meltdowns several times a day. We were basket cases. Nothing worked! We took him to a psychiatrist who thought he was bipolar and started him on depakote. She said that bipolar and dyslexia were 2 monsters-unrelated but would feed off each other. We saw about 1 week of calm, then just flat out hyper-mean behavior. We finally took him off of it after about 6 weeks. This was not our child either. I just think that the dr. took the info. that he has good spells and bad spells and came up with bipolar along with family history of depression and alcoholism in grandparents. I’m confused. When he was diagnosed dyslexic, I thought, that explains it! But, as he was doing so much better with reading, etc. and acting worse, I knew it was something else. I have wondered even if his IQ could be it? He has a big gap and would that make him this quirky? I am listing the scores - maybe you can read something from it? Please let me know what you think and where I should turn. He seems so troubled all the time. Thank You!!!! (WISCIII) FSIQ: 113 Verbal: 95 Performance: 131 Information: 8 Similarities: 14 Arithmetic: 9 Vocabulary: 9 Comprehension: 6 Picture Completion: 13 Coding: 18 Picture Arrangement: 13 Block Design: 11 Object Assembly: 18

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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I would take him to an audiologist who specializes in central auditory processing disorders. Auditory processing problems can cause many of the behaviors you describe. There are quite a few sound therapies that can help. Often medical insurance will cover this eval. You do have to be careful to go to an audiologist who specializes in CAPD. Regular audiologists do not have the specialized training.There is a search engine to locate CAPD audiologists at http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ (click on first option, then scroll near end of page). If you have a choice in your area, usually an audiologist associated with a large university or medical center will be very good.Mary: Hello, I have some questions…I have a 7 yr. old son. He has been
: diagnosed dyslexic. This is a sure thing and he is in classes and
: making huge progress. (also in gifted class once a week) My
: problem is that he has always been different and quirky. From
: infancy. Talked late, then a lot all of a sudden. Spent lots of
: time alone when he was little, in his own little world. He’s
: extremely dreamy, huge imagination-he ‘becomes’ characters in his
: mind, even dressing the parts. Great artist. The things he says
: sometimes just blow my mind. If the subject interests him, he will
: talk a lot about it and always throw neat twists into it that we
: have just never thought of before. He seems to worry a lot. Has
: tons of fears and night terrors. Hasn’t slept alone in over a
: year. He’s not hyper, so ADHD never fit, but he has a lot of
: difficulty concentrating at times. He’s in 2nd grade now and
: socializing ok, but in k-1 he always sat outside the group and
: wouldn’t participate, wouldn’t speak if the teacher asked him a
: question, etc. He’s done better this year. Another thing he does
: is get very tense and stressed when we go to busy public places
: (mall, etc.) He is very bad about wandering off. He will just see
: something and be GONE! No sense of direction at all, no sense of
: time, gets car sick. Some of this I think is the dyslexia, some
: not. He also has spells of being the sweetest child, even though
: he’s always extremely self centered-he just doesn’t seem at all
: aware of others feelings. Then he’ll have spells of being sooo
: angry all the time. Just hateful in the way he speaks to everyone,
: violent. Rages. It went to a whole new level this fall (right
: after the time change) November was hell. He threw things, hit us,
: huge meltdowns several times a day. We were basket cases. Nothing
: worked! We took him to a psychiatrist who thought he was bipolar
: and started him on depakote. She said that bipolar and dyslexia
: were 2 monsters-unrelated but would feed off each other. We saw
: about 1 week of calm, then just flat out hyper-mean behavior. We
: finally took him off of it after about 6 weeks. This was not our
: child either. I just think that the dr. took the info. that he has
: good spells and bad spells and came up with bipolar along with
: family history of depression and alcoholism in grandparents. I’m
: confused. When he was diagnosed dyslexic, I thought, that explains
: it! But, as he was doing so much better with reading, etc. and
: acting worse, I knew it was something else. I have wondered even
: if his IQ could be it? He has a big gap and would that make him
: this quirky? I am listing the scores - maybe you can read
: something from it? Please let me know what you think and where I
: should turn. He seems so troubled all the time. Thank You!!!!
: (WISCIII) FSIQ: 113 Verbal: 95 Performance: 131 Information: 8
: Similarities: 14 Arithmetic: 9 Vocabulary: 9 Comprehension: 6
: Picture Completion: 13 Coding: 18 Picture Arrangement: 13 Block
: Design: 11 Object Assembly: 18

