Math issues

[jdude]

We just got the state standardized testing scores back yesterday. Last year (test taken before PANDAS symptoms started) DS was in the "Advanced" range...well above state and school average. This year, he scored in "proficient", and scores were below state average. I have to believe based on what I've read that his PANDAS played a role in this dramatic decline. Has anyone else experience this and if so, have you sought tutoring? I thought perhaps some one on one tutoring may help. He's starting middle school this fall and don't want him to fall behind. I know it's frustrating for him as he was once one of the best in his class at math and now he is struggling.

[Wickedmaineah]

Math class was the most difficult for our son once the PANDAS symptoms started. We even pulled him out of Math class at one point because the teacher was so concerned he was going to break his neck he was ticcing so bad and struggling so bad in the class. After the first round of antibiotics we were able to move him back into the math class with less struggles.

Not sure about how much a tutor would help because when we pulled him out he got one on one help with the math and still struggled and had to go backwards to almost regain skills.

I know this is probably not helpful, just our experience.

[PowPow]

My daughter lost math skills and had sensory symptoms as some of her first PANDAS symptoms. We did not recognize it as PANDAS- even though she had strep 3 weeeks prior to onset and we already had one child with PANDAS!- we sent her to a tutor and it was difficult. We homeschool and she went to a tutor twice a week for 2 hours. The tutor would point out t tear stains on her math papers to me. Literally. My daughter would cry silently because she COULD NOT do the math. She was 10 1/2, 5th grade, at the time.

 

Her Math skills did improve greatly after plasmapheresis. Within a few months she was back to doing nearly all her school work, and since IVIG- it was really no more of a problem.

I have wondered how the math deficit in PANDAS occurs. At the time, not realizing she had developed PANDAS, she was very griouchy and frustrated at everything. I saw it as just a general overstimulation of her brain and she was just too mad and huffy all the time to do math. That is why we sent her to a tutor.

I am not sure if I would do it again, knowing that it was PANDAS. We spent a good deal of money and much distress by taking her. The tutor was a good friend and she did learn her times tables, but the emotional toll was trying.

[lmkmip67]

I thought about a tutor this summer for Ian so he could keep up on his math and reading knowledge. But decided against it because I think it would be wasted when he is struggling with getting his brain to recall math facts and such. A tutor won't help his brain process things faster. So I am letting him do math facts on the iPad, some worksheets, on the computer, doing reading comprehension worksheets (free to print from internet), and reading 20 minutes a day. He can earn more screen time by reading equal time. When he is good and closer to baseline, he recalls things very easily. So I don't think a tutor is the answer.....plus we travel to do IVIG, so I am spending the money there and keeping up his skills on my own. He 8 and that is what is working for us right now.

[thereishope]

Here's a thread you might find helpful. JAG10 signed her dd up at Kumon and had a positive experience.

 

For those with Math Challenges

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=12628&st=0&p=105161&fromsearch=1entry105161

[MomWithOCDSon]

In exacerbation, when the OCD flairs violently, my typically math prodigy DS goes into a tizzy about math as well. First he avoids it like crazy, and when forced to face it does pretty much what everyone else is describing here: shrieks of "I don't get it!", breaking pencils, pounding his head with his hands, crying, etc.

 

What I've found helps is the following, and in this order. Maybe it might help your DD, also:

 

• Use plain white paper to "hide" all the mish-mash of the rest of the textbook page or workbook page so that only a "window" leaves the problem to be solved visible, or have her copy the problem down on paper or in her notebook so that she can clearly see what the problem to solve is and not be distracted or distressed by all the other "noise" that appears on a book page.
  
• Ask her to explain the problem to you out loud and what steps she might take to solve it. My DS is at his best when he's the "authority" on something, and I think getting his verbal senses involved in the task just helps him better organize his thoughts and responses.
  
• If/when she says she "doesn't get it," gently remind her that yes, she does; she just needs to organize her thinking and you're there to help her do that.
  
• If the avoidance or meltdown continues, you can try pressing her a little harder for "what's the next step? What do you need to do next? Find X?" Sometimes that'll wake my DS out of his distressed fog sufficiently because I've inadvertently asked a really stupid question, and then he's back in the "driver's seat," knowing more about the math than I do and ready to explain it all to me.
  
• If all else fails, get physical. Our DS's therapist suggested that he do jumping jacks or hike the house's stairs a few times to calm down and get refocussed when he's stressed out about the math. We've found he really likes a big yoga ball. He'll bounce on it, stretch out on it, roll around on it, do sit-ups or push-ups on it, for 2 or 3 minutes, and then he'll come back to his desk with renewed focus and calm.
  

 

Some tutors might be prepared with these or similar strategies, but my fear would be that no tutor will understand your DD or what she's going through like you do, and that might lead to more frustration, especially during exacerbation. Now, if it were a matter of her coming through a tough patch, having the calm and focus to work at the math, but suffering from some learning deficits because of what she'd missed while she was sick, I could really see the value of an outside tutor. But if she's still fighting OCD, that might be a tough call unless you can locate a tutor who's had experience with that particular animal.

 

In our case, our gifted DS14 now knows a lot of math concepts we don't get, so helping him academically isn't possible for us. But we find that the help he really needs is in coping and focus strategies, and once he has THAT support going for him, he can teach himself the actual math concepts without flinching.

Edited July 8, 2011 by MomWithOCDSon