Does he have it or not?!?!? | ADHD Information

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I will have him evaluated.Background info. My son is 10yrs old and had delayed so he went had a speech teacher from 3-6yrs old.  In first grade he just was not reading where he should be so we kept him back and when he did 1st again, he was great, a few focus issue but great, 2nd grade he has focus issues but still maintaines A-B honor roll same in first grade, 3rd grade same focus issues but he had straight A's all year!! Now, 4th grade, he's just screwing up so bad. He has A & B's on his first 6wks and not all the sudden he's doing really bad in Math but he can do the work, its like he's looking around the room or whatever then the teacher say 5 mins left then he starts and of course he doesnt get them right.  I know he has focus issues but he's always gotten over them as far as his school work goes and has always done so well.  I am tired of yelling and crying and all that stuff.  He's not aggressive or mean and he will listen but this school thing is killing all of us. We sit and talk and then the next minute he's laughing and playing and he just does not relize how important his grades are but he should he's 10!!! His homework has always been a challange, but the other night he had 20 division problems and it took him 4 hours to do!!! But if you were in the room he would do it right and it only took him  a few minutes, but when u leave he " just cant do it". Do ya'll think he has ADD?  Can they do a blood test or something to determine it or just a word of mouth evaluation? Thanks

The diagnosis is based on questionaires from parents and teaches, IQ tests, ruling out other things, etc. A smart kid can compensate for learning disorders (ADHD, dyslexia, etc) for quite a while. You might start with an educational psychologist to look for learning disorders. The parent site for this message board has a lot of info on ADHD:

http://www.adhdnews.com/

Prior to diagnosis and treatment, my youngest never got through her homework without me sittin next to her telling her "now do the next problem". With treatment, she does most of her homework without help and excels in math. My oldest would lose everything and forget to do her work or finish it and she never quite understood the instructions. She now is in honors math and can "hear" the teacher's instructions. Both kids are considered twice exceptional (gifted plus learning disorder). Proper treatment and help from school has helped both of them excel and feel good about themselves.

Whatever route you take and what you find through the diagnostic and potential treatment journey, you will find help and support here.

I agree with above post. Prior to diagnosis and meds, ds would take soooo
long to do work and I would have to really be on him or sit with him. He still
needs individual attention (8 years old - 2nd grade). He is very bright and
does not have LD, but does have ADHD and Anxiety.

Get your child tested for ADHD and LD. See what is going on (if anything)
and take it from there. Each child has a different learning style. Work with
the school and teacher. Break down work into small sections and give him
breaks, read the instructions to him, give only one or two instructions at a
time, etc. A thorough evaluation now will help in the long run. As they go
on in grades, more is expected of them and they need to get more
responsible and independent. You will figure this out.