7 yr old daughter just diagnosed Adhd | ADHD Information

I suspected for a long time that my daughter had adhd. She seemed so
bright yet struggled in school (mainly focus/attention). She had a lot of
anxiety, and was definitely fidgety and active. I just got the results back
today and my suspicions were correct. The Doc also gave a couple IQ
subtest, and she did average to above average. That was the good news.
The doc was very nice and explained that the school would probably not
giver her an IEP or 504 because she is basically doing "B" work in 2nd
grade, and there needs to be a large enough discrepancy between her
ability and performance. He also said many parents of children like my
own work extra with a child so they do not fall behind which leads to a
child doing well enough so the school does not have to recognize there is
a problem. That is definitely us. I call it "mommy summer school". So
you basically have to let them fall behind before the school will provide
support, which of course parents will not do. We discussed medication
and the fact that we may be able to hold off medication until 6th or 7th
grade, when I will no longer be able to re-teach the material at home and
the when teachers do not provide the same support/attention to the
students in school, being that the teachers now are responsible for 120
students, rather than 20. After reading many posts on this site, I know
that we are really quite lucky being that she does OK for the most part.
We've been giving my daughter fish oil for about 2 months, and just
started Attentive Child (which has a good amount of Magnesium) and B6.
These supplements seem to take some time to see results so time will
tell. Good luck to all of you who are struggling with similar issues.   Does this sound like adhd issue, sensory integration issue, or what?
Today my daughter threw a crying tantrum on the way to the pediatric
dentist (a place she loves, believe it or not) because she decided to put
her hair in ponytails and they did not "feel right" once we got in the car.
In the car, she tore out the ponytails, screaming and crying that now her
her hair was messy, and could not calm down. I remained very calm,
which becomes difficult to me when she has these meltdowns over what
seems silly to me, like when none of her clothes feel right, or the
sneakers she needs to wear because its gym day don't "feel right". We
took a walk outside the dentist and she picked some flowers, then felt
better. The last 2 days have been like this, mostly over clothes, which is
so disappointing because this issue of clothes, etc feeling funny has been
so good lately. I'm wondering if its food sensitivity, as we've been
drinking lots of soda and had fast food today. I had been trying to eat
foods without artificial coloring, flavoring etc but slacked big time.   We
asked her to describe how she feels, and she said when things feel funny
she gets this funny feeling in her body and just wants to punch someone.
When this happens, nothing I do makes her feel better. Recently, I
discovered a walk in a nature type setting has helped. She never actually
gets violent, but screams, cries, her body is tense. Any ideas anyone?

It could be. My son has sensory and adhd. It was more noticeable when he was younger, he is 12 now.

An OT helped him school because it also affected his writing. He still has spacing issues with writing but mechanical pencils and him wanting to do better have really helped.

I skimmed your original post but believe you are not interested in stimulant medications. I will mention my experience with my son's adhd was that as he was getting older - from kindergarten to 1st grade, etc., the adhd was REALLY there. He could NEVER have made successfully through a day at school, yet at home, without his meds. They truly help him and he is happy. Kids are brutal at school and grades and learning can suffer.

Let me begin by saying I am NOT a med pusher. I was actually afraid of meds when my son was first diagnosed just shy of 5. We didn't want to go down the med road because of our own fears and ignorance. AND my son suffered bullying and labeling which lasted years.  It was horrible and I honestly believe it has changed my son. He is fine, don't get me wrong, but I think his social life would have been different. The change from kindergarten to first grade and carried all through elementary was devastating. A teacher's aide recently asked me about how my son was doing in middle school because she knew how bad it was for him socially in the elementary school and hoped he would have friends once he moved up.

I also belive the struggling with her education wise and reteaching shouldn't have to happen. She may qualify for a 504 or IEP plan but the school needs to evaluate her and you need to request it.

If you can gain the strength, for the sake of your daugher, I might revisit the thought of meds earlier. Your daughter is the one with adhd and you are the one who makes the decisions. She needs your help!

Please post any questions so that we may help!!

My son's psychiatrist tells me that fish oil and magnesium work very well for some people. So I hope it works for you!  My son takes fish oil but he is so severe ADHD that it would never work by itself. But from what you said it doesn't sound like your daugther is like that so it may work for her by itself. 

The decision to medicate or not is a very individual decision.  What is best for one child/family may not be the best for another.  The thought of medication is scary at first but once you see what a positive difference it can make, it's not so scary any more.  Take it from someone who knows, it can make a wonderful difference in your child's life if prescribed correctly!  It has literally allowed my son to be a little boy instead of a constant complete mess! And he hasn't had any negative health effects.  It may be something you want to look into.  It might be exactly what she needs! Good luck!

