Hi! 2 kids with poss. ADHD

[momto3wolves]

Hi everyone, I finally found an active forum! Woohoo! I have 2 sons, ages 5 and 7, and a daughter who's 3. My sons may have ADHD, but aren't diagnosed yet. We are focusing on the oldest right now and I recently requested an educational evaluation from the school. After that, they said a psych. eval. would diagnose for ADHD, but the guidance counselor told me it would be better for him if I had him eval'ed privately. Anyone done this thru the school, or otherwise?

My 5 yo is, in my eyes, definitely going to be diagnosed and I am afraid he's going to be in trouble all of the time. He's just so impulsive. I'm afraid the principal is going to have me on speed dial.

[momto3wolves]

Ugh, I hit the wrong button! Anyway, so far my daughter seems nice and calm...hehe. I was probably an ADD kid, but no one ever noticed.

I'm glad I finally found a forum for ADHD that's not dead!

Jen

[amcfanny]

Hi Jen - welcome to the board.


With my kiddo...I just requested an eval through a phone conference with the school. They filled out all paperwork and I filled out a questionnaire to include with it. Then they gave me the package to take to the doctor. I never saw a psyche but seems like every one else I read about has.

[Linda]

Hi and welcome ...yes we are a very active forum...we also have a lot of fun...it reduces stress

We just did the eval. through the school...but I would be interested in why the counselor suggested you do it privately.

Speed dial? been there done that ;D ;D ;D ;D

[momto3wolves]

Thanks for the warm welcome! The guidance counselor didn't say what her reasons were, but I've read on other support groups that the testing done through the school can be biased, in favor of the school district. Basically the people were saying that the therapists that work for the school district were minimazing their child's problems so that they (school) didn't have to pay for his therapy, extra help. I guess it happens...

So that's why I was asking...our pediatrician recommended taking them to the children's hospital, so they would get a comprehensive eval. We're doing the educational eval first though, as the older one has some trouble with handwriting, certain concepts. The guidance counselor did say that the ed. eval will give a 'hint' at attention problems, so we'll go from there.

I'm glad you all have fun here, I need that! The computer is my escape!

J

[savvymom1]

I recommend private testing and here is why:

When my dd's 2nd grade teacher and I both suspected my dd might have ADD, I called and discussed it with our pediatrician. He sent us three ADHD questionaires in the mail. One for me, one for my husband and one for her teacher. We were not supposed to compare notes--just answer the questions about her behaviors. It was a thorough survey.

A few days later, I took the 3 completed surveys with me into a regular dr. appt. with him (I did not bring dd). He looked over and scored the questionaires and said he concluded that, yes, she does have ADD. He also had the benefit of observing her over the last seven years at regular check-ups. She displayed the same problems/behaviors, across the board with all of us.

I was a little overwhelmed at first but my dd started meds the next day and we saw an immediate, significant change in her behaviors. She went from being an average student to straight A's! She is now in 5th grade and still an A student. When off of meds--Oh, boy, she is a space case.

All this to say, we had a diagnosis of ADD in a week or so, instead of waiting for the up to 40 days the school system can drag this out. We didn't have to deal with school psychologist or psychiatrists. We had the comfort of our family pediatrician giving us a diagnosis we could take back to the school. It only cost us a $30 co-pay for the office visit. It was well worth it to feel like we were in control of the process instead of sitting at home wondering what the school would eventually uncover. By the way, I am a teacher assistant at dd's school, and I still think this was the best way to go.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck to you and your kiddos!

[finnmom]

Jen and welcome to our online family.

I cant help you with the eval-question, but I hope you get those boy´s of your evaluated if they need to be, knowing the real thruth is always a good start, make´s it easier to help you shildren.

Welcome again.

[camismom]

Hi Jen and WELCOME!!!! I'm glad you found us as well and hope you come to join us frequently in our vents, advise, and most of all FUN!!!

My daughter was dx'd through her school, and it took almost the whole year. I think it was started in early October and not complete until early April. She started on meds shortly after. Looking back now, for her sake, I wish I had gone another route to speed it up. I was then, and am now, a employee of the school district that did her eval and at the time I thought it was the only way to do it. I had seen enough ADHD though in my then job to know she had it. After it was all done by the school, they turned over their results to me and I then took them to Cam's ped. He looked over it all and agreed with the school's dx. Though I love my child, I have never doubted it.

Hope you find your answers (and relief! lol) soon!

Welcome aboard!

[Amsmom]

momto3wolves (i love your name!!)
i dont know how i missed welcoming you, so sorry.
i can see you have already jumped in with posts and that is great, we love that!!!!

we all know what youre going through and are here for you!!

[momto3wolves]

Thanks! Actually, I think I may take him to our local children's hospital to do the ADHD eval., but he's being evaluated for learning disabilities first, because he already has a dysgraphia diagnosis. We'll probably do the same when his brother goes to first grade, since his ADHD isn't causing problems with learning yet. Now I know to push harder though, because it took the whole year to get everything moving with the school system, and he hasn't even been eval'ed yet!

The problem with having the school do it is they want evidence that it's causing school issues, and in the beginning of the year, there isn't any!

[SKay]

I'm kind of in the same boat you are right now. I'm going through the dr office instead of the school district. DS doesn't go to public school so they might give us a hard time about evaluating him even though they are supposed to do it. (We are tax-payers, but I guess that doesn't matter to them.) DS will get a more thorough evaluation this way anyway. We are fortunate in that DS's pediatrician has shifted his practice to diagnosing and treating ADHD. So we have the advantage of the dr knowing him from day 1. Our first appt is Aug. 8. That will be just parents meeting with someone to discuss "all about [our son]." I guess this will be when they ask about his birth, when he started walking, talkling, etc. It will be 1 1/2 hours long, not counting the time it takes me to fill out the paperwork. The next appt. will be with the ped. a week later for a complete physical. The third appt. will be the big one where DS meets with a psych. for 3 hrs., getting an IQ test and the works. The final appt. will be with all 3 drs to discuss the results. I'm really dreading the process, but from the reading I've done, this is the best/most accurate way.

[momto3wolves]

SKay, That sounds like a very thorough evaluation. Our local children's hospital has a clinic for ADHD, and their appt. is only an hour and a half. I wonder if that includes IQ testing? I'll have to ask.

He's being evaluated for learning problems also, so maybe they'll do the IQ testing at school.

[milesofsmiles]

Hi Jen,

My wife and I are parents to an 8 yo son. From age 3, the daycare started noticing he was not like the other children. We had him evaluated by the school and at the time thought he had issues with sensory integration and lagging development with some of his motor skills. He was enrolled in an early childhood program for and occupational therapy from age 4. Then after a couple years of preschool, they were suspecting that he had some traits of ADD. Over the summer we had him evaluated by a child psychologist, who included all of his teachers, daycare providers, doctors, parents and relatives. It came back that yep, he had the traits of ADD with a little HD (he sure is a talker). We are pretty active with the school in keeping them informed on his out of school therapy.

I think it is important to go outside the school for evaluation because that is only one side of your kids life. There is so much going on outside of school, and kids tend to act differently in different environments.

Miles