Thread: Wondering if my student is mentally challenged

I work at the Boys and Girls Club and I have a student that I think my be slightly slow. I though I'd ask in here because since you all work with special needs, you may have an idea of what could be wrong.

I think he is getting labeled a bad kid when really he is a good child that has an issue. I really want to help this poor boy because I think his behavioral issues may be due to a mental issue.

He was just suspended for spitting in a boy's face. There was no interaction between them. They were at opposite sides of the room and he just got up, walked to his table, spit in his face, and then just stood there. When asked why he did it, he just cried. We put him in time out and he just kept crying.

Another time, I had told him several times to clean up all his trash from the table from lunch. Then I said, (we'll just call him A) A, pick up everything from off the table here and throw it away, now. He started crying. Then after cleaning up another table, I noticed that his lunch box was in the trash. I asked why he threw it away and he just cried more. Then I realized that he must have thought I meant EVERYTHING. So I said, "I didn't mean you had to throw away your lunch box too." I felt so bad for him. He stopped crying when I said that.

He does strange things like those and always looks sad and confused, like he's just lost. He hardly ever talks and it's hard to understand him when he does. He cries often. He doesn't have any friends. He'll randomly make loud squeaking or squealing noises. He stares at his feet when he walks and walks very slowly and carefully. He often just stares off into space at or at the table. He has very poor social skills. I can't figure out what's wrong, but I feel deep down inside of me, that there is something very off about him. Others have commented the same to me, asking if he is slow.

Also, he is lactose intolerant and I have to watch him very closely because he tries to sneak milk. He says he just wants to know what it tastes like. I explained that he will get sick if he drinks it, but he doesn't seem to understand. That's a common issue, he doesn't understand very simple things.

I think sometimes, people think he's not following instructions, but it's really just that he can't understand them, even simple ones.