Diagnosis, Is your son like this??? | ADHD Information

thanks for all the great advice!! Robbies mom [QUOTE=Diane V]

hi and
welcome.

What did he get the IEP for? Speech services?

IMO, I would ask for a full core evaluation. reuqest, in
writing, that the school fully evaluate him, academics, neuropsych,
speech/language. At 6 1/2 you can get some solid testing done. You can
(on paper) get him placed where he is acdemically, they will pick up on (if
any) portential LD's. If he is that far behind academically retnetion is not a
bad idea, especialyl fi you can have the itme to tease out any issues going
on and get services/modifications in place. Try not to jump to the
conlusion he needs meds to get by, find out what is going on first and if
meds are an option educate yourself and cross that bridge if you come to
it. It's really not the end of the world, no one wants to do it, but if they're
needed it can change his life around. Keep reading, and IMO get the ball
rolling, schools move at a snails pace.

[/QUOTE] Thanks to everyone for all the advice. He has had a full evaluation from the
school. He is a below average student.He is on IEP and he is getting speech,
reading and OT. His ear infections no longer bother him. He never had any
hearing loss. Thank god!! We always blame his speech for his developmental
delays. But we are finding out they are related. I am going to send him to a physiologist and I don't want to prescribe meds just yet. Boys at this age are
all over the place. But I also do want to see him struggle. We need to teach
him to cope with his disability. Wish me luck!!

My biggest advice is KEEP on the school. Keep evaluating him if he stays below average and find out if he has an LD. Then if he does, learn as much as you possible can about it and ADVOCATE for him. Make sure his specific need is addressed. It's SO hard for kids with LD's who also have ADHD, they have a hard time learning as it is, then add not being able to focus or attend to the boring tasks at hand in school and it's extremely difficult for them. He will fall further and further behind. Be sure in his IEP's you have specific goals and ways for them to "prove progress".

My son is also 6 yrs. old & in the 1st grade. He had numerous ear infections & finally in 2006 he had his tonsils removed & tubes placed in his ears. He also had ADHD. This did help him sleep better. I am going through the same problems at school.

It is not to early to dx ADHD. There are many parents here who's children were dx between the ages of 4-7. My son was dx at 6 and so was my nephew. I TOLD my son's ped. that I wanted the ADHD testing done. It was not a matter of asking. The appt. was made that day to see the psycologist. There is generally a waiting list for psyc's. We had to wait 2 1/2 months but we got in there and he was dx'd with ADHD and ODD. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down with these doctor's and don't take NO for an answer.

Good Luck to you

Tracie

This is my first time posting. My son Robbie, is 6 1/2 and is in the first
grade. He has always seemed to have attention issues. Earlier on he had
lots on ear infections a few sets of tubes. Which led to speech issues and
we always seemed to blame things on that. He has a summer birthday but
we decided to send him on to first grade rather than having him repeat
kindergarten. Well, he is struggling. He has actually regressed since
december. His reading is not getting better. He is reading at a beginning
kindergarten level. He was finally place on a IEP midway thru the school
year. He has difficulty organizing, pay attention, completing tasks,
frustration,forgetfulness. Homework is getting more difficult for all of us.
He doesn't seem to want to do homework any more. I can't believe we are
already dealing with homework issues and he is only in the first grade.
First he has started out with speech issues. He wasn't able to say
grammatical sentences. He has difficulty with word retrieval. HIs speech is
getting much better. Other than that he is a great kid, very humorous,
very athletic, excels in sports, has lots of friends, does not have behavior
issues. His teachers have asked if I have spoken to my pediatrician which
I have. The teachers have not suggested that he had ADHD but I know
that they think he does. I asked my pediatrician and she thinks it is to
early to diagnose him for adhd. But the more and more I look into ADHD
my son fall right into predominantly inattentive adhd. Children as early as
age 3 are diagnoosed with ADHD. Do you think that my pediatrician is
being too conservative? I know how they are quick to put kids on meds.
But I just want to do everything I can to help my son. He is losing
confidence and self-esteem. His teacher has already suggested that he
should repeat first grade. Which my husband and I are ok with that, we
already knew if our minds he was going to repeat. I don't want him to
struggle in school anymore, he is starting to become aware that all the
other kids are smarter than him. He tells me that he can't keep up. His
brain just doesn't register quick enough and he doesn't like to raise his
hand to ask his teacher to repeat something. If he is doing something
that he enjoys he has complete focus, but if it is something that
challenges him mentally he strays. Please, I am hoping there is someone
who can relate and give me recommendations on what my next step
should be?   Do you think if he goes on meds and continues his therapy
that we will see an improvement? I am just nervous about the meds? Also
any tips on his diet that could help or hurt? I heard bad thing about candy
with red dye, is this true? JavaScript:AddSmileyIcon('') Thanks, Robbie's
Mom

hi and welcome.

What did he get the IEP for? Speech services?

IMO, I would ask for a full core evaluation. reuqest, in writing, that the school fully evaluate him, academics, neuropsych, speech/language. At 6 1/2 you can get some solid testing done. You can (on paper) get him placed where he is acdemically, they will pick up on (if any) portential LD's. If he is that far behind academically retnetion is not a bad idea, especialyl fi you can have the itme to tease out any issues going on and get services/modifications in place. Try not to jump to the conlusion he needs meds to get by, find out what is going on first and if meds are an option educate yourself and cross that bridge if you come to it. It's really not the end of the world, no one wants to do it, but if they're needed it can change his life around. Keep reading, and IMO get the ball rolling, schools move at a snails pace.

My child had lots of ear infections as a baby and toddler but no speech problems but  yes to ADHD.