To update you on what happened with psychologist. We took J to her house Friday before last & she spent 2 hours putting him through tests while we went to Sainsburys which is nearby. (I got a complete shock when we went there because I didn't know it's been completely revamped & it's hardly recognisable. They've got an upstairs now with a nice cafe & a large clothes section. The only problem was that a large part of the car park is covered but where are the disabled spaces? Out in the rain!)
Anyway we went back & had a long talk with her & she was really nice. What she said was quite a shock though. She thinks J's problems are due to a form of Attention Deficit Disorder (not the hyperactive kind) and the main way to deal with it is though technology - using the computer & voice recognition programs & in exams he should be given extra time. She also said that his intelligence level is in the gifted range & in some of the tests he scored the maximum possible. It was noticeable that his working memory score was considerably lower than the others & probably accounts for his problems learning his times tables & that he doesn't always remember what he's been told. I didn't know that ADD could cause problems with writing but apparently it can.
I think she was the first professional who's ever completely believed us when we talked about J's problems ( & she never mentioned the words 'only child') but it's a bit daunting to think this is something he's could have to live with for rest of his life. I don't really know that much about it so I'm going to have to start doing some research. When we took J back into school his headmaster said that we could have a meeting with him & J's teacher to discuss way forward which is encouraging.
J has a few lines to say at school carol concert today. I told him to put words in his pocket just in case his mind goes blank. This happened at cubs concert last year. He & some of the others had written a play between them but when J came to say his part he couldn't remember it & stood there opening & closing his mouth helplessly. The trouble was none of the grown-ups knew the words so we couldn't help him & if the other cubs knew them they didn't say. Eventually it came back to him - huge sigh of relief all round.