I was not suggesting a neuropsych be done by school personnel. But educational evaluation information can be helpful to some of these folks.
Around here, the time frame for a private neuropsych is upward of three months. Sometimes another medical provider can get an appointment sooner.
In the meantime, it’s possible the school will identify something whereby some accommodations can be done sooner than later…to benefit this student.
I think we are agreeing!
Understood. But there are often many tests that overlap, and it can confound the evaluations if they are performed in close proximity, or if the second evaluator has to then modify their evaluation because the student was recently administered some of these tests (causes problems with test/retest reliability and validity). And if for some reason the final report has not been completed in school or is not available to the family to provide to the outside neuropsych, the outside Neuropsych has further challenges in completing their evaluation.
If a parent is able to get a private neuropsych evaluated within 3 mos, my suggestion would be for the parent to talk to the neuropsychologist before first moving forward with school testing and perhaps the school psych and private neuropsych could chat and coordinate efforts.
Your post reminded me of my son. I got him tutoring for that last three years of high school that cost a fortune. I probably could’ve sent him to private school for what I paid. When it finally came time to go to college, he did get accepted to one. It wasn’t the dream school I had in mind for him, but he was in somewhere. After he got accepted, something changed. Then over the course of his first year in college, he turned into this amazing student. He eventually went to a great grad school and has an extremely successful career. If he’s anything like my son, he might just need time to mature. I was so worried about him in high school, but the small college away from home turned out to be exactly what he needed.
Regarding neuropsych testing - if you live near a university, sometimes graduate psychology departments will offer testing at a reduced rate or may have a shorter waitlist.
I got my son neuropsych testing- first through the schools, then through a private provider. The school was free, the private was covered by insurance for the stuff that was mental health related (my son was also working SO SO hard he started developing anxiety, depression- it was awful). We learned he has a language processing disorder so he was working for 8 hours a day b/c it took him so long to read and process the words. Tutors helped b/c they were able to present the information in another way to him, helping him with his processing. One regret I have was not having him repeat a year of high school. If I was in the same position, I might consider moving him to a private school for junior and senior year and allowing him to repeat junior year. It will give him extra time, it is not uncommon at all and it will make life a little easier on him. I didn’t do it b/c of the financial burden and it did work out ok, but I think it would have been much easier on him, and I do regret not going with my instincts. My husband and son thought he could push through, and he did but it was so hard for him and such a struggle (it still is).
Wanted to add- he does have ADHD as well, and the language processing disorder is likely somehow connected to it- but who knows, reality is- it is what it is and I just want him to be happy and successful.
Adult psychiatrist here. Only see qualified neuropsychologists. And definitely only see Board Certified Child Psychiatrists or Adult Psychiatrists. Make sure they rule out any medical causes first because medical conditions can present with inattention as well.
If he is studying all day on school days and weekends, he is missing out on emotional development. Teens need to also achieve emotional milestones in order to mature. This is done in the company of other teens and also through clubs, sports, civil organizations or employment.
Heavy focus on academic achievement, no matter how smart the student, can backfire with the student sabotaging their grades due to fear of failure.
What does your son want? What does he see in his future?
Has your son talked to a mental health counselor?
Along with a neuropsych eval, it might be good to talk to a counselor.
Guys, consider that since the OP joined CC, immediately posted this “hot button” topic, and then hasn’t been back, they might not be who they present themselves to be. Happy to be shown to be wrong.
Yes, screen for DEPRESSION and/or ANXIETY. “Anxiety hi-jacks the brain.” And many more kids have anxiety since the pandemic.
Full neuropsych privately arranged and paid should also be done. If the original was school administered, his scores might have been averaged and the high IQ would minimize a lower subset score (like working memory). By averaging the scores, the school avoids the cost of an IEP - reducing SPED costs is an m.o. for schools. But a low working memory could be just one explanation for a high intelligence student spending an extraordinary amount of time on homework. In this case, anxiety/depression could be secondary.
Just want to add that while neuropsych. testing is clearly helpful, for ADHD you would need a psychiatrist. Diagnosis is via a questionnaire. There is no objective test for ADHD.
Our neuropsych. did test for “focus” with the caveat that the testing context was not natural so might not apply to real life. It was just doing a short test with a radio on as I remember.
There is an ADHD clinic that is part of a hospital system in our area where a psychiatrist provided diagnosis after the questionnaire was filled out by child and parent separately.
Agree with MD above that checking for medical issues is a good idea. Also, look at this What is Irlen Syndrome?for a visual issue. Not mainstream but I communicated with one family who found this helpful.
As for therapy for a parent that I suggested, that in no way indicated any negative impact by the parent on the situation. Raising a kid with challenges is stressful and talking to someone provides both clarity and comfort.
Hope the OP comes back but posting for others reading this, if they don’t.
Yes, I should have also mentioned anxiety. My D22 has struggled with both anxiety and depression since 8th grade so I am well aware of the effects on the brain’s functioning.
Yes. The MD should be board certified. A neuropsychologist does not have to be, but it does indicate a certain level of competence.
Yes! It’s very good if this can happen.
And I’ll say again…a very comprehensive physical should be done as well.
With all due respect, while there are no specific measures of ADHD, there are multiple measures with reliability and validity that assess focus/ sustained attention, alternating or divided attention, organization, freedom from distractibility, etc that are components of ADHD (and there are different types of ADHD). Please have a comprehensive eval done if assessing for ADHD, that would include rating scales completed by the student’s Parents and teachers. Rating scales alone or putting on background noise is insufficient for an assessment. And there is great controversy about “Irlen syndrome” with many respected organizations questioning its existence. There's no such thing as Irlen Syndrome, says RANZCO - Medical Republic.
54 replies to a poster who has literally only been on CC for minutes. I would wait to put time and energy into a reply until the OP returns, myself.
@jym626 we never pursued Irlen syndrome and I know it is controversial. But I did recommend it to one family whose teenager’s visual symptoms seemed to fit and they said it changed her life. I tend to be a skeptic but since they got back saying it caused a total turnaround I thought I would mention it.
Every neuropsych. and psychiatrist we saw (and there were many ) said there was no objective test for ADHD and used a questionnaire, including at the MGH ADHD clinic and the MGH-affiliated Spaulding rehab neuropsych. One neuropsych. did test for focus, as I mentioned, using radio interference with focus. Neuropsych’s do test for executive function.
Me, too! I hate it when people waste their time.
Hopefully, the OP is reading and thinking. I can imagine that a lot of what is written here might come as a shock.
Delete
As I said, there is no specific measure of ADHD. It’s this a constellation of symptoms and there are varying forms. Some Rating scales /questionairres have normative research behind them and some have only face validity and can be easily skewed. Often they are simply screening tools or part of a more comprehensive evaluation. And they should be completed by both the patient (depending on age), family member and teachers.
It’s beyond the scope of this thread so will not engage further, but while yes there are a variety of eye/vision issues and vision therapy, and people can benifit from intervention, Irlen is not recognized by medical organizations.
