ActionScript 3 :: Custom Event Not Being Received

ActionScript 3, just learning AS3 but know a handful of other languages. What would cause an event that the listen call executes without throwing an error and was successfully dispatched, to not be listened to?

Dispatch call (this runs ):
private function HandleMouseClick( e:Event ):void{
if ( m_MouseState == MOUSE_STATE_SELECTED )
m_MouseState = MOUSE_STATE_NONE;
else {
m_MouseState = MOUSE_STATE_SELECTED;
[Code] .....

The "Squares" are childed to a checkerboard that is childed to my main app ( which extends sprite ). the checkerboard displays and has all the behaviour I want, but when I click a square, the click event fires and dispatches the custom event, but the custom event is never received. That should be all code needed, the rest of the code is just to create a grid and put random numbers in the squares, which works fine. According to every website that has a "custom event tutorial" it would appear that i have everything needed to listen to the event, its just not happening.