My son's teacher thinks he is suffering with ADD (IEPs, grade, cost)

[jln69]

Dr. Shigley in Raleigh is very good. He is off of Glenwood ITB.

When we lived in MA, the school psychologist was supposed to provide an evaluation for you. All you have to do is write a letter stating that you want your child to have a full core evaluation and per the law they need to do it within a certain number of days or they are not in compliance. Does anyone know if this is true with NC? Could potentially save you some money.

[mnrsoba]

I take my children to Jeffers, Mann and Artman - I am sure that they probably work with a good pediatric pychologist that can test him. Also remember that boys learn very differrently than girls and he may not be ADD. Also there is also cognitive behavioral therapy - medication should be the last resort (in my opinion). Hang in there.

[4alark]

I have heard great things about Dr. Beth Murnane as a Pediatrician (Sunrise Peds, Raleigh), Dr. Daniel Moran (Moran Peds, Apex) and Growing Child Peds (Dr Poole et al in Ral & Wake Forest). Both Duke and UNC offer high level diagnostic services as well as Raleigh Neurology (John Wooten). You'll find many talented doctors and therapists here in the Triangle.

There are several private schools in the Triangle that offer programs for AD/HD.

Our son has been diagnosed for more than 10 years and as a result of being on meds and in therapy he has been able to learn effectively what it feels like to be in control and now can model that behavior in a situations like peer pressure, driving and more. It worked for us. Each family should make their own decision.

Read more. Go to the parent information section in your school's Media Center or the Public Library and check out some movies and books to give you more information. You are your child's best advocate--for life.

[jamangirl]

An evaluation for your son is certainly something to consider as are the suggestions on diet changes. I have seen them work in a couple boys. I saw a PBS special a couple years ago that put all this in perspective for me- called Raising Cain. It really opened my eyes as to what we expected our boys to be doing in class and how some teachers understand boys better than others. Another example is how we expect active h=boys to sit still for long periods when many are hands on learners but don't get that opportunity. I know that my son's teacher thought he may have ADHD a few years back and in the end, did not receive the diagnosis. I think he was just full of energy and was not able to focus sometimes because he was curious, other things distracted him and he was highly physically acitive in a school that had cut recess and gym was limited to once per week. Today he is in high school , in all honors classes and can focus without a problem. But I do highly recommend trying to see that show if possible. Google PBS and raising Cain- good info on their website as well.

[Emma1202]

Originally Posted by amcjap

What works for one person may not work for another and vice versa. Everyone is different so it's just not fair to criticize one method over another. You have to do what you feel is right for your child. The meds are not a cure all and it can take months of tweaking to get just the right dose but once there, you don't wind up with a zombie.

My favorite books on the subject were Driven to Distraction and the sequel Delivered from Distraction written by two doctors with ADHD. It gives great insight into what happens when ADHD goes undiagnosed and what can be accomplished once you know how to live with it. They also don't view it as a negative thing which I found refreshing. After reading these books, you will recognize a lot of people you know. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a better understanding of how some brains work.

Good luck.

I have to second that. I was one of those people who did not believe ADHD even existed and when our son's kindergarten teacher mentioned her concerns over his distractibility years ago, I rejected her suggestion to check into it. For the next six years, we happened to change his diet (he has celiac and cannot eat gluten which means very few processed food) and he did seem to improve in terms of focus and memory. But as the years went, although he is a straight A student and is in all honors classes in Middle School, we couldn't help but notice that he was different. He couldn't focus for more than a few seconds in a group setting and even one on one he had a hard time staying with you. He could not follow 3 step directions without getting distracted, he was forgetful, interupted constantly, and more importantly he didn't seem to be able to learn from direct or natural consequences. His lack of focus wasn't willful, it was genuinely involuntary.

Although his grades were not an issue at all and he's a well behaved, respectul, agreeable child, the social impact of his inability to stop and focus at will and the effect on his self esteem finally forced us to go see our pediatrician. He is a boy and some of his behavior was typical, but some of it wasn't just being a boy. We found that there is a cost for letting a child struggle and assume that he would grow out of it, or that he could pay attention if he really wanted to. Our son grew to hate the way his brain works which was heart breaking given that he so wants to do the right thing and is not defiant at all by nature.

