how do you know if your 10 year old has ADHD?

[Anonymous]

Where to get tested? With who? Would doctors provide medication at that age?

[Anonymous]

I love how people here wouldn't hesitate to mock a Tiger Mom for making their kid do practice tests, but at the same time wouldn't hesitate to put their 10 year old on methamphetamine analogues to compete in school.

Literal performance enhancing doping is okay, but putting in major hours to study for a standardized test, heaven forbid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how people here wouldn't hesitate to mock a Tiger Mom for making their kid do practice tests, but at the same time wouldn't hesitate to put their 10 year old on methamphetamine analogues to compete in school.

Literal performance enhancing doping is okay, but putting in major hours to study for a standardized test, heaven forbid!

Yeah our entire value system is f'd. Excuses and accomodations are made very every failure, but putting in the hard work is somehow viewed as cheating the system.

[Anonymous]

What are they eating? I’d start there.

[Anonymous]

If you put this in Special Needs you'd probably get more helpful answers

But, start with your pediatrician who will likely give your child the Vanderbilt test. It's a form both spouses complete independently, and all of your child's teachers. Pediatrician can confirm diagnosis and if necessary, prescribe drugs.

Other alternative, is to do neuro-psych testing, which was $4-$5k eight years ago when we were going through the process

[Anonymous]

Ditto PP.
Yes, doctors will prescribe ADHD medication if that is the path you want to go for your ten year old after a diagnosis. Personally we are not medicating our ten year old at least at this point, getting by on school supports and therapy.

[Anonymous]

You need to speak with your child's doctor and teacher(s).

Some questions to think about: Is your child having difficulty completing tasks, staying focused, organization and time management, need for physical movement "like there's an internal motor" or constantly "daydreaming"? What is your child's behavior like at home?

IF you have academic and behavioral concerns, you can bring those concerns to your child's school and request a student support team or child study meeting (it might be called something different in your district) and they can decide if there are enough concerns that would warrant an evaluation for special education services (hearing/vision screening, educational eval, psychological, sociocultural, teacher observation). They would likely try to put in place interventions in school to see how effective those are BEFORE agreeing to evaluate. While you can just go and say, "I suspect my child has a disability- ADHD and I would like an evaluation"....you need to have real reasons why you would think that. They also have 65 days to complete the eval so it's not a short process and then IF found to have ADHD, you bring that eval to your doctor to discuss meds.

You can also just speak directly to your child's doctor and they might give you some checklists to complete and some for your child's teacher as well.

There are private psychological evaluations but you need to be careful in WHO you go with and cautious because some private providers will slap on a diagnosis using incomplete testing and it's simply not valid results (I've seen this several times at work). There are often very long waitlists and depending on your insurance, they will charge you $1000-$1,500.

In terms of interventions....it depends on the child's needs. Some children need schedule/routine/parenting modifications and they are golden, other kids need special education services, medication, and communication services.

I personally have a child with ADHD (I also have it) and my child has a 504 accommodation plan in school, participates in a social skills group in school, gifted program for math, high structured after-school karate program (needs the structure), and individual therapy. I've ALSO been trying to find a PCIT (Parent-child interaction therapy) to support me and my DH in parenting him, because it can be VERY hard parenting a child with ADHD but no luck so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to speak with your child's doctor and teacher(s).

Some questions to think about: Is your child having difficulty completing tasks, staying focused, organization and time management, need for physical movement "like there's an internal motor" or constantly "daydreaming"? What is your child's behavior like at home?

IF you have academic and behavioral concerns, you can bring those concerns to your child's school and request a student support team or child study meeting (it might be called something different in your district) and they can decide if there are enough concerns that would warrant an evaluation for special education services (hearing/vision screening, educational eval, psychological, sociocultural, teacher observation). They would likely try to put in place interventions in school to see how effective those are BEFORE agreeing to evaluate. While you can just go and say, "I suspect my child has a disability- ADHD and I would like an evaluation"....you need to have real reasons why you would think that. They also have 65 days to complete the eval so it's not a short process and then IF found to have ADHD, you bring that eval to your doctor to discuss meds.

You can also just speak directly to your child's doctor and they might give you some checklists to complete and some for your child's teacher as well.

