Child's Problem Focusing

Yes, I would definetely test his hearing and vision. My son also does not respond all the time to questions but he is attending preschool through the school district for a speech delay. He is 4. Please have the school evaluate him, even if he just got pull out services for speech or got extra academic support, it would help. He may just be shy and immature, that's why socially it may help to hold him back. Also, if they think that he has a speech impairment get him tested privately with a skilled speech pathologist perhaps affiliated with a university or through a referral. Also, I would also see an ENT to make sure there are no structural problems. His speech may be the catalyst for his apparent other "problems". Good luck.

I would talk to your pediatrician. Your dr might be able to help or can refer you to somone who can evaluate your child. Maybe it's just ADD. Have you had his/her hearing or eyesight tested? Good luck.

If he's only 5.5 now, that means he's a young kindergartener. So holding him back may help. It also may help with his maturity, if that's part of what makes him unresponsive to people and uncomfortable in a team setting.

If you think he may have a learning disability then the public school should test him to see if that's the case. I believe if you request testing, they have to do it, it just might take some time. If you have the money you can do private testing - some insurance will pay for some of that and I would start with his pediatrician.

If all of your child's teachers have suggested he may have some delays and they are trained to work with younger kids and see kids his age all the time, why would you think your secondary education experience would over-ride that. Learning disabilities at 14 look very different than learning disabilities at 5. Trust in their judgement and experience.

I would also recommend Tae Kwon Do. It's "sort of" a group activity, but you do things yourself. You could also do private lessons. Tae Kwon Do is fabulous for building self confidence and maturity.

Good Luck.

The not responding when asked basic questions makes me wonder if it is a sensory processing problem. Some children with sensory processing disorder are hypersensitive to sounds, and some are hyposensitive to sounds. Children who are hyposensitive to sounds may not seem to notice when their name is being called- or they say "what?" a lot. They often need directions repeated. My oldest son had problems with those things. My daughter, on the other hand is hypersensitive to sound- she used to cover her ears and cry when I vacuumed, and often complained about noises being "too loud".

Here is a checklist of other possible symptoms of sensory processing disorder. If you feel this may be an issue for your child, discuss it w/ your child's pedi and request an evaluation by an occupational therapist. My experience has been that if your insurance covers it, go for a private occupational therapist who has special training in sensory processing disorder. The wait is often longer through the public school and, from what I understand, they can only work on areas that directly affect them at school.

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-proces...
This website is also a wealth of information on the topic.

HTH
Best wishes!! =o)

Added:
When I was looking into this for my son and daughter, I printed the symptom checklist, and brought it with me to the pedi and to the eval. w/ the OT. It turned out to be very helpful.

I guess the question I would ask myself is whether these things are better now than they were a year ago. If he's always been "immature" but you notice that he has improved since last year, then holding him back a year is probably worthwhile because it'll give him a chance to catch up and be with kids who aren't so far ahead of him.

Similarly, if reading is new to him and he's making some progress, I'd consider repeating the grade so he can master the content and do well... then again, if he learned the letter sounds at 3 and still can't blend them together, another year won't help.

Does that make sense?

Talk more with the teachers and trust your own understanding of your son.

HTH
T.

Your son sounds exactly like many of the children that I work with. Difficulties with sounding out words, trouble following along in conversations, needing things repeated for them, and generally seeming to be immature in certain areas are some of the most common traits I see.

You're also correct when you say that repeating the grade is not going to be helpful. For one reason, if the school has not been able to teach him in a way that meets his style of learning then they most likely are not going to change to meet those needs next year.

Your son sounds more like what I call a 'picture thinker'. Schools are often not set up to meet the needs of picture thinkers (who represent about 25% of the population) because they're too busy teaching in the way the other 75% of the population learns. They have a tough job!

Follow your instincts LE and learn more about the way your son is learning and about his strengths and weaknesses in all areas of his life.

I'd want to know more about what the teacher and you are seeing with behavior. "Immature" is kind of vague. If he or she is impulsive or has a short attention span that might improve in a year. Being shy in a group is more often part of a child's personality (I was shy as a child but it took well over a decade to outgrow it.) It would make sense to have him screened for hearing and vision problems and possibly other problems (like auditory processing problems).

Sounding out words is right on grade level, so see where he is at the end of the year. My kindergartener brought home his first list of words to practice reading last week. He could sound out most of them with prompting but not every one. Have your tried to get your child to sound out words? Are you seeing the problem too?

Also, if your child is held back now it may be easier later. I say this because I moved schools in 1st grade and ended up repeating the grade. I was they youngest and smallest child in K and shy besides so it was kind of a struggle. When I was held back I was the oldest and it worked out so much better. I ended up in the gifted program and graduated in the top 10% in high school. I was still shy but I always had at least a few close friends.

Emotional maturity is different from cognitive or chronological maturity. Each child needs to be assessed as an individual. I let my son repeat kindergarten because his teachers felt he was not emotionally ready for primary school despite being well able to do the activities required (like writing his name etc). My son is now 19 years old and is working as a computer programmer. The best decision I ever made was to let him spend 2 years in kindergarten! I had my son assessed by an educational psychologist and the results were "inconclusive". He was labelled a "slow-to-warm-up" child. In the end, no therapy was required and he was able to start grade one and never fail a single test or exam from then on! At the end of the day you must do what you feel is best for your child. I can only tell you that I'm grateful that my husband and I waited that extra year because my son was then better able to cope with the rules imposed on him in primary school. Good luck!