New to ADHD ....sorry it's long

[aimlyles]

My DS is 8 and in the third grade. He's always been on the hyperactive side but we've always delt with it. For first and second grade he had the same teacher and classmates and the teacher was a friend of mine. First grade he had no problems, in second grade I noticed at home he seemed more hyperactive so I emailed his teacher and asked if she noticed it in class and she did as well as he was very distractable, playing with his pencils and what not in his desk. We took the wait and see approach as we figured he was just comfortable with the teacher, classmates and the fact that we personally new the teacher.

Fast forward to this year; new teacher, new classmates. He only knew 1 or 2 boys in his class. In Oct on his first report card teacher made a note asking if his inattentiveness was an issue last year. In November at PT Conferences she said she was very concerned, he never engages with her or the kids, she is always either lightly tapping him on his shoulder and/or saying his name to get him to "snap out of it" . He had his annual physical shortly after so I brought it up to his Dr. She gave us the Connors Forms for the teacher, DH and myself to fill out. The Dr says based on the answers that he falls into the ADHD spectrum and says to come in to set up an ADHD work up and also suggests to have the school do a full evaulation for learning disabilities to make sure there isn't anything else. The evaluation was completed in January and as we knew he has no learning disabilities and is extremely smart in some areas; getting superior in some aspects of the testing.

I'm a little concerned at the fact that the dr is basing her diagnosis on the Connors forms and suggests meds without any other feedback or testing. We do not want him on meds. He is hyperactive at home but at school the teacher says he's very quiet (DH and I are both quiet) and tends to keep to himself, drawing usually (he loves to draw and could spend hours doing so, very artistic).

Should we see someone else and if so what type of Dr? Psychologist, Neurologist, psychiatrist? This is new to us so we are a little lost. Tomorrow we are meeting with his school to see if he will be able to get a 504 plan. I've read online that fish oil is suppose to help kids concentrate and pay attention. Anyone ever try this?

 

[bookwormde]

Any doctor who would prescribe medicines with the health hazards of those for ADHD drugs on a Conner scale you should run away from as fast as you can. There is no ADHD spectrum; I would suggest an auditory processing evaluation and a WPS SRS scoring to start with, if they indicate anything atypical you should get a full evaluation for neurovariations. More that 50% of children whose clinicians initially diagnose ADHD are something completely different.

I would also suggest getting a copy of Tony Attwoods “the complete guide to Aspergers” since it sound like he has at least a couple of the characteristics. It is available on Amazon for about $17.

Highly qualified clinicians for neurological variations are few and far in-between so it takes some research to find a good group.

IF you are in the mid Atlantic region I would suggest Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore, other may know of other areas if you give an indication of the region you are in.

bookwormde

 

[jmartinez1895]

I would ge a second opinion. It never hurst and if a doctor is offended by you getting one then that is nt a good doctor anyway. As for the meds, children that needs them do very well. All 3 of my children take meds for Add and ADHD. It has made a world of difference in the school work and how they get along with the other children in the class. Once you find a doctor that you trust and if they recomend meds, work with them and keep all follow up appointment. Once we found the right meds and doses the side effects are very minimal and the results are wonderful. We also found that with one of our children he was sensitive to high frutose corn syrup and red40. We give him organic juice and read labels and he was able to reduce the amount of medication he has to use.