I know that there are a few mom's on here with kids with add/adhd. I am looking for some input on the add. My ds who just turned 6 is definately not hyper. He is very laid back and shy. I have had concerns that he was add. I looked at a screening on line and he had quite a few if not all of the in attentive problems. I would just like to know how you know if it is really just manipulation on there part. I mean if my son likes doing it. Such as watching tv, or playing video games he could do it for hours if allowed and does it well. But when it comes to school work he has such a hard time and he hates it. Its hard when he fights about it all the time. He does not appear to listen or get instructions unless repeated many times. He sometimes will still require assistance. There are so many factors to consider. He is sensitive, and rather immature for his class because he is the youngest. But he tells me he can't do things. Tonight he told me he wants to wear a bag on his head so people do not see that he is sad that he doesn't know his letters and sounds. Of course I told him we would work on it not to worry. I know that he has learning disabilities. Unfortunately he did not qualify for services other then speech this year. He did well enough in kdg grade to test out of special ed for 1st. Which is great but I fear he is just falling through the cracks. His teacher is aware of my concerns and is more in a wait and see mode right now. It is only the second week of school. I am just wondering more from some parents of kids with ADD with out the hyperactivity aspect what other symptoms you saw. Thanks for any info. One more thing that I will add that is a positive note. My son's teacher this years son is add. So she is aware of the signs and knows my concerns. So she will be watching.

By Tink on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 10:30 pm:

My husband has ADD and he is the most laid back man I know. He calls himself The Slug! He says that it feels like the channel keeps changing in his head. The slightest thing will distract him and he has a really hard time getting back on track when he has gotten distracted. He can play video games or read his car magazines for hours, though. He has started taking Strattera and it has helped with his frustration with himself and others. Have you tried letting your son do his homework for 15 minutes and then giving him a 5 minute break. My dd, who is 7, started getting very frustrated with schoolwork and we started this. It has made a big difference. It is great that his teacher is so aware and helpful with the situation.

By Feonad on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 06:38 am:

Sounds like he is just young to me. It is very difficult to be one of the youngest in the class.

My sisters in law's son was born on Christmas. So he made the cut off for new york city by the skin of his teeth. They were going to put him in special ed because he was young and so called behind - because he was young....!

So she kept him out of school and put him in preschool. This year he knows is abcs and everything he is supposed to. So she isn't going to send him to kindergarten anyway, but homeschool in the fall... But he could
have went into kindergarten ....

So what some people do around here is send the child to private or parocial school for one year if they want there kids to do kindergaten again. and the school district won't let them.

People in this area are holding their boys and sometimes girls back if they are young. Very common around here. All of a sudden the child has no problems...

By Lauram on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 02:41 pm:

When you say "I know that he has learning disabilities" what do you mean? If he didn't qualify, it means he didn't have a learning disability. He could also have a processing difficulty. Personally, I would have some outside people evaluate him. The school will "wait and see" until he fails. What are his speech issues exactly? The inattention could easily be attributed to his difficulties in school. I'm not saying he couldn't be ADD too- but it sounds like he has a lot going on there and you need to start figuring it out. If you feel it might be ADD, you need to take him to a dr. Schools are not qualified to make that assessment as it is a medical diagnosis. They can comment on the behavior- but can't give it that label. There are lots of things you need to tease out with his learning IMHO before you can even get there though. Did he have a formal battery of psych testing done? Or is it just because he "passed" K? If he hasn't had that, that's where I would start (privately unless you can convince the school to do it now- highly unlikely). He is a bit young though, so the results might be a little strange....

By Mommmie on Sunday, August 29, 2004 - 12:08 am:

My 4th grade son is both ADD and LD. To qualify for special ed you have to have a qualifying disability *and* that disability has to be impacting the ability to learn in school. Your child may have a disability, but bec he's doing "okay" doesn't currently qualify, or qualifies for speech only. Schools have gotten to the point that a child has to be failing before they will consider classifying the child. At my school it was 6 months behind in kinder and 1st grade, 12 months behind in 2nd-4th grade and 2 years behind 5th grade and higher.

My son was classified at the end of 1st bec he would not have qualified at the beginning of 2nd and everyone knew he needed help. I didn't have to "fight" the school at all to get him an IEP.

The first thing you think when a child struggles is ADD. We did and that's typical. You can't really get a good idea about LDs, if any, until the ADD is under control. Then if the academic struggles cease with medication, it's just ADD. If the struggling continues despite better efforts due to the medication, then an LD eval needs to be done.

I always recommend an outside evaluation. Pay money. Don't have the school do it. Some schools require it even if you're doing your own, but some don't. Mine didn't. The public school has never tested my son. I don't trust them to give me an accurate picture of what's going on. They are serving too many masters.

My son is now in a private school for LD/ADD kids. It's the greatest thing. The public school couldn't meet his needs - not even remotely. He left the public school after 2nd grade. He *is* learning to read and write. He no longer calls himself stupid despite a high IQ. He wouldn't have learned to read and write in public school. His ADD is medically managed and now we can concentrate on the LDs. Reading and writing take a long time to remediate. Don't wait too long.

I would look to private resources if at all possible. Private evals, private tutoring, private LD school, private OT for handwriting, etc. You'll be glad. When you see what happens to ADD/LD kids in public school it will make your heart break, esp once they hit middle school and they are in 7th grade and read on a 2nd grade level. It takes testing to sort out ADD/LD and anything else that comes up.

Good luck to you!

By Lauram on Sunday, August 29, 2004 - 09:14 am:

One other thing I wanted to mention is ADD needs to occur in multiple settings. So if it is ONLY happening when he is doing schoolwork (or homework) that's not enough for a dx. The TV/video example isn't a good one because from what I understand, that is typical of ADHD kids. My son is like that. ADHD is a focusing problem (overfocusing or underfocusing). I can't get my child away from the TV without major intervention.