17 year old with ADHD and lost in group settings

@MAmom111, have you made any progress here since May? I have two kids who are both have issues and have done very well. With both, we did neuropsych evaluations, the with the second kid, the neuropsych missed the problem until ShawD’s HS recommended a different person for the testing.

The first kid is severely dyslexic, has a speech delay, is often a bit hard to understand when he is tired, has a touch of ADHD and who knows what else thrown into the mix. He is intellectually brilliant and socially skilled. His issues were different as he was happy in small group settings. He always felt like he was a nerd (but proudly so) although he was invited to sit at the jock table at lunch at HS, though he preferred to play chess at lunch. But, reading and writing were physically painful in elementary school. After doing full neuropsych testing, we were able get some remedial help in school and accommodations in HS and college. The accommodations in college included extra time on tests and separate room (I think). The good news: he got into a very good LAC (which was chosen because of a) small classes; and b) no distribution requirements); co-founded a tech company as a first semester senior, went to a first class school for an MBA and an MS in computational and mathematical engineering, started his second company, was in the Forbes 30 under 30, etc.

For ShawD, the neuropsych eval for ADHD was very important in getting her accommodations (extra time) plus Ritalin. She did great in college, became a nurse practitioner, and is now the medical director of one and soon to be two clinics.

So, get the neuropsych exam ASAP. It may be insightful, but even if it is not, it may help you get accomodations in school and especially for the SAT/ACTs. And, you may get some real insight into what your S’s problems are.

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Thanks for checking in and for all the great info. Congrats on your two success stories.

Yes, we are working on the Neuropsych. I think we were hesitant because his brother had one and it really didn’t show much. We have his first consult coming up in 2 weeks and then the testing should start in December. Tried to get tetsing for an auditory processing disorder at Childrens Hospital but they won’t do it until the kid has a neuropsych and a hearing evaluation so that’s a bit frustrating as the more I read about the auditory processing disorder, the more it sounds like him. Luckily insurance has agreed to cover the neuropsych.

Based on his 504, school evaluation and ADHD diagnosis he was able to get extra testing time on his SAT and ACT. Think it really helped him with his pre-ACT.

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The auditory processing people are doing the right thing. If there is a hearing acuity issue, or something identifiable in the neuropsych, it’s possible APD testing would not be accurate.

So…get that hearing eval done. I would suggest doing that before the neuropsych.

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