I think it is very hard to figure out exactly what is going on with young children, and some can be especially complex. I can tell you that much of what you say resonates with our experience with our oldest, who is now 9. He was the easiest, calmest, happiest baby imaginable, and also very precocious in the early years. We started to see some impulsive behavior in the twos and threes, but... well, there is a huge range of "normal" at that age. A lot of what he exhibited in the early years seemed to be related to emotional regulation challenges, mostly not being able to calm down easily or come down from a joyful high. It was like he had too much excitement and he didn't know where to put it. We also started to see a lot of attachment to routines and general inflexibility, which we hadn't seen before. I used to be very concerned with how my son had changed but I have to come to realize that, in his case, it was probably more life changing around him. And, for whatever reason, he didn't have the resources to easily handle the demands life presented him as he grew older. Sometimes it is impossible to see exactly what is going on with a child until the child is in a particular context and reacts a certain way. I also think that some very sensitive, bright kids can compound their particular challenges by being very hard on themselves and getting into negative cycles as their awareness of their deficits (compared to their peers or even compared to their expectations for themselves) increases. I am not going to go into our whole story but just to wrap it up, my son's first diagnosis was Generalized Anxiety, later ADHD, and later Dysgraphia. He is also gifted. And he is also just a super intense, perfectionist-oriented, sensitive, talkative but highly introverted, fiercely loving and loyal boy. All of these qualities determine who he is and make him spectacular and also very challenging for his parents! We did start with private OT, and went weekly for over two years. It didn't really help us but I think that it is a logical first step and that it helps a lot of people. What was hugely helpful for us was working with a wonderful child psychologist. She helped us understand our child and learn when to challenge him and when to support him and how to do these two together. We saw her weekly for four years and I will be eternally grateful to her for getting my son immediately and teaching us how to help him.

I didn't realize so many people have had the same kind of problem. We ended up taking an entire month off from Singapore to 1) master the multiplication tables and 2) practice long division and multiplication, just 4 or 5 per page. I could tell we needed to slow down. My son has always loved math and grasps concepts very easily. The long division algorithm is the first major challenge he has ever encountered in math. I think part of the problem was definitely not having the multiplication facts mastered, but I think he also struggled with using a multiple-step algorithm that wasn't entirely intuitive to him. It really helped and, I have to say, he has absolutely flown through 3b. We are using Beast Academy, too, and I think it is a truly amazing program to get kids to think differently and creatively.

I agree with many who have said that the only way to know what you are dealing with is a thorough evaluation. My son, 9, has all the traits that you list plus a lot of rigidity, plus emotional regulation issues, plus some sensory issues. We have had several very good evaluations (one with a great developmental pediatrician and also a full neuropsych at a great practice). I had strongly suspected Asperger's but he was diagnosed with severe ADHD. He has the high IQ/slow processing/very anxious profile a couple of people have mentioned. He is also very introverted, intense, sensitive, I could go on. His personality, temperament, strengths, and challenges, combined, make him quite a personality! I will say that some of his deficits/challenges are more pronounced than a several kids I know who are diagnosed with Asperger's and that the explanation I have been given for why he did not receive that diagnosis is that some of his other characteristics, or "strengths," ruled it out. In the end, I find that the most helpful part of the evaluations is the particulars, identifying the strengths and weakness so that you know what to support and work on.

This is my first year homeschooling my oldest, who is 9 and in third grade. He has severe dysgraphia. It takes supreme effort and concentration for him to write something legible. I decided to start cursive with him because, after years of daily practice with print-handwriting, I decided it would be easier to start something new rather than try to undo his bad habits. It is also less humiliating for him because it is like learning a new language. I had heard that cursive is easier for many kids with motor issues and it definitely is for my son. For one thing, the letters often start at the bottom, which his brain seems hard-wired to do no matter how hard I have tried to change the habit! I would like him to have some way to write legibly by hand and feel proud of his work. That said, typing is clearly his most practical form and will always that in the future.

This is my first year homeschooling my oldest, who is 9 and in third grade. He has severe dysgraphia. It takes supreme effort and concentration for him to write something legible. I decided to start cursive with him because, after years of daily practice with print-handwriting, I decided it would be easier to start something new rather than try to undo his bad habits. It is also less humiliating for him because it is like learning a new language. I had heard that cursive is easier for many kids with motor issues and it definitely is for my son. For one thing, the letters often start at the bottom, which his brain seems hard-wired to do no matter how hard I have tried to change the habit! I would like him to have some way to write legibly by hand and feel proud of his work. That said, typing is clearly his most practical form and will always that in the future.

