<p>sk8mom: I’m so glad that someone else has gotten to use all of the good info on this thread.</p>
<p>mnmom62:I did look at the Irlen Syndrome checklist but the only catagories that fit at all was the one related to reading. Thanks for the suggestion though.</p>
<p>spectrum2:Do not worry or obsess about which teachers fill out form, it is just a formality that has to be done for the testing to take place and is not always accurate for a kid who overcompensates in school and is well behaved.</p>
<p>The PA who exclaimed that your DS sat nicely in the room and did not appear to have ADD, does not seem to be aware of the classification of being ADHD inattentive type. These are the kids that go below the radar of the teachers especially if a Boy since the Boys are expected to be hyperactive type by traditional understanding of what ADHD is by those who have not had the need to read and investigate and be educated in it.</p>
<p>This is to you and to Sk8, please just go find a nueropsych tester Doc and just get it done outside of the school, insurance will pay for most of it but do not wait for the school to take it on and schedule the testing, it takes too long and deals with too much beuracracy. Just get it done. Get it done now, and ASAP so you can start Sep off advocating for your kids and trying your hardest to getting services, accomodations and help in anyway you can. </p>
<p>My suggestion to you is to pay extra to get the “academic testing” done in addition to the nueuropsych aspects that will be paid for by insurance when you show expectation of ADHD as the potential diagnosis. There are a large battery of tests that take up to 8 hours of time. 6 hours are psych tests, and 2 hours are academic. Academic will not be paid for by any insurance but DO IT!</p>
<p>I will post a more indepth story later, but, bottom line, no teacher thought there was a problem, all the teachers filled out the forms as if my DD was and is a sweet girl who does her work and causes no problems in school. But her testing revealed that she has a serious case of ADHD inattentive type executive functioning disorder. She’s been on adderal for a week. Jury is out on effect and dosage and type of meds, we are in the thick of it. </p>
<p>Bottom line: the school feels that getting C’s, Flunking projects and tests and getting D’s and F’s on midyears does not qualify for 504 since she gets B-s and C’s for quarter grades. The public school says that they have no obligation to help her achieve her potential only an obligation to help her perform in the average of each class and each teacher stated that her B-s and C-s were within the average and denied her accomodations. </p>
<p>anyone that thinks they can help me or add anything to advise me in anyway is welcomed, I’m besides myself, these wounds are only a few hours old.</p>
<p>My daughter had difficulty in elementary school, both concentrating and fitting in; I finally homeschooled her in sixth grade, she was so unhappy. We did have her tested for ADHD at the time, but we took her to a psychiatrist who talked with her in a quiet room, without distractions, played checkers with her, and decided she was just very smart, not ADHD. The problem is, she likes checkers, and there was nothing else happening. She returned to public school for middle school, and was immediately at a disadvantage organizationally and staying on task. It wasn’t until I spoke with another mother of an ADHD child, who described his symptoms, that I saw how her child’s problems were so much like mine. Again, this is a kid who could be brilliant enough–in middle school–to overcome the disadvantages of ADHD, but who was terribly frustrated and not doing as well as she could, especially since Middle School is all about organization–that is, many of her grades were dependent on her developing the study skills that would be important to them in high school, and she just didn’t have them. So we tested, this time through the school/questionnaire, and she was clearly ADHD. She’s been on various forms of Ritalin ever since 9th grade, and it’s been a mindsaver for her. It’s not a miracle drug, by any means, but she’s been able to use the very high intelligence she has, without the handicap of ADHD. She’s just finished her first year as a physics major at a highly competitive college; seven of her eight courses were 200-level, some of them without prereqs, and she’s gotten straight As. She only takes the medicine when she needs it; she’s just now learning to drive, for example, and she’s decided she needs it for driving (as an earlier poster noted). </p>
<p>So, for all the people who are ready to dismiss ADHD, and the use of medicine in treating it, I must respond that here is a kid who is now blasting off to a success that I am entirely sure would not have been possible without treatment. Obviously, all kids are different–but that’s the point. I do not generalize from my daughter’s experience; I share it for what it may be worth. Some diabetics, for example, can manage their condition without drugs, and some cannot. Would you take away the latter’s drugs, because the former don’t need them? Some people suffer from depression; for some of them, therapy is helpful. For some of them, medication plus therapy, or simply medication for a short period of time, will do the job, and eventually they will not need either. Some people may need medication for a much longer period. There is no moral advantage in trying to fight a mental condition without the aid of medication that might be helpful, any more than there is in undergoing childbirth without the use of pain relief. Some women, with some deliveries, can; some can’t. What is important is the individual net result, and the quality of care. It does make me angry when people assume that taking medicine equals the lazy way of parenting, indicating that parents of children that take medicine are jumping at the chance to opt out of disciplining and organizing the child; what such persons do not understand is the damage to a child’s self-esteem and to his or her relationship with his or her parents that can result from a continual demand for performance of which he or she is incapable, or from a continual supervision and nagging. If parents and children together can learn methods of coping, that is great–as long as the coping works for them. If it does not, then blaming either party is not helpful. </p>
