It has been awhile since I have updated Adeline's development. I know that many times I sneak in the word processing to describe what contributes to her deficits. Of course, I feel as though her processing issues are almost tangible even though processing is a quite yet complex task of the brain.
Adeline is no doubt a bright little girl. We are quite surprised that she knows all that she does. However, she is often unable to access her understanding or knowledge that is needed for the task at hand. Adeline is overwhelmed by her environment. She finds it extremely difficult to multitask which causes her to give everything of interest her undivided attention. This is only true until something else catches and receives that attention. For example, I may be doing a puzzle with Adeline while an airplane flies over our house. She freezes and points out the window saying, "Airplane, up high in the sky," over and over again until the airplane leaves. It doesn't matter that I am trying to refocus her back to the puzzle and using hand over hand to help her get the puzzle in. Another example that we see all too often is when we ask Adeline to go and get something like her coat. She will walk to the mud room but is distracted by the car on the floor and sits down to play with it instead of carrying out the task. I have to remind her two or three times for her to redirect her attention to her coat. You might think that this is typical two year old behavior but when observing Adeline during one of the above examples you will see that she doesn't have the ability to keep on task no matter how motivated she is.
Another area of processing that is difficult of her is speech. When asked to repeat something or answer a question that involves multiple syllables or words, Adeline often can't. Her lips quiver, her eyes reflect concentration but her brain won't give her the support she needs for her output. Information goes in but it seems to get scrambled or lost. I don't feel that any of the above reflects a cognitive deficit. I do feel as though she is delayed partially due to her brain not holding information in a typical fashion.
I don't feel like I am making any sense here but processing is pretty hard to describe. I have a video of Adeline trying to hopscotch. She is highly motivated to try and jump down the squares and is often quite proud when she finishes. In the video I ask her jump jump again but she is distracted by the star she sees. She is then distracted by doors and points out the door by the stairs and then our front door. Next, the overhead light catches her eye and she begins labeling that instead of turning around and jumping. Eventually, I bring her attention back to me and remind her to jump jump and she happily does. She wanted to jump the entire time but couldn't tune out the distractions in her environment and hold the task in her head long enough to complete it. She reminds me of Robin William's HBO special when he is speaking of George Bush and his distraction during a public address when he sees a kitty. Of course the HBO special is pretty funny but watching Adeline struggle with her focus is not.
I must mention that we don't have a video camera that works at the moment so I was using our SLR. I can't follow Adeline around when recording because it won't refocus in the process. I hope the video helps you wrap your head around some of Adeline's struggles.
