Teachers pushing ADD ADHD

[stacy5404]

My son is 7 years old (1st grade) and has good behavior at home.  At school he is having alot of issues with concentration and his behavior.  He tends to talk and interupt the teacher and not pay attention during lessons.  He is behind and getting bad grades.  I have had conferences with the teachers and they keep bringing up ADD and ADHD.  I took him to the doctor when he was 5 to have him checked and was told that if i dont think he has it then he probably doesn't and he didnt exhibit symptoms when he was at the office.  When he is at home he will color, read, and do puzzles for long periods of time and not exhibit any add or adhd behaviors.  I have tried reward systems with stickers and prizes at home but this bad behavior of not listening and not focusing is starting to escalate daycare also.  I have inconsistent reports from his daycare and school about behavior and i dont see a pattern in our daily routine that is affecting it.  I have spoken to the teachers about what the doctors say about ADD and ADHD and now they seem to have given up.  Do you have any advice?

[RamblingSeminarian]

I'd like to add a bit on the above comment....first that a lot of change can happen in two years time, so I fully agree that you should take him back to the pediatrician to see if there is a medical condition (whether it's ADD/ADHD or something else) that's contributing to his problems at school.  I would also add in there that it might be a good idea to work with a school pscyhologist as well...not only would they be able to help discern if he has ADD/ADHD, but they can also do IQ tests and such...perhaps the problem isn't that he's unable to do the work, but that he isn't being challenged....which is where my third suggestion comes in...see if you can meet with the school to develop an IEP (Individualized education plan) for him....now is the time to really work hard to figure out what is going on, the longer it gets put off, the harder it will be for him to catch up with his peers.  Good luck and please let us know what happens!

[benny2248]

you could have the teacher make a video tape of your child at school so your pediatrician can see how he acts for a longer period of time and therefore be able to ***** his ADD/ADHD better.

[TUDA81]

YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD BETTER THAN ANYONE, DONT LISTEN TO THE **** THAT THE TEACHERS TELL YOU. THEY TRY TO GET KIDS TO BE ADHD CAUSE THEY DONT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM ITS EASIER TO DRUG THEM ANYWAYS THE SCHOOL GETS MONEY OFF THESE KIDS THAT R ADHD, SORRY IM GOING THREW A REALLY BAD TIME WITH DRS RIGHT NOW DUE TO MY CHILD BEING ADHD AND IT IS A JOKE HOW THEY TREAT ADHD KIDS

[Sally44]

My son is diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum and also has some impulsiveness and problems with focus and attention.  I am not suggesting that your child has either of these, but the difference between school and home might be that at home your son can choose what he is interested in and children with ADHD or ASDs tend to have alot of focus and attention for the things they are interested in.  At school they have to comply with what is on the menu so to speak.  If they are not interested in that they can just turn off.  And it is not necessarily that they are being naughty, they just cannot keep their focus or attention on things that they are not interested in.
I agree an Ed Psych should help tune into what his specific difficulties are.  For example he may have difficulties following verbal instructions or sequencing instructions etc so he cannot get on with his work because he is unable to do so which would result in him having to either ask the teacher alot of questions or completely turn off and do nothing.

[margypops]

Perhaps you could get your child evaluated by someone your Doctor Recomends it is only recently Schools ahve taken it upon themselves to get involved with evaluating children for ADD and ADHD, we have never done this in the past,if you do some research you will find out more there is a lot of talk about the schools unnecessary telling parents there children should be taking the Powerful Drugs given to Children for what is more often than not a childhood Parent?child Interaction Problem.So ask yourself since when have the Teachers at your sons school become more knowledgable than your Doctor??

[Sandman2]

what's all this teacher talk.  Teachers can't prescribe drugs.  Schools don't make money off of ADHD kids (if anything its a loss, due to the extra services).  Only a doctor can prescribe drugs and only the parent can agree to it.  All the teacher does is try to work with the kids.  For parents who are going nuts, how would you like a class with 4 or 5 ADHD all day long?