I was wondering if anyone here has a child that has had any adhd related issues. My son is 7 and towards the end of 1st grade he started getting in trouble at school -talking, flipping his pencil, not sitting in his seat. At home sometimes he runs around and jumps on the furniture but mostly he just doesn't listen to anything. It's more like he can't hear me than outright defiance. This school year I asked his teacher (she is someone I know outside of school) if he stays focused, etc. She smiled and said he didn't but it didn't bother her as long as he wasn't disrupting others. He gets points off on his report card since they have all these subcategories like stays focused, self control and all that tied in with academic ability. He's going to the dr Thursday for an evaluation with the pediatrician. I filled out papers and so did his teacher. They said the office works closely with a pediatric behavioral psychologist and don't automatically put kids on medicine. I was just wondering what other moms may have experienced with this. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

By Tarable on Monday, November 27, 2006 - 04:58 pm:

You are describing my oldest DD to a T... Alexis acted just like this all the time until we got her treatment. In her case it took both behavioral therapy and medication to fix her problems, but the changes in a VERY short period of time were amazing. Now she is a straight A student and in all excellerated classes. She has seen a psycholagist through the school but her medication is prescribed through her ped. I find that the medicine with her worked more than anything else but I know many people who have the opposite. For that matter my other DD has ADHD but is not as hyper and she reacts better therapy than the meds. If you have any questions feel free to ask or email me at tarable2 at gmail dot com with all the appropriate fixes...

By Mommmie on Monday, November 27, 2006 - 09:34 pm:

My son has ADHD and takes medication for it. He is not teachable otherwise.

By Cat on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 03:52 pm:

My son (13yo) is ADHD and bipolar. He isn't taking anything for the ADHD right now, but he did when he was first diagnosed (at 6 1/2yo). He's on medication for the bipolar and that helps him a lot. Good luck with the eval and let us know how it goes.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 07:05 pm:

Another thing to check out is Sensory Integration Disorder. It can mimic those same symptoms. Ask for a Sensory Profile as part of the eval process. Good luck!
Ame

By Rayelle on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 11:46 am:

Thanks. It is so frustrating right now because I can tell he can't help his behavior sometimes but I can't let him just do what he wants either. He is such a sweet, sensitive boy. I feel for him when he gets in trouble at school because he takes it so hard. He's been doing better at not talking in class but he says sometimes its just too hard. He cried because he wants a perfect report card. I told him it was important that he tries his best. In kindergarten and the beginning of first grade he got all the incentives for a great report card and now he misses it. I still praise him at home, but the school does little things, like names in the paper.