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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Greetings English,You are describing a variety of behaviors and symptoms so it’s not always easy to know where to start. Dr. Amen, author of Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to see and Heal the 6 Types of ADD, has devoted the past 15yrs of his life to researching and treating ADD (3 of his children share this disorder). Through SPECT brain imaging, he has identified 6 types of ADD. Inattentive ADD daydream excessively; Tempororal Lobe ADD has periods of quick temper or rages with little provocation & periods of fear for no specific reason; Ring of Fire ADD has cyclic mood changes (highs or lows) which can be mistaken for bipolar, etc. This is just a nutshell of a couple of the types he describes. A person may have more than one or a combination of types. I would encourage you to check out his website (link below) which describes these 6 types. There is an interactive ADD Type Questionnaire that you can complete for immediate feedback. The questionnaire is not meant to provide a diagnosis but it serves as a guide to help people begin to identify problems and get further evaluation for them. His website also provides a list of doctors who are ADD experts and understand this model he uses.Hope this helps you begin to find answers.Blessings, momo

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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: The temperment you’re describing your son as having doesn’t associat with dyslexia. While dyslexics can feel very challenged by their dyslexia, I wouldn’t ever say that dyslexics have a common personality or are necessarily “quirky.” Big gaps can made people quirky and being gifted is in and of itself a kind of quirkyiness. We should remember that some very great people in history have been “quirky”.Your son’s Iq scores don’t offer to me any very obvious reasons for quirkyiness. He does show some of the possible symptoms for an ADD and children with ADD do sometimes have fits of temperment as well as drifting off into their own world.ADD would certainly be a less complex and less dire diagnosis than bipolar disorder. Have you asked your family doctor or pediatrician about this? I would understand why you might feel the diagnosis of bipolar disorder was too easily arrived at especially in a child this young.Hello, I have some questions…I have a 7 yr. old son. He has been
: diagnosed dyslexic. This is a sure thing and he is in classes and
: making huge progress. (also in gifted class once a week) My
: problem is that he has always been different and quirky. From
: infancy. Talked late, then a lot all of a sudden. Spent lots of
: time alone when he was little, in his own little world. He’s
: extremely dreamy, huge imagination-he ‘becomes’ characters in his
: mind, even dressing the parts. Great artist. The things he says
: sometimes just blow my mind. If the subject interests him, he will
: talk a lot about it and always throw neat twists into it that we
: have just never thought of before. He seems to worry a lot. Has
: tons of fears and night terrors. Hasn’t slept alone in over a
: year. He’s not hyper, so ADHD never fit, but he has a lot of
: difficulty concentrating at times. He’s in 2nd grade now and
: socializing ok, but in k-1 he always sat outside the group and
: wouldn’t participate, wouldn’t speak if the teacher asked him a
: question, etc. He’s done better this year. Another thing he does
: is get very tense and stressed when we go to busy public places
: (mall, etc.) He is very bad about wandering off. He will just see
: something and be GONE! No sense of direction at all, no sense of
: time, gets car sick. Some of this I think is the dyslexia, some
: not. He also has spells of being the sweetest child, even though
: he’s always extremely self centered-he just doesn’t seem at all
: aware of others feelings. Then he’ll have spells of being sooo
: angry all the time. Just hateful in the way he speaks to everyone,
: violent. Rages. It went to a whole new level this fall (right
: after the time change) November was hell. He threw things, hit us,
: huge meltdowns several times a day. We were basket cases. Nothing
: worked! We took him to a psychiatrist who thought he was bipolar
: and started him on depakote. She said that bipolar and dyslexia
: were 2 monsters-unrelated but would feed off each other. We saw
: about 1 week of calm, then just flat out hyper-mean behavior. We
: finally took him off of it after about 6 weeks. This was not our
: child either. I just think that the dr. took the info. that he has
: good spells and bad spells and came up with bipolar along with
: family history of depression and alcoholism in grandparents. I’m
: confused. When he was diagnosed dyslexic, I thought, that explains
: it! But, as he was doing so much better with reading, etc. and
: acting worse, I knew it was something else. I have wondered even
: if his IQ could be it? He has a big gap and would that make him
: this quirky? I am listing the scores - maybe you can read
: something from it? Please let me know what you think and where I
: should turn. He seems so troubled all the time. Thank You!!!!
: (WISCIII) FSIQ: 113 Verbal: 95 Performance: 131 Information: 8
: Similarities: 14 Arithmetic: 9 Vocabulary: 9 Comprehension: 6
: Picture Completion: 13 Coding: 18 Picture Arrangement: 13 Block
: Design: 11 Object Assembly: 18