After months of asking questions and a thorough evaluation, he was diagnosed with ADHD. Reading Delivered From Distraction was tremendously helpful for us and although I fought the decision to put him on meds tooth and nails initially, I also realized that our son was trying as hard as he could and adapting our parenting strategies was not enough. The issue was not one of discipline or diet, his brain simply works differently.

I do believe whole heartedly that meds are not THE solution, but in our case, we have found that they can be a small piece of the solution. Our parenting is crucial, and his diet is important, as is his playing sports each day. We feel that meds don't solve the problem. They are not an excuse to not step up as a parent and do your job of teaching your child. And they are not an excuse for him to not be held to the same standards as the rest of the kids. Meds don't make our son pay attention. If he feels like zoning out in one of his classes or choses to not pay attention to the teacher's direction, the meds can't change that. There was no personality change at all for us, BUT the meds do "clear the fog" enough that he is able to choose to focus and so that he can learn organizational strategies to work with the way his brain works.

In the process of his diagnosis, we found that I myself have ADHD (ironic since I argued with our doctor initially that the disease was made up to make children into zombies!) and I function fine without medication. Over the years, I have learned coping strategies that work well for me; I have chosen a profession that takes advantage of those traits; and have found a husband who is very toterant of my distractibility and takes advantage of my ability to hyperfocus . As an adult, I actually think having ADHD can be a great asset --even with its drawbacks. We intend on having our son on meds for a couple of years while he develops effective strategies and eliminate the meds over time as he learns to harness his brain and the need for meds disappears (or at least diminishes greatly)

The bottom line is that for us, we weighted the emotional and physical drawbacks of taking medication versus the emotional and physical impact of not medicating, and we made the choice to incorporate medication as part of our strategy. It was the right choice for us, but I would suggest being very careful to get in the care of a top notch doctor who, as a rule, is reluctant to medicate.

[htmlfamily]

Originally Posted by sls76

Be careful. I think ADD is terribly overdiagnosed (especially in boys) and I would be very hesitant to medicate a child for what might be a behavioral problem or just a creative personality. School is geared toward analytical children and non-analytical children really suffer because many teachers fail to accomodate children that don't sit still and do as told. I was at a learning styles conference at our church and the speaker said something amusing, but thought provoking--"What if we're medicating the wrong people?" (i.e., maybe the kids who sit still and listen and do as told are the ones who should be medicated). Anyway, just some food for thought.

Good advise and Great Insight!!!

[raleighnative_25]

What test the therapist do? I have been to 2 pediatricians who have the questions and quick to write a prescription. It has to me more to it than that.

[BayVillage]

I'm wondering how many of us who grew up "back in the day" would have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. I'm sure my brothers and I would have been. And we have all grown up to be productive, educated, gainfully employed, prosperous individuals.

[annesg]

First, check out The Feingold Diet Program for ADHD. It has been a miracle to my family. Good luck!

[sarahw]

Originally Posted by sbanawan

My wife is a child psychologist, so we know ADHD well (ADD is an old term - the proper diagnosis is named Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Inattentive Type. NB: I'm an adult psychologist). Yes, ADHD is over-diagnosed. Yes, medicating a child needlessly can be problematic.

But, and this is important, untreated ADHD is bad news for your child. Get a good diagnostician and ask lots of questions. Fill out questionnaires honestly, make sure your school gets their questionnaires back to the assessor.

The second worst thing that could happen to your child is having undiagnosed ADHD. The first worst: having untreated ADHD because you were too willful to go to a professional. My 2¢.

I was 43 when I read Edward M Hallowell's book, driven to distraction. I have never related to so many people in my life and getting the diagnosis was a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders. At the same time, I felt really sorry for myself for a while....what I may have been if only I'd known earlier....

The relief my son also felt when he was diagnosed at 11 was very apparent. I say find a good child study team and talk to them. Read, read, read, visit CHADD online and read some more, so you can make educated decisions. If your son ends up having to go on medication, don't panic, it's fine, but remember it is not a panacea, you will still need to work on organizational skills and learn tricks to help him, help himself. Good luck, it's very stressful in the beginning, and working with school to get the help needed can sometimes be a pain in the $%#%$, but the stress and sadness of remaining undiagnosed is much worse.