Hi Jennifer,

We have been going through a similar problem with my son Liam, he is 10 and has CAHypoplasia.  His teacher this year has taken an interest in him because he had a tough year last year and thought he has autistic tendicies in certain areas.  He definetely has short term memory problems and does not process new information well. He is also self concious and does not ask for help because he is scared to look stupid infront of his peers. He was also tested and his reading, math and writing came out normal but the other test regarding abstract learning and the like were a pattern not seen by the staff before. Since everything revolves around the reading,writing and math scores he did not fall into the required pigeon hole.  Luckily the 4th grade writing test was the next week and his performance convinced them something had to be done so he is getting help learning how to structure his learning etc better.  He is also not good in social situations where he new to a group and seems to miss non verbal signals altogether.  He has always liked adult company and does better with kids who are older or younger than him.  If he does not see the point in doing something he will not do it.  He has never seen the point in drawing pictures but went through a stage of drawing country flags and can still identify or draw any flag you ask him.  He loves the underground in London and would invent his own underground maps a few years back.

The consensous of the panel is that he is a big picture learner which means he can see what is needed but misses the detail that is needed to get to the end game.  For exapmle with his writing test he had sorted out the story he wanted to write but could not get it on paper in the introduction, middle and end sequence they were looking for.

I have to run but there are lots of things we can discuss re our boys on this subject that would take forever to post. e-mail me and we can compare notes and look for some answers.TC

ShaunP.