<p>Good luck to any parents and children dealing with this; it is certainly a challenge.</p>
<p>marysidney - excellent post!</p>
<p>shrinkwrap - are you referring to the study that indicated that long term (3 years out or something like that) medications seem to stop reporting further positive benefits that came out a couple years ago? That makes sense to me, I think of medication as being the tool to help the person with ADHD develop other compensating strategies. Now those with severe ADHD may need to continue on medication but for others, there may be an opportunity to improve enough that they now longer need them. For example, my husband takes Concerta bid when he needs it for days when distractability isn’t really an option.</p>
<p>Marysidney: Thank you for that optomistic perspective.</p>
<p>mom2gals:I don’t really know the world of 504’s but I can imagine the frustration. Good luck with that, I hope that you are moving forward and the wounds are healing. It sounds like are really tough situation.</p>
<p>Just as a quick follow up, I \ found out that S needs to see the MD before the psych referral so that is scheduled for next week. While I’m expecting that S won’t come accross as classically LD, I hope I can present what we have experienced in a manner that will allow us to further assess. Now that S has gotten the ball rolling I really do want to follow through on the evaluation. I don’t know the physician’s views on ADD and other LD’s, but so often it seems that good grades, and no real behavioral issues translates into no problem. Really we are trying to be proactive.</p>
<p>It’s wise to be proactive when you have concerns. The workload will get increasingly harder as time goes on. Eventually sheer brainpower can’t sustain kids with ADD issues.</p>
<p>I had ADD/ADHD as a child and have taken Ritalin before. I recommend against it if there are alternative non-medicating treatments available.</p>
<p>ComaPrison: What was the problem with Ritalin?We’d of course prefer non-medicating, but I am wondering why you recommend against it.</p>
<p>MarySidney: Your post was like reading poetry so well said and covered all bases. Thank you so much for posting, its inspiring and helped put into perspective the whole nagging parental thing, feeling like a failure that the ordinary discipline doesn’t work and causes further family issues, noone really gets it 
unless you go through it. Thank you!</p>
<p>spectrum2. I recommend against medicating with ANY of the ADHD drugs. It’s not just Ritalin that I’m against. It seems like a lot of people grow out of their ADHD at some point, but if you keep the person medicated, you won’t ever actually know if/when they’ve grown out of it. Once you start medicating with ADHD drugs, you’ll essentially have to keep medicating indefinitely.</p>
<p>If I could recommend one thing, it would be for your son to take up yoga and meditation. It will help increase his concentration. My ex-roommate is a professional yoga instructor and also partakes in daily meditation (once upon waking first thing in the morning, and once just before going to bed), and I trust in its effectiveness. In my experience, strenuous physical exercise also helps increase concentration, so that’s also an alternative. I’ll spend up to 3 hours a week doing intense workouts, and in return, I can sit down and read non-fiction/textbook material for hours at a time without needing a break.</p>
<p>In regards to whether your son will be able to concentrate enough to sit down and do a long reading at once, it’s actually a common recommendation to take a 10-15 minute break (for him to have a snack, wash his face, take a walk, etc.) after every 1.5-2 hours of studying. The brain is still processing, and essentially digesting information you’ve been studying even when you’re engaged in other non-related activities, so the break is very productive and will help refresh his concentration. In regards to long exams, the recommendation is to rest and relax just prior to the exam, rather than studying up to the very last minute.</p>
<p>Comaprison, that is such crap it’s laughable. I have gone on and off multiple times throughout my life just depending on how I was feeling and what I needed at the time. It is completely a non-issue. On for three years, off three years, on again, off again, whatever was necessary at the time. </p>
<p>Your other advice is otherwise good advice when it comes to improving concentration IN GENERAL, but for someone with ADHD that kind of stuff is not always going to be enough.</p>
<p>You know, it is very easy to get hold of ADD drugs these days, and many smart kids will claim ADD to get hold of them.</p>
<p>These drugs are not being used recreationally. They are generally good for studying.</p>
<p>Will be interesting to see what the doc says.</p>
