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Adhd 9 year old and such odd things

ive been legal guardian to my maternal niece for 3 1/2 years, and in many ways she's a wonderful blessing. But over time we've dealt with many issues most at first we thought were from her previous environment (conceived on a coctail of drugs but born drug free and healthy, constant moving home to home, parents drug and alchohol addicts, no utilities, waking finding no adults in home, no utilities, etc). One day her mom said "here you can have her" and I ran with it, got her to tell it to a judge and moms out of the picture since. She's failing school but in third grade, she should have failed 1st and 2nd grade but the teachers said it would hurt her self esteem. I requested an IEP spring of 2nd grade and she was denied because her IQ is 128 but yet she's failing everything related to reading, writing, handwriting, spelling, and math, but makes great grades in science and art. She takes part in ESS both fall and spring a, has an assistant in class just to keep her on task, and has a limited spelling test of five words instead of 18 like the rest of the class. Her testing showed moderate to severe inattentive type adhd. We've since taken her to her dr who has put her on adderrol almost one year ago and although I see amazing differences in her ability to stay on task her grades are still failing. She does not remember something she learned ten minutes earlier. When she first came to live with us she had severe issues with abandonment but now she's very secure and a very happy child. But she does bizzarre age inappropriate things like gluing things to her mini blinds, using entire bottles of shampoo in one bath, using entire rolls of toilet paper just to pee, hoards  cardboard, hoards and hides food for no reason, takes markers and draws on her TV, bed, walls, etc. And spends an hour in the bathroom just to pee. I'm frustrated because school won't acknowledge she needs an IEP and I'm frustrated because at home she does such age inappropriate things when most of the time she seems quite age appropriate socially, emotionally, and mentally. Any comments would be appreciated.
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189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   Check this site I mentioned above for some good suggestions.
          http://www.additudemag.com/search/google.html?match_words=bathroom&x=13&y=10
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Avatar universal
OH wow my daughter can spend HOURS in the restroom. Her doctor says it seems to be a habit. She loves the bathroom. How do i break that habit?
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189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
    Actually, a lot of this is kind of normal for an ADHD child.  Its just that it is handled differently than if she did not have ADHD.
    First things first.   It is difficult to get an IEP for ADHD.  In most states, almost impossible unless the child has other very limiting problems.  Its just the way the law is written.  What you can get is a 504 and I can send you info on that if you are not aware of it.   Sounds like she is getting some of the normal 504 help though.
    And yes, she is gonna have a difficult time in 3rd grade.  She learned very little in first and second and third grade is built on info learned in first and second.  It is gonna take summers and tutoring to get her back up to speed.
    It also sounds like her meds are running out early in the day - which would explain some of her behavior at home.  Adderall is good for 4 to 8 hours, but Adderall XR  is good for 6 to 10 hours.  You need to talk to her doctor about the extended release version.   You should also talk to her teachers and get there opinion on how long the meds are working.
   Remember one of the big problems with ADHD kids is impulsive behavior.   Meds can help this a lot, but if the duration of the med is over, then the behavior is quickly back to being impulsive.
   This is a link to a really good site with parenting tips for an ADHD  child.  I think you will find it helpful.  http://www.helpguide.org/articles/add-adhd/attention-deficit-disorder-adhd-parenting-tips.htm
     And this is another wonderful site.  I just put bathroom into the search bar and came up with these.  I think that you will find some of them very useful.   You can search for almost any problem on this site and find answers.   http://www.additudemag.com/search/google.html?match_words=bathroom&x=13&y=10
      Hope this helps.  Please post if you have any more questions.
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