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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: Have you had him evaluated by an OT for Sensory Integration Disorder? A friend of mine has a son with this, and he has exhibited many of the same behaviors you are describing. I especially took note of the motion sickness, fears, being in his own world, discontent at malls and busy places. All of that fits. I would recommend you read the book,The Out of Sync Child. It provides a lot of information and would help you decide whether to investigate the Sensory Integration issues. It’s available through Amazon, regular bookstores and the library. Very readable.Good luck. It all sounds really trying.Hello, I have some questions…I have a 7 yr. old son. He has been
: diagnosed dyslexic. This is a sure thing and he is in classes and
: making huge progress. (also in gifted class once a week) My
: problem is that he has always been different and quirky. From
: infancy. Talked late, then a lot all of a sudden. Spent lots of
: time alone when he was little, in his own little world. He’s
: extremely dreamy, huge imagination-he ‘becomes’ characters in his
: mind, even dressing the parts. Great artist. The things he says
: sometimes just blow my mind. If the subject interests him, he will
: talk a lot about it and always throw neat twists into it that we
: have just never thought of before. He seems to worry a lot. Has
: tons of fears and night terrors. Hasn’t slept alone in over a
: year. He’s not hyper, so ADHD never fit, but he has a lot of
: difficulty concentrating at times. He’s in 2nd grade now and
: socializing ok, but in k-1 he always sat outside the group and
: wouldn’t participate, wouldn’t speak if the teacher asked him a
: question, etc. He’s done better this year. Another thing he does
: is get very tense and stressed when we go to busy public places
: (mall, etc.) He is very bad about wandering off. He will just see
: something and be GONE! No sense of direction at all, no sense of
: time, gets car sick. Some of this I think is the dyslexia, some
: not. He also has spells of being the sweetest child, even though
: he’s always extremely self centered-he just doesn’t seem at all
: aware of others feelings. Then he’ll have spells of being sooo
: angry all the time. Just hateful in the way he speaks to everyone,
: violent. Rages. It went to a whole new level this fall (right
: after the time change) November was hell. He threw things, hit us,
: huge meltdowns several times a day. We were basket cases. Nothing
: worked! We took him to a psychiatrist who thought he was bipolar
: and started him on depakote. She said that bipolar and dyslexia
: were 2 monsters-unrelated but would feed off each other. We saw
: about 1 week of calm, then just flat out hyper-mean behavior. We
: finally took him off of it after about 6 weeks. This was not our
: child either. I just think that the dr. took the info. that he has
: good spells and bad spells and came up with bipolar along with
: family history of depression and alcoholism in grandparents. I’m
: confused. When he was diagnosed dyslexic, I thought, that explains
: it! But, as he was doing so much better with reading, etc. and
: acting worse, I knew it was something else. I have wondered even
: if his IQ could be it? He has a big gap and would that make him
: this quirky? I am listing the scores - maybe you can read
: something from it? Please let me know what you think and where I
: should turn. He seems so troubled all the time. Thank You!!!!
: (WISCIII) FSIQ: 113 Verbal: 95 Performance: 131 Information: 8
: Similarities: 14 Arithmetic: 9 Vocabulary: 9 Comprehension: 6
: Picture Completion: 13 Coding: 18 Picture Arrangement: 13 Block
: Design: 11 Object Assembly: 18

