Hey Christie,

My name is J. C. and I live in Alabama.  I got your name from one of the Alabama Homeschool yahoo groups a while back.  My 8 year old is having some difficulties and I believe he may have some special needs but I’m not sure where to begin to find help.  It all started about 3 and a half years ago when he was in 4 year old Kindergarten and could not do his work.  We pulled him out of the school and just chalked it up to his not being ready for a structured program.  A few months later, he was on a basketball team and rubbed his ears with his shoulders for most of the game.  I took him to the Pediatrician thinking he had an ear infection but he did not.  I told her about his difficulties in pre-school and she suggested that he might have sensitive hearing and that he would probably grow out of it.  Since then, we have been homeschooling him and he has struggled with reading.  He is 8 years old and is just beginning to be able to read 3 and 4 letter words and still has to sound most of them out.  He also has a difficult time staying on task.  He is very easily distracted.   He and I have been very frustrated.  He goes to a local learning center nearby 3 days a week for private tutoring in reading.  He started out at a Kindergarten – 3 months level.  He is progressing somewhat but his tutor is having the same problems I am with trying to keep him focused on what he is doing.  I have taken him to an ophthalmologist and an optometrist.  He is slightly near-sighted so we got him some glasses which are yet another distraction for him.  He doesn’t where them if we want to get anything done.  I have not received much guidance from his pediatrician on ways to help him.  I am considering taking him to a vision center to have him evaluated and possibly have vision therapy.  I’m really not sure if this will help with his inability to focus on tasks or not.  I feel like he needs something for the Auditory problems also, yet he has adjusted quite well and I’m not sure if the auditory issues are a big problem anymore.  Anyway, do you have any advice for me on where to go to find help for my son?  I’m just really not sure where to turn.

Thank you,

J. C. 

Hi J. C.,

First, let me ask, has he had a tempanagram done? This measures the amount of pressure behind the ear drum and may reveal a fluid problem. It takes less than ten minutes to complete for both ears, but many peds don’t have the small machine to test children with, so they don’t routinely do the test.  If you have not had one done, I would highly recommend it. If there is fluid behind the ear drums it will cause auditory distractions, difficulty learning to read, and eventually (if not treated) can cause hearing loss.

Ok, If you had a tempanagram and his ears are fine, there may be a hypersensitivity to auditory stimulus. Using headphones during independent work can help with audio-sensitivity distractions. There are also some therapy options that can help such as Samonas Sound Therapy.

As for eyesight: All children are slightly nearsighted and it usually only affects distant vision (reading from the chalkboard, seeing things far away, etc.)  As a home educator, this is easily overcome by providing work that is up close. There are some informal evals you can do that will indicate if vision therapy is necessary.

Staying on task: There are several things to consider - First, do you allow him to fidget while he works, stand up at the table, rock in the chair, etc? Many children need to fidget to stay focused. (This is due to an immature nervous system.) Also, you may need to begin working on attention span. An 8 yo should be able to stay on task for 10 minutes without being redirected. You should never have him on the same task for longer than 20 minutes. I don’t suggest increasing to 30 minutes until a child reaches 14 yo and for 16-18 years old 45 minutes to an hour. If he is unable to focus for 10 minutes then there are very specific ways to teach a child to focus for longer periods of time. I will be happy to explain how to do this.

I will be in Birmingham for the Chef convention in June. We will be having 30 minute free consults at the convention. If you would like to talk with me directly you can call our office for a phone consult. We have a sliding scale fee for phone consults. You can contact our office at 256-829-1074 and talk with Donna. She can send you an info packet or give you info over the phone for our consults and fees. We also have a cover school if you feel you need more help.

Blessings,

Christie Berry

Christie,

Thank you so much for your response.  He has not had a tempanagram done.  I’m going to call around today to find someone that has the machine.  We will start there and see what we can find.  I am also going to implement your suggestion of not having him on the same task for too long.  I may be calling you in the future for a phone consult.  I’m going to try these other things and see how it goes first.

Thanks again for help.

J. C.