There are private psychological evaluations but you need to be careful in WHO you go with and cautious because some private providers will slap on a diagnosis using incomplete testing and it's simply not valid results (I've seen this several times at work). There are often very long waitlists and depending on your insurance, they will charge you $1000-$1,500.

In terms of interventions....it depends on the child's needs. Some children need schedule/routine/parenting modifications and they are golden, other kids need special education services, medication, and communication services.

I personally have a child with ADHD (I also have it) and my child has a 504 accommodation plan in school, participates in a social skills group in school, gifted program for math, high structured after-school karate program (needs the structure), and individual therapy. I've ALSO been trying to find a PCIT (Parent-child interaction therapy) to support me and my DH in parenting him, because it can be VERY hard parenting a child with ADHD but no luck so far.

Oh and I'll add that that my child also takes medication and previously did OT as well and we would still consider it if available locally. Some people respond well to the first medication and others have terrible side effects. My child hasn't quite found the perfect medication fit for him yet but it is helping a lot. It's not an easy road having a child with a disability or parenting with a disability.

[Anonymous]

Definitely move this to the special needs board. A lot more compassion and knowledge there.

I suspected it for a long time. Teachers told me they didn't think so. All kinds of excuses - Covid messed them up socially , academically, they'll settle in, they'll catch up, maturity. Got her into therapy and the therapist agreed I should pursue testing. Went through the school for educational and psychological testing, and yeah, raging ADHD and anxiety.

Going through a psychiatrist for meds. I'm not tying to get her into Harvard. I'm trying to turn her into a functioning human being who can do 10 minutes of homework.

[Anonymous]

Ask on special needs board. Then talk to your pediatrician.

In our case it was very obvious by age 5 due to inability to participate in regular classroom settings. The actual diagnosis came from a psychiatrist. By age 10, if it hasnt impacted school or social, its likely a mild case, but still worth investigating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you put this in Special Needs you'd probably get more helpful answers

But, start with your pediatrician who will likely give your child the Vanderbilt test. It's a form both spouses complete independently, and all of your child's teachers. Pediatrician can confirm diagnosis and if necessary, prescribe drugs.

Other alternative, is to do neuro-psych testing, which was $4-$5k eight years ago when we were going through the process

This exactly. We are going through the same thing now with our 10yo. Spoke with teachers, have had many counseling sessions - and spoken with our pediatrician. They will want to see if the issue is anxiety and/or ADHD. Like many things there is also a spectrum - it's not a black and white issue. We've done the basic steps (Vanderbilt etc.) Counselor suspects moderate ADHD symptoms, and suggested we go for formal evaluation which can cost $4-5K through private party, or something less if your insurance covers it - but be prepared to wait 5-6 months if you take that route. Our pediatrician said they can help with this as well - and commented that they only suggest medications when it deemed helpful and for moderate to more severe cases. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

We found this book, recommended by our pediatrician to be helpful as we started the evaluation process.

https://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Focused-Strategies-Executive-Functioning/dp/1647396778/ref=sr_1_18?crid=2FG6T05EICOCJ&keywords=executive+functioning+ADHD+kids&qid=1706721352&s=books&sprefix=executive+functioning+adhd+kids%2Cstripbooks%2C63&sr=1-18

[Anonymous]

we did testing at the Chesapeake Center. Its expensive. For those posters who are arguing our kids aren't just lazy, you have no idea how hard ADHD is on the kid and the entire family. After 10 years of building daily routine our kid still cannot focus enough to finish a single task with prodding, like "time to brush your teeth"- we have tried everything, every app, therapy, rewards, lists, schedules. Its maddening. Sometimes medicine is the best response

[Anonymous]

Everyone is quick to diss the methylphenidate given out to the kids, but I was diagnosed at age 35 (I’m a woman) and taking methylphenidate was absolutely life changing for me. My anxiety disappeared, I could work harder and better than ever before, and I felt like I could finally be myself.
Why wouldn’t we want to give this to our kids if needed? My daughter takes it now and she is also very happy to have it. It’s been tested for many years and is very safe for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how people here wouldn't hesitate to mock a Tiger Mom for making their kid do practice tests, but at the same time wouldn't hesitate to put their 10 year old on methamphetamine analogues to compete in school.

Literal performance enhancing doping is okay, but putting in major hours to study for a standardized test, heaven forbid!