6 year old has add or adhd

amother

Fri, Nov 18 2011, 1:59 am

I saw the pediatrician today and told him of my concerns about my 6 year old. He gave me a form to fill out to see if he might have add and he'll send us for further evaluation. Just by filling out the form, I have almost no doubt that my child has add.

I'm feeling overwhlemed by the thought and just want ot hear from mothers that have a chld will add how to best advocate for your child to get the best care possible

Please share anything that you learned or helped you even just with the evaluation process.

Thank you

5*Mom

Fri, Nov 18 2011, 3:25 am

I would highly recommend making sure the eval is done by someone with broad training and experience in the full range of child development, like a pediatric neuropsychologist, as opposed to someone who specialized just in ADD/ADHD. Many symptoms of ADD/ADHD overlap with other issues that would be addressed differently. Someone who is trained only to look for ADD/ADHD will surely find it.

My dd was misdiagnosed with ADHD (and that was by a highly recommended psychologist, so you have to do thorough research no matter what kind of professional you go to) but it seemed to me that from the start she never considered any other possibility and did not pay much attention to the context in which dd was not functioning well. The diagnosis did not make sense to me, as there were things it didn't explain and many things it did "explain" that dd just didn't have. She tried to push us to give Ritalin immediately, but it just didn't feel like the right diagnosis so we moved on.

It took a few years and a few more misdiagnoses to find the right professionals (combo of ped neuropsych and SLP) who identified the specific skills deficits dd had (social, emotional regulation, some executive functions) and provided weekly therapy for a few years to teach her those skills. DD is a teenager today, has excelled in these skills and in many areas is ahead of her peers, is a great student and an altogether amazing kid.

Good luck!

veganesther

Fri, Nov 18 2011, 7:52 am

I will share my experience.
25 years ago the protocol for giving psychotropic pharmaceutics to a child was #1 Is the child a danger to himself or others?
Can this child be trusted not to hurl themselves down a flight of stairs, tie strings around their necks, swallow rocks and foreign matter....
can this child be trusted not to jump on other children, not to poke other children with sticks or pencils, not to bite, kick hit or pinch?
I thank Hashem everyday that I read this early document b/c as my livlely and somewhat hard to control children came upon teachers who wanted them evaluated I let the pediatric neurologist know that I was privy to these protocols.
Hence NONE of my naughty but normal children were ever medicated. Even after a social worker from the school district tried to humiliate me into drugging my daughter.
BTW, DD#2 joined the us navy
DS#3 is in 4th year of college
DS# is freshman in college.
B"H all good yidden, all productive, all drug free!

imasinger

Sun, Nov 20 2011, 8:49 am

I have 2 kids with diagnoses of ADHD and a third one who is in the process of being diagnosed, and probably (judging from those checklists) will join his siblings.

For the first one, I remember feeling overwhelmed, like you. We tried every non-medication intervention known, including some expensive ones, like neurofeedback. He continued to be a problem in school. Eventually, we went for further testing, and got advised by a great person that we would need a crackerjack psychopharmacologist plus a really fine psychologist. That combination made all the difference in the world.

For my children, dietary and vitamin changes did a big fat NOTHING. Physical activity did help, as does OT to work on sensory issues. Creating a good discipline system helps. Charts help. Understanding some of the basics (make sure they get "must-do" jobs done before playing, no exceptions) has helped. And staying in constant touch with all their teachers/rebbes/moros has helped. (Not all of them "believe in" ADD, so giving them detailed explanations about things like sitting in the front of the classroom, providing frequent breaks, creating checklists/contracts, etc.) has been necessary.

But ultimately, medication has been what made the biggest difference.

My advice -- get 2 or even 3 opinions about the diagnosis. Learn about treatment options and create a list of which ones you might try first. With the help of highly recommended counselors (interview them first, and keep watching to see if it's a good fit!), try treatment options to see what works. Trust your gut -- if someone says something needs more time, and you think it's been long enough, then stop and move on. Don't give up until your DS seems to be on a good path. And keep vigilant after that. Sometimes, as children grow, they need an increased dose, or as they mature, they can be weaned off medication. Sometimes, there is not a good enough relationship with counselors. All kinds of things can happen.

YOU are your child's best advocate. Don't be too embarrassed by his behavior to ever stop loving him for who he is right now, and at the same time, don't stop expecting him to grow into a fully functional adult. And daven like crazy.

Hope this helps!

amother

Sun, Nov 20 2011, 10:14 am

Mama Bear wrote:

I have ADD and my son exhibits ADD-like symptoms though he has never been formally tested. I personally have had success when giving him Maxi health vitamins geared towards ADD. How bad is your kids' ADD?

I'm not sure how to explain it. In some ways I think the child is perfectly fine but in other ways, it's beyond the normal. On the checklist I got from the doctor most of the questions scored a 3. Is there only one standard form?

5*Mom

Sun, Nov 20 2011, 11:02 am

amother wrote:

On the checklist I got from the doctor most of the questions scored a 3. Is there only one standard form?

A checklist specifically and exclusively for ADD is the kind of thing I'd advise against. What you need is for someone to evaluate him in all developmental areas (social, emotional, language, communication, etc.) as well as evaluate his school environment, and then see what cluster areas there are. This could be your garden variety ADD... or any one of a number of other things that have similar symptoms but would need to be addressed very differently.

amother

Sun, Nov 20 2011, 12:13 pm

5*Mom wrote:

amother wrote:

On the checklist I got from the doctor most of the questions scored a 3. Is there only one standard form?

So who would do such an evaluation?

5*Mom

Sun, Nov 20 2011, 12:47 pm

amother wrote:

5*Mom wrote:

amother wrote:

On the checklist I got from the doctor most of the questions scored a 3. Is there only one standard form?

So who would do such an evaluation?

I'd try for a Pediatric Neuropsychologist. But no matter what the fancy title, you have to research the professional and meet with them first to get an idea of how they would conduct the eval, if they seem to form a conclusion before even meeting your child, if they ask enough questions about his school environment and the context in which you are noticing the troubling behaviors. Trust your insticts.