Is my friend's child mentally handicapped?

[Zeze]

Perhaps I'm going nuts. I need an external opinion. I'm thinking in circles alone (yes or not). The kid is a 7 year old boy:

1. Throws disproportional tantrums. He and his 2-years-younger sister fight over a game controller. The boy is crying like someone took his limb. Then goes into a total cryfest damning the world. His 5 year old sister is not even fazed.

2. While playing football, someone snatched the ball from him. He just started to cry. I mean, 7 year olds are smart enough to engage in competitive playing right? Ofc they are right?

3. He shows no remorse. My friend told me this scares his wife. He is NOT diagnosed with Autism (specifically tested this).

4. Instead of cartoons, he likes the inner workings of street lights and sprinklers. He likes them over cartoons.

5. He is diagnosed with Selective Mutism - he talks to his family just fine, but this is a severe anxiety disorder that stops you dead from speaking.

But is he actually mentally slow? 2 & 3 are pretty alarming, no?

 

[whm1974]

Sounds he need to see a shrink.

 

[pete6032]

Dear Dr. ATOT...

 

[VirtualLarry]

FUCK!.... does he swear a lot, out of the blue, especially when .. SHIT! ... stressed?

Could be,,, Turretts.

 

[Ken g6]

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind.

Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is traditionally defined as a personality disorder[1] characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy, impaired remorse, bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.

Sounds like it fits to me.

A study by Nathan Brooks from Bond University found that around one in five corporate bosses display clinically significant psychopathic traits - a proportion similar to that among prisoners.[155]

So the kid is likely to either become a prisoner or a corporate boss.

My layman's suggestions:

1.

As psychopathic individuals are insensitive to sanction, reward-based management, in which small privileges are granted in exchange for good behavior, has been suggested and used to manage their behavior in institutional settings.[140]

2. Teach the kid to think about future consequences of his actions. For starters, teach him chess. If he's studying the inner workings of stuff, he seems to be smart enough to figure out how to live in society.

 

[rommelrommel]

What is he supposed to show remorse for?

 

[Skunk-Works]

I'm not a shrink, but kid sounds spoiled.

 

[Zeze]

I'm not a shrink, but kid sounds spoiled.

4 and 5 have nothing to do with being spoiled. Esp 5.

 

[Exterous]

Bad parenting? Could explain 1, 2 and 5. 4 - Kids are sometimes obsessed with odd things for a while.

Edit: Might also work for #3. I've seen a lot of kids who only fake remorse when they think it will get them out of trouble - which seems to work on a lot of parents

 

[FerrelGeek]

A bunch of (at best) rank amateurs, like us, is no place to get sound advice. The kid and the parents need professional evaluation. Bad parenting could certainly have contributed to some of the behaviors, but given that autism has been ruled out, something else is the issue.

 

[whm1974]

A bunch of (at best) rank amateurs, like us, is no place to get sound advice. The kid and the parents need professional evaluation. Bad parenting could certainly have contributed to some of the behaviors, but given that autism has been ruled out, something else is the issue.

This+

 

[SKORPI0]

5. He is diagnosed with Selective Mutism - he talks to his family just fine, but this is a severe anxiety disorder that stops you dead from speaking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_mutism

 

[Darwin333]

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind.



Sounds like it fits to me.



So the kid is likely to either become a prisoner or a corporate boss.

My layman's suggestions:

1.
2. Teach the kid to think about future consequences of his actions. For starters, teach him chess. If he's studying the inner workings of stuff, he seems to be smart enough to figure out how to live in society.

I didn't think that psychopathy presented until later in life?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Perhaps I'm going nuts. I need an external opinion. I'm thinking in circles alone (yes or not). The kid is a 7 year old boy:

1. Throws disproportional tantrums. He and his 2-years-younger sister fight over a game controller. The boy is crying like someone took his limb. Then goes into a total cryfest damning the world. His 5 year old sister is not even fazed.

2. While playing football, someone snatched the ball from him. He just started to cry. I mean, 7 year olds are smart enough to engage in competitive playing right? Ofc they are right?

3. He shows no remorse. My friend told me this scares his wife. He is NOT diagnosed with Autism (specifically tested this).