<p>comaprison: I am glad that yoga and meditation do for you what you need them to. Many people, ADHD or not, benefit from such disciplines. I continue to feel, however, that it is unfair, and sometimes unkind, to imply that other people can manage their condition in the same way that you can, and that medication is the wrong choice. It may be the wrong choice for you; it may be the right choice for other people. On what do you base your opposition to medication, other than your own experience with it? What is wrong with “medicating indefinitely,” if it allows people to do what they want to do? Again, you would not try to deny the efficacy of insulin, by saying that, yeah, it works now, but you have to continue to take it. If, in fact, ADHD is the result of brain chemicals not functioning as they should, it makes sense that a person should have to continue to take medication, in the same way that a diabetic person with a malfunctioning pancreas has to continue to take medication. That one has to continue to take medicine does not mean that the condition does not exist, nor that it can, in fact, be treated without medication. The idea that you might grow out of ADHD and, unknowingly, continue to take medication is just silly. My daughter takes her medication when she needs it; she knows when she needs it, and when she does not. If she did not need it, she would not take it; there are side effects, which she is willing to deal with for the benefits she feels. She goes for long periods without medication, and she knows exactly what she needs it for: long classes during which she must focus. </p>
<p>Again, I think it is great if you have found ways of dealing with ADHD that work for you, and that you want to share them with other people–as long as you do not assume that, if it worked for you, it should work for everyone. ADHD is a spectrum of experience, with a large variation of expression; no one should accept a one-size-fits-all solution. Of any kind.</p>
<p>I never said it would work for everyone.</p>
<p>Debate ensues as a new study suggests a correlation between children with ADHD symptoms and the levels of pesticides in their bodies.</p>
<p><a href=“Scripps News Stories | Browse by Category”>Scripps News Stories | Browse by Category;
<p>Dated May 18, 2010</p>
<p>Just something for people to think about.</p>
<p>I haven’t read all of the posts so I may be repeating. When my 25 year old was in 6th grade, we noticed she was spending hours doing the homework that her twin brother spent 1/2 hour on. She was increasingly frustrated, crying over homework, angry and just having a really tough time. She had always had a hard time with tests, but we knew she was very bright. I took her to her pediatrician and he sent her to a specialist who tested her. She was borderline ADD and we chose to have her work with a therapist before we tried any drugs. It took her about a year, but she did learn organization and other skills that significantly helped her. One thing that helped is that she was always the kid who would stand up at her desk and twirl a pencil in her hands. She was constantly being told to sit down and pay attention. Her doctor communicated with the teacher and explained that many kids learn better in environments where they are allowed to move around. Keeping her hands busy helped her to focus better. Once the teacher let her stand up when possible, our D did much better. </p>
<p>If your son is bringing this up, I would definitely follow thru and talk to a Dr. I would definitely tackle this while still in high school so that he can figure out what the problem is before he leaves home. Good luck!</p>
<p>[Study:</a> ADHD Linked to Pesticide Exposure - Health News - Health.com](<a href=“Dotdash Meredith - America's Largest Digital & Print Publisher”>Dotdash Meredith - America's Largest Digital & Print Publisher)</p>
<p>Correlation isn’t causation. I’d rather not turn this thread into a back and forth about whether ADHD is real or not - there’s a thread for that going strong under the LD sub-forum. This is a thread for helping the OP.</p>
<p>Thanks mnmom62.</p>
<p>This mention of pesticides and the correlation with ADHD was news to me on this thread but thanks to links to articles I am now aware of this.</p>
<p>If folks have anecdotal experienced about how changes in diet have improved function this could be helpful. Also, if folks have had particularly good or bad experiences with meds this is also helpful.</p>
<p>I think the decision to medicate or not, or to change diet or not is a personal decision between the individual’s family/medical team/education team/ psychological team. There really isn’t any reason to debate or put anyone down for the choices they make.</p>
<p>It is evident that some people have had good and bad experiences with medications. Understanding this can figure into the choices we make. Marysidney made the point that everyone is different and different treatments are effective for different circumstances. </p>
<p>Takeitallin: It sounds like the changes you made improved your daughter’s ability to function in school without the use of medication. Is that what you are saying? It is interesting, when he was small S was what you might call a kinesthetic learner. He rarely stayed in his seat. While he was enthusiastic about learning he also needed to move in the classroom. We were aware of this and were able to get him placed with teachers who weren’t bothered by that type of behavior. The reason he had little difficulty in elementary school may have been because he had teachers who instinctively worked well with what we called our high energy kid. I think he has largely grown out of this, and also getting up to switch classes each period probably also helps. He still has a lot of energy. I think this is a good thing.</p>
<p>My whole family has “ADD/hyperfocus- distractibility” also lots of elements of Aspergery behavior.
