Comments on: Medical Conditions Disguised as Learning Disorders

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:18:00 +0000

In reply to Sara Ann Denson. I'm glad you got the help you needed!

By: Sara Ann Denson

Sara Ann Denson — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:50:00 +0000

My son was diagnosed with SPD at age 4. We continued through the years to help him through various therapies: ST, OT, PT, and neurofeedback. He improved but had more and more trouble with other seemingly unrelated things: low muscle tone, kidney stones, recurrent shingles, joint laxity… finally an orthopedic challenged us to find a different diagnosis than SPD. It took another year and a half. At age 14 our son was finally correctly diagnosed with B12 deficiency. A NutraEval revealed critically low levels and high levels of methylmalonic acid in the blood. He also had dangerously high levels of amino acids in his urine because the b vitamins weren’t there to turn amino acids into muscle tissue so his body was getting rid of them. Our primary had done CBCs through the years but macrocytic anemia (the traditional sign of b12 deficiency) can be masked by large amounts of folic acid such as in the multivitamin our son was taking. After further tests, we found out our son has a genetic impairment in processing the inactive form of b12 into the active form so in order to get what he needs he is on shots. He has improved dramatically this year, but much of the nerve damage of going untreated is permanent as is the kidney and liver damage. If he had been tested for elevated methylmalonic acid at age 5 instead of given the SPD diagnosis which isn’t even a real diagnosis, he would would be much healthier today.

By: Slimy Bookworm

Slimy Bookworm — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:35:50 +0000

@Pragmatic mom, I totally agree with you. I always trust a mom’s intuition.
@Jeri, we need more of teachers like you. A observant and caring teacher can often notice these impairments before the parents do.

By: jeri

jeri — Thu, 12 May 2011 22:11:58 +0000

I had a first grade student who was having petite mal seizures. I only recognized it as a possibility because a college professor spent a lot of time covering physical problems that affect learning. Teachers often can’t suggest a specific medical conern for legal reasons. Luckily, I pulled the school nurse into the class to witness a suspected seizure and she was able to get the ball rolling.

By: PragmaticMom

PragmaticMom — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:10:26 +0000

That is such a helpful post! I think parents need to be informed these days and practically suggest the diagnosis themselves to really get to the root of issues like these.

By: bola/slimy Bookworm

bola/slimy Bookworm — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:56:39 +0000

Disphasia occurs as a result of damage or poor development of the language center in the brain. It is a true learning disorder and unfortunately can only be managed with speech therapy and is often irreversible.

By: Valentina

Valentina — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:43:03 +0000

We have visited all doctors – he has disphasia
– What do you know about that disorder?