ADD for a straight A 10th grader? - Page 8

ShabaMama · 10-18-2012, 12:56 PM

My daughter sounds very much like your daughter. She was diagnosed with ADD after first grade. Her teacher called a meeting, showed us her findings. We contacted her pediatrician, who referred us to a psychologist for testing. The results of that testing were startling and she was put on medication.

My advice to any parent is to have their child fully tested. Pediatricians are great people, and they definitely have your kids' best interests at heart, but they simply don't have time to do all of the advanced testing that can pinpoint the exact nature of your daughter's issues.

The truth is, there are a lot of things that can cause loss of focus. Anxiety and depression are two big ones. Simply putting your daughter on a stimulant will not address those issues.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

Seahorsesrock · 10-18-2012, 01:19 PM

Part of growing up is learning that you can't do everything you want. That something always has to give and you may have to give up something you like. Just because you are quote unquote gifted doesn't mean you don't have to sometimes sacrifice.

Why are we so quick to do meds instead of looking at lifestyle choices? Just because she is awesome at three instruments doesn't mean she needs to play all three.

And perhaps her mind wanders because there are rare times when she isn't doing something "important" or for a competition, for a grade or whatever.

Sometimes letting your mind wander is a goooood thing. It's freeing, it's actually good for you and maybe some of these over acheiviers don't get that.

Has she ever meditated, just walked to walk, does she do yoga?

Before I would drug my kid, I would look at the entire package, set boundaries, and limits, and if she can't do it all unless she's medicated, gee, maybe that the problem.

I googled an ADHD test online, and it would have very easy for me to figure out what answers they were looking for. Also did one for as pie and for add...very easy to game the tests. Teens can self diagnosis themselves into an ailment. I have seen it.

Again, see if she is getting sleep, proper nutrition, shes not anemic, she is exercising, etx.

And tell her something has to give. If I were going to pay for drugs, I would absolutely insist on life changes. And I would insist she make, gosh, some choices. That's life.

My husband cant golf and play soccer. My daughter couldn't write her novel and enter art contests. Just because she wants to do it all doesn't mean she can or should, gifted or not.

OhioMom3000 · 10-18-2012, 01:53 PM

^I don't think OP is even considering meds for her D at this point. I believe the issue was whether to test for ADD or not. Conversation regarding drugs is putting cart before horse, imo.

BTW, Proper testing involves SEVERAL tests and can take HOURS to complete. Things such as IQ and processing speed are tested among several other things. It's not one little questionnaire, although that is what a Pediatrician may give in his/her office. That is not sufficient. An experienced Psychiatrist who specializes in testing should do it.

helpsilteplait · 10-18-2012, 02:59 PM

Got the packet. The questionnaire is just like the link that compmom gave.

The email from the pediatrician says that she often send my challenging cases of ADHD to a pediatric neurologist who uses a testing tool called "The Quotient" test to help support the diagnosis of ADHD, or to a neuropsychologist who identifies ADHD through similar testing.

helpsilteplait · 10-18-2012, 03:05 PM

@spectrum2, so your son has been taking meds for a while now? How does that work?

OhioMom3000 · 10-18-2012, 03:23 PM

My bad, Seahorse, meds are being considered by OP before results are in.

Seahorsesrock · 10-18-2012, 05:04 PM

Why not look at life style? Why not look at choses daughter is making? Her decisions? Her wanting to do it all?

And find out if her concentration issues are from any number of very plausible causes, exhaustion, diet, spinning a thousand plates

Wouldn't it be better if she could be helped in that fashion first, finding tools besides drugs?

She may indeed have add or ADHD, but it appears like he op and daughter feel it would answer all her problems without having to make real life choices.

northwesty · 10-18-2012, 05:33 PM

Spend the dough to get a very high quality eval for the kid and do it RIGHT NOW!!!! Also, get a psych specialist to do the eval rather than a general pediatrician. It is pretty tricky to nail down LDs precisely. So if you are going to deal with your concerns, then deal with it fully and completely.

Once you get the results back, then you'll know if the kid has symptoms/condition or not. And then you can decide what, if anything, to do about it.

My oldest kid had some significant learning issues that started to hit hard in middle school. Once we had the eval, we were then able to figure out what to do (which has changed and evolved somewhat over the years). Without an HQ eval, we would not have been able to make any good decisions about what to do. Listening to posters on an online forum express their opinions about whether your kid does/does not have ADD or should/should not be on meds is not helping your kid. Fyi, I started out virulently anti-med and thinking all the ADD stuff was BS. Now, I'm convinced ADD is significantly under-diagnosed and under-treated, and that the meds (while they have their risks and concerns) are a god-send.

Based on my first experience, I had my other younger kids eval-ed too even though they generally were doing pretty well in school. Turns out one was also mild ADD; the other was just a teenager.

The reason to do the eval now is this. If your kid does have ADD, you'll need to work pretty quickly (with a HS soph) to get it figured out and do something about it. For example, your kid may qualify for and need some accomodations for ACT/SAT testing. You'll have zero chance of getting those (which are hard to get) unless you have a well documented history of the kid's diagnosis and treatment (beginning right now). If you wait until junior year, it is too late. My first kid never would have made it into college without those accomodations.

Good luck.

momofthreeboys · 10-18-2012, 06:47 PM

Quote:

well documented history of the kid's diagnosis and treatment (beginning right now).

and accommodations if any are granted as written into the IEP documented are needed for the testing services.

MommaJ · 10-18-2012, 06:55 PM

Seahorserock, OP states in her initial post that attention issues were apparent in her daughter back in elementary school, when presumably her plate was not so full as it is now. I don't know why you would object to the girl being evaluated for possible ADHD and LD's. No one is suggesting that she be medicated, just that she be tested by an experienced professional, one who may indeed suggest a lighter schedule. It's always the posters with no experience with an ADHD child who have the strongest opinions on this subject.

OhioMom3000 · 10-19-2012, 10:10 AM

Accomodations can be obtained through an IEP or a 504 Plan.

Diffence between the two:

What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 Plan?

momofthreeboys · 10-19-2012, 10:14 AM

^^Yes sorry, I forget about the 504s (since my son has had an IEP since first grade but not for ADD or ADHD).

Maxwellequations · 10-20-2012, 03:00 PM

When we took our D. to CTY summer camp, we found out there were big number of kids there taking ADD pills. Many of her CTY friends are taking ADD meds. Also we went to another gifted camp last summer and found out the number of ADD kids is overwhelming!

spectrum2 · 10-21-2012, 01:22 PM

helpsilteplait: He has been taking a low dose of adderall since his Junior year. He is now a Freshman in college. He hasn't complained about the way it makes him feel. It isn't a cure all but it is one tool that has helped him to be more successful. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Dakotasoul · 01-09-2013, 03:58 AM

Your daughter is communicating to you that something is not right and she wants help. The only thing she can tell you is what she has heard of, but depression or other emotional issues can also be at play here. Take her seriously, she wants help, and make an appointment with a psychologist with whom she can talk. The shrink will evalutate more than just ADD--and make recommendations--1) wheather formal testing is requirred, or 2) if psychotherapy (talking therapy) is warranted. If the doc thinks ADD is a possibility, formal testing may or may not be necessary. Finally, if your daughter has a diagnosis, depression, or ADD, or any number of other issues, the school must accommodate the disability. They will do what is necessary, ie extra time on tests, or no penalty for late work, etc. Good luck!