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Evaluation, ADD, ???



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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 7:03 am
My kid's school (kid is in lower elementary school grade) suggested that I have the child evaluated. The child is very bright and does well but has a hard time sitting very still and the school expects kids to sit in their seats and not fidget.
Child plays with school supplies that are on the desk and that bothers the teacher. Child is not hyperactive at all. Just kicks feet while sitting and plays with things on desk.

What type of evaluation should I take child for? (School is not helping with this. they're just saying that the kid should be evaluated by a hospital that checks EVERYTHING. not sure what that means.) I will ask pediatrician but my appointment is in a few weeks and I want to research this first.

What type of evaluation should I be looking for? Psychiatrist? Neurologist? ???

Anybody have an idea who I can go to in Central NJ area? Somebody who is unbiased and checks EVERYTHING - whatever that means. I was told there is a hospital evaluation that does that. Anybody know what that is?

TIA
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
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chani8




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 7:43 am
You don't need an eval, you need a new school, or at least, a new teacher.

Your child sounds perfectly normal.

Don't let the school/teacher bully you.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 8:37 am
chani8 wrote:
You don't need an eval, you need a new school, or at least, a new teacher.

Your child sounds perfectly normal.

Don't let the school/teacher bully you.


OP here.
I totally agree with you!! But unfortunately there is no other option for me where I live, other than public school and my husband refuses to go that route. This school is known for bullying and the parents either comply, send to P.S. or have their kids commute. This child is too young to commute at this point.
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passaicmom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:31 am
I am sorry that the school is giving you such a hard time, and not supporting you. I have been there before. I just bought this to help my child that has a hard time sitting still http://bouncybands.com/. If you do decided to do testing ask your Pediatrition who they recommend sometimes parts of it is covered by your insurance.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 10:08 am
passaicmom wrote:
I am sorry that the school is giving you such a hard time, and not supporting you. I have been there before. I just bought this to help my child that has a hard time sitting still http://bouncybands.com/. If you do decided to do testing ask your Pediatrition who they recommend sometimes parts of it is covered by your insurance.


OP here.
Your link doesn't work for me but I search Bouncy Bands and I see them on Amazon. They look interesting and the review are good. I'm going to look into this. Thank you so much!

I'm still interested in any information regarding evaluations if anybody has any ideas. Just in case if the school keeps pushing me. I will speak to my pediatrician but I also want to hear from mothers who have been there, done that.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 10:17 am
Quote:
OP here.
I totally agree with you!! But unfortunately there is no other option for me where I live, other than public school and my husband refuses to go that route. This school is known for bullying and the parents either comply, send to P.S. or have their kids commute. This child is too young to commute at this point.

and I will tell you from the other point of view

I felt like that and refused to get my son tested for years.
only when my house was falling apart did I get my son tested and he is major adhd
things would have been a lot easier for all of us if I had got him tested younger and on ritalin younger.

there are 2 points of view that I understand but I have been on both sides and it's not fair to a child not to get them the help if they really need it.
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dee's mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 10:18 am
Do speak to your pediatrician, and hopefully they will refer you to the right place.

When we had our daughter evaluated, the school did recommend someone, who happens to be a psychologist. Since then, it has pretty much been constant communication with teachers and doctors, all working to do the best for her well being.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 10:26 am
amother wrote:
Quote:
OP here.
I totally agree with you!! But unfortunately there is no other option for me where I live, other than public school and my husband refuses to go that route. This school is known for bullying and the parents either comply, send to P.S. or have their kids commute. This child is too young to commute at this point.

and I will tell you from the other point of view

I felt like that and refused to get my son tested for years.
only when my house was falling apart did I get my son tested and he is major adhd
things would have been a lot easier for all of us if I had got him tested younger and on ritalin younger.

there are 2 points of view that I understand but I have been on both sides and it's not fair to a child not to get them the help if they really need it.


OP here.
I'm not sure what your response has to do with what you quoted.

This child does not have ADHD. ADD maybe, but there's no hyperactivity piece. Also this child is not causing any damage at home. It's just the school that wants the child tested because child is fidgety when teacher wants students to sit still.
If I really thought my child needed help I would run to get it. I don't see any issue other than child kicking while sitting to do homework. This specific school is always looking to diagnose kids (not just my child).
Thanks for your advice.
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dee's mommy




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 2:27 pm
OP, I don't know you, your child or your school. I will venture to say that it may be possible that the school sees things that you do not. Children do behave differently at home and at school. Talk to a pediatrician you trust. It may well be worth your while to get an evaluation done, especially if you, yourself say that ADD is a possibility. It is worth knowing for sure. At least the choice of practitioner is yours, and not the school's.

