My son has a unorganized brain

So according to the school psychologist, my son (5) has the information he needs but can't access it. She explained the average person has information stored in their brains in a system like a filing cabinet. Everything is organized by files so to speak and we are efficient at accessing the information quickly and accurately when we need it. For some people this is more effecient than others. Personally, I feel like mine is a mess most of the time. She expained to me that Alex's brain is missing a filing cabinet and that all of the information he learns is just stuffed in there so he has a great deal of trouble getting to the information when he needs it. He takes a really long time to answer questions and sometimes will just throw any obscure answer out just to avoid finding the correct answer. So what do we do about this? How is he going to function in school? Timed exams! HA! I'm so concerned about him. I was not a good student. I had to work very hard to get decent grades. I know he's smart. Sometimes he blows me away. One day while at the pharmacy with my husband he read an entire sentence exept for the word pharmacy. I was shocked! Other times he counts money with amazing accuracy. But, when I ask him to do things like this on a daily basis, he struggles. The school didn't really offer any stratagies on how to help him with this. He will have help when he takes tests, that's it. So is it the neurotransmitters that the researchers have been talking about? How do we turn on that switch?

Anyone have any suggestions or can relate to our problem?

Julie

15 months ago
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  • Marie

    Hi, Julie!

    I'm reading Autism & Asperger Syndrome (the facts series) right now.  It's written by Simon Baron-Cohen and published in 2008.  He's a professor of developmental psychopathology and director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University.  He's done extensive research on autism.  This book is great, because it explains the biology of autism as well as the psychology.  I think you would really find it useful for your purposes.

    Good luck!!!

    Marie

    15 months ago

  • Chels

    Hi Julie. My brain is also like this. It takes a lot of work to get through school but it is possible. I have had to get accomodations for tests because there is no way I can do timed tests. I would finish like 2 questions in the time it would take everyone else to finish the whole test. Luckily I also have a refined concentration style so even though it takes me a long time I can also concentrate much longer than my peers. It has taken a long time to get over the frustration that comes with everything taking much more effort but it definitely is possible to get through school..I even went to grad school (although did not finish it). I find that jobs and employment situations are much more difficult than school because when you spend your whole life learning how to survive in a school environemnt you don't learn much else! So my advice would be to teach him practical skills he will need and not stress so much on grades in school. As long as he passes that's really all that matters in the real world. Helping him survive in the real world will be much more useful. My guess would also be that as his brain develops he will naturally learn strategies to compensate in school and will get better at figuring out that. Bonding and social interaction helps form the brain and organize experience, so if he has trouble interpersonally I would focus on that. As more organized attachment forms, his brain will also start organizing through relationships. My family focused on academics and I never learned social skills or attached to anyone. Now I am 27 and I am still as intelligent as I was when I was younger, but it doesn't make much difference now. I don't have the skills needed to live successfully in life outside of academia. That's my advice. Good luck.

    14 months ago

  • Julie

    Marie,

    Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to check that book out. It's been a while since I've sat down to read a book. When Alex was first diagnosed I was buying all kinds of books, now I've slowed way down. Maybe it's time to go take one out at the library!

    chels,

    Thank you so much! It means so much comming from someone that's been thru it. I'm sure back when you were Alex's age, less was known and your parents didn't have great resourses like this one. My parents were very stricked with accedemics as well and sometimes I wonder if that actually held me back as well, but I was also a very involved teen ager so socially I'm not the same. I actually craved the attention! I guess I'm not ASD, huh! I will take your advice and let him find his own learning style with my guidance. My grandmother recently told me not to worry about tomorrow and focus on today, but as a mother I find that next to impossible!

    14 months ago

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