Our boys started 3rd grade 4 weeks ago. In the spring, end of 2nd grade, they were diagnosed as having ADHD by our pediatrician, based on questionnaires filled out by their teachers. There are some accommodations in place at school for them, like extra time to finish assignments, etc., but after getting their progress reports, we were really alarmed. We ended 2nd grade with A's and B's. We are starting off this year with D's and F's, some C's. We had a conference today with their 3 teachers and the principal with hopes of understanding what has happened. I think we are more confused now than ever. The principal thinks medication would be a great help to them, as we are all concerned about them falling behind. This is a standardized assessment year and the school is worried about their numbers on the test. We don't know what to do or where to begin. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Laura Frye

Mama to Jack, Sam & Ben
born 5/18/01 at 26 weeks
and Susannah Grace
born 8/7/06

Can your Ped give you a referral to someone who speacializes in ADHD kids? I'd start there if you can get one. They will have tons of information for you on everything from time management skills to diet suggestions. I know this has got to be difficult for you, but hang in there, it will work out.

Kim
Nate, Nick & Noel(36w4d)and Nia.

<a href="http://www.tickercentral.com"><img border="0" src=""></a>


http://www.tickercentral.com>

IMHO, I would take the boys to a specialist, a physician who has done a felowship in neurological disorders, and I would not bother informing the specialist of the diagnosis. Since your pediatrician was involved in the diagnosis, this may be a bit more complicated, but, if necessary, I would start by finding an independent pediatrician, start the boys with the new doctor and then casually request a referral to have them assessed for concerns regarding focus and attention spans. Don't use any labels or tags and simply request an assessment by a professional doctor, without having them labeled by a teacher before any assessment can be done.

It's too easy for things to get rigged by a pediatrician simply listening to teacher questionnaires without regard to the teacher's experience and training in identifying ADHD vs. general boredom, etc. All of it becomes complicated by such factors as "no child left behind" and all of the assessments and concerns about test numbers. Frankly, any child they can tag with a disability can immediately be eliminated from their test results. This has some horrible implications as people who may previously have been stressed by some energetic or less attentive students are now having their raises and income/careers challenged based upon children's abilities to take tests. It's unfair to the teachers, but the resulting inclination to be less tolerant of active boys is worse than unfair to the children.

The fact is that your boys have now gotten their "label" and it sounds as though they are being encouraged to behave appropriately for their label rather than being encouraged to be good students with high expectations. It is unreasonable that they went from A's and B's at the end of second grade, then are diagnosed based upon "teacher questionnaires" and are now suddenly doing work at D's and F's with some C's after being provided additional time to finish assignments. Obviously, if they were doing better work with less time, adding time so that they can further expand upon a failure to focus is not improving their focus. It sounds like the perennial problem of children living up to our expectations. Everybody at the school has lowered the standards and the boys appear to be living up to the expectations.

The principal thinks medication would be a great help? Wow. Is the principal a physician? I know that educators are trained in working with children, but I come from a long line of teachers and have worked with children for many years. Since when do teachers have such power in diagnosing children with ADHD? This current pendulum swing has gotten way out of hand.

So, return to the first paragraph. Instead of allowing the school district to control the diagnosis, separate the two processes. If an independent physician, simply sitting and working with the children and running independent testing determines that the boys have ADHD and need medication, then by all means I would test that theory out. But, if teachers decide to diagnose the child and the doctor then accommodates, that is simply wrong. And, it is something that is happening more and more.

BTW, you have known these children since in utero. And, I suspect that even if you are "only a layperson/parent," you've had sufficient experience with children to come to some opinions of your own. From your post, you don't sound particularly convinced and/or impressed with the outcomes.

Good luck, but I'd start by cutting out any cross-talk by professional educators and turn to the physicians to make medical diagnoses. And, once the medical issues have been explored, I would then establish the standards and work with the children to assist them in understanding and meeting those standards.

Good luck with this.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

I agree with Kim and Cat - it is a huge change to have the boys go from A's and B's to almost failing. I would definitely get them to a specialist who can help with diagnosis (if there is one) and treatment recommendations. It is a concern that the school even mentioned the test scores - although we know the teachers have to consider that - it should not even be on their radar at this point I have 2 boys with ADHD - inattentive and DH has it. It is a struggle to help them to accept that this is a part of their reality and to empower them to use their many gifts and talents to the best of their ability.

have you considered other things that may be going on with your boys that would cause them to be more distracted or unfocused? It can be things that we do not even realize. I know for us 3rd grade was very difficult for Brendan as the dynamics between he and his brothers (esp S) changed. At this age , they are becoming more connected to friends, forming groups and pulling away from some of the family identity.