D2 & I are on ADD stimulants- without it I could not get started- I don’t like Ritalin, especially generic- Adderal xr works ok for me- but the Vyanse is even better I think.</p>
<p>It was years before I was diagnosed ( and I still don’t feel I have found all the pieces), although I didn’t do well in school , I was " good".</p>
<p>I was allergic to milk as an infant- and am currently trying to eliminate dairy to see if it helps with inflammation ( I have arthritis). When D2 was younger, I managed to eliminate wheat- & she was * much* better, but when she went off to camp, she had to start eating it again & it is pretty hard to sustain.</p>
<p>When she was a baby, I couldn’t even put cloth diapers on her.
[The</a> Sensory Show 011: How Sensory & Allergy Symptoms Affect Our Behavior | The Sensory Show](<a href=“http://thesensoryshow.com/episodes/36/the-sensory-show-011-how-sensory-allergy-symptoms-affect-our-behavior/]The”>http://thesensoryshow.com/episodes/36/the-sensory-show-011-how-sensory-allergy-symptoms-affect-our-behavior/)
</p>
<p>Physical activity helps a great deal- especially cross body - like rock climbing- as does experiential learning, more hands on, not desk work.</p>
<p>Elimination diets can be helpful to identify if there is a food allergy that is causing ADHD-like symptoms.</p>
<p>After years of posting on listservs and message boards, I’d say that the consensus that I’ve gleaned from folks that believe that ADHD is real and can be quite disabling, the Feingold Diet’s anecdotal success is more about the regimentation it brings, along with the added attention given to the child. ADHD kids are not good with transitions, so the strict structure that the Feingold Diet provides is helpful.</p>
<p>For us, my son and my husband do well with the methylphenidate based medications (Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta) and not quite as well with the amphetamine based medications (Adderall, Dexedrine, Vyanese). My daughter didn’t do well on either of those types, but had success with Strattera, which is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor - works more like an anti-depressant, and takes time to build up in the system to see results. Strattera also comes with a host of side effects that are seen with any anti-depressant and you have to wean off of should they be too much, whereas the half life of the stimulant based medication make them easier to off load should you have ill effects - in and out in 24 hours. Wellbutrin is another anti-depressant that some have reported success with.</p>
<p>My daughter did some of the alternative things, like listening therapy, interactive metronome and biofeedback before we tried medication, and I found that those therapies worked somewhat as long as you did them frequently but the minute you stopped doing them, the improvements dissipated.</p>
<p>As you can see 
different strokes for different folks.</p>
<p>We visited with S’s doctor today. I had hopes of a referral for psychological testing. What I really wanted to get out of this process is something like S shows difficulty with this and this and this and some ways of approaching these problems are…</p>
<p>Instead we spoke to him about S’s experience. Then he said that the way we decide to treat ADD is based on teacher observation. He gave us the forms to have his teachers fill out and then based on the score we would decide whether to medicate or not. It sounded like meds were the beginning and end of treatment.</p>
<p>I am open to considering meds but more than that I was hoping we could increase our understanding of his performance. I did ask specifically about being able to diagnose learning disabilities with psych testing and he told me that by now LD’s would usually already be diagnosed. He said psych testing would be done for psych conditions like depression but not for ADD in a child son’s age. This sounds contrary to what many of you have said. I’m not sure if it is time to find another MD or to just attempt to find S’s teachers over the summer and see if they can fill out the inventory and then proceed from there.</p>
<p>I understood that the teacher inventory was the first step, I just didn’t expect it to be the last step , or for the treatment to be limited to medication or no medication. For those of you who had kids diagnosed in HS and beyond, what was your process?</p>