PANDAS but memory like and elephant...

[earnestfamily7]

I thought I would throw this out there... anyone have a PANDAS child that remembers things that seem trivial... things that happened years ago... and then they bring them up in unrelated situations... and then become 'fixated' on them.... my DS 9 and ?DD7 both do this.... Curious if this is a relationship or just a kid thing... I know my neices and nephews dont do this though....

[earnestfamily7]

example... what someone was wearing.. what we ate.... weeks, months years ago.... what someone said....

[trggirl]

Yes, that sounds EXACTLY like my daughter. We did neurotransmittor testing on my daughter and her Norepinephrine came back very high. I am assuming that is why she has a good memory.

[thereishope]

My son has a very good memory. I think I have a rather good one and he's even better. You weren't on this site when we did a thread on gifted kids. I'll find it and post it. Memory is discussed on it.

[earnestfamily7]

My son has a very good memory. I think I have a rather good one and he's even better. You weren't on this site when we did a thread on gifted kids. I'll find it and post it. Memory is discussed on it.

Vickie - that is interesting - I look forward to reading it. The I am trying to get my 7 yo daughter (I suspect she is PANDAS) tested for IQ but keep hitting road blocks... and it is possible my son is as well...

Thanks!

Steph

[dcmom]

YES! My pandas dd age 6, will remember something minor from THREE years ago, and get upset over it now.

[thereishope]

Here's the link to the "gifted" thread.

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?...ic=5672&hl=

[ajcire]

Yep... his teacher said when she can't remember she just asks him.

[momto2pandas]

Same here. Teachers always said ds must have photographic memory because they had no other explanation for how keen and detailed it was. I was apparently the same as a young kid - and also said to have had photographic memory. Sadly, it didn't last for me.... now I'm guessing my memory is on the low side of average.

 

I thought I would throw this out there... anyone have a PANDAS child that remembers things that seem trivial... things that happened years ago... and then they bring them up in unrelated situations... and then become 'fixated' on them.... my DS 9 and ?DD7 both do this.... Curious if this is a relationship or just a kid thing... I know my neices and nephews dont do this though....

[familyof4]

Yep - my son has an incredible memory. We just took a vacation and before we left my son asked if the same baby would be sitting behind him on the plane kicking his seat. He hasn't been on a plane ride in over 2 years! He also tends to be much more observant in addition to his elephant of a memory.

[MomWithOCDSon]

One big ditto here! Son has unbelievable memory and has been identified as "gifted" by IQ and IEP testing, as well.

 

Potentially worth noting, one expert on "right brained kids," Dr. Jeffrey Freed, says that kids like many of ours on the right-brained end of the spectrum (the extreme right end of which he actually identifies as "autism spectrum") tend to have exceptional memories and actually learn better by employing that memory than by, say, employing phonetics when learning to read.

 

It's a cool topic. I'll look forward to reading that older thread, Vickie. Thanks!

[momto2pandas]

Very interesting. My ds was reading by the time he turned 2 (not exaggerating) and so was I, and I've always wondered if that had to do with the fact that our memories worked differently than most, more photographic (I assume). My ds never even seemed to go through the same reading learning process that I see his first grade classmates going through now. He pretty much jumped right to to the 4th-5th grade reading level within the first few months of picking things up to read.

 

I have wondered, though, if it's a good thing in the long run. As an adult I seem to read more slowly than do others, and I've always wondered if it was because I learned to read in an entirely different way than most, and now that way is "stuck" in my brain.

 

 

 

One big ditto here! Son has unbelievable memory and has been identified as "gifted" by IQ and IEP testing, as well.

 

Potentially worth noting, one expert on "right brained kids," Dr. Jeffrey Freed, says that kids like many of ours on the right-brained end of the spectrum (the extreme right end of which he actually identifies as "autism spectrum") tend to have exceptional memories and actually learn better by employing that memory than by, say, employing phonetics when learning to read.

 

It's a cool topic. I'll look forward to reading that older thread, Vickie. Thanks!

[ajcire]

Very interesting. My ds was reading by the time he turned 2 (not exaggerating) and so was I, and I've always wondered if that had to do with the fact that our memories worked differently than most, more photographic (I assume). My ds never even seemed to go through the same reading learning process that I see his first grade classmates going through now. He pretty much jumped right to to the 4th-5th grade reading level within the first few months of picking things up to read.

 

I have wondered, though, if it's a good thing in the long run. As an adult I seem to read more slowly than do others, and I've always wondered if it was because I learned to read in an entirely different way than most, and now that way is "stuck" in my brain.