Good luck
Suzanne
Proud mommy to Seamus, Brendan and Casey 4/17/00

I will just tell you my personal experience with ADHD medications. My son, who is also a 3rd grader, was diagnosed with ADHD in the beginning of his second grade year. He was put on a low dose of Focalin XR (5 mg). Results were seen right away and quite amazing. His frustration level went down, his grades and test scores went up. He enjoys school work more and is not disruptive in class. He even told me the first day he was on it...he said "Mom, this medicine is working cause I can pay attention better in class". We were lucky in that he has had no adverse side effects. Alot of ADHD diagnosis's are made based upon parent and teacher assessments and 1 way to find out if it is ADHD or not is if they respond well to and you see a difference after they start taking the meds. I like the Focalin XR because it is time released and lasts about 6-7 hours, enough to get him thru the school day.

Good Luck with your decision.

Were you given an assessment form to fill out by your childs pediatrician? Ours used the Vanderbilt Assessment Form which I found online and you can review if you'd like....

http://www.multicare-assoc.com/pdfs/NICHQVanderbiltParent.pdf


Becky
bgg 8/2001

Glad to hear you had good luck with the Focalin. We are about to try that with my son - he was on Medadate and did great but eventually it stopped working as well and we have struggled with different meds since then (past year). I am praying this helps as he is smart and has always loved school but is beginning to feel more negative about it!

BTW - we use the Conners Rating scale to test for ADHD and it consists of a parental and teacher report.

Suzanne

BBB 4/00

My ds was diagnosed w/ADD in 1st grade. He is taking meds and doing very well.

We have noticed that at the start of every school year he goes through an adjustment period. For the first few weeks of school he tends to forget to hand in assignments. Once he is into his routine, he is back to getting A's and B's.

As to whether or not your boys need meds, that is something that should be discussed as a family and w/their pediatrician. I don't think it was their principal's place to even bring that up.

Good luck! ADD/ADHD can be a real challenge and very frustrating to all parties involved.

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."-- Gillian Anderson

A couple of final thoughts:

1. IF you think your boys may have ADD, you could try medication to see what results. Focalin is supposed to be great. If they don't really have it, you won't see any results and you'll know they don't have it.

2. I went on-line and checked out Conners rating scale. Interesting reading -- and, it confirmed that having teachers evaluate may not be the best thing and/or could be fine... Helpful, huh?

Good luck to you!

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

I know not everyone here jumped to meds first but I do think they should be used as more of a last resort. You might check out diet and supplement suggestions in this book:

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics:ADHD, autism, allergies and asthma by Kenneth Bock. MD.

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics-Groundbreaking/dp/0345494512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253913574&sr=8-1

Unfortunately I think some meds may mask real health problems. Ask yourself- What is the root cause of my child's ADHD? Go after that to correct the problem.

T
GGG '04

Also, there was a post about enzyme use and ADHD the other day on the main forum. One of the moms has had really good luck with that.

Just wanted to 2nd this suggestion. I would consider meds ONLY as a last resort. Read the book before you agree to it.

And firmly suggest to the principal that he is not qualified to determine treatment unless he holds a medical license. That is just way out of bounds.

If they have an ADHD diagnosis, then shouldn't they have an IEP? But really, a dx based on teacher questionnaires??? We haven't traveled down that road yet, but seems to me there should be psychologists, behaviorists involved before such a dx is made. I would expect that before I even considered medication.

MonsterMom6
10 year old ^b^ b twins @ 30w5d (1 survivor) and
8 year old gggg quads @ 32w0d

My first and best suggestion was to get the boys evaluated by a completely separate doctor with no history provided re the initial evaluation since it sounds like it was a knee-jerk evaluation.

However, I raised the idea of trying the meds because of the fact that I have had problems with focus since suffering a severe head injury. About 4 years ago I realized that some of the symptoms were similar to that of ADD and I spoke with a doctor about it. He told me that if I didn't have ADD, it would not do anything to help. So, on that basis, I decided to try the medication. It was amazing what changes occurred. So, in reading other moms who recommended that the meds were much better and helpful, it reminded me that if the child does not have the condition, there will be no impacts and it will further confirm this mom's suspicions.

