My son (almost 5yrs) ADHD, has been off the hook for going on 3months now. I love him but can't stand him at the same time. My daughter (6) typically developing, is really feeling it too. He is hysterical when he can't have something and can't understand when things are just unavailable. I'm talking 30-45 min meltdowns over applesauce that he can see and acknowledge is nowhere in the refridgerator. He has also become increasingly aggressive, hitting, pinching, spitting, biting. There was a unoffical diagnosis of a regulartory disorder as a toddler. Which makes his behavior (which is pretty typical) 10Xs magnified and more often than kiddos his own age.
Is it times for meds? How do I talk to his father about that? Meds at dad's house are video games, which by-the-way my daughter suggested I get for my house (I don't think so)
[/QUOTE]I'm sorry, I am confused. He does or does not have an ADHD diagnosis? Who diagnosed him? Do you have a child psychiatrist? Does he do any kind of play or behavior therapy? What do you mean by a regulatory disorder and how was that handled?
Medication is a very, very personal decision. One not to be taken lightly and discussed in detail with your doctor. A doctor with good experience in managing ADHD. 5 is a little young, but people do medicate at that age and there's a few who have needed meds even younger. You should research and know ALL your options and discuss them in detail with your physician.
If you think Dad is going to have an issue if medication is the route you decide on. Maybe you should have all your research done and have him join you at the doctors consult.
What is his diagnosis? Meds are usually not recommended for kids under 6. He would need to be diagnosed by a Paychiatrist( if he has not already) before any decisions are made. ADHD meds are not"behavior pills" and usually behavior therapy is needed in conjunction with meds. Just starting meds is NOT going to make him suddenly well behaved.My son (almost 5yrs) ADHD, has been off the hook for going on 3months now. I love him but can't stand him at the same time. My daughter (6) typically developing, is really feeling it too. He is hysterical when he can't have something and can't understand when things are just unavailable. I'm talking 30-45 min meltdowns over applesauce that he can see and acknowledge is nowhere in the refridgerator. He has also become increasingly aggressive, hitting, pinching, spitting, biting. There was a unoffical diagnosis of a regulartory disorder as a toddler. Which makes his behavior (which is pretty typical) 10Xs magnified and more often than kiddos his own age.
Is it times for meds? How do I talk to his father about that? Meds at dad's house are video games, which by-the-way my daughter suggested I get for my house (I don't think so)
QUESTION!
My son was evaluated by a pediatric neuropsych just before his 5th birthday. Severe diagnosis. It is amazing how odd the doctor was, like she needed a pschiatrist herself. Long story!
Anyway my question is DS is now 10. Should he be reevaluated? He is on an IEP and doing very well in school so far.
What do you think?????????????? Do we need to reevaluate these guys as they get older or do we just keep the original diagnosis??????????????????????
Why would you want to reevaluate? I would only think you'd reevaluate if you felt the diagnosis was not accurate. So either due it happening so young he has outgrown some of his behaviors, or if you thought he was misdiagnosed. Many disorders mimic ADHD espeically in younger children. Some mood disorders, as you know, like BP, and LD's like non verbal learning disorder. It sounds as though his treatment is working though and it would not be if his diagnosis was wrong.you are absolutely correct.
I was just wondering.
Thanks again Diane!
My apologizes for not being more clear. M has had an offical diagnosis of ADHD combined. A regulatory disorder (which there is no 'offical' diagnosis) doesn't allow him to monitor reactions therefore melting down over applesauce.
I know meds are not the cure-all (I take them myself) but it may get him to a point where he can gain some coping skills that he is not able to learn because of his current state.
I agree about the full bank of testing and evaluation. I have to psyc myself up for going for that again. Am I on the right track here?
yes and do it. The full neurospych I mean. Ideally it would wait until after age 6, but if you cant wait go ahead and do waht you can now. You want to help if you can. You cant do that without a good diagnosis, or as good as you can get at his age.DS's public school system requires a re-evaluation every 3 years. he's up for another one this fall. it's your right to request one. this will include learning disability, etc. etc. similar to what the school does in an initial assessment.
i'd highly recommend getting one - then you can compare the old assessment with the more recent one to see what the trends are.
this is true. We re-eval every three years also, but the school doesnt have all the tools for a full neuropsych evaluation, like if you went private. Their goal is more to see if the child is still eligible for services. My daughter had her three year eval last year 5th grade, but we are doing a private full neuropsych eval in 2 weeks (per the school) to sort out where she is at now that shes in middle school and I am asking for more help for her they want a re eval. If things are going well I cant see paying for a private eval though.Diane,
i had a similar conversation with my private neuropsychologist, whose services are covered under my medical plan. she strongly suggested that i get the school to cover as much of the testing as possible because in my medical plan, only 24 visits are covered. if we were to get private testing (like for learning disability), the visits would count toward that 24 limit.
so what i did was get a listing of all of the tests he's had and showing it to my neuropsychologist. she was very impressed with what they covered in his assessments and had nothing to add. so she awaits the assessments for this fall and wants to see the results.
so if anything, i'd try to see what you can get away with in terms of having the school do for you. ask your private psychologist, if you're already working with one, to see which ones the school might be missing and see whether the school would do it for you.
Diane,
thanks for your post. i still don't understand why your daughter's school is "forcing" you to pay your own money to get this eval. to me, they should provide all of the specialists & services, even if they have to bring someone from another district/school to do the work. i used to think the services/specialists our school/district provided was a bit overkill, but now i believe it was a good idea.
our hiring of a neuropsychologist was completely on our own volition. i did it mostly to get an alternative therapy (neurofeedback) and to get a second opinion.
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, they are paying for it. The comment about not paying for a re-eval was directed to Bethann who was asking about having her son re-evaluated.
For my daughter they are paying for the eval and for the psychologist to attend her IEP meeting. I am not sure they know how to teach to her. She does have a co-existing LD.
Diane V39293.677662037[QUOTE=newgirl]I agree about the full bank of testing and evaluation. I have to psyc myself up for going for that again. Am I on the right track here?[/QUOTE] our school also allows us to bring an "advocate" to IEP meetings. what we did was talk to DH's co-worker (DH is a public school teacher) who is a special ed coordinator at another school. she helped us understand which tests would be done for our son, who was 6 at the time and in kindergarten. i think they have to follow a set recipe for testing the students rather than choose what they think willy-nilly.
anyway, this co-worker of DH's was very helpful in helping us navigate the IEP and assessment process. perhaps you could talk to one of the counselors at the school to get a list of all of the tests/assessments that they do. many of these tests are well-known and not made at random. for example, when DS was 6 years old, he had a speech therapist, learning disability specialist, & psychologist evaluate his academic, cognitive and social attributes.
when you get this list of tests that will be performed, you can post it on this board and we'd be happy to comment on our knowledge of those tests from our experiences.
this is a private neuropsych. Middle/high school contract out for neuropsych evals (probably dont do as many as elementary). That is why I'm happy. They did a school one last year. This same woman did hers 4 years agoa dn diagnosed her learnig disabilty. We're hoping to define better where her deficiencies (?sp) are. Whether related to her NLD or her ADHD. Double whammy! She will then join our meeting for new IEP which will be very helpful! She requires her work modified significantly and its a lot of work for them. She is getting B's and C's for grades though so it's working. It is quite difficult for her though.[QUOTE=Diane V]I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, they are paying for it. The comment about not paying for a re-eval was directed to Bethann who was asking about having her son re-evaluated.
For my daughter they are paying for the eval and for the psychologist to attend her IEP meeting. I am not sure they know how to teach to her. She does have a co-existing LD.
[/QUOTE] Diane - oh! OK. thanks!