My son is doing Singapore 3B and we have recently started to supplement with Beast Academy. We still do Singapore every day, but I no longer assign every single workbook problem. So, as a whole, I have increased the time we do math, but decreased my son's independent work with Singapore. This is my first year homeschooling and I probably should have caught on sooner to the fact that he really didn't need as much repetition as I was requiring and that, in fact, it was turning him against studying math, which he has always loved. These days, he starts every day with a few puzzles/challenges from the BA practice book while I am getting my other kids ready for the day. I haven't gone out of my way to match BA to what we are doing with Singapore, but next year I think I may. Then a few times a week, we read the Guide together. He is a graphic novel kid and he loves the Guide and is always motivated to do the problems alongside the little beasts in the book.

I think how much practice, OT, etc., help depends very much on the individual child, the severity of the dysgraphia, and also on what other issues she may have. My son is 9 and was diagnosed with dysgraphia when he was 8. We had suspected it for years. I think he was a fairly easy diagnosis because the discrepancy between his verbal expression and his writing was shockingly huge, despite years (years and years!) of private OT, plus daily practice at home, plus an IEP, compassionate teachers, and so on. Not only has his handwriting not improved, I can honestly say that it has actually gotten worse as his thoughts have grown more complex. If you have read the chapter on dysgraphia in The Mislabeled Child, my son's writing looks just like the example they used! That said, his school teachers had never heard of dysgraphia and, despite accommodations and all the goodwill imaginable, really were unable to help him. When it got to the point that my son's self-esteem was being completely eradicated, I decided to homeschool and it has been the best thing in the world for us! All of which is to say, I would only trust the experts (neuropsychologists, developmental pediatricians) with this sort of thing.

I have been using RS level 1 this year with my nine-year-old son. I have to say, I think it is fantastic and definitely the best program I have looked at. I teach Spanish at the college level but have never had an experience teaching it to children until now. I think the program is pedagogically sound and effective. My son has picked up a lot of vocabulary and his accent is beautiful, and he really enjoys it. That said, it does not work for us--at all--as a complete program and I don't see how it could for a small child. He needs more targeted instruction, more interaction, more practice with weak points. But I have yet to see anything else that comes close to Rosetta Stone.

Hi. Your child's scores are very similar to my 9-year-old son's (exact same Perceptual Reasoning and Processing Speed, I think. His Verbal was in the 80s and Working Memory as well). His diagnosis is severe ADHD. He also has dysgraphia and generalized anxiety. I am obviously influenced by my son's experience (we got a 30 page neuropsych report, by the way!), but your child's numbers seem to strongly suggest ADHD to me. By the way, my son also hyper-focuses, as you were saying that you do. You could scream "ICE CREAM!" or "FIRE!" right behind him while he is reading and he wouldn't budge.

Hi. Your child's scores are very similar to my 9-year-old son's (exact same Perceptual Reasoning and Processing Speed, I think. His Verbal was in the 80s and Working Memory as well). His diagnosis is severe ADHD. He also has dysgraphia and generalized anxiety. I am obviously influenced by my son's experience (we got a 30 page neuropsych report, by the way!), but your child's numbers seem to strongly suggest ADHD to me. By the way, my son also hyper-focuses, as you were saying that you do. You could scream "ICE CREAM!" or "FIRE!" right behind him while he is reading and he wouldn't budge.

I have a child who is 2E, gifted plus ADHD, generalized anxiety, and dysgraphia. He was doing pretty well academically at school, even very advanced in some areas, but his behavior was deteriorating and, even worse, he was becoming more and more unhappy. So many signs of extreme stress and even depression. School was a tremendous effort and so hard on his self-esteem. The discrepancy between what he could think in his head and produce on paper continued to grow, as did his awareness of the difference between his writing and that of his peers. At the same time, he wasn't truly challenged or appreciated in the subjects in which he excelled (except for in math, which the school teaches very well). He had an IEP, was in the gifted program at a top public school, had all the support I ever asked for and dreamed of, and genuinely kind and patient teachers... and it just wasn't enough. I finally decided to pull him out this year and I couldn't be more thrilled with the decision. He has transformed in the last couple of months. He is happy, he loves learning, he is thrilled by science, by every classic we read. He is learning at a voracious rate and with real joy. He is an amazing thinker and he is finally being challenged and supported to the extent that he needs. I am so happy we have made this decision and, and seeing how much it has affected him emotionally, I am not sure I would want to ever send him back to the public school! To respond to your original question, we were advised originally not to homeschool by the neuropsych and therapist. However, when we revisited the subject a few years later, they were extremely supportive.

My eight-year old loved Beowolf, King Arthur, etc. Medieval adventure tales!