My comment about the Conners' Rating Scale was rather tongue in cheek. If anyone searches this on-line, you will find out what I was referring to as it was a methodology for testing drugs on children and getting them confirmed to use as lab rats. The doctor who developed the rating scale was financially linked to the drugs being tested and profited greatly from the sale of the drugs. There have never been any certifications of the testing scale and no proofs that the scale has any validity.

Finally, I was also intrigued by Laraine's information about enzymes. It would be another avenue to pursue. But, before using the enzymes, it might be helpful to get a neurologists' opinion and/or try Focalin to test the theory of whether the boys truly have ADHD. Until that is confirmed, you are completely correct in pointing out that there could be something going undiagnosed due to the assumption that this is ADHD.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

Two of my triplets were diagnosed with ADHD. Like PP have said, I wouldn't stop at the peds diagnosis. I had my children tested by a child psychologist. They did a whole spectrum of tests including IQ, math, language, anxiety, etc. We now know their strengths and weaknesses and where they are in the national percentile. Sometimes teachers will mistaken kids that don't have the best attention spans or that talk more than usual for ADHD but many times they are right. IMHO, I would have extensive testing done. The fact that they were making A's and B's makes me wonder if they got the correct dx. My boys have struggled with their grades their whole life which is not unusual for children with ADHD. Good Luck,

Jill
(29wk triplets)
Julia(8-22-96)
<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="" alt="Lilypie 4th Birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="" alt="Lilypie 6th to

Jill raises an interesting point. One thing that routinely shows up "late" is dyslexia. Dyslexia goes unnoticed for long periods initially because the children are able to "fake it" with the reading, having learned as much as the other children. By "fake it" I am referring to the fact that they believe they are reading when they are actually memorizing and have excellent brain power. But, at some point, there is no way to have memorized text that they were expected to read on their own.

Dyslexia can go hand-in-hand with inattention, and all kinds of other symptoms that can seem like ADD or ADHD. It's possible that the dx is not dyslexia, either, but it would sure account for going from A's and B's to D's and F's.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

Has one of your kiddos been diagnosed w/ADHD or ADD?

Are you speaking from personal experience that diet and supplements have helped your child's ADD/ADHD?

It's not always a good idea to consider meds as a last resort when treating the majority of medical conditions.

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."-- Gillian Anderson

i strongly agree with what the pp said about not leaving it here, a diagnosis made from a pediatrician based on questionnaires from teachers? probably multiple choice questionnaires??

my son was diagnosed add by an ed psych after two observational sessions (one in classroom one in the ed pyschs office, playing and answering questions and doing some one on one tests)

i have joined the local ADD/ADHD support group and i am learning that in the case of add/adhd educators sometimes want to medicate in hopes of "quietening" the problem, not solving the issue if you see the difference. i urge you to seek a second opinion. your three boys might have three very different issues. medication might be the answer for one, all, two or none of them. there are alternatives. acupuncture, massage, TCM, diet...so many others.

i definitely agree, get an ed psych or someone to check out your boys. your pediatrician should be able to write a referral for you.

it is an overwhelming world. is there a local or state wide support board you can call for a support group? meetings?

good luck
tess

tess
mummy to 7yr old ds & the triumverate born 2004

I've missed you greatly. 'Good to see you online.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

2 of my 3 girls were recently diagnosed with ADHD (the inattentive type, no the hyper type). To get them diagnosed I started with a pediatic neurologist. From there I got them each a neuropsych test done. It is a complete educational test on learning disorders, IQ, depression, questionnaires for home and teachers, etc. You name it, they test it. While my girls IQ scores were fine their attention span is not. The neurologist hopes that in time they will grow out of it. We will have to wait and see on that. In the meantime, One is on Vyvanse 20mg and the other is on adderall. WOW what a difference! If they do not take their meds in the morning the whole day is way off. By the time I get them after school to start homework they are a mess and can no longer pay attention to anything. They get A LOT of homework (8 things to do each night) and they usually end up fighting with me the whole time when they don't take their meds. With the meds they sit down and get right to work and finish in a timely manner. The meds have worked for us so far but only time will tell.

Khrissys3girls

Mommy to Lindsey, Kaylee, & Carly born 8/30/01 at 31 weeks
AND John Thomas born 1/17/06 at 39w3d

http://lilypie.com>

http://lilypie.com>[/i