What’s my next step?

amother

Mon, Nov 09 2020, 5:57 pm

There’s a strong family history of ADD. My husband has it as do all his siblings. It was largely undiagnosed for most of his childhood but he’s in therapy now and dealing with it well BH. My 7 year old daughter has been showing some signs for a while. She is the sweetest thing, with a heart of gold. She’s extremely impulsive, has boundless energy, and has a hard time listening. She can spend hours watching a video though. Lately she’s been having more trouble than usual with following directions and impulsiveness. It results in me getting upset and losing my patience with her. On shabbos, she told me she wished she had a happy life. Today (after I got upset at her for something that I literally told her TWO seconds before not to do) she told me “I’m such a stupid girl!” Of course I hugged her and kissed her and told her it’s ok to make mistakes and I love her, she just has to learn from her mistakes. Then I went to my room and cried. Does this sound like ADD? She’s good in school overall, she’s extreme popular and has an amazing personality. She does lag behind in completing school work. I’m in midst of switching pediatricians but don’t have an appointment yet.

mha3484

Mon, Nov 09 2020, 6:07 pm

I think this is the best age to pursue an evaluation. The results are more accurate once a child is in 1st grade or older. I think the more years that go by the more their self image goes down the drain. Now you can get to the bottom of her issues and work with her before that happens.

I took my son in pre1a to a developmental pediatrician. We had started meds a little while earlier but I did not like the practitioner at all so we did a full eval at the developmental doctors office. If you have access to such a resource I really recommend it. She diagnosed ADHD based on questionnaires and extensive interviews with myself and my husband.

When my son was in the beginning of 1st grade we did a full neuropsych evaluation. It tests all areas of cognitive functioning. We were able to really get a thorough understanding of his strengths and weaknesses. It was such a positive experience.

I think the two experiences were great to understand how to best help our kid.