This does not mean that anything is wrong with your child, either way. It could very well be that the answer is that your child does not have it. But if the answer is that there is something, then it would benefit your child that you know and you can decide on the next step.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 4:27 pm
OP I don't mean to challenge your judgement of your son but I do want to bring awareness to the fact that if someone suspects their child ''only'' has ADD and not ADHD they should still take it seriously and have their child evaluated.

My MIL was always so proud that growing up my husband was her easiest child. a\After we were married, my dh and I having difficulties and my husband was recently diagnosed with ADD and is on meds. I wish his mother had started treatment earlier.

Good luck!
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 8:44 pm
amother wrote:
OP I don't mean to challenge your judgement of your son but I do want to bring awareness to the fact that if someone suspects their child ''only'' has ADD and not ADHD they should still take it seriously and have their child evaluated.

My MIL was always so proud that growing up my husband was her easiest child. a\After we were married, my dh and I having difficulties and my husband was recently diagnosed with ADD and is on meds. I wish his mother had started treatment earlier.

Good luck!


OP here.
I didn't say that my child "only has ADD". I really don't think this child does but if the pediatrician thinks I should evaluate I will.

I'm trying to get information on how and where to do such an evaluation. I know that the school pushes parents to evaluate and they're thrilled to hear diagnoses. It almost seems like I, as a parent, don't have a right to say that my child is okay. So what if child is not sitting perfectly still? This child is doing well in school otherwise and knows exactly what's going on in class. Why the need to label? And then if/once labeled will I be pushed to medicate?? I don't love this system. Let a normal healthy child be. But unfortunately I don't have much choice in schools and this school is quite pushy.

I wanted to hear about hospital evaluations. I'm not sure what that is but I've heard that they are comprehensive and unbiased. So if anybody can offer me any tips advice or ideas about this, TIA.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 8:48 pm
dee's mommy wrote:
OP, I don't know you, your child or your school. I will venture to say that it may be possible that the school sees things that you do not. Children do behave differently at home and at school. Talk to a pediatrician you trust. It may well be worth your while to get an evaluation done, especially if you, yourself say that ADD is a possibility. It is worth knowing for sure. At least the choice of practitioner is yours, and not the school's.

This does not mean that anything is wrong with your child, either way. It could very well be that the answer is that your child does not have it. But if the answer is that there is something, then it would benefit your child that you know and you can decide on the next step.


OP here.
I agree that the school may see something that I don't which is why I'm here asking for advice on where to go! LOL
I'll be speaking with my pediatrician but I wanted to hear from mothers who have done this already.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:06 pm
Quote:
My MIL was always so proud that growing up my husband was her easiest child. a\After we were married, my dh and I having difficulties and my husband was recently diagnosed with ADD and is on meds. I wish his mother had started treatment earlier.


same here

and I have a bunch of kids
some adhd, some add
one has no issues at home but couldn't read.
ritalin enables her to read and learn in school
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:24 pm
Just to clarify, fidgeting is a manifestation of hyperactivity. So if the primary concern is fidgeting, don't say this child is not hyperactive. Hyperactive does not need to mean bouncing off the walls.

beyond that, sorry I don't know any specifics to recommend in your area. But I'm wondering why you don't like the idea of a hospital that tests for everything. To me, testing for everything seems like a mark of thoroughness, which would be a good thing. Neuropsychologist is generally a good idea.

I disagree with those who say that all he needs is a more forgiving teacher. No one here can know that without having even met the child. It is possible that the teacher's expectations are too strict, but it is also possible that the teacher is seeing signs of a real problem and doing the responsible thing by referring the parents to get it checked out sooner rather than later. There is the occasional student who focuses best while playing with things on his or her desk, but there is also the much more commonly seen child who distracts himself or herself by playing with things on his or her desk.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:36 pm
seeker wrote:
Just to clarify, fidgeting is a manifestation of hyperactivity. So if the primary concern is fidgeting, don't say this child is not hyperactive. Hyperactive does not need to mean bouncing off the walls.

beyond that, sorry I don't know any specifics to recommend in your area. But I'm wondering why you don't like the idea of a hospital that tests for everything. To me, testing for everything seems like a mark of thoroughness, which would be a good thing. Neuropsychologist is generally a good idea.

