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gkids09 12:33 PM 05-10-2011
Okay, this kid (4 year old boy) is extremely mature for his age...I'm talking, when it storms and all the other kids are screaming scared to death of the thunder, he starts explaining the difference between "heat lightning" and "static lightning"...Seriously...

Anyway, as mature is he is in some aspects, he is lacking in others. He can spell his first and last name, his friends' names, etc, BUT he can't keep his mind on his own business. If I say "Johnny, please walk in the house, we need to run outside." he says, "Yep, that's right Johnny, you only run outside. We can't run in the house. Outside is where we run.." on and on and on and on until I tell him to take care of himself.

So today, after lunch, he starts walking out of the dining room to get his hands washed. I was calling kids one at a time, and my assistant was watching the others. This dcb was walking out the dining room and BANG!! ran right into the wall...Uhh.....really??? It's a bright yellow wall that's been there for 2.5 years (since he started). He said "Well, didn't see you there wall!"

We have another table in the front room for art projects and puzzles. I say (after checking on him of course) "____, please watch where you're going, you could really get hurt running into walls like that." And I promise you, two seconds later, he runs into the table. It's totally accidental, not him being silly...because him being silly is VERY VERY obvious.

So I check on him AGAIN, and we finally get his hands washed. Walks out of the bathroom and runs into the table again!!! I walk him to the line, speechless...We get outside, he gets on a bike, rides perfectly fine. We have new water bottles so when they get hot they don't have to go inside, they just get them out there. Well, he got hot. So he rode his bike over to the water bottles and RAN OVER A KID.

Is he seriously not paying attention to where he's going, or does it sound like something else is going on??? He hasn't eaten anything different than usual (we have a cycle menu), he doesn't act like anything's wrong (other than running into random things...), and he doesn't even cry when he slams his head/body into large objects (like the wall!!).

I can't help but feel sorry for him, it can't be fun to slam into things like he's been doing...But good grief, you'd think if he really just isn't paying attention, he'd learn to after that!!

What can I do to teach this kid to pay attention to what he's doing?? Telling him doesn't work..And he rides his bike and watches everything BUT where he's going. I've made him put the bike up. Doesn't phase him a bit. He just says, "Okay! I'll go play in the sand!" and is fine with it!!! So any advice is helpful...thanks!
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childcarebytori 12:59 PM 05-10-2011
I have a little girl exactly like this! She's 3.5 years old and she also has the worst behavior when it comes to paying attention. She trips over my very large rug in my living room every morning, she'll stumble off the step to get into my house by my front door and also stumble off the step by the backyard, she will trip over large toys such as baby doll strollers and vacuums which are in plain sight.....it drives me bonkers some days.

She also does the whole butting into everyone else's business. If she gets reprimanded about playing with her lunch tray, the next child who plays with their tray will immediately get scolded by her and she will repeat the EXACT words I've just used with her like "Noooooo, we don't play with our trays, they aren't toys, blah, blah". And then, without fail, she'll look directly at me after saying this and say, "Tori, "Sarah" is playing with her tray. We don't play with our trays, they aren't toys....". I know I give her the most incredulous looks afterwards.

I would be very interested in hearing any advice from other providers here.
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Blackcat31 01:08 PM 05-10-2011
this may not have any relavance to your situation but your part about static electricity and lightening got me thinking about my own son. He knew the periodic table of elements by heart by age 3, knew how to multiply and divide double digit numbers before Kindergarten. He was uber smart when it came to random things like lightening and such...you know stuff no one else ever took the time to learn about.....but when it came to common sense things like not walking into things or looking before we ran out in the street or paying attention, he was not so smart...kwim?
Anyways, We found out later that he has a mild form of Aspergers.
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sharlan 01:10 PM 05-10-2011
Does he do this at home too? Has he had his depth perception checked out by an eye dr?

(I ask because I have poor depth perception and stumble on occ.)
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daycare 01:14 PM 05-10-2011
dck same age did same thing for a few days and then all of a sudden full ear infection came on. Guess the infection was causing him to be unbalanced..

just a thought... I do feel bad too when they do stuff like this
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Michael 01:17 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
Does he do this at home too? Has he had his depth perception checked out by an eye dr?

(I ask because I have poor depth perception and stumble on occ.)
This is exactly what I was thinking. Depth perception may be the reason. My son had crossed eyes and after surgery (8 months) the doctors said he would not have depth perception. He was similar in how he approached objects. He outgrew the problem as he adjusted and became more cautious.
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SilverSabre25 01:24 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
this may not have any relavance to your situation but your part about static electricity and lightening got me thinking about my own son. He knew the periodic table of elements by heart by age 3, knew how to multiply and divide double digit numbers before Kindergarten. He was uber smart when it came to random things like lightening and such...you know stuff no one else ever took the time to learn about.....but when it came to common sense things like not walking into things or looking before we ran out in the street or paying attention, he was not so smart...kwim?
Anyways, We found out later that he has a mild form of Aspergers.
This is very, very, VERY my DH. He is very bright, very intelligent (ask him about history...) and has a memory like a steel trap (borderline eidetic). But common sense, paying attention, etc...yeah not so much. He seems to wander about with his head in the clouds half the time.

