What Could Be Going On Here?

[Hunni Bee]

I have a four year old in my room who seems to be....regressing intellectually.

She was always a little immature emotionally - she has multiple tantrums with parents, plays with with friends in a way a younger child would, etc., speaks in a baby-talk voice, etc. She also had trouble identifying shapes, colors, and other things that the rest of class already knew.

BUT....she can read. So her parents feel she's gifted, and do not focus on any other areas. We later found out that although she does read, she has no comprehension of even simple sentences. She just decodes.

Now, we are seeing some strange regression. When asked a question, she gives a nonsensical answer. For example, when asked what we learned about today (St. Patrick), she answered "pills". Her speech pattern has changed - she sometimes speaks in one word phrases ("dog", when asked what about dogs she replied "bark"). She also says things like "we nap sleeping" instead of "we are going to take a nap". She is bilingual, but has been her entire life and before spoke English fluently.

Finally, we did our spring testing and found she scored lower than she did in the fall.

Some background, she's overweight, has some related health issues, is vegetarian but doesn't eat very healthfully and has sleep issues. She has always had some mild behavior issues.

Thoughts?

[BumbleBee]

Sounds like she may be on the autism spectrum. Hard to say without being there in person. Any way to have her evaluated through an early intervention program or even the local school district? Personally I'd push for an eval.

[itlw8]

autism ... lead poisoning... no matter what an valuation needs to be made. and yes it is not uncommon to excel at something when a child is autistic

[daycarediva]

My autistic non verbal then 4yo could read. He started by memorizing pecs, but words were symbols to him, and he still struggles with comprehension.

Definitely needs an evaluation, imho ANY regression needs an eval.

[SilverSabre25]

OH yes, regression like that is a serious concern and she needs evaluated, probably ASAP. I'd be worried about something truly serious....

[spinnymarie]

I agree, they need to start at the Ped's office for a medical eval.

[daycare]

my nephew is like this. he is 7, reads at a 5th-6th grade level. He is decent at math, but that is it. He has ZERO social skills, ZERO coping skills and can't do much else.

My sister is a principal at a high-school and claims that he has undergone every test possible and all came back with nothing.

I would still go as others suggested and let the parents know that any signs of regression requires a mandatory evaluation.