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"Mild" ADHD Diagnosis - HELP
My six year old son has been officially diagnosed by a psychologist as having mild ADHD. His IQ was in the superior range, and because he is in a good private school, his academic testing was in the superior range. However, she was sure that he was not performing up to potential due to ADHD.
The psychologist indicated that he could use some support at school and that we should consult a dr about medication. So I'm looking for advice -- should we pursue medication options at this point, or just try behavioral/ environmental modifications first? All advice appreciated
The psychologist indicated that he could use some support at school and that we should consult a dr about medication. So I'm looking for advice -- should we pursue medication options at this point, or just try behavioral/ environmental modifications first? All advice appreciated
If he has a mild form of ADHD I'd just stick with behavioral therapy first. I'm always leery of the medications and how the affect the kids. They can stunt their growth for one thing. And they tend to not be hungry while on the medication.
One interesting thing I discovered with my son is he too was very intelligent (still is) and his 5th grade teacher was insisting I put him on Ritalin. He apparently was driving her crazy because he'd wiggle around in his seat and tap his pencil on his desk. I told her all she had to do was tap him on the shoulder and tell him to get back to work and he would. Sometimes he just needed someone to help him refocus again. I guess that was too much work for her. She insisted we put him on Ritalin. So we took him to the doctor and put him on the mildest dosage. Of course she immediately began to rave about the difference in his behavior. What she didn't realize is we tried it for a few months and then took him back off. We just weren't comfortable with him being on it. We looked into more natural ways to help like diet. The next year his 6th grade teacher told us he didn't need Ritalin. He tested at reading at an 11th grade level. Sometimes really bright kids get misdiagnosed as having ADHD. I recommend you to read "Dreamers, Disocoverers & Dynamos" by Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D. It was formally called "The Edison Trait". She talks about how Edison was thought to have ADD too, although the didn't call it that back then. Edison himself flunked out of school and had to be homeschooled yet he was brilliant and gave the world so much.
Also have his hearing tested, not just the standard hearing test either. Ask them to test for Auditory Processing Disorder. Many children are misdiagnosed as having ADHD who instead have Auditory Processing Disorder. My daughter is one. Their hearing is just fine so they'll pass a standard hearing test, but they have difficulty processing what they hear. The message gets jumbled up somehow. They do better with written instructions than verbal ones. They also get too distracted in class when there is noise coming from different directions. They have difficulty tuning out certain noises. Like if their teacher is talking to a student, even quietly, a student is sharpening a pencil, the air conditioning is kicking in. All these noises bombard them and they can't concentrate. This is my daughter. She has struggled all through school because of this. I'm not saying your son may have this, I'm just saying it couldn't hurt to get him tested. I hope any of this helps. And check out that book I mentioned. I think you'll like it. Best wishes.
One interesting thing I discovered with my son is he too was very intelligent (still is) and his 5th grade teacher was insisting I put him on Ritalin. He apparently was driving her crazy because he'd wiggle around in his seat and tap his pencil on his desk. I told her all she had to do was tap him on the shoulder and tell him to get back to work and he would. Sometimes he just needed someone to help him refocus again. I guess that was too much work for her. She insisted we put him on Ritalin. So we took him to the doctor and put him on the mildest dosage. Of course she immediately began to rave about the difference in his behavior. What she didn't realize is we tried it for a few months and then took him back off. We just weren't comfortable with him being on it. We looked into more natural ways to help like diet. The next year his 6th grade teacher told us he didn't need Ritalin. He tested at reading at an 11th grade level. Sometimes really bright kids get misdiagnosed as having ADHD. I recommend you to read "Dreamers, Disocoverers & Dynamos" by Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D. It was formally called "The Edison Trait". She talks about how Edison was thought to have ADD too, although the didn't call it that back then. Edison himself flunked out of school and had to be homeschooled yet he was brilliant and gave the world so much.
