<p>CF: If you don’t mind me asking, how did the diagnosis change/progress from NVLD to Aspergers? testing? I know that you can have all 3 at one time and it’s hard to tease out the specifics of where one ends and another begins.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in to agree with RobD. We have the NVLD diagnosis, which is primarily based on a very large split in the different components of her IQ scores between the verbal (high) scores and non-verbal (much lower) scores. But the psychologist who confirmed the NVLD diagnosis for me a few years ago also commented in his report that if he had tested for Asperger’s as well, he believes she would have tested as having that also. Yet our school learning specialist told me a couple of months ago that she was very certain that my D does NOT have Asperger’s (she has read the psychologist’s report, and has been observing my D over the past year or so). Sigh… D is in a K-12 school where she is very comfortable. So I think that helps tamp down the Asperger-type symptoms. They come out more strongly when she is with strangers.</p>
<p>We had him re-tested. He didn’t have any new symptoms; he was the same kid at 8 when they couldn’t find any diagnosis, at 10, when he was diagnosed with ADD, at 15 diagnosed with NVLD, and at 19 diagnosed with Aspergers.</p>
<p>And we weren’t diagnosis shopping at all. We took him in at 15 so he could get updated documentation for College Board testing, and at 19 so he could get updated documentation for college. Both times we didn’t suggest any diagnosis that we “wanted.” We just told the psychologist to use her expertise to give what she thought was the correct description of our son.</p>
<p>Great thread and some really good ideas! I am a physiologist and just want to offer one other tidbit of help. There is a lot of research now on Omega-3 and what it does for the brain (as well as the heart, and hormone regulation). There is also now proven benefits to those with ADD. My daughter has all the same struggles mentioned already, but she does much better when taking a Omega 3 supplement. Like a lot of girls with ADD, she had trouble sleeping all during her childhood (this is more common with girls with AD than boys according to research). She takes 1 mg. of Melatonin before bed and is able to get a better quality of sleep/rest than she is without it. IT gives her a much better chance for focus during the day with adequate sleep! Melatonin release and dopamine release is somehow effected by ADD and it’s not yet quite understood as to why. Of course, my disclaimer, talk to your doctor before adding any supplement (Omega 3 taken as fish oil is a natural blood thinner and there are some people that need another form produced by algae). </p>
<p>Other mention: I am in no way saying, “take this and it will all go away”! I am not anti-med. at all. I am merely offering a small piece of what has been helpful to us.</p>
<p>And by the way, Evergreen is on her list! :)</p>
<p>Nice tip about the Omega 3. I’ve recently started taking it (ok, I mean I bought it and took it for 3 days straight, then keep forgetting) and I had wanted D1 to try. She is a big fan of the melatonin; she has a hard time shutting down at night. Interestingly, she had a history of night terrors when younger, and sleepwalking as she got older (she told me she was sleepwalking just the other night.)</p>
<p>I suspected something like Aspergers years before the LD school stuff popped up. But no one else ever saw it. Still don’t know if we have the right “label” not that it matters. She’s happy and functioning. But I have had to tell her on a few occasions that a boy may have been trying to pick her up…</p>
<p>LOL, RobD, we have exactly the same experience with D. She is quite pretty, and boys buzz around quite a bit. She is pretty clueless most of the time about it (and it really freaks her out when they ask her out…).</p>
<p>^^^made HS much easier for us parents compared to some of the stories our friends told us ;)</p>
<p>Agreed, no complaints about that part :D</p>
<p>Love this thread! My question is how do you get them to “buy in” that they need a system? Just got the ADD diagnosis on my high school aged sons, but they seem content to be living a disaster. Not really content, but they don’t see the connect between the slipping grades and the constantly forgeting things, no planner, folded papers found in their pockets on wash day etc.! Hopefully the therapist will help (?)</p>
<p>Questions on the suppements–is omega 3 the same as fish oil? Is meletonin safe for teenaged girls? I was giving it to my D, but stopped when I read something about it affecting your hormones. (I can’t remember exacly what I read, just seemed like it might not be a good idea.)</p>
<p>LOL^ about my D not knowing that a guy is trying to pick her up! Oh, so true. </p>
<p>Yes, fish oil is one of the best ways to get Omega-3. And you’re right, it’s good for us to take too for a variety of reasons, whether we have ADD or similar issues or not. Would stick to a lower dosage than rec’d to adults too (our bottle by Barlean’s says’ “take two capsules” but I give her one per day). Make sure to buy a high quality brand that has been filtered for trace mercury (Nordic Naturals, Barleans, anything at Whole Foods is good quality). </p>
<p>Melatonin is actually manufactured by our own body when our brains perceive darkness (a neurohormone). 1 mg. is a low dosage and safe for teens (the adult dosage is generally 3 mg.). But again, talk to her doctor if you want to be cautious about it. There’s some conflicting advice on using it, so may not be right for everyone and I actually didn’t give it to D1 as a younger child (many do, but it didn’t sit well with me). For my D1 it’s been extremely helpful though --she had severe insomnia prior to taking it and generally got ony 6 hrs. of sleep at night during elementary years. She falls asleep right away now (within a half hour) and sleeps well, about 9 hrs.</p>
<p>sureofsomething: about the buy in. We were very lucky. D strongly identified with the “gifted” label and all the positive connotations that come along with that. When the wheels started to come off in 7th grade, she was very distressed because she didn’t want to lose the label of being one of the smart kids. I’m not saying it was a picnic, because 8th grade was kind of a nightmare, but she was willing to work to find out what it would take for her to succeed consistently in school. She didn’t have a perfect GPA in HS; science, math & foreign languages were a struggle, but she tried & we helped her build a tool box of skills she could lean on.</p>
<p>sureofsomething: Last summer I was working on getting advice from some of these helpful parents and students because I was working on getting my S tested for a diagnosis and he was starting his junior year. As with Rob’s daughter he was also a GT kid who was feeling things slipping away. Although he is on a low dose of adderall it has helped significantly and he concluded this year with his best performance ever. I don’t know if it will help your sons but just having time to internalize that he had attentional difficulty and that his disorganization was having a negative impact on his ability to function, I think, helped him to become more motivated to work on the problem. He also became more open to my efforts help him with organization. For example, he was packing for a trip and in usual fashion threw all of his things into a duffle bag. I went back and sorted his things by catagory into separate smaller sacks and he made an effort to maintain the order that weekend. Previously I think he would have resisted and been annoyed about my input. He has also made an effort to inventory his things before leaving from a trip. This is not to say that things don’t get lost but that I see an effort and less resistance to working on organization since his disorganization was given a label. I also think that improved performance in class with adderall was motivating to do well and this increased his own effort to organize himself. Yes, there still were a couple of times I received panicked calls to rescue him because he had forgotten to pack an assignment he had completed but these were few and far between. Its hard to put my finger on exactly where the change came from, it might partly be just that he is growing up. He however, for the first time that I can remember has made a real effort to try and organize after being told that he had mild ADHD. I hope it works that well for your boys.</p>
<p>Sureofsomething:</p>
<p>During my D’s sophomore year we had visitors who wanted to see USC while they were in town with their teenager. We all signed up for the tour, and had an outstanding guide. My D was mesmerized, and for the first time college was something to look forward to and not just an abstract concept or jumble of school names. Even though we knew that USC would be out of reach, the visit gave her resolve to try harder so she would have as many choices as possible at application time. Sure, there have been many lapses, but she always seems to get back up on the horse (couldn’t resist the USC mascot metaphor) and try again.</p>