I'm almost positive that DS has ADD/ADHD after doing a bunch of research and speaking with a friend who homeschools but taught for 10 years, who agrees with me after seeing him in action over the last few months. Issue is my ped doesn't really believe in ADD/ADHD, so it's hard to get him on board. When I first brought up issues, I was told by the ped, he's just smart and active, switch school environments and see how he does. We did that, it helped some but not enough. I don't want to switch peds, I like this one and I do like how he's not quick to jump to a diagnosis at the same time it's frustrating. He's also the DS's allergist (he's board certified in both areas). That said, all of the books I've read say they have to show difficulty focusing in two areas (school / home / sports). How does this work for homeschooling and the fact that DH is his coach for sports? If you are homeschooling a child with ADD/ADHD, how did you move forward from the initial something is wrong, we need help stage?
Hi Cara! I don't have a child with ADD/ADHD, ds is on the autistic spectrum. So I'm not sure if my answers will be exactly helpful or not. I'll tell you what we did and maybe it will help you. We didn't have ds dx until "late". he was 6 at the time. He had been in "Help Me Grow" from the time he was 6mo til 3 yrs. I beat my head against the wall trying to get them to test for autism. They flat out refused because they said he didn't fit the typical signs. He made eye contact, so he couldn't be autistic. We went through the Children's Hosp in our state and got a dx in days. The only reasons we did this was A) to have an actual dx on paper in case our local school district flip its lid over us homeschooling and B)to know exactly what we where dealing with in order to homeschool him. (Examples: sensory issues, developemental delays, processing issues...) I don't understand the question about your ped. He must have agreed there were signs of difficulty with your ds because he suggested changing school environments. Homeschooling has been a lifesaver for our ds. I can adapt his school work to fit his specific needs whenever that is needed. We can take as many breaks as is neccessary. For big physical activity and to prevent frustration from going to far, we have a big trampoline. Ds goes to the trampoline any time of the year to bounce. We do everything possible to relieve and prevent stress related to schooling. I want him to love to learn not hate or dread school. As far as sports goes, we have never involved him in group or team sports because of his physical delays and to avoid the teasing. However, this year for PE we are going to try dance. Tap dancing to be specific. It will help with motor planning and motor control. And he gets to make noise! If I were you and I couldn't get a dx from your ped, I would suggest finding out what your ds's learning style is. He may be a kenetic learner which means he needs to be in motion in order to process information. In other words he needs to wiggle in order to learn. If I had to start somewhere on my own thats where I'd start. Hope this helps. Marty
I have ADHD. I've known since I was in Jr High, but was not "officially" diagnosed. My mom refused to believe that I had it. When my dd started showing signs of it in 1st grade, I noticed right away. We took her in to be officially diagnosed when she was 7. Luckily, her Dr had no issues with making the diagnosis. However, if she had refused, I would have taken dd to a child Pshychiatrist, because I KNEW she had it. We started dd seeing a therapist to help her learn to deal with her ADHD. Her therapist agreed that she had ADHD (and that ds & I both have it). He decided that he couldn't help her, though, because he could not think of anything that we hadn't already tried. So, we took her to a clinic where she has a therapist & a pshychiatrist. They also agreed that she had ADHD, but added in a diagnosis of ODD. Eventually, they realized the diagnosis of ODD was wrong, and earlier this year she was diagnosed with juvenile-onset Bipolar & post-traumatic stress, in addition to her ADHD. This is something her ped wouldn't have noticed. Just from visits with the Psychiatrist with us having both kids there & the few visits the therapist has done with both kids to see how they interact with each other, both the therapist & psychiatrist have stated that ds also has ADHD. We all know he has it, but we haven't taken him in for an official diagnosis yet. I won't take him in for it yet. However, because these people specialize in working with kids with these conditions, they've all seen the signs. So, basically, I just explained all of that to say this - Take him to a child pshychiatrist, preferrably one that regularly works with kids with ADHD. If your ds has ADHD, it needs to be acknowledged so he can get the help he needs. As for showing problems in multiple areas, we had no problem with that. Explain what he's like when doing schoolwork. Do you have to stay near him all the time to make sure he's working? Do you have to constantly tell him to focus on the assignment at hand? Does he doodle on the