89. A Tall Tale

It was clearly noted in the testing that Savannah was creative. The creative part of her brain was her safe place. She enjoyed every chance she could get to show her creativity, so when Mrs. Dyess assigned a reading project, Savannah was all over it. I had a way of nosing in on projects because I just wanted her to get them done in a timely manner but with this one, she was assertive and polite and all but said, "Back off, Mom!" She did me proud. Meet Princess Culacina!

by Savannah Lee Owen

Third Grade - age 8

2002

88. Confessions from a Third Grader

Conditions of Testing and Behavioral Observations:

"Savannah seemed to easily adjust to the one-to-one testing session. She was able to direct her attention well to testing tasks, and results appear to be valid.

In talking informally with Savannah about coming to Mountain Brook Elementary, Savannah explained, "We got divorced. My daddy lives in Oklahoma and my grandmother in Montgomery." When asked who she lived with, Savannah said her mommy, and her brother, Sean. She then asked, "Have you heard about Sean? He's autistic. He sometimes screams. He loves to watch 'Eyewitness' movies on rocks, minerals, and animals." 

When asked about her interests, she said her favorite sport was swimming which she did in Texas when it was warm. When asked about other interests, she said that she also likes to watch 'Eyewitness' for nature and science. She then volunteered that her favorite drink is water because it is healthier than milk because most of your body is water.

When asked about school, Savannah said that her least favorite subject was math, commenting, "I really hate it, but I'm good at it." 

Savannah said that she likes art and music. When asked about reading she said, "The least favorite part is writing definitions. I don't like to write, but I love to draw. We have to do DOL (Daily Oral Language) in cursive. It gets boring writing in cursive. Writing is the same as math. I don't like it, but I'm good at it."

Savannah felt that she had several friends in class. She said she likes snack time and recess. She doesn't like P.E. because of running laps, commenting, "I walk laps. I don't like to run laps." 

When asked about listening, Savannah said, "Sometimes I have a hard time staying focused. Sometimes I forget some of my homework. I think I got all my worries off. I get afraid and I tell mom to let it all out."

+++

It must have been this time in Savannah's life when she went through her "confession" phase. She began telling me e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g she had locked away in her guilt-ridden conscious. She would call me to her side and agonize over whether to tell me something. I had to pull it out of her all the while thinking the worst. What on earth had she done?

After l-o-n-g hesitations and me reassuring her, "it's okay, Honey, you can do it" she would confess her "crimes" which were no worse than this: 

"I was in P.E. once back in first grade and I told the coach that I couldn't walk or run because my foot hurt. And it didn't. I lied."

I wanted to strangle the poor child. I thought, "That's it? For real?" I expected a shoplifting tale, or a story about how she took a girl's Fritos at snack time on the playground and ate them in front of her - no wait, that was me - or that she busted a window with a ball! 

With each confession I reassured Savannah that she had been forgiven for all of those things. I reminded her that she was a good girl and more importantly, my girl and that I was super blessed to have her. Lying to her teacher or to anyone was very wrong and I was glad she thought so too. 

Besides Savannah needing to clear her conscious, I look at her confession phase as a way of quietly demanding my attention. It did take me awhile to pull them out of her. I was glad I was patient. I was happy that I didn't blow it.

Footnote: I was reading this entry to Savannah last night - July 13, 2013. Her version goes like this:

"I waited to do yet another project at the very last minute and we were scrambling to get it done. I had lied to you about having to get it done and you said, with a ruler in your hand, 'If you lie to me ever again, I will spank you with this ruler!'" So, she apparently decided to come clean about everything to cover her bases! Hahaha!

My response was this: "At least you learned your lesson and I didn't have to use it! Too, several years earlier it could've been mean ol Mister Spoon in my hand!" I like my version better!

87. Pulling the Inside, Out

It was all finally documented. Testing revealed that her intellectual ability was in the average range while her achievement scores were in the average to above average range. The IEP team recommended that she receive special education services under "Other Health Impaired".

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The graphs showed that Savannah was all over the place. The most surprising part to me was that she was demanding at school. When she needed or wanted attention, she was not afraid to demand it. This was not the case at home. And out of all of the findings, this made me the most sad. I didn't want her to demand it per se, but I wanted her to let me know. She seldom ever let me know.

86. Likely Possibly

Child Observation Forms

"Savannah has extreme difficulty focusing, staying on task. She cannot handle numerous directions, activities at once. She is overwhelmed easily. She gets fixated on an idea, thought, cannot get it out of her mind, demands attention immediately - very creative, if she does not like the activity - she does not want to do it. She fiddles at her desk, writing, drawing, has trouble staying focused to listen to directions. She demands to be heard." -- Mrs. Dyess, 3rd grade teacher

"At times she is very active and loud - but not really participating in game play. She does not seem to know what to do. Other times, she will sit and look off and will not participate at all - seems unaware of other children." -- Coach Thomas, Physical Education

"Savannah loves Music, so I don't have a great deal of trouble with her staying on task. She does blurt out and acts impulsively sometimes." --Mrs. Elmore, Music

"Her inattentiveness is largely devoted to internal distractions. External distractions are a problem, however. She is aware that she may receive medication and that her inattentiveness has increased." 

--Mrs. Cross, Counselor

Special Education Teacher Observation by Ms. Noble:

Activity - Globes

Class - 3rd regular classroom

"Every child in the classroom has a globe, dry erase marker, and notebook on their desk. As a class, the teacher went through the notebook questions and instructions one by one. Each child was the follow the directions which included finding a place on the globe, circling it, then recording in notebook. The majority of the class seemed very engaged and excited (perhaps a bit rowdy). As I observed, Savannah, who was seated in the front middle, did not do anything. She seemed to just sit in a daze. The teacher prompted her a few times, but she still did not participate. She may have been listening, but was not using her globe, pen, or notebook."

Student Referral Form Notes:
- delightful child, very sweet
- extremely creative (loves to draw, act - plays)
- reading comprehension - strength
- math - weakness (especially problem solving) 
*uhh, isn't that what math is? I'm just saying*
- overwhelms easily if timed
- tunes out to oral directions
- needs 1-1 instruction
- will understand concept one day - next week does not remember how to do it
- obsessive (lost lunch, coat, missing folder, etc)

Concerns:
- cries - wants to see the counselor
- stubborn - wants to do what she wants, inflexible
- demands immediate attention

Asperger's Syndrome Diagnostic Scale - ASDS
80 - 89 Possibly
90 - 11- Likely

Mom's rating: 86
Mrs. Dyess' rating: 92

And so the tests went on and on:
Vision
Hearing
WISC III (Wechsler Intellectual Scale for Children III)
WIAT (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test)
BASC (Behavior Assessment System for Children)
Conner's Behavioral Rating Scales

The concerns were strong in the areas of inattention, cognitive problems, anxiety, atypicality, adaptability, depression, social skills, internalizing problems.

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"Internalizing problems" seemed to scare me the most.