 

 

Interesting...my ds started reading at the age of 3... he had some sight words at 2 1/2. He actually asked me at 2 1/2 when he would learn to read... I never expected the answer to be 3. It is like you described... he didn't go through the learning to read process that I was familiar with. It definitely has a lot to do with his memory. My mother was over the other day and my 2 1/2 year old was looking at books with her... I said to her, "Can you believe DS1 was just about starting to read at his age?" My mother said yeah and jokingly looked at my 2 year old and said, "Yeah, what's the matter with you?" He looked up and said, "Nothing" .... I looked at my mom and she knew what I was thinking... that with any luck there is nothing wrong with him and that is why he is NOT reading yet.

[earnestfamily7]

Very interesting. My ds was reading by the time he turned 2 (not exaggerating) and so was I, and I've always wondered if that had to do with the fact that our memories worked differently than most, more photographic (I assume). My ds never even seemed to go through the same reading learning process that I see his first grade classmates going through now. He pretty much jumped right to to the 4th-5th grade reading level within the first few months of picking things up to read.

 

I have wondered, though, if it's a good thing in the long run. As an adult I seem to read more slowly than do others, and I've always wondered if it was because I learned to read in an entirely different way than most, and now that way is "stuck" in my brain.

 

 

Interesting...my ds started reading at the age of 3... he had some sight words at 2 1/2. He actually asked me at 2 1/2 when he would learn to read... I never expected the answer to be 3. It is like you described... he didn't go through the learning to read process that I was familiar with. It definitely has a lot to do with his memory. My mother was over the other day and my 2 1/2 year old was looking at books with her... I said to her, "Can you believe DS1 was just about starting to read at his age?" My mother said yeah and jokingly looked at my 2 year old and said, "Yeah, what's the matter with you?" He looked up and said, "Nothing" .... I looked at my mom and she knew what I was thinking... that with any luck there is nothing wrong with him and that is why he is NOT reading yet.

 

My daughter started reading 'by her self at 3' - the preschool and Kindergarten teachers wanted to know my technique... I laughed and told them that honestly I did nothing to get her to read... she just did... even the blends and long vowels.... She goes to the dr tuesday - I am requesting a full blood work up so I know exactly what I am dealing with for her ... Interesting her brother has PANDAS and had a hard time with beginning reading and had major speech delay - there were times when I thought he was autistic... his major onset occured at age 6... but maybe the other symptoms were pre-cursor symptoms ( hard to say) - he too is very bright....

 

I have been trying to get my daughters IQ tested for about 6 months... I keep hitting dead ends.... any suggestions? and while I am at it I think I will get Jordan's done too

[MomWithOCDSon]

Very interesting. My ds was reading by the time he turned 2 (not exaggerating) and so was I, and I've always wondered if that had to do with the fact that our memories worked differently than most, more photographic (I assume). My ds never even seemed to go through the same reading learning process that I see his first grade classmates going through now. He pretty much jumped right to to the 4th-5th grade reading level within the first few months of picking things up to read.

 

I have wondered, though, if it's a good thing in the long run. As an adult I seem to read more slowly than do others, and I've always wondered if it was because I learned to read in an entirely different way than most, and now that way is "stuck" in my brain.

 

 

Interesting...my ds started reading at the age of 3... he had some sight words at 2 1/2. He actually asked me at 2 1/2 when he would learn to read... I never expected the answer to be 3. It is like you described... he didn't go through the learning to read process that I was familiar with. It definitely has a lot to do with his memory. My mother was over the other day and my 2 1/2 year old was looking at books with her... I said to her, "Can you believe DS1 was just about starting to read at his age?" My mother said yeah and jokingly looked at my 2 year old and said, "Yeah, what's the matter with you?" He looked up and said, "Nothing" .... I looked at my mom and she knew what I was thinking... that with any luck there is nothing wrong with him and that is why he is NOT reading yet.

 

So, out of curiosity, EarnestFamily and Ajcire, are your kids also better with "whole-to-part" conceptualizing than "part-to-whole"? In other words, if they're presented with a building project or a puzzle, and it's all in pieces from the very beginning, and they don't have access to a picture of it or have never seen it assembled, do they have trouble putting the pieces together in the right way? But if they come upon it whole, and then they or you dis-assemble it, they can put it back together, lickety-split?

 

My son has never enjoyed standard puzzles, even the really simple ones as a very young kid. Originally I thought he was thinking, "What's the point?" But I eventually realized that if he had no idea what it was "supposed" to look like, he was reluctant to get started, much less complete it. But he could dis-assemble almost any mechanical object or toy . . . a robot, a vacuum cleaner, etc. . . . and then promptly put it back together, exactly as it was meant to be! Freed says this is another characteristic of "right-brained" kids.