Does the pediatrician specialize in ADHD? A pediatrician can prescribe meds, but in studies have been shown to sometimes undermedicate or improperly medicate. A pediatrician can test for all the physical reasons for the symptoms your son is having, but a pediatrician is not likely to recognize similar or overlapping disorders (bipolar, learning disorders, oppositional defiance disorder, etc). Despite this, many children are treated for ADHD by their pediatrician. You would have to be more vigilant for things like stimulants triggering manic behavior (in case it is really bipolar) or triggering tics. You appear to be educating yourself for an active involvement in you son's diagnosis/treatment.
Is your son having other difficulties in school besides the behavioral ones (grades)?
You are seeking help for your son, that is definitely not failing him. ADHD is tough on families. You will find lots of support on this board.
So far there have been no learning issues to the best of my knowledge. He hurries and finishes his papers too fast which causes them to be sloppy and sometimes not finished. Kindergarden was rough teaching him numbers, letters, and to read plus some simple math. But overall from his teacher of last year or this year he has not showed signs of learning disabilities. Of course he is my only child so i can only judge by no notes on that from teacher and is passing his class so far. His is soley based on attention, focus, and energy. It is hard for him to keep focus on anything. He gets soo distracted. Sitting still is impossible for him. He is disruptive but non violent. Today i got another note home from teacher on his behavior. He would not stop talking all day. they took a math test and he yelled out the answers to it. She says if this happens again tomorrow she will paddle him. I'm going to the school in the morning. They know he took the adhd assesment test and scored high and yet she wants to paddle him. Oh i forgot he was also fligging his arms. He is constantly snapping his fingers, or doing something with his hands. He forgets things and will do something 5 seconds after you have asked him not too. This is not because i have not disciplined him at all. i have tried all forms of discipline. None have an affect. He can turn right around and do the same thing right after getting in trouble. I know this must be hard on her to teach the other children. While i feel for her paddling my son for talking, not sittng still, doing stuff with his hands, and any of those things will not correct this behavior. I've had it with them labeling him basically a problem child or a menace. How can she expect him to not show signs of adhd if she herself said she thought he had it?I would think about getting a different teacher or having One on One help for him for his learning. I think it's appalling that the teacher said she wants to "paddle" him. The school needs to help you out more with this. I went thru this in kindergarden too. I was clueless to adhd and wish i hadn't been. He got a paddling from teacher then one from principal in kindergarden. Teacher said she paddled him and he literally skipped down the hall singing a country song. It didn't phase him. That would be my son. Later that year was principal. Now like 3 weeks into first grade she is ready to paddle him. Don't get me wrong i know how he can be but your a teacher. Why not put him in lunchroom or hallway and let him do his test. Or give him something to do. Have him go talk talk to counselor. Why is the first resort after him talking for 3 weeks straight to paddle him? I could totally understand if he endangered another child. But for talking or such. I'm taking him off the approval for discipline now that i know this problem goes deeper than rebellion. Which means they will call me to come get him and i have one hour to pick him up. If they can't handle him now what will they do when we have to go thru the tedious process of finding the right med. I just feel of all places my child should be understood in school. I know he can't be the first child to come thru with adhd symptons.Paddling? They still do this? You know it isn't going to help, don't let them do it. The school sounds so unenlightened, I hesitate to mention they ought to implement a behavior modification plan for him. Reward him for good behaviors. Setting specific goals for him behavior-wise, and doing a star chart or equivalent. There are books out there on ADHD and in your library. They have good ideas for classroom interventions. Maybe a "fidget" for his hands would help him settle down. Maybe you should try that.
As for your son, he has to go through every day with people telling him he's doing something wrong, or he is in trouble all the time. After a while, with all this negative feedback constantly, day after day, he may become defiant. This happened with our dd. She became very oppositional. So leaving ADHD untreated (if it is ADHD) can become a problem, also.
To sum up: Get a good diagnosis after a thorough evaluation. A neuropsychologist screens for ADHD, cognitive abilities, learning disabilities, etc. How to get this done for free, I have no idea. Then you should feel more confident about his diagnosis. His pediatrician should also do tests to rule out other things that mimic ADHD like thyroid issues or sleep disorders.
Good luck, keep us posted.
is it not illegal for teachers to hit pupils?it is here and if it was my son i would have made her sorry for it.
anyway,that school obviously does not know anything about ADHD,as it is completely useless to smack a ADHD child as you found out.
the school is in any way competent to diagnose ADHD or anythingelse in that matter,they just can't cope with a child and they decide he has ADHD.
Paedatricians are not really the best professionals either,you need a child psychologist to determine if he had ADHD or somethingelse,the meds for ADHD are very strong and not to be given lightly because the school can't be bothered making an extra effort.
behavioral therapy,play therapy,homeopathy and asking for an IEP could help.if your son has more than ADHD or no ADHD at all meds will do him more harm than good.