My 7 Year Ols Son Can't Remember Anything........

My son is 7 1/2. In the morning I will tell him to go brush his teeth. He will go right into the bathroom and wash his hands, lol. I can ask him what he did at school that day and he will say he doesn't remember. However he knows exactly how many silly bands he has and what shapes and colors he traded that day. I can tell him to go in the family room and pick up his legos, he will go into the family room and play with his legos. When he helps unpack the groceries he will often put cereal boxes in the fridge :) There is nothing wrong with him, he is just a preoccupied little boy and possibly training his selective hearing now for when he becomes a husband :)

If it is interfering with his life (and how could it not?) then you might consider having an evaluation for ADHD, inattentive type. A developmental pediatrician, or a psychiatrist/w a nueropsychological evaluation can tell you for sure. You could also see a neurologist, but we have not had much luck with them.

Loosing track of thoughts is one classic symptom of inattentive type ADHD. Thoughts in the brain are carried from brain cell to brain cell as electrical impulses, and because the brain cells do not touch, we use neurotrasmitters (chemicals) to carry the thoughts accross that tiny space (called a synapes.) If the receptors for the neruotransmitter are damaged or the production of neurotrasmitters is reduced, that person looses track of thoughts and has ADHD. That is one reason the medications for ADHD work so well, they assist the brain in more reliable thought continuation.
The medication is a tool that will help him access all the other treatment avalaible to him like therapy and educational interventions.

If you are not exaggerating, and it happens all the time, he is probably really miserable. I would get him an evaluation so that he can get treatment. While there are other issues that could cause this, ADHD inattentive type is the most common, but find out for sure by asking for an evaluation based on his symptoms.

Good luck,
M.

I don't have any experience with this, but my first thought was: have you tried having him repeat the task back to you?

"Could you get my hairbrush for me, please?"
"Yes Mom, I'll go get your hairbrush."

young kids brains are going a mile a minute all the time.
extraneous noises can cause "static" when the brain is
processing information. If there is a TV or music on in
the house where he can hear it, it's likely his brain is
distracted by the noise. My daughter is "deaf" when the
TV is on, so I usually leave it off (she is 2).

another possiblity, albeit SERIOUSLY over-diagnosed, would be ADD.

I would recommend you make sure you have his complete
attention when talking to him, turn the tv/stereo off, and ask
him as respectfully as possible to repeat your request to you.

Also- for children- face-to-face communication with eye-contact
is absolutely essential.

Best of luck!

Maybe he isn't listening to you. Does he have any other symptoms of attention deficit, or is it just when you ask him to do things? I know my kid is perfectly healthy and habitually tuned me out when I would ask her to do things she especially didn't feel like doing, and if the tv was on... forget it. Also, kids also have learned by 7 that "forgetting" is the past of least resistance. My 10 year old still tries (unsuccesfully) to use "forgetfullness" to cover up simple defiance, like conveniently forgetting to put toys away, wash her hands before she eats, etc. She didn't forget, she does didnt feel like doing it, and is using bad memory as an excuse to not get in trouble when I call her on it.

Is he getting enough sleep?

Ummm....

2 things come to mind. First off... this is constant in our house, because kiddo and I are both adhd. We start thinking about something more interesting on the way from point a to point b and forget the boring thing and have to check. IF we remember that we're forgetting something. Which is about 50/50. If he's adhd, there are about a thousand tricks to work around things like this... but they don't work on normal kids. Just to borrow an example... kiddo focuses a LOT better if there's music playing, or a movie in the background. Most kids, that shuts their brains off, because they get distracted. ADHD kids... it focuses them because it washes out the background "sparklies". Another is doing what Meg&Ollie do with their niece... the eye contact and focus. I can be in the middle of writing chapter 6 & ch 8 at the same time (in my mind) as I'm having a conversation. I walk away, and while I remember the plotting I was doing the conversation that I was actually PARTICIPATING in drifts away like mist. It's almost as if my mouth and ears aren't connected to my brain... or rather... like my heart, just operate on autopilot if I'm thinking of something else. The "tell" is that I'm not looking at someone in the eyes when I'm talking to them.

The second is what is known as the "stupid sixes". Like the terrible 2's it's a developmental phase. During this phase it's like their brain dribbles out their ears. The catch phrase is "I don't know" and the "look" is as if they've never heard of whatever bizarre and strange thing you're talking about (what are these "shoes" that you speak of? You want me to put them where? On my what? Really... are you SURE about that?)

Oh my do I know what you are talking about...My daughter is 4 and I tell her to go upstairs and get something and she comes down stairs and doesn't even acknowledge that I asked her to get me something...I ask her about it and she says "Oh". My husband and I were starting to get concerned...but had to take a step back and realize that she is a very intellegent child (as a parent you get that feeling of concern or not). She is very creative..she doesn't walk she dances and glides everywhere!! She is so involved in what is going on in her head at that moment that she pushes all else aside.

What I do now is remind her what I asked her to do as she is doing it...once as she reaches the steps..another as she gets to the top!! Problem solved! Sometimes she gets lost along the way...playing..dancing...twirling...looking in the mirror trying to put on her play makeup...but a little reminder is a big help.

You know your son...don't let anyone start to get you upset that there "may" be something up with him..you as a parent know what is normal for your child and if he is developing normally (yeah normally..funny huh, what is normal these days)!!

By the way my daughter only needs a reminder every once in a while now!!

Best wishes!!!

All of them do this.
You need to be very specific. "Go get my brush." Then ask him what you just said... "What did I ask you to do?"

Can he remember how to play video games?
Can he remember how to build his legos?
Can he remember what he wants to remember???

Sounds perfectly normal to me...

YMMV
LBC

I have a niece who is just like this. I've been watching her for the past month and I feel you frustration. She is really smart, but she gets distracted easily and forget. I think that it will pass. It's getting better as we tell her to focus and look at us when we talk to her and such.

If it is a memory problem, have him eat fish, or take fish oil supplements.

Or maybe his mind is elsewhere.. You think there may be something going on in his life that keeps his mind busy?

Uh--I've got his twin living here...also 7...he can make a trip upstairs to get something for the car when we're leaving the house and by the time he gets back down the stairs (10 seconds later)--no item and no clue! LOL

I'd say this is mostly the cause of ADHD inattentive type. He needs to be checked by PCP to rule out medical condition and then see a pedes psychologist.
I'm not big on medicating kids unless the need is high, but there are also behavioral modifying components when working with children. See psychologist for true ADHD testing and then therapist for training and or psychiatrist for medication management. After stable on mess can be followed by pcp. Depending on your financial situation this may all be covered by lachip and could be worked with privately or state agency.
Please have him evaluated as ADHD left untreated exaserbates and eventually will include depression. It is just as frustrating for the child as the parent.
He will NOT show this inattention during activies he enjoys nor during tv time or video games. Both tv and games can worsen ADHD.

Please consider this as I'm a retired social worker and from symptoms this sounds like a high probability. Testing will determine.

Side note: test soon as most parents wait until school starts and high waiting list.
Also IMO a good psych MD will start meds slow and will want to have times were no meds are used to insure proper growth and weight gain

hope this helps and think the responder Martha was a wealth of info on the littlecknown type of ADHD. Most kids with inattentive type get missed as they are not driving the teacher crazy but rather staring off into space.