Teacher tells me five year old boy doesn't pay attention, might be ADD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Report her. She's not qualified to make a diagnosis. Also, consider putting him in another TK class.

Why would you report her? She is trying to be helpful. I knew my kid had adhd but none of the teachers paid enough attention to notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

[Anonymous]

I’d start with a developmental pediatrician

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

BS.

NP. Defensive and angry, that’s a good approach to life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

I agree with this. I think it's important to note that the teacher said to wait a year to get him evaluated. Of course OP should heed that advice and do a wait and see approach.

My son's inattentive symptoms are pretty severe, and I doubt a teacher would have ever caught it since DS is very bright and can usually just muddle along without paying attention. I'm very glad I homeschooled him so I could see just how bad his ADHD is. Because I knew that he had ADHD, I knew to push for a 504 at the end of fifth grade so he could have accommodations, such as getting written assessments, before he hit middle school. If he didn't have a 504 he would be failing some of his classes (he had an E in a class when the teacher wasn't giving him his accommodations). I also knew to experiment with meds in fifth grade so he didn't have to do that during middle school. He didn't need meds or accommodations during elementary school since there were no behavioral or learning issues, but it's definitely best to understand ADHD and get a sense of how to manage it before a kid is burdened with a lot of executive function demands.

If a preschoolers' inattentiveness sticks out, that is significant. As a rule, preschoolers are very bad at paying attention. OP is lucky that she has a heads up that she should be looking out for signs of ADHD. I didn't know my first child had ADHD until she had some extremely miserable experiences in middle school and it would have been amazing knowing what she was dealing with much earlier on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

BS.

NP. Defensive and angry, that’s a good approach to life.

Like what you just did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

BS.

NP. Defensive and angry, that’s a good approach to life.

You’re not np and you don’t like that I called it what it is on your bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

BS.

NP. Defensive and angry, that’s a good approach to life.

You’re not np and you don’t like that I called it what it is on your bs.

I was a NP, and you and some others are bananas. The teacher is likely genuinely merely trying to help. Keep your heads in the sand, it’s a great and mature approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opposing opinion here. Our child’s 2nd grade teacher said something similar to us. Considering she has far more experience with children’s’ behaviors than we do, we took our child to two different offices to be evaluated. Sure enough, it led to therapy and a much better path through school than we would have experienced otherwise.

I agree about paying attention to what the teacher is observing. So many parents complain that teachers never gave them a clue that a problem/issue existed. Consider it a gift that you got such important and useful feedback.

I agree with this. I think it's important to note that the teacher said to wait a year to get him evaluated. Of course OP should heed that advice and do a wait and see approach.

My son's inattentive symptoms are pretty severe, and I doubt a teacher would have ever caught it since DS is very bright and can usually just muddle along without paying attention. I'm very glad I homeschooled him so I could see just how bad his ADHD is. Because I knew that he had ADHD, I knew to push for a 504 at the end of fifth grade so he could have accommodations, such as getting written assessments, before he hit middle school. If he didn't have a 504 he would be failing some of his classes (he had an E in a class when