ADHD and IQ score | ADHD Information

The educational psychologist who tested my daughter said to retest her if we went to meds. This is becuase on the boring (to my daughter), timed sections she was impossible to keep on task; she kept getting up and wandering; and she scored in the normal range because she just did not complete as many as she could have if she would have stayed in her seat. In the visual areas like block formation, she had max/ceiling scores. This caused her to have a 30+ point discrepancy between sections of the test and to get an score of the averaged sections of 118. The psychologist suggested further testing to determine how much was due to the ADHD (hence the retest on meds) and how much was due to posible learning disorders (or if ADHD meds helped her compensate for the learning disorders).

vickie39003.6944328704

Just had our parent-teacher conference and things are going so great!   I am so pleased and in almost disbelief at how great dd is doing!  Contrast to 1 year ago, when she was pretty much "flunking" first grade!  One year ago, we had the school do an evaluation (again) and her IQ score came back relatively low (about 82, where the average is 100).  That was considered "low normal".  So I was left wondering how much do I push her, maybe she just isn't going to be a good student.  BTW, her testing was BEFORE medication.  And from my point of view, I could tell that she just didn't get it, so 82 didn't sound so surprising.

Jump to about 6 months later, I decided to take her to a neuropsychologist and have the full set of tests run.  She was medicated at that time.  She scored a full standard deviation higher on her IQ test at 101.  They did some additional tests to verify that it was a good score, and not a bump due to her taking it 6 months earlier.  Both tests were the WISC-IV.

So what is the point?  I guess the point is that untreated ADHD kids can be poor test-takers.  In our case, medication helped her performance immensely.  And what of IQ evaluations?  Are the scores meaningful?  If we hadn't taken her to the neuropsych, her documented IQ with the school would be 82, and I believe that it may have changed the interventions she got--maybe they would have set the bar lower.

Fast forward another 6 months to today.  You can see that the light bulb has gone off.  She "gets it" now.  She is bring home A's.  I would never have predicted that a year ago.  Even as recent as last summer, she went to summer school for math because she scored very low in the math baseline test.  Now, just a few months later, she is great at math and she loves it.  I believe that the right med combo is the biggest factor in her turn-around.  It has truly been a miracle.

The dr appt went well. I really like his dr. She said most of this is his behavior (ODD - which I some times blow off because I've always considered it bad parenting on my part when a kid just can't behave - well, I've done all I know so I'm slowly coming to accept his ODD) is his choice. She does not feel that his defiant attitude is the ADHD. She did suggest we switch to Daytrana (patch) 20mg and thinks it will be more consistent without the up and downs, as well as continue the Clonidine which since taking it has really improved his mornings. Normally I'd want to research more and be hesitant because the Daytrana is so new, but...we're starting it tomorrow so I can see how he reacts before school Monday. If anyone has any information or experience with this, please let me know, thanks.

Barb, what is FAPE? When i requested the IEP, they said he had to meet one of 8 different criteria and they said he didn't. I had them written down at one point, but have lost them since.

FAPE= Free Appropriate Public Education

For the Daytrana question, read the Datrayna thread for experiences with this med (there are others as well if you do a search):

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20458& PN=1

The biggest issue seems to be getting the backing off and there soem good suggestions.

vickie39010.3800925926Can you get IQ testing thru the schools ?  If so, how do you go about getting that done? 

CH:  dd is currently at 40 mg Ritalin LA in the a.m., 15 mg short-acting ritalin at 3 p.m.

crazymama:  When we requested evaluation for an IEP, they did the WISC-IV which is a IQ test.  They did a bunch of other psychological tests, also.  I believe they do an IQ test because if the IQ is really high and their performance in class is poor, the difference between potential and performance qualifies the child for services.

Hey cr12345mr: what type of medication is your daughter taking?

I'd like to know if I'm getting the ole' runaround. My ds (10 - 4th grade, Concerta 36mg) was diagnosed with ADHD about 2 1/2 years ago. He was constantly out of the classroom for behavior and we struggled with deciding to put him on meds. The principal told me if he was diagnosed we would have more options for help. Well....I'm still waiting. His behavior and grades improved - he's now in the gifted class and last year tested anywhere from 4th - 8th grade level on the IBS test.

We are now starting to have issues again at school and evenings at home are becoming a nightmare. He did homework tonight for 2 1/2 hours for refusing to do it in school. He sees a behavioral counselor once a week and I'm working with the school counselor. The school and counselor's are all "nice" but no one is giving me any options other than "he needs to learn to make the right decisions and he's old enough to know better". I've suggested an IEP and tests from the school psychologist (which I've got the idea from this board), but all I get is them asking me "Well tests for what/what kind? We know he's smart so an IQ test wouldn't matter." How the heck do I know! Aren't they supposed to know this stuff???? 

I begged some kind of tests from his pediatrician and they said there was nothing they could do. I asked about taking him to the Children's Hospital about an 1 1/2 hours away for testing and they said there's a lot they can do here before going there but they wanted to know what kind of tests I wanted! The Children's Hospital said I needed a referral there. Finally I called the pediatrician again in tears and asked for SOMETHING. They did some blood work checking magnesium, iron, glucose, etc and everything came back fine.

At school, if he's having a bad day, consider him shut down for good the remainder of the day. When I asked if there's someone who could go one on one with him at that time for a while to get him refocused they say they don't have enough help. Doesn't sound like extra help to me.

We've just started the marble system and giving ds Clonidine in the evening to help him sleep hoping that would help and it went great for 2 days and tonight was a huge blowup. I'm extremely frustrated and we have a doctor appt in the am. Hopefully, she'll give me some postive ideas!!! If anyone can give me any feedback I'd really appreciate it.

zjmom, Meds effectiveness can wear off. Your son's meds may need to be readjusted and possibly even changed. I'd ask the ped and the psych about it.

If a med alteration doesn't work, you can seek an IEP at that time. The school is given funds to ensure your child gets a FAPE so telling you they don't have it or can't afford it is a cop out. Its the law and they are breaking it.

barb39010.2404398148