What is the problem?

United States
December 16, 2008 10:24am CST
Okay, this is going to be a long story so I will give the short version here and if you ask during a comment I will give you more info. My sister is fourteen years old now, and she comes home every day for like the past three or four years and when ever someone asks her what she did in school today she tells us "she can't remember." She is in special ed, so we always thought it was just her mild retardation that she could not remember. Then, I started to take early childhood classes, and I noticed one day that it may be a different problem. Her teacher claims she gets done with her work very fast. I guess that is normal in special ed classes, because they are more worried about them to grasp the main idea, I don't know. So anyway, the other day I got this idea...maybe it is a memory loss thing? So what do you think? Tell me what your diagnosis is? Have you ever had children like this? What did you do to help them? What can I do to help her? If whatever problem she has that you think she has, where can I go to get it tested? Sincerely, Luvandpower
1 person likes this
1 response
jennysp8
@jennysp8 (855)
• United States
16 Dec 08
I think it could be more of a normal 14 year old thing...I know you said she is in the special ed class but you did say she only has a mild form of retardation. Unless there is a noticeable problem with her memory at home and with the other aspects of her life, this is probably not a memory issue. Many kids and teenagers simply do not care to talk about their day at school, for whatever reason. The "can't remember" or "don't know" response may simply be a knee jerk response for not wanting to bring up the memories from the day. Does she get picked on for being in that class? Even though she may do well with her work - talking about what she did in class may bring up hurt feelings. Or it could be a simple 14 year thing where they just don't want to talk to parents or authority figures about their day...sort of an independence thing. If she is fighting for independence she thinks she wants then she may want to keep the only details of her life that she can keep private - private. Thanks for the discussion!!
Luvandpower
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
16 Dec 08
As much as I wished that was the true case, because I most definitely know how that feeling of wanting to be independent is like... I just don't think that is the reason. I mean I considered the possible explanation such as this, but here is the thing that somewhat denies her this reason... 1) she is in a secluded special ed with only 2 other people. 2) we pick her up from school so it is not like she is very social 3) I really don't think she has that mindset...this may just me speaking as an early adult but she is fourteen and still plays with like five year old toys.