9 year old diagnosed 3/25/10 | ADHD Information

today i made the official request to have him tested for special education. its amazing how dodgey it seems the school system gets when you start actually asking them for something. so i figured this way i can get everything started and hopefully get him the help he needs by the time he starts 4th grade. i don't even know if he needs accomidations because i'm not sure what the ADHD really prevents him from doing that other kids can do. like i said before i'm still doing alot of reading. i think i'm starting to calm down and organize my thoughts and starting pace myself. cuz when they first get diagnosed you're so eager to help.

i'm still holding off on medication but i'm more open to it than i was before coming to the forum. my son seems fine to me. yeah a bit hyper and a bit easily distracted. . . . ok a lot hyper and very easily distracted but that's how i know him. i know you all know what i'm feeling. i'll have to talk to the husband more about it and see what his thoughts are on medication. lol. hes not much of a talker.

wow! thanks for all the advise. I know i definitely need to get with his teachers. He's also in GT at school. He loves GT even though i think its a bit too advance but he seems to do well. Its just one more thing to try to keep him organized at. His main teacher seems somewhat willing to help. I think she's just not sure how. So that's why i'm reading and getting advice from all of you. His GT teacher is less willing. I am not sure what her problem is. So i can't say i enjoy working with her.

I guess its tough deciding to get all that testing done because when i was in school "special ed" always had some bad stigma attached to it. i guess i'm afraid of that for my son. I think i'm going to go thru with the testing and see what information that provides. I will have to get everything in writing from his doctor because the school he attends doesn't really seems to enjoy doing much unless they have to.

reading all the posts i see all these different types of doctors the kids go to. my son saw a psychologist who tested him and then provided the diagnosis. What are all these different kinds of doctors and what do you like about them better than going to another??? i'm wondering if going to a psychologist is best or if i should probably see a diff type of doctor.

thanks for all the help guys. its helping calm my nerves!!!!

My son sees a psychopharmacologist for his medications. My pediatrician referred us. He informed us how he isn't a specialist in this field of medicine. We are very happy with our psychopharm. There are so many meds to chose from it just takes time to find the right one and the right dose. I also felt comfortable using this type of doctor for a small child, my son was 7 when we began meds.

Also, the letter requesting an evaluation for your child is given to the special education department, NOT is current teachers. Special ed will organize the evaluation. They have X number of business days (days the children are in school) to complete the evaluation. It does take time. With the school year starting to wind down, you may want to get going on it. Special ed can also help guide you.

Special ed is no big deal, now a days. It is amazing the number of children receiving "extra help" these days. I don't think it is as stigmatized as it was when I too was growing up, but then again, I may be wrong.

Keep us posted and ask any questions!!

I agree.  I don't think there is as much stigma with special ed as there used to be.  My son is in special ed in public school and it has been great for him.  He tried a regular class and was having a very hard time.  His self esteem started to suffer.  He does very well in the special ed class and has his confidence back. 

My son is also on medication (the ONLY thing that has ever really helped him!) so we see a psychaitrist.  They specialize in medications and if you decide at some point to try medication I would recommend going to a specialist of some type.  (Psychiatrist, psychopharm. etc).  We got the original diagnosis from a psychologist.  I think that's pretty typical but they can't prescribe medication so we moved to another doctor quickly.

well, after a tough night i had to find some kind of support and stumbled on to this forum. I am in the learning stages right now. Reading everything and anything. I think i may be feeling overwhelmed with all the information out there. I want to know from all the parents out there......looking back at when your child was first diagnosed what advice would you give a newbie like me?

Our tough areas are getting homework done without a fight and making sure he brings everything home from school.

I was told now that he is diagnosed that the school can make accomidations for him but i have no idea what he needs.

I am just lost right now. don'tknow what to do or how to even start deciding on what i need to do.

We hired a tutor for Math and the tutor thinks my daughter is so sweet,
which is certainly not our experience when helping her with math. We have
the tutor work on worksheets she has not finished in school for the week,
and although expensive, it's worth every penny. I wish I could afford to
have the tutor 5 days/week, but at least we have one easy day.

have the school evaluate your son for learning disabilites. You need to put it in writing first. This is to decide if he qualifies for an IEP or a 504 plan. My son is now 12 1/2 and in 7th grade. He began with the IEP but is now on a 504. The 504 is due to him still needing speech and allows him special accommodations like aisle seats, close to the front, etc. He is smart so he doesn't require one on one teaching or small groups. But this is something you may want, as well as accommodations to help him be organized.