Also have his hearing tested, not just the standard hearing test either. Ask them to test for Auditory Processing Disorder. Many children are misdiagnosed as having ADHD who instead have Auditory Processing Disorder. My daughter is one. Their hearing is just fine so they'll pass a standard hearing test, but they have difficulty processing what they hear. The message gets jumbled up somehow. They do better with written instructions than verbal ones. They also get too distracted in class when there is noise coming from different directions. They have difficulty tuning out certain noises. Like if their teacher is talking to a student, even quietly, a student is sharpening a pencil, the air conditioning is kicking in. All these noises bombard them and they can't concentrate. This is my daughter. She has struggled all through school because of this. I'm not saying your son may have this, I'm just saying it couldn't hurt to get him tested. I hope any of this helps. And check out that book I mentioned. I think you'll like it. Best wishes.
A private school will be tougher too. They don't have the resources to help students who are struggling. I know because my kids went to a private school for a long time. They also have to keep up at a certain pace and can't accommadate for students who can't keep up like they can in public schools. Don't forget, too, that private schools tend to be ahead of public schools anyway, so if they're saying he's a little behind there, he probably would be right where he would need to be if he were in a public school.
I know that 5th grade isn't the same as 1st but I did get a recommendation from his teacher to put him on Ritilin and get diagnosed as having ADHD. For them to do that in 1st grade is a little early, I think, unless he was so rambunctious that he couldn't sit still. If that were the case, then I'd say yes, he should be put on medication. If he's not disrupting the class and he just needs a little help focusing, etc. there are ways to help him with that with learning games, etc. There also are programs that can help like the Sylvan Learning Center or Learning RX. They can be a bit costly though.
The choice is obviously up to you. If it were my child, though, I think I would check out all options before putting him on any medication. I hope everything works out for you and your son. God bless.
I know that 5th grade isn't the same as 1st but I did get a recommendation from his teacher to put him on Ritilin and get diagnosed as having ADHD. For them to do that in 1st grade is a little early, I think, unless he was so rambunctious that he couldn't sit still. If that were the case, then I'd say yes, he should be put on medication. If he's not disrupting the class and he just needs a little help focusing, etc. there are ways to help him with that with learning games, etc. There also are programs that can help like the Sylvan Learning Center or Learning RX. They can be a bit costly though.
The choice is obviously up to you. If it were my child, though, I think I would check out all options before putting him on any medication. I hope everything works out for you and your son. God bless.
I am interested in the" central auditory processing" issue with your daughter. How and where did you get her tested? What age? What types of therapy did the specialist recommend? What accomodations does the school provide for her disability? Does this disability get worse with age or is she handling it better? I suspect that my daughter has it and I am looking to get her tested. Before I call her doctor, I want to have some background. Thank you.
We actually stumbled onto this diagnosis. I was getting my son's hearing tested because he'd been having ringing in his ears. It was a very long test and I was talking to the Audiologist about my daughter and her struggles in school. He suggested I get her tested for Auditory Processing Disorder. He said it can mimic ADD or ADHD and that many parents mistakenly think their child has ADHD when they really have Auditory Processing Disorder. He asked me some questions about her and said based on my answers that he suspected that she had it. I asked if we could get her tested and he agreed. Ironically, my son's test came back within normal and my daughter's didn't! She was 12 at the time but I think she's always had this problem and has always struggled in school. We just didn't know what to do really. We did everything that we could think of to help her. Like I said, we just stumbled upon this diagnosis. I had never even heard of it. This was done at a military hospital as we are military. At the time my daughter was going to a private school and they didn't have the resources to really help her much. They did do the suggestions that the Audiologist recommended by putting her in the front of the classroom and being more patient with her if she needed the teacher to repeat something and trying to do more written instructions. They really didn't help much though and our insurance wouldn't cover any extra help so we didn't get too much further with that. Finally, I moved her to a charter school that works with kids at their own pace and only passes them to the next level when they test at 85% on their tests. It seems to be working pretty well with her. She acts more relaxed at this school. I do have to watch though that she doesn't fall too far behind because she tends to still do that. She's in high school now and in a lot of ways has learned to work through this. She'll probably never be an A student but she's doing better than she did in middle school. I'm not sure if this has helped you much or not. If you suspect your daughter has APD ask your doctor to refer you to an Audiologist and get her tested for it. It's a very long test. I think it took almost 3 hours. They're very thorough. It should show you if she has it. Good luck. I hope you can find out soon.
