Neurodiversity

Often, you will find autism advocates divided into two categories. One group cheers for the strengths that the autistic brain offer and sees it as a more evolved state. The other group emphatically declares autism as a plague of sorts and we must find a cure.

Many parents probably fall somewhere in the middle where I am. I want to provide whatever means available to help him succeed but how he thinks and sees the world will largely stay the same.

My second child has had some letter reversals. I have looked it up several times and it has always been just a normal period of development.  I couldn't look into dyslexia because he had learned to read and reads well. Although, I suspect the reading can be attributed to his competitive nature and wanting to keep up with his brother and cousins.

Moving into fourth grade proved difficult for him. He failed his first spelling and latin tests.  He couldn't seem to remember the process he just completed in a math problem when carrying over to a new problem with new numbers. But with a lot of practice, that was getting some easier.

He is a grade ahead because he was wanting to do everything his brother and cousin was doing so pulling back to 3rd grade math and spelling lists for a bit longer won't hurt him. Latin may be difficult but he can repeat it next year if need be. The repeated Latin quiz and 3rd grade spelling earned A's. The only two wrong answers were simple misspellings where he flipped two letters in each word. So I started wondering, "Are we sure this is not some mild case of dyslexia?"

There are many things that he does that are similar to dyslexics. He has a lot of trouble sounding out words. He seems to rely on memory for spelling. He does reverse numbers and letters ever so often. He sometimes inverts time with saying 10:11 when it is 11:10. Just last week he was saying the mileage counter said 69 when it was actually 96. He does mix up some words when reading like for and from. Sometimes he even skips small words.

BUT he reads a lot. He reads fast. He recognizes all his numbers and symbols in math. He can do the simple calculations in math even if he may write a 9 for a 6. He is very creative and nearly turned a simple writing assignment of a paragraph or two into a book. He sculpts and draws all the time.

I got a book on dyslexia from the library and did a bunch of research. The dyslexia book was disappointing because so much focused on getting them to read and giving extra time which really wouldn't apply as much here. In my online research, I learned that speed reading may mask some of the difficulties and make it easier to comprehend. I have been speed reading as long as I can remember. If I force myself to slow down, the text does look a little jumbled but that could be partially attributed to astigmatism which he also has. I do know that I have trouble saying a new word from just text or writing a new word that I have heard without ever seeing it. So there is definitely an auditory processing weakness.

Online,  I found more similar to the first group of autism advocates. People who value the creative right-brain dominance of dyslexics and see that as more highly evolved state. And I realized that some of our labeling comes from this insane desire for conformity and a lack of appreciation for the unique. There are much more extreme cases than my boys where a diagnosis helps to give assistance in finding treatment and assistance. But really it appears that we are labeling to what degree a person is left-brain or right-brain dominant.

There are things I will do with him to give him the tools he needs to succeed. Letting him listen to audio books while following in a book. Building a large vocabulary. Using brain integration exercises. And speaking with reading specialist for more ideas.

Our children are a reflection of their parents' strengths and weaknesses. When you are strong in math, you are often weak in others. When you are strong in the arts, you are weak in other areas. It must be God's way of keeping us humble.

I am looking into having him possibly evaluated and will definitely see about anti-glare glasses in the future (helps lessen the affects of astigmatism), but I appreciate what makes each child unique. So today I stand for neurodiversity. This world would be a terribly boring place without it.