Please ask us any questions, we have all been in your shoes.

Also, have you thought of medication? We were afraid of it so we didn't start until 2 years after his diagnoses. My biggest regret. If you have the correct diagnosis, then medication help truly help your child in academic and social settings.

Please let us know where we can be of any help and support!

Hi Zac2000,

I can surely relate to how you are feeling right now. It is overwhelming in the beginning, but it DOES get better. You have the most important tool you need right now, and that is a diagnosis. It's not your job to figure out what your son needs as far as school, it's the school's job to do that. And yes, it is correct that with a diagnosis, you can get accomodations and services for your son. It's really important that you do what Bethann suggested, and contact the school ASAP because sometimes coordinating these meetings takes some time. Our son is only in kindergarten, but his school has been terrific with the services they provide him. I find that communication is of the utmost importance. Our kids are usually more challenging for their teachers and it's really important to establish a good relationship with them. Medication was the answer for us, but that doesn't mean it is for everyone. We tried many different avenues before making this decision. Good luck and please reference this board often, because I have found that someone here has "been there, done that" for almost every question I have had!

I got the most info outside the school. My son's neuropsychologist was key.

Don't give up. It's a long uphill battle - that suddenly turns into a great life
for your and your kid.

thanks epokey for all the advice. i will look up that book and see what its all about.

yeah i'm going t have some kind of plan for my son at school. i think anything to help him get thru school is for the best. i'm more concerned about when he hits 4th grade. because alot of my friends say that fourth grade is where alot of the work begins.

i've been working with him alot more lately. he needs alot of one on one time. i think the whole diagnosis is hard on me and my husband because we have to dedicate alot more of our time to our son now that we know why he is having the problems he's been having.

My son was diagnosed when he was 7 and now he is 11 and I am still trying to figure it all out and reading as much as I can and asking tons of questions.  Have you gone on Chaad's website?  http://www.chadd.org/  This has a lot of information on adhd.  I have found it helpful along with this group and talking with doctors.  My son actually sees a pychiatrist for his medication, which right now he is on 54mg of Concerta and then 10mg of methyphenadate in the afternoon.  One thing to keep in mind is one thing that works for one child may not work for another.  There are a lot of different medications out there.  A lot of time it's trial and error.  As far as the school goes if you send a letter to the head of Special Education requesting an evaluation and accomadations for your child they only have a certain amount of time before they must reply.  But they may keep putting you off until you put it in writing.  My son is very smart and does not have learning disabilities however I do have a 504 plan for him.  Some of the accomadations he has is sitting in an area (upfront) that isn't distracting.  Having an extra set of books at home, making sure the the teacher makes sure he understands assignments, having a heads up for pop quizes and tests, special study hall.  The accomadations can include anything that your child might need to succeed.

A great book that I am in the middle of myself is Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey (both are MD's with Add)..It's really an eye opener of what a person with ADHD is going through.

Good Luck

Our son was diagnosed at 5 in Pre-K and is now 7 1/2 in 1st grade.  You have come to the right place for help & support, I found this site early on & it really helped me along the way as far as gaining knowledge of meds and also learning that my husband & I were not along in our struggle.  The most important things are reading & gaining as much knowledge as you can, the more you know, the more you can help your son.  The other important thing is to be the advocate for your son with that knowledge.  Personally, we tried meds first thing.  We had already been dealing with the "busy" behavior for a couple of years & were at our wits end.  DH wasn't on board at first but then he realized that it wasn't about his pride, but that it was about helping our son succeed.  It's been a rollercoaster, I'm not going to tell you it's easy, but the longer you live it & the more information you can get...the easier it is to live with.  As far as school, our son goes to a private school so IEP's & 504 are foreign to me.  Fortunately our school has been very good in dealing w/our son & we have very open communication with the staff.  Because of this, I feel it's very important to have open communication with the school about his condition & meds.  They are with your child more than you are during the course of the day so it's important for them to know what's going on so they can be a part of helping.  I know some people have negative experiences in being open w/their school and I think that is very unfortunate, hopefully you have a positive experience. 

Good luck to you & your family.  There will be ups & downs but you will get through it and coming to this forum will help you immensly, so keep it as a favorite.