I don't really see the hyperactivity at home, there is more of that at school but he has an audience there...
I've noticed since he was about 3 that he had a really hard time following directions. That was also about the time the anger issues started. Later, the inattention, inability to focus on just about everything, doesn't seem to listen, can't finish a task without a fit, homework is difficult before it even leaves the backpack. He loses everything, forgets many things, can't put dirty clothes in a basket for anything but can put them on the floor touching the basket. He tells me several times a week that he is stupid, he can't do anything right and even a few times has told me he wishes he weren't alive. His moods change on the spur of the moment. My mother has adult ADD, my brother has severe ADHD, one of his children has ADHD and I suspect my DH had ADD.
I live in a pretty rural part of the country but should be able to find a decent Dr about 100 miles away. DS doctor is admittedly not an expert on ADHD so I won't be taking that route for diagnoses. I don't know how much my insurance will pay but it really shouldn't matter, I'll do the right thing regarless of cost. I just had no idea where to start.
Thank you for your help. On Tuesday I will call his Dr and get a referral. He's been tested by the school but they think he has ODD and PTSD with no mention of ADD. I've read the info on both of those and while he fits a few of the requirements, it just doesn't fit.
Next year at school he'll be in a 3rd grade class with a no nonsense teacher with which he's already had a couple of run-ins. He's terrified he'll be in detention for the rest of his life. I need to start to get things in motion before he gets to that class.
Thank you again.
westy, for my 2 cents, all this stuff takes SO long to do, it's usually worth the neuropsych route. Frustration can be caused by so many things. Why not do the most comprehensive right from the getgo. Something is not right figure out what it is. PTSD and ODD symptoms can very much mimic ADHD. ADHD meds are not the treatment of choice for those disorders. Also with all the mood changes and anger ADHD meds can exacerbate mood disorders, so you'll have to be careful and need an expert. All of these things could also be casued by ADHD and once on meds and he feels more "in control" everything can improve. Why not tease the other stuff out now. Also if he has any kind of learning disability, they'll gifure that out too. This is the age LD's become evident......3rd grade. The math becomes more complex and kids start to read to learn, rather than learn to read. Frustration can be caused if school is too hard too.
Good luck, hang in there, it gets better after diagnosis, at least you know what your options are at that point.
Thanks. I really want to get this diagnosed before school starts in the fall.
Where did the post go by redux? Was is deleted?
School staff are not qualified to dx. Sounds like you need to take a more comprehensive evaluation approach. The waters are pretty muddy.[QUOTE=Jessica N]School staff are not qualified to dx. Sounds like you need to take a more comprehensive evaluation approach. The waters are pretty muddy.[/QUOTE]
It was the school phychologist. I don't rely on her testing as it was not very thorough and she relied on others to observe instead of herself. I brought up the idea of ADD to her and she said that the tests that the district is able to perform do not include ADD testing. As far as her testing went, it looked like ODD or PTSD.
She thinks he has some type of disability because one of the tests on the Wisk (sp) test they performed showed that he couldn't follow direction and he scored low on the part for recognizing several different symbols. Sorry, I don't know for sure what all that means as I wasn't allowed to see the test. Anyway, he scored 130's on verbal and 80's on this other section so she thinks he has a disability of some sort and has stated his IQ at just about 100 but most of that is verbal. She's wrong, of course. You can't put a child like this through this type of testing and come up with a correct number. IMO. I could be wrong and just being a mom but I don't think so.
I will be calling his Dr in the morning and get referrals in "the big city". I really appreciate the help all of you are so willing to give. Thank you.
The diagnosis process can be quick and simple and inexpensive or long and complex and expensive. And anything in between of course. It depends on what you select.
Quick would be a child psychiatrist or your pediatrician (not recommended). You could literally have a one hour appt with a child psychiatrist, complete a form with 5 or so questions, and leave with a diagnosis, and a prescription. These appts are usually covered by insurance. On the other end of the spectrum, you could go to a neuro-psychologist , complete a pile of forms, have 3 hrs of interview appointments followed by 9 hours of testing. The doctor might observe your child in class and at recess. He might talk to the teacher and school psychologist, and ask them to complete some forms. In the end you'd get a 15 or so page report with a comprehensive diagnosis, testing results, and classroom recommendations. You would also know if your child had co-morbids. These appts are usually not covered by insurance and cost 00-00. And then there are evaluations in the middle like a behavioral pediatrician or psychologist specializing in educational testing.
I would say it depends on how complex the problems are. Are they straight out ADHD issues? Not listening, not following instructions, not staying in seat, goofing off, unorganized, etc.... or are there anger, anxiety, depression, mood issues, etc. I'd say chose your diagnosis path with your gut, because you can literally get any kind of evaluation you want.
Hi, I'm a bit overwhelmed today. I'm looking for a place to start but searching for "I'm new here" timed out and I couldn't think of anything else to search.
My DS is not yet diagnosed with ADD. I don't know where to go. I have a friend who is a councelor that volunteered to do the assessment for his pediatrician but my friend (also ADHD) never got around to it. Now he's moving and I don't know where to go or what to do. I don't know anyone else that has a child with ADD and I don't know the steps to diagnosis. I've been reading books and trying to follow the advise but I need to know where to go next. His pediatrician, a councelor, psych?
I've been crying all day, the poor little guy just hates himself, school, life everything.
Can someone provide a link to a site that can walk me though the process of diagnosis?
Thank you
Thank you. I will check out the link. I've been reading, so far Driven to Distraction, From Chaos to Calm and I have a couple of books on CD that I need to transfer to the iPod, Calming Chaos and Delivered from Distraction.
I know I need to be informed and I'm working on that. I just had no idea where to go or how to start. The assessment was going to be done by a family friend but not a close friend of mine. He agreed to do it at no cost because my insurance sucks. I don't know what's involved with the assessment, I assumed it was only something that would tell the Dr that yes, the child is a candidate for ADD testing. It's a mute point now.
I appreciate your help.
Hi I'm new here too but pretty veteran to the ADHD mom thing. My daughter has it and we've known since she was 3, she is now 9. We didn't do anything about it until she was almost kicked out of pre-school and she was getting ready to start kindergarten. She's been on meds for 4 years now and it has been the best 4 years of our lives. I attribute part of that to the fact that we not only did meds but we started out with Behavior Therapy. I was completely against meds when we first started out but after 6 months of Behavior Therapy with very little success we started the meds and kept with the Behavior Therapy. After about a year of it all they said that they didn't need to see her anymore.
Moral of the story, meds are great and they help a lot but make sure you find some place that will also help them deal with all of it. Medicine does not fix everything and Behavior Therapy can help a child deal with what the medicine can't fix, their emotions, and learn how to work through anger.
Don't trust a pediatrician, or school to make the diagnosis. And also if you EVER feel that the doctor you choose isn't diagnosing right don't feel that you can't get a second or even third opinion (our first doc we went to was supposedly an "ADHD" expert, needless to say we got a second and correct opinion). Your his mom and you know him better than any one, go with that.
Hopes this helps