I disagree with those who say that all he needs is a more forgiving teacher. No one here can know that without having even met the child. It is possible that the teacher's expectations are too strict, but it is also possible that the teacher is seeing signs of a real problem and doing the responsible thing by referring the parents to get it checked out sooner rather than later. There is the occasional student who focuses best while playing with things on his or her desk, but there is also the much more commonly seen child who distracts himself or herself by playing with things on his or her desk.


OP here.
I actually do like the idea of testing for everything. That's what I'm here to hear about. I just don't know exactly what EVERYTHING means. I wanted to find out if there's a place where the child could be tested in an unbiased manner. Is that what a neuropsychologists would do?
I'm not thrilled about having to test the child but if I'm going to do it I want it to be thorough.

I don't see any hyperactive behavior at all. Just kicking feet while doing homework. I don't think its that big a deal and I don't understand why it bothers the teacher so much. Why does it have to mean something? The child is learning well and testing well too. Maybe the teacher has ADD and gets distracted by the child's kicking?! I'm not sure if I'm kidding or not when I ask that......
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:47 pm
Oh for some reason from the first post I thought the school was recommending an everything evaluator and for some reason you didn't like that. I must have misunderstood.

"Everything" is because there are a multitude of things that can cause a child to have difficult behaviors.

You're right that it would be unusual for a child with ADHD to be able to sit and focus on homework with no difficulties. Perhaps there is some school related anxiety going on? Or it could be that distractions in the classroom make it more difficult there?

If you are certain that there is no problem with his work, learning, testing, social life, etc, then I wouldn't view this as an emergency or cause of major distress. Maybe you can talk to the child about keeping his fidgeting under the desk and quiet - e.g. tap an eraser instead of a pencil, because tapping pencil noise is more likely to bother others. Play with fingers in his lap instead of on his desk. Things like that. If that helps, then you just saved yourself a great deal of time! If it doesn't help, then you have more to talk about at an evaluation.

How is the size of the desk relative to the size of the child? Kicking can sometimes mean the feet need a place to rest. Perhaps a theraband wrapped around the legs of the chair can allow him to rest and even slightly fidget his feet without creating disturbances.
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amother


 

Post Tue, Nov 25 2014, 9:54 pm
seeker wrote:
Oh for some reason from the first post I thought the school was recommending an everything evaluator and for some reason you didn't like that. I must have misunderstood.

"Everything" is because there are a multitude of things that can cause a child to have difficult behaviors.

You're right that it would be unusual for a child with ADHD to be able to sit and focus on homework with no difficulties. Perhaps there is some school related anxiety going on? Or it could be that distractions in the classroom make it more difficult there?

If you are certain that there is no problem with his work, learning, testing, social life, etc, then I wouldn't view this as an emergency or cause of major distress. Maybe you can talk to the child about keeping his fidgeting under the desk and quiet - e.g. tap an eraser instead of a pencil, because tapping pencil noise is more likely to bother others. Play with fingers in his lap instead of on his desk. Things like that. If that helps, then you just saved yourself a great deal of time! If it doesn't help, then you have more to talk about at an evaluation.

How is the size of the desk relative to the size of the child? Kicking can sometimes mean the feet need a place to rest. Perhaps a theraband wrapped around the legs of the chair can allow him to rest and even slightly fidget his feet without creating disturbances.

OP here.
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
I really don't think there's anything majorly wrong but I'd test if I had no choice or if the pediatrician recommends to. It's for sure possible that there are distractions in the classroom that there aren't at home when child is doing homework.
The child is not aware of the fidgeting when I ask about it.
Interesting that you ask about desk relative to size of child because the child is small and the desk is a bit big.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Nov 26 2014, 4:58 am
BUMP

Does anybody know anything about this hospital eval?
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bnm




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 26 2014, 5:28 am
where are you located? NYU does a 16 hour eval for $4000... I told my ped my 18 month old doesn't have 16 hours worth to evaluate at that point and if and when he gets older we will look into it.

testing can be done for learning disabilities, adhd/add, spectrum related stuff, psychological stuff. that is what they mean by a FULL evaluation....
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 26 2014, 2:06 pm
Frankly if the child is too small for the desk and the primary complaint is foot swinging/banging, I would first try a footrest (preferably band, you can tie one band around the chair legs and one band around the desk legs so he can choose what's comfortable - but a stool could help too) for at least a week before wasting any time chasing after multidisciplinary evaluations. We always try basic strategies before looking for a problem to diagnose.
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