test taking issues

[aidansmom]

I feel funny writing this because it could be just a 10 year old boy being careless but I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

 

Since we think Aidan has congenital Lyme I have often wondered about his siblings.

 

If it weren't for $ and uncertainty I would have probably have taken Aidan's brother to the LLMD already due to some symptoms (stomach aches and sore heels that could be explained by growth, etc) but the symptoms are not severe especially compared to Aidan's symptoms. Aidan has pretty severe cognitive impairment but his brother seems to comprehend things very well and is extremely intelligent.

 

I am concerned because on several tests since the school year started Aidan's brother has left answers blank or not circled a choice on multiple choice causing him to miss the problem even though he knows the answer or could make a good guess. So he is getting B's or C's on tests that he could get A's. This has happened multiple times and in different subjects. I have pointed it out to him and asked him to be careful but it still happened after that. So, is this just carelessness or could it be something else?

[momcap]

I hope and pray he doesn't have lyme, but it sounds from your post like you are already considering it. Stomach aches, sore heels, a brother with congenital lyme, and missing answers he knows on tests - sounds like more than enough reason to at least do some testing.

 

My DS8 has PANDAS and lyme. If it wasn't for his extreme struggles I never would have researched lyme and then tested myself. I have minor symptoms that I have always made excuses for (Raynaud's, migraine aura, etc) that I finally realized sounded a lot like lyme. My lyme test came back CDC positive.

 

I always considered my younger 2 children neurotypical. My youngest is a smart, happy overachiever and he is good at everything he does. But I started to see little things - headaches, stomach aches, sore feet, frequent illnesses. When my test came back positive I had a sinking feeling. I just knew they had it too. So we tested them and both came back positive. If it wasn't for PANDAS and the extreme symptoms my oldest child had, none of us would have any idea about lyme. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Now we know what we are dealing with, and can make informed choices on what to do next.

[smartyjones]

i will disclaim that my thoughts about infections causing issues are ever-growing and i tend to see it as the cause for much. even more so if you have one child with issues.

so -- this sounds very much like a form of anxiety to me. there could also be some underlying neurological induced learning disabilty that may be slight so no one realizes but could be causing him trouble.

 

my ds7, 2nd grade, has big school phobia issues. partly is just right OCD that he just has to get used to it to get over it. i'm realizing some is due to reasonable anxieties about the classroom. as an example: he's been totally unproductive during journal time --either just sitting there or doodling or making strong pencil marks all over the page. he says he 'hates' journal writing. not sure if he has technical dsypraxia or not but there is something there. last week, his teacher started him on a graphic organizer to get words out and then works with him to make sentences. so -- a two step guided process instead of independent one step. he's totally into it and writing good jounal entries.

 

i think it's so easy to think a bright kid who can do well in certain areas but isn't reaching the bar in others is just being lazy when really there is another reason such as anxiety or learning issue that if addressed, would help.

 

i love the website anxietybc.com. i think there is a section on test taking anxiety.

i have a 9 yo also and yes, it could just be 10 yo carelessness . . . but i'd advise to err on the side of checking out other causes.

[LNN]

Ditto here - one really sick kid with obvious needs for help in so many areas, one kid who's generally bright and independent but has these things that make you wonder...and there's this small matter of money....

 

Turns out my bright/healthier one also has medical issues driving those things that make you wonder. It's taken a long time to unravel because her symptoms are so vague. But we have enough blood work to tell us there's something there. My advice would be to run some tests that are covered by insurance and can be ordered by the pediatrician if he/she is on board or at least willing to humor you:

 

standard WB (unless you fear that a negative would shut the door with your pedi - but it would tell you if some bands showed up)

C3a/C4a complements - will indicate an immune response to lyme or mold

C3d - won't tell you any specific illness, but will tell you if the immune system is activated (we watched DD climb from 25->53->93 which is when we started with the LLMD and after 8 months on combo abx it's down to 23 - so it tells us something is helping)

 

maybe some others. Is he having attention problems? those could be OCD or ADD. Our school psychologist will go into the class and observe, marking down DS's attention rate compared to peers. It quantifies an ADD behavior. He's now allowed to chew gum in class when the teacher sees that he's struggling with attention. He also chews gum at homework time and journal writing time. It helps.

 

because of my bias in all this, I tend to think missing problems like this isn't "normal" and I'd consider it a clue. Maybe not something to rush to an LLMD about but enough to see if you can get the pedi to run a few labs as a starting point.

[philamom]

I agree with all the above posts. Running some labs covered by insurance makes good sense.

 

You may want to ask him if he is rushing due to some sort of anxiety, or is he competitive. My daughter is competitive and always tries to finish first. She was making some careless mistakes by rushing through her tests. We had to have a talk about how important it is to re-check your answers (twice if time allows) before handing in the test.

[rowingmom]

My DD10 is also quite bright and finds that her concentration is off during Lyme/Bart flares. She will miss or miscalculate easy math questions, and then will ask me later - why? She finds that she is easily distracted during flares and will mention it to me. We have asked her teacher to allow her to be removed from the classroom for testing, or to allow her to use ear plugs and sit behind a screen to block out the noise and movement of the other children. Even though this does make her stand out a little, she doesn't mind because her test scores improve considerably.

Edited October 11, 2011 by rowingmom