When taking certain kinds of assessments (ADHD and Autism ones specifically) DH scores very close to the border of "you're probably fine" and "See your doctor". He's never been diagnosed but fits certain aspects of Asperger's and many of Adult ADD.

I'm similar...although with more common sense (coughcough X CHROMOSOME coughcoughcough )

So in short, you dcb is probably just very intelligent--and with high intelligence seems to come great lack of ability to pay attention what's in front of the nose.
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AmandasFCC 01:38 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
Does he do this at home too? Has he had his depth perception checked out by an eye dr?

(I ask because I have poor depth perception and stumble on occ.)
Agreed. I've always been clumsy but at some point in grade 5 suddenly I'd be reaching for something but my hand would be 5 inches away from it ... Clearly, I needed glasses.
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Unregistered 02:21 PM 05-10-2011
Aspergers??????????
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Michael 02:25 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Aspergers??????????
Asperger syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome

(haha, beat you to it Blackcat31)
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Blackcat31 02:26 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Aspergers??????????
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/asp...ndrome/DS00551
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e.j. 02:28 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
this may not have any relavance to your situation but your part about static electricity and lightening got me thinking about my own son. He knew the periodic table of elements by heart by age 3, knew how to multiply and divide double digit numbers before Kindergarten. He was uber smart when it came to random things like lightening and such...you know stuff no one else ever took the time to learn about.....but when it came to common sense things like not walking into things or looking before we ran out in the street or paying attention, he was not so smart...kwim?
Anyways, We found out later that he has a mild form of Aspergers.
My son also has Asperger's and it was the first thing that came to mind when I read your description of this boy, although poor eyesight also crossed my mind.
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Blackcat31 02:28 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
Asperger syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome
.....so I just posted a link to the Mayo Clinic explaining what Aspergers is and it says it has to be approved by a moderator...I was thinking ????? but then I saw you posted a link too so I see, YOUR link over rides mine huh?!?! LOL!! Just joshing with ya!!
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gkids09 06:57 PM 05-10-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
This is exactly what I was thinking. Depth perception may be the reason. My son had crossed eyes and after surgery (8 months) the doctors said he would not have depth perception. He was similar in how he approached objects. He outgrew the problem as he adjusted and became more cautious.
Hmm...He just had his tonsils taken out..I know that's not MAJOR surgery, but could that have anything to do with it possibly???

I wondered about his eyesight when he did this too. I think I'm going to keep a very close eye on it and if it keeps happening kind of "test" his sight on my own before I freak out his mom (who is very easily freaked out...lol).

Thank you so much everybody!!! It sure does help to know other people have dealt with this too!!!
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Childminder 06:48 AM 05-11-2011
My daughters best friend in elementary school could build an atom bomb but couldn't cross the street. His IQ was off the charts but no common sense. He was always tripping, falling, running into things, etc...but could explain how to build a computer. May be just how he is.
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MN Mom 08:15 AM 05-11-2011
My BFF from 2nd Grade - Current is uber smart as well. Valedictorian, graduated with 2 degrees from MIT. She has no common sense, and never has. She was also very clumsy growing up. I think it may be the whole left brain - right brain thing? I'll have to do some reading, but IIRC Einstein wasn't exactly a ballerina nor extremely commonsensical either
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DBug 08:58 AM 05-11-2011
Originally Posted by Childminder:
My daughters best friend in elementary school could build an atom bomb but couldn't cross the street. His IQ was off the charts but no common sense. He was always tripping, falling, running into things, etc...but could explain how to build a computer. May be just how he is.
This is SO true about quite a few very intelligent people. Both my dad and my husband have worked with very well-educated, well-published and highly esteemed scientists. Dad and hubby were/are techs, who have the dubious distinction of making sure the scientists make it alive through each day . My hubby worked in the high arctic and one of his tasks was to drive the scientists to and from their research station every day -- because the higher-ups don't trust them to do it themselves !

It's a running joke among the techs about just how little common sense the scientists have, but they're so amazingly smart. They are the most eccentric bunch , but hey, they do their jobs better than anyone else ever could. I think they've just got so much going on in their brains, there's not much room for anything else .
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jodi 10:17 AM 05-11-2011
My daughter started doing this. I feel bad, I always gave her a hard time - not paying attention - flighty - spacey - tripping. Turns out she couldn't see. She got glasses - and had to continually get new ones. Now, at 20, she is legally blind without glasses.
Is he going through a growth spurt - maybe growing awkwardly into longer limbs?
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Tags:4 year old, paying attention
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