What you're describing sounds a lot like sensory integration problems.  My son would react that way to similar things (seams in socks, zippers and buttons on jeans/combing his hair) and because of his ADHD he had a hard time calming down after a meltdown started. 

The way sensory integration was explained to me is that there is a center in the brain that regulates how we react to all of the senses.  Take sound for instance.  Normally when you hear a voice talking to you, the sound goes into that center, the brain decides if it's safe or not, and then acts accordingly.  If the brain (incorrectly) says it's "unsafe" it triggers the fight-or-flight reflex.  The result can be an irrational unstopable meltdown.  My voice may sound good to my son sometimes, but other times it may sound like nails on a chalkboard to him and his reaction can be mild or severe!  The same is true if the child is sensitive to certain types of touch.  Things like hair ties, or certain types of clothes can cause it.  When your daughter says things make her feel funny and she wants to punch someone it sounds like this type of reaction. 

You definitely need a proper evaluation.  An occupational therapist can diagnose the sensory integration (or rule it out).  My son was diagnosed at 2 years old and for a while I thought this was his only diagnosis.  When he got to 3 yrs old it was clear that he had much more than just sensory problems.  He also has ADHD and REALLY needs his medicaion to function.  Good luck!

Thanks for the great info on sensory integration. Fight or flight sounds
like her reaction. I called an OT today and left a message. It's funny that
the physiologist that evaluated my daughter says there are no studies
that show OT works for this problem, but so many here say it helped. He
suggested she is looking for attention, and parents say OT works but it
really works because kids are getting that extra attention. But a few days
ago she needed to get dressed so we could go and rent a movie she
wanted, and after a meltdown because her clothes felt funny, she made
the decision to just watch a show on TV. She's my only child and I and
my husband and give her lots of attention. I think it's a real problem.
Just wish I knew what triggered it, since somedays she's not so sensitive,
and other days she's a mess. Physiologist also suggested that insurance
may not cover OT. Did insurance cover yours?mamamia,
I don't have any expertise on the sensory issues, but luckily others here do, but I did want to comment on your original post. My daughter's issues in school were/are also mainly with attention and focus (although you mention that your daughter also has anxiety, which mine does not). My DD was diagnosed during Kindergarten, and our experience definitely fits the pattern your doctor described as far as being able to cope without meds and not getting official recognition from the school.
However, even though my DD did not get a 504 until late in 5th grade, I always spoke to her teachers at the beginning of the school year (and during the year) and discussed the fact that my daughter had issues with focus and attention. ALL of her teachers (until 5th grade) voluntarily made small accommodations such as seating her near the front of the room, allowing me to "sign-off" on homework after making sure she did enough to understand the material, giving her gentle prompts to stay on task, etc. So I think it is definitely worth talking to teachers even if you can't get a formal plan. It also helped that I was able to have input on selecting my daughter's teacher each year and always got my first choice (until 5th grade). 5th grade was a disaster, but ultimately I'm thankful for it because it allowed her to get a 504 plan.
It's great that you've started the omegas. I do believe they are tremendously helpful especially when given long term. My DD has been on them in one form or another since first grade. I think you have posted in the "Alternatives and Complementary Meds" forum (?) You may also want to check out the thread on PS if you haven't already. I believe this amino acid supplement is really helping my daughter also. She is in 8th grade now and still not on meds for ADHD (on lots for asthma and allergies though). Maybe in HS or college she will need to try ADHD meds, maybe not.
Best of luck! Amazing what "Mommy Summer School" can accomplish, isn't it?
There is so much wonderful information on this site and I just want to say
"Thank You" for all who take the time to report about their experiences.
You have all given me the courage and the knowledge to get my daughter
the help that she needs!

You're very welcome!  I wish I'd found this board when we started our journey with my son! So I'm glad to help someone else who is at that point!

As far as your daughter's behavior happening just to get attention.  Maybe some of it is for that reason (anything's possible) but I doubt all of the behavior you describe is from that. My son is an only child with a lot of attention too.  I willingly admit that some of his negative behaviors are probably because he's used to getting attention or getting is way, but there is NO WAY it comes even close to explaining everything!

Some psychologists are "old fashioned" and don't buy into the OT thing, but I'm here to tell you that it's made a great difference in my son!  My son had a lot of physical problems from his sensory problems.  His vestibular system (inner ear/balance) was affected.  This made him walk funny and have loose muscle tone so he didn't walk until late (18 months) and couldn't go up and down stairs correctly until he was 4.  The OT has changed all of that and he is much better.  I just used this example because it actually has results that you can see.

My insurance does cover the OT.  I have United Health Care so I don't know about any other insurances.  Hopefully your company will allow her to go!

Good luck and keep us up to date!