4. Instead of cartoons, he likes the inner workings of street lights and sprinklers. He likes them over cartoons.

5. He is diagnosed with Selective Mutism - he talks to his family just fine, but this is a severe anxiety disorder that stops you dead from speaking.

But is he actually mentally slow? 2 & 3 are pretty alarming, no?

One of my cousins is around this age and has a few similar traits, especially 1, 2, and 3. I blame 1 and 2 specifically on high stress/anxiety in the home, as their home life is pretty shitty (basically typical middle/upper-middle class white family, with all the problems associated). Combination of 2/3 related to inability to cope with stressful situations and lack of parenting/discipline when it comes to action/reaction, cause/effect, etc. Causal relationships are kinda broken in his head due to poor parenting practices. So now he's medically jacked up half the time and if he misses his meds he loses his mind for a few hours. It's super fun.

4, who the hell knows, maybe he's just a tinkerer. I did similar stuff as a youth.

5, he's probably just smarter than the average bear, and doesn't like speaking to strangers. Could pair with 4. Might also be generally anxious if home life is shit.

But yeah, none of us are professionals, go talk to a child psychologist or something. Try to avoid endlessly diagnosing/medicating the kid though, that'll screw them up just as bad (trust me).

 

[whm1974]

I didn't think that psychopathy presented until later in life?

Depends. A lot of of kids with psychopathy do display signs of it at young ages if you know what to look for.

 

[Red Storm]

From what little we know, I would say some questionable parenting has lead to potentially serious issues. But what do I know I'm just a blurry TF2 Spy avatar.

 

[tynopik]

I think they must have gotten Steve Harvey to announce the autism results

 

[Zeze]

17.7k

From what little we know, I would say some questionable parenting has lead to potentially serious issues. But what do I know I'm just a blurry TF2 Spy avatar.

My friend is a committed devoted father. He spends all his energy loving them. I highly doubt the cause is the questionable parenting. From what I've seen, they don't dote their kids either.

 

[preCRT]

Who diagnosed the kid with Selective Mutism and ruled out Autism?
Was it a general ped, or a child shrink?
This kid's behavior should be checked out by a Pediatric Psychiatrist.

 

[tynopik]

Who diagnosed the kid with Selective Mutism and ruled out Autism?
Was it a general ped, or a child shrink?
This kid's behavior should be checked out by a Pediatric Psychiatrist.

yeah, i'd consider a 2nd opinion

 

[IronWing]

A bunch of (at best) rank amateurs, like us, is no place to get sound advice. The kid and the parents need professional evaluation. Bad parenting could certainly have contributed to some of the behaviors, but given that autism has been ruled out, something else is the issue.

This is not the ATOT I know!

OP, the kid just needs to get drunk, get in a fight, get laid, get the clap, and spend a night in jail and he'll be a new man.

 

[MtnMan]

Sounds like he is on the path to be on the national news in another 10 years for shooting up a school or similar act.

 

[zinfamous]

Sounds like a perfect future antisocial ATOT dork.

 

[whm1974]

Sounds like he is on the path to be on the national news in another 10 years for shooting up a school or similar act.

He doesn't sound that bad to me. Unless he gets heavily mentally abused by others long term.

 

[JimKiler]

Perhaps I'm going nuts. I need an external opinion. I'm thinking in circles alone (yes or not). The kid is a 7 year old boy:

1. Throws disproportional tantrums. He and his 2-years-younger sister fight over a game controller. The boy is crying like someone took his limb. Then goes into a total cryfest damning the world. His 5 year old sister is not even fazed.

2. While playing football, someone snatched the ball from him. He just started to cry. I mean, 7 year olds are smart enough to engage in competitive playing right? Ofc they are right?

3. He shows no remorse. My friend told me this scares his wife. He is NOT diagnosed with Autism (specifically tested this).

4. Instead of cartoons, he likes the inner workings of street lights and sprinklers. He likes them over cartoons.

5. He is diagnosed with Selective Mutism - he talks to his family just fine, but this is a severe anxiety disorder that stops you dead from speaking.

But is he actually mentally slow? 2 & 3 are pretty alarming, no?

2 could be a kid who is not disciplined, think about Helen Keller and how she behaved but she did not have any mental issues.
3. he could be psychopath, apparently a lot of kids are but grow out of it. listen to this podcast to see how bad it can be: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/521/bad-baby