OCD and reading in school

[Guest guest]

I'm new here. My ten year old son has recently been diagnosed with OCD

that involves doubting. The scariest manifestation of the OCD is that

his brain tells him that he hasn't really comprehended what he reads.

So, he reads the same page over and over. Prior to OCD (brought on by

strep) he loved to read and was reading at the 7th grade level. Now, in

15 minutes he can only read 3 pages, and that is much work. He also is

having trouble writing, for much the same reason. (except he never

really liked to write). My son thinks that he will never be able to

read again. I've told him that he will conquer the OCD and will be able

to read again.

His teachers know that he's having OCD issues and they are very

concerned about him. They are trying to accomodate him; however, he is

falling behind in reading and writing.

We've seen a counselor (two sessions) who specializes in boys with OCD.

So far, he has worked with my son on relaxation breathing.

I am getting more and more anxious about the reading situation. Our

next appt. with counselor isn't until Monday.

If any of you has had a similar situation, I'd like to hear what you

tried that worked or didn't. I am terrified.

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Hi, welcome! And, wow, we had practically the same situation. My son (now 20)

had OCD begin in 6th grade. And, like your's, affected his reading and his

writing. He also was way above grade level reading and then couldn't get much

more read than a couple pages at school or with homework. I recall part of it

with him is repeating some words in his head until they sounded " right. "

Anyway, he quit reading for pleasure too, afraid he would get " stuck. "

With writing - well that varied lots. At one time it was a lot of erasing; he

began drawing lines on the page after letters that didn't " look right " ; he'd

sort of " freeze " or get " stuck " and couldn't start writing...oh, lots of stuff.

We had to get accommodations at school for him too. We set up a 504 Plan for

him at school with accommodations and modifications in it.

Now - in our case what we did was that *I* read to him at home and *I* did his

writing for him; he dictated. We had this in the 504 Plan. Whew, it was not

easy for me some nights either (single mom, 3 sons). So I would read his

chapters/work to him; he would answer any questions or worksheets and I'd write.

Luckily he was okay with dictating to me, wasn't getting stuck by OCD that way.

So in his Plan we also had that he could bring all unfinished schoolwork home to

complete. That he could turn in work " late " with no grade penalty. What we

did was try to get *this week's " work turned in the following Monday (which

could mean homework for us on weekends). But that was a goal, sometimes a few

things might be later but we usually managed Mondays. We tried to do the more

daily type work each night, like if we knew they checked math in class each day,

we did math each night; if it was something like chapter questions that they

just handed in, we saved that to do later if we needed to.

At school he had extra time on all tests, that included any state tests. By

" extra time " , that was unlimited, until he finished.

We also had that he could write " short answers " for work versus having to write

complete sentences. And they modified some things, like less chapter questions

or less math questions.

Over time we let take back a bit of the work. Like he began to do the

worksheets that were " fill in the blank " or shorter answers. I wrote the longer

homework. Or he might start the writing and then I would take over when he

couldn't do any more.

With reading, we began taking turns. I'd read a paragraph or two, then he would

read one, then I'd read. It was easier for him, I think, to read aloud to me,

not get so " stuck " as when reading to himself. But it did take TIME for him to

pick back up to reading as much (or fast) as he used to.

Well, quick thoughts and typing. But you are definitely not alone with school

issues and OCD and the reading/writing issues!

-- In , " tp23192 " wrote:

>

>

> I'm new here. My ten year old son has recently been diagnosed with OCD

> that involves doubting. The scariest manifestation of the OCD is that

> his brain tells him that he hasn't really comprehended what he reads.

> So, he reads the same page over and over. Prior to OCD (brought on by

[Guest guest]

If the OCD was triggered by strep, your son has PANDAS, not classic OCD.

Cognitive difficulties and poor handwriting (dysgraphia) are common symptoms of

Pandas, along with possible tics, hyperactivity, frequent urges to urinate,

thirst, nighttime bedwetting, extreme anxiety and separation anxiety...

The treatment for PANDAS is antibiotics - often longer than the typical 10 days

most docs prescribe - to treat the infection and then a lower dose of

antibiotics to prevent another episode.

If your son has PANDAS, the " fog " he's having with reading and writing isn't

caused by the OCD, It's caused by inflammation of the basal ganglia. A short

course of prednisone (5-10 days) will halt the inflammation (assuming the strep

has been eradicated - or else it will just start all over again). Kids with

Pandas dramatically improve by the end of the prednisone treatment. Kids with

classic OCD do not.

Please go to www.pandasnetwork.org and www.webpediatrics.com for more

information. If you have trouble convincing your pediatrician or therapist to

try the antibiotics and/or prednisone, send me an email and I can try to put you

in touch with a doctor in your region of the country (there are only a handful).

Please contact me with any questions.

Prior to OCD (brought on by

> strep) he loved to read and was reading at the 7th grade level. Now, in

> 15 minutes he can only read 3 pages, and that is much work. He also is

> having trouble writing, for much the same reason. (except he never

> really liked to write). My son thinks that he will never be able to

> read again. I've told him that he will conquer the OCD and will be able

> to read again.

>

>