ADD/ADHD forms/checklists, etc.

[benjimom]

I had the school fill out a scoring test for ADD/ADHD, my son scored in the suggestive range for the school version and in the normal range for the home version.   The doctor said above the suggestive range is the diagnostic range.  He said he could go on medications.  I have an appt with a psychiatrist and then he suggested just waiting to hear what the psychiatrist suggested as far as does he think he has ADD/ADHD, need meds, etc.  Is anyone else having this where the chidl appears like he might have ADHD at school, but is different at home.  It's very confusing to me.  

If my son seems okay at home, I hate to think of putting him on medciation, but if his functioning is impaired at school, what do I do?  

[benjimom]

My son too had speech delays when he was younger, still does not say some words correctly, but MUCH imporved.  He did not talk until after three.  Some of the screaming might be due to difficulties in communication.  I can remember my son doing this when he was frustrated. I aslo think it affects their maturity levels too.  

[Abs1984]

OH MY GOD !! im going through the exact same problem right now..i know exactly how you feel. my son is 3 and can talk but not have a conversation. im working with a speech and behaviour therapist and its made a difference but he has always been better at home than in nursery.

whenever he steps into a clinic he screams and wont stop until we leave. today i took him to a kids gym thinking hed love being around other kids but he screamed so much (he probably thaught it was a clinic). at home he tells me what he wants and doesnt want and he gives me eye contact but wont interact well with strangers. hes well behaved when i take him out. im so confused...

i hope, as you mentioned earlier, that this is just a phase and they grow out of it. its so hard for us to see our babies suffer so much. ive taken my son from therapist to therapist and im sure he senses something strange going on.

[allmymarbles]

Some students are difficult. It is the job of the teacher to cope with them. As parents we may find that one of our children is more difficult than the others. That does not mean he or she is abnormal. Teachers nowadays seem to want docile students. Sometimes the most rambunctious are those with the most unique minds. This was certainly true of my daughter who was the bane of any teacher who ever had her in her early years. Post puberty they understood and appreciated her.

[benjimom]

It is hard to know who to really trust in all this?  Do the teachers really have the best interest of the student at heart or do they just want to make their job easier?  Do docs just prescribe the pills b/c they don't know what else to do and want you to feel like they are "doing something"?  It's hard to know really.

[tschock]

'Tis true. Those of us that have these problems can attest to it...if you like something you're fine...if you hate it or find it boring...they will lose you every time.
I love reading. At home I was an avid reader. At school I would "get lost" while reading in class. Remember grade 1 and 2 ? You would all take turns reading out loud. I couldn't take it! The kid in front of me would start reading...Ssss eeee...ssee...see **** rrrruuuuunnnn....UGH!!!!!
I was reading my dad's westerns at home...these kids couldn't even read the word run without stuttering over it for 5 minutes!
So I would do what comes natural...I would read ahead to see how the story ends.lol
Then the teacher would call out my name to read...oh oh! I had no idea where the kid in front of me had left off. I was in the office for that more times than I care to remember. Back in the 60's/70's (not to give my age away) you used to get the strap for that sort of thing. There was no such thing as ADD/ADHD...you were either a good kid or a bad one.

Of course,it doesn't mean that he has either problem.
My nephew is attention starved at home...he goes to school and acts up because "even negative attention is better than no attention"...
My inlaws don't realize that they are not giving him enough attention...or should I say didn't? They have now been told what his problem is...I just hope they deal with it.

[Sandman2]

   If he has ADHD, he will not outgrow it.  However, he can learn to cope with it.  Some parents use medication until the child is old enough to learn how to deal with ADHD.  But this means they have to take the time to train the child.  Unfortunately, many parents use the meds as the easy way out and don't givve their child the life skills they need to succeed.
  Of course all of this is only relevant if the child truly has ADHD.  

[benjimom]

I know, i feel really mixed up about it all.  I wonder if he will just outgrow it all, etc.

[allmymarbles]

Your kid is fine at home, but not at school. Not in the least bit uncommon or abnormal. I drove my teachers nuts for three years and then got over it. My daughter got even more milage than I did. We both hated school.

In any case, what business has the school putting your son on the road to medication by scoring him for ADD? They are not doctors. And in any case, since ADD is a big medical fad, I would not trust most doctors to make such a diagnosis.

Let one thing be plain. The medication for ADD is not some harmless pill. Adderall, for instance is speed - you know, the street drug, but with a fancy name. It will not only affect his mind; it will stunt his growth. And it is addictive.

Nothing in this world would induce me to drug my child in order to please his teacher by making him an easily managed student.

[dollyn]

why would you drug your child just because the school wants it.

not all children are meet to do well in school and not all children like school.if you give every child who does poor in school drugs then there would be a lot of children running around drug up.

the side effects to these drugs and what it does to there brain .

I don't understand why so many teachers and parents put there children on drugs these day's with all the new info there is out there about what it does to them and how kids are been misdiagnosed.

some children do poor in school because of other children and because of things that are happening at home or around then.or because of something that has happen to then in there life. no drug will fix these things. talking to our children and finding out what is on there mind and treating them like what they have to say matters.

did you go and read what I posted today that everyone should look at.

there is more than add or adhd ,it seems to be the easy way out and children have to pay with there health and parents latter on.Children have die from these drugs and children have gotten side effects from these drugs.  

I know I wish would have none what I know now when I put my son on drugs .they changed him and I cant seem to get him back to the way he once was,I would rather have the old hipper and happy son , then to have a son who has seizures every day and has to take a lot of medicines to try and stop the seizures.

[benjimom]

I guess I am just nervous about starting medications if he does well in one aspect of his life, but not another.  

[benjimom]

Okay, thanks, I will talk w/the psychiatrist, he is probbaly more up to date on things.  My son is already on an IEP and has been for quite a while since age 3 due to speech delays.   Yes, the school is working with me and has made modications and are working with a behavioral specialist now, they are trying to finalize a plan.  They want to integrate him back to the classroom, but him go to another classroom for a fresh start.  

[Sandman2]

   Wait and talk with the psychiatrist.  See what he thinks.  Than get a 504 done for your child that address his needs.  Than see if that makes a difference in how the school works with your child ( I would assume by now that the school is making some kind of modifcations).  As a last resort, there are the medications, but I would make sure that the school is doing everything possible first.  
   It's not unusual to get different results between the school and home.  The school is a much different environment.