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My 9 year old son is very bright but struggles in class. He daydream all the time both at home and at school. He doesn't focus, will not complete tasks if someone is not at him all the time. He will not pay attention. He is also easily distracted. His teacher told me all these signs are children who suffer with ADD. I've tried doing a lot of stuff with him at home to help him focus, but it just doesn't help the situation. Can anyone recommend a doctor in Raleigh who can evaluate my son? Also I feel terrible putting him on pills if it comes to that. Can anyone give me some advise on that?
Sorry to hear he's having a rough time! Your school guidance counselor should have a list of professionals who could help you with an evaluation. I wouldn't worry too much about medication yet until he's been evaluated and you come up with a plan.
Good Luck!
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.
My son was also accused of being ADD at an early age. The 2nd grade teacher also indicated that he was uncoordinated and incapable of fine motor skills.
When she learned that he frequently walked the top rail of a chain link fence and was building computers at home from spare parts, she changed her mind about the ADD diagnosis. It turns out that he was just not interested in her lesson plan. He pays good attention whenever he felt like it and daydreamed when bored.
My 9 year old son is very bright but struggles in class. He daydream all the time both at home and at school. He doesn't focus, will not complete tasks if someone is not at him all the time. He will not pay attention. He is also easily distracted. His teacher told me all these signs are children who suffer with ADD. I've tried doing a lot of stuff with him at home to help him focus, but it just doesn't help the situation. Can anyone recommend a doctor in Raleigh who can evaluate my son? Also I feel terrible putting him on pills if it comes to that. Can anyone give me some advise on that?
Thanks so much.
What school district are you in? I know that Chapel Hill/Carborro has the Special Needs Advisory Council (SNAC). Like similar organizations up here in Massachusetts, it serves to advocate for programs for children with special needs in the schools, and it's also a resource for parents with concerns about programs or looking for direction as to finding help for their kids. You might see if your school district has a similar organization. If you are in Chapel Hill/Carborro, there's contact information for many group representatives at webpage linked above.
They said the same thing about my daughter. She is with a wonderful teacher this year and that has made all the difference. I told them point blank, I will not medicate my child, there are other ways to deal with this if indeed she has ADD. That is your JOB.
kck69 - first, as you will learn as you pursue this possibility, ADD is hard to pinpoint because it could be so many other things or it could be nothing at all - at least from a diagnosis standpoint. It is also over-diagnosed as some have already pointed out. ADD is part of a (this is a word you will hear a lot) "spectum disorder" - too long to go into here and I hate applying the term disorder to this because I don't view my son as "disordered".
My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD a little over a year ago. He is a wonderful, sensitive, caring and inquisitive little guy. Being diagnosed with ADHD hasn't changed that at all. We reluctantly came to the realization that our son might have ADD or ADHD about half way through his kindergarten school year, but the signs were there a year or two earlier. We did discuss this with his teacher and she agreed it might be a possibility. Actually, I think she was about to approach us anyway about it, much like your son's teacher approached you. Keep in mind that teachers are not qualified to provide a diagnosis, but they are an important part of the process both leading up to a diagnosis and post-diagnosis.
The next step was to talk to his pediatrician. His pediatrician engaged the school system and had them conduct a couple assessment evaluations that consisted of my wife, myself, his teacher and one other teacher each independently answering a series of questions. Based on those assessments as well as the pediatrician's own evaluation (and questions she asked us), she provided a preliminary diagnosis of ADHD.
The next step was a referal to a therapist who specializes in ADHD. He provided a final diagnosis of ADHD. He, we and my son's pediatrician were very reluctant to put him on medication. Keep in mind that the therapist does not usually prescribe medication (most are phD's), your pediatrician will usually be responsible for that. However, after a lot of thought, discussion and evaluation we all decided to put him on a low dose of Concerta. Generally, if one doesn't have ADHD he would react to the medication through increased hyperactivity, anxiety, etc. However, our son did respond positively to the medication. His dosage was increased and he responded even better, however we do not have him on the full dose for his age/weight in order to avoid possible side effects such as ticks, etc.
My son still struggles with focus and attention and completing tasks, but on the whole he is doing well in school. He is actually a very smart kid and is above age-level in cognitive skills and vocabulary. He frequently astounds me with some of the words he uses and concepts he is able to comprehend and discuss.
I will be relocating to the Cary/Apex area in late June/early July. I very am concerned about finding a new pediatrician and new therapist who specializes in ADD/ADHD and I am concerned about WCPSS's ability to work with children who have ADD/ADHD. Naturally, I am also concerned about disrupting the progress we have made with our son up here in Connecticut. As soon as I have a contract on the house I will be talking to WCPSS and trying to find a pediatrician and therapist for our son. I'd be happy to share/compare notes if you want to PM me.
Your son may or may not have ADD/ADHD and as others have pointed out, ADD/ADHD is most probaby over-diagnosed. We really questioned it every step of the way and it took about five months from when we first mentioned it to our son's teacher until everyone agreed to the diagnosis. We were fortunate to have a pediatrician who 1) feels that ADD/ADHD is over-diagnosed and 2) is not into prescribing medication for ADD/ADHD unless it really makes sense to do so. But if your son does have ADD/ADHD - it isn't the end of the world at all and they are getting better at developing other therapeutic methods that can be used instead of medication or with a low dosage of medication. And from what I've read and the people I've talked to, especially those who have ADD or have older children with ADD - kids with ADD learn ways to handle the effects of ADD as their bodies and minds mature and eventually in adulthood they can even turn it into a strength for them in some aspects.
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 wish there could be a study done of how often students are suspected of having ADD by teachers. I believe parents would be astonished at how many times this is said, and how many times it's not true.
ADD has been diagnosed to an extreme. Besides the ADD frenzy in schools, for years now, people have been bombarded with television commercials recommending pharmaceutical drugs -- and they are drugs which have many harmful side-effects, to adults instructing us to "ask our doctor" if it's right for us. It's all so utterly dismaying.
In some cases maybe it's necessary to place a child on a medication, only after he's been thoroughly evaluated (and I would have that done by more than one person), but I would wager a guess that if this situation in our schools was investigated, people would be outraged at the number of children who are dependent on drugs to modify their behavior. Sometimes kids are just being kids.
Take it slowly and carefully, imho.
best,
toodie
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