Thank you. And re: ADD, again, I watched DS almost walk into a door tonight because he was so busy looking at something else. Made me remember the time he walked into a lamp post at age 5 or so upon leaving a museum. He was so intent on studying the toy he just got that he did not look at where he was going. Is that ADD, or is that just hyperfocus? In any event, I think we'll try a more formal reward system. Surprisingly, homework is no problem this year, but I'd like to see him do more reading and writing. Thank you.

LOL! I don't know how many times I walked into stuff when I was a kid. I don't think I had ADD...I was just living in my head

My son sounds similar to yours in some ways. He hated puzzles and he hated coloring. The Kindergarten teacher wanted to hold him back in a transitional first grade (a year in between kindergarten and first) because he wouldn't color in the lines and handwriting was sloppy. We have homeschooled since he finished Kindergarten and it works well for him. He types most of his work and does minimal writing.

He has loved National Geographic magazine since he was four years old, is very verbal and can carry on a conversation about so many different things because he is interested in so many different things. He absolutely loves to learn and talk about the interesting things he has learned. He likes to watch quiz shows to test his knowledge. He likes to read random Wikipedia articles for fun.

Our school just focuses on the fact that kids like mine don't color very well, can't cut with scissors very fast, and their handwriting is slow. I tried to explain my son's differences to so many people and most just don't get what twice exceptional means. Maybe I am just not very good at explaining it.

His doctor says she did not think he had ADD because he is not impulsive, but a few years ago she said some people might think he had ADD because he was very fidgety and needed frequent breaks.

What my son does have is sensory integration dysfunction and motor dyspraxia and he is finaly getting OT. He was not eligible for OT in school because he was above grade level in reading and math in Kindergarten. Doctors didn't think my son's problems were anything to worry about and they told me he would do very well in school because he read very early and was very articulate. I did not find out the name for my son's problems until recently. I spent many, many hours on the internet trying to find answers and I remember someone told me a couple of years ago that her son was diagnosed with dyspraxia and that my son sounded similar. But when I looked up info on this it said symptoms of dyspraxia can include difficulty with reading, writing and speech, poor social skills and poor short-term memory. My son did not have these problems and I didn't realize that he didn't have to have every symptom to have motor dyspraxia.

I could never find any one thing that seemed to fit my son until I learned about sensory integration dysfunction, especially proprioceptive dysfunction. I wish I had known about this earlier. I had to figure this out by myself with a little help from friends on message boards. To get a referral to the developmental pediatrician and the OT, I had to print out the symptoms I found on the internet, write down examples, and take it to the doctor.

Kriston, we know you are not a hard sell. You are one who is always ready and willing to give us good advice and I value you as a great i-friend with the fringe benefit of great HS resource!

Thanks, 'Neato. You know I'm not a hard-sell, and I know it, but I was afraid a new person wouldn't know it.

I know that before I was ready to homeschool, anyone pushing it on me would have been met with an inward eyeroll. Even when I started asking questions about it, I just could not listen to the homeschool evangelists. Maybe it's the rebel in me who doesn't want to be told what to do. I dunno. But whatever it is, I don't want anyone to think that's who I am! :p

Kriston, I didn't percieve your comments as pushy in any way, or evangelical about homeschooling. Every post has been so informative, including yours.

A question for Lori H.: could you refer me to the sources you used to learn more about sensory integration dysfunction, and proprioceptie dysfunction? Your correct, our sons seem very much alike.

It's a good place that way, idaho! I'm glad you're finding what you need.

Hi, I'm not Lori H (nor do I play her on TV!) but I am an OT trained in sensory integration. Here are some websites/books that are helpful in understanding SI issues:

http://www.sinetwork.org/

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/

Books: Sensory Integration and the Child by A. Jean Ayres (I highly recommend this one)
The Out of Sync Child (and other titles) by Carol Stock Kranowitz


And for dyspraxia:

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

Great website with descriptions of behaviors/performance issues noted at different ages. Dyspraxia is one type of sensory processing disorder.

Hope this helps.

Debbie, I went to your recommended website www.sinetwork.org--thanks for telling me about it! Is it possilbe for a teen who has the same hyper-senses as outlined in the Sensory-Over Responsive child NOT shy away from them in public, and become overwhelmed to the point of unexplainable tears, anxiety, fatigue, and sometimes illness later at home? My son has always had heightened senses--as described for the child who is over responsive. However, he does the actions often associated with the Sensory-Under Responsivity person--producing accidental injuries, being overly agressive at play, etc. Is it possible to have elements or symptoms of both? Or would this suggest the person simply isn't SPD?

Second question preceded by a little explanation:
Yesterday he had a particularly hard day at school--emotional roller coaster ride where he tried his upmost to do well and felt unusually good about himself, then got yelled at for something that wasn't his fault by an admired teacher, then had 2 physically demanding activities following school and by the time he got home, he was sensory-wasted. He was confused, fatigued, cried and cried. This morning he was shaky and complained that he didn't feel well. He decompressed some more, then went to school quite late because he felt better. My question is how to know if his hypersensitivities are creating the emotional hardship or not.

Hi Idaho,
It was very interesting to read your post. Your DD sounds alot like my brother. My brother eventually took himself out of school and homeschooled himself. He used alot of online tools and really indiviualized it. He was highschool aged and was able to create his own program by using an online charter school and a kind of independent study where he could study what he was into and then write about it at his own pace or do online discussions. He graduated on time which by this point was a big deal because he finished a couple of years of schooling in several months. He is now in collage and doing very well, although for certain classes he has to take a lighter class load. He had alot of the same sensory issues and processing issues. I took a collage class with him and durring exams he was always in testing way way longer than anyone else, but he always had the high score. I remember when he was a kid, the school said he was ADHD and put him on ritalin. He reacted pretty badly, and used to cheek the stuff and pass it to me to toss. The school said he was so much better on the drugs, but he was never really on them. I used to have long in depth conversations with him about shows he would watch on the Discovery or the History channel when he was like 7 or 8. Then he would go to school where he was in a special ED room most of the day coloring and they could not figure out why he kept running away from school. Anyway, I think it is wonderful that you are so interested in helping him find a good fit. How lucky a child is to have someone who understands them and works to change things. I hope you find a good fit.