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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I agree with MaryMN’s advice, and I would seek out a competent CARP evaluation. When my son was in second grade and younger, he withdrew into his own little world often and was definitely behind the other kids in socializing - the kids just talked around him and my son could not keep up. The school’s speech therapist recommended FastForward, and we saw a notable improvement. You can browse their webpage and see if anything they say sounds helpful to you. Good luck.

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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Oh dear, your son sounds like mine. Boy does he ever! Please visit my web page. Be sure to check out the parent/teacher papers section at the bottom of the page, and also hop over to the message board. Please don’t let talk of autistic spectrum throw you. I don’t think my son is autistic,but he is SPD and CAPD (semantic pragmatic disordered and auditory processing disorder). www.geocities.com/Heartland/Trail/5136/index.html Denise: Hello, I have some questions…I have a 7 yr. old son. He has been
: diagnosed dyslexic. This is a sure thing and he is in classes and
: making huge progress. (also in gifted class once a week) My
: problem is that he has always been different and quirky. From
: infancy. Talked late, then a lot all of a sudden. Spent lots of
: time alone when he was little, in his own little world. He’s
: extremely dreamy, huge imagination-he ‘becomes’ characters in his
: mind, even dressing the parts. Great artist. The things he says
: sometimes just blow my mind. If the subject interests him, he will
: talk a lot about it and always throw neat twists into it that we
: have just never thought of before. He seems to worry a lot. Has
: tons of fears and night terrors. Hasn’t slept alone in over a
: year. He’s not hyper, so ADHD never fit, but he has a lot of
: difficulty concentrating at times. He’s in 2nd grade now and
: socializing ok, but in k-1 he always sat outside the group and
: wouldn’t participate, wouldn’t speak if the teacher asked him a
: question, etc. He’s done better this year. Another thing he does
: is get very tense and stressed when we go to busy public places
: (mall, etc.) He is very bad about wandering off. He will just see
: something and be GONE! No sense of direction at all, no sense of
: time, gets car sick. Some of this I think is the dyslexia, some
: not. He also has spells of being the sweetest child, even though
: he’s always extremely self centered-he just doesn’t seem at all
: aware of others feelings. Then he’ll have spells of being sooo
: angry all the time. Just hateful in the way he speaks to everyone,
: violent. Rages. It went to a whole new level this fall (right
: after the time change) November was hell. He threw things, hit us,
: huge meltdowns several times a day. We were basket cases. Nothing
: worked! We took him to a psychiatrist who thought he was bipolar
: and started him on depakote. She said that bipolar and dyslexia
: were 2 monsters-unrelated but would feed off each other. We saw
: about 1 week of calm, then just flat out hyper-mean behavior. We
: finally took him off of it after about 6 weeks. This was not our
: child either. I just think that the dr. took the info. that he has
: good spells and bad spells and came up with bipolar along with
: family history of depression and alcoholism in grandparents. I’m
: confused. When he was diagnosed dyslexic, I thought, that explains
: it! But, as he was doing so much better with reading, etc. and
: acting worse, I knew it was something else. I have wondered even
: if his IQ could be it? He has a big gap and would that make him
: this quirky? I am listing the scores - maybe you can read
: something from it? Please let me know what you think and where I
: should turn. He seems so troubled all the time. Thank You!!!!
: (WISCIII) FSIQ: 113 Verbal: 95 Performance: 131 Information: 8
: Similarities: 14 Arithmetic: 9 Vocabulary: 9 Comprehension: 6
: Picture Completion: 13 Coding: 18 Picture Arrangement: 13 Block
: Design: 11 Object Assembly: 18

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