sides of his pages instead of answer his Math problems, or stare off into space while you're going over the lesson with him? Does he fidget a lot while doing school - tapping his pencil on the table, bouncing in his seat, tearing the edges of his notebook paper, etc.? How is he when he's not doing schoolwork? Does he seem like a natural slob with no organizational skills, no matter how hard you try to teach them to him? Do you have to give him a detailed list of everything that has to be done for a room to be considered clean, and check on him every few minutes to make sure he's cleaning it? Does he destroy things? My kids have peeled paint off the walls in almost every roomin the house. I put a plastic table cloth on the dining room table to protect it when we do projects that involve glue or dissection & they've torn it to shreds. They've also shredded every window shade we've put up in the house since we moved in. They don't do it intentionally, they just like to pick at things. If your ds does stuff like that, make sure to mention it. Is he always active and on the go? When he watches TV, does he seem to be glued to the screen, even if he isn't really watching what's on it (I've actually seen my dd staring at a test pattern when a channel had problems & temporarily went of air)? Does he hyper-focus on certain things to the point of ignoring everything else going on? What's he like when playing sports? Does dh have to give him more attention than the other players? Does he need to be reminded to pay attention to the game (my dd almost got hit in the head playing basketball because she was standing in the middle of the court staring off into space)? Basically, just pay attention to all the ADHD symptoms & behaviors that he exhibits. Write them down, so you don't forget. If he takes any outside classes (one day classes at local museums, co-op classes, etc.), ask the person in charge of them if they'll write something about his behavior in the class. If there is an assisstant coach, ask if he can write something regarding your son's behaviors during practice & games. Have the friend you mentioned write something as well. Find a child psychiatrist & go in thouroughly prepared with all the information you can (including any letters from non-relatives who have noticed it) about his symptoms & behaviors. I've learned that the more information you have the more seriously the Drs will take you.
Yep. Not as bad as some I've seen & taught but highly disorganized & very attention deficit, minus most of the hyperactivity. As symptoms can vary quite a bit I will just go through what we did. Short lessons broken by or including movement of some sort. We really looked at her learning style because she was obviously really bright but completely unfocused & teach as much as possible to that even now & she's 14. We identified her greatest strengths pretty early [music & art]. Areas of high interest usually minimise or even overcome a lack of focus. As much as possible other areas include these 2 subjects. We planned for flexibility. Some days are just write~offs. There's just no point persisting. We tried to train her attention span with games [like Kim's Game], reading longer books to her while allowing her to doodle about the story, [ These days she does art while I read aloud.] & making plenty of time for activities where she would focus. We identified the times when she was most likely to be focused & taught her harder subjects at those times. Hope that is helpful.
I agree with what she said! It's a spectrum disorder, like Autism, and symptoms can vary widely, so even if your child doesn't exhibit the same symptoms as mine or someone else's doesn't mean you're wrong in your dx. Although the opposite is true too---some kids just have more energy and when young they can exhibit what looks like ADHD, though it may not be and they'll grow out of it as their body matures. That's why it's so hard to dx! I'm sure my dad has it, I'm sure I have it, and I'm sure my ds15 has it, though none of us has been officially dx'd. What is it that you want from an official diagnosis? Is his behaviour uncontrollable? What are his symptoms that are causing you concern? As Celtic Rose said, ours isn't as as bad as some, and we, too, varied things, and took breaks so he could get activity in-between and re-focus. If he couldn't control it, we'd have him (and sometimes the rest of us too just to be a team, so he wouldn't feel picked on or something) run around the house, or up and down the road or something like that to get his energy out. We also worked with his strong points to help make it easier for him to concentrate. Hopefully it gets worked out as you hope and your ds can learn well!
I agree with what was said above. My son 14 now was dx with depression and ADHD at 9 and then ODD. We now have a dx of bipolar I mixed. I also say see a child psychiatrist. MY son was uncontrollable and the adhd meds made him worse. He is currently on meds for his bipolar and things are getting better. My son also has LDs. We really focus on things that he is interested in and base everything around that. Good luck!!