Thanks for all this information. Actually, it was me who took him to be tested-- based on what I was seeing, in conjunction with his teachers' comments about him having some self control issues, talking too much, and perhaps not performing up to his potential.
He is at a private school-- but they are SO well equipped to deal with ADHD kids-- they have a lot of them at the school. The whole school posts homework assignments each day. Each class has a website so that you can monitor everything, and the teachers are in CONSTANT communication with us. The school plans for kids to have time to get up and move around during the day. They plan all the academics in the AM -- for ALL the kids. All the suggestions that the psychologist had for academic changes are things that this school does automatically for all the kids.
My son also has severe food allergies and this is the ONLY school in the region that had a good all ergy management program. I have no complaints about the school at all-- and NO ONE at the school is insisting on or even suggesting medication for him. They said that if I decide to do that, they want to work very closely with me to monitor him. Actually, the counselor and his teacher both suggested that we continue with the behavior management (to which he responds extremely well-- we have no issues at home) and perhaps engage him in some extra enrichment activities because he is smart. He really has no trouble keeping up with the class. In fact, the teacher says she has to hand him his papers last in the class because if she doesn't he will be finished before she finishes handing out the work. She says that 90% of the time, he gets all the answers right even though he rushed through things-- still makes careless mistakes sometimes.
My sister in law has a child with some of the same issues in a public school. Her school experience and my school experience are completely different-- I am EXTREMELY grateful and satisfied with my son's school -- that's one area of his life that I may have to work with him on, but I feel like I have a whole school full of partners to help me.
He is at a private school-- but they are SO well equipped to deal with ADHD kids-- they have a lot of them at the school. The whole school posts homework assignments each day. Each class has a website so that you can monitor everything, and the teachers are in CONSTANT communication with us. The school plans for kids to have time to get up and move around during the day. They plan all the academics in the AM -- for ALL the kids. All the suggestions that the psychologist had for academic changes are things that this school does automatically for all the kids.
My son also has severe food allergies and this is the ONLY school in the region that had a good all ergy management program. I have no complaints about the school at all-- and NO ONE at the school is insisting on or even suggesting medication for him. They said that if I decide to do that, they want to work very closely with me to monitor him. Actually, the counselor and his teacher both suggested that we continue with the behavior management (to which he responds extremely well-- we have no issues at home) and perhaps engage him in some extra enrichment activities because he is smart. He really has no trouble keeping up with the class. In fact, the teacher says she has to hand him his papers last in the class because if she doesn't he will be finished before she finishes handing out the work. She says that 90% of the time, he gets all the answers right even though he rushed through things-- still makes careless mistakes sometimes.
My sister in law has a child with some of the same issues in a public school. Her school experience and my school experience are completely different-- I am EXTREMELY grateful and satisfied with my son's school -- that's one area of his life that I may have to work with him on, but I feel like I have a whole school full of partners to help me.
I have a 16 year old daughter and when she was little she was diagnosed with a mild ADHD. They first gave her medications to focus more but they didn't work and since than I haven't got her any medication or doctors for her because they didn't work and I was afraid her body would get addicted to them and something bad would happen to her. but the more she got older the more she gets stressed and depressed. There is a lot of tension and stress in her life right now we just moved, I got divorced she has a step-dad and she hates him and grades are not good for her right now. She gets bad sleep, she hasn't had a full night sleep for a year now. I'm not sure if I should get her some kind of therapist or counselor maybe it would help her. Please let me know what I should do.
Did you marry the man in your life? maybe she is having issues because of the new marriage or the new step dad. She is 16 years old, so you do not have her much longer before she leave the "nest". If you did not marry this new man, maybe you should consider only dating him and not living with him until she leaves your home for college or she becomes independent. Do not ruin your relationship with her over a man. You can always date the man and visit him at his residence without imposing him on your child. You are going to have your daughter forever. Men come and go in most instances now adays. Maybe your relationship with this new man is causing too much stress on her. Think of her first. Good luck.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yes Italy, get her some help. This is not about you and what you are doing. It is about her. It may well be that she was able to overcome her ADHD for years, but now the stress of school is too much for her! or not. But you will never know without some help. Get it. I would also try talking to your school counselors to let them know what is going on. If she is new at her school, it could be quite a while until someone realizes she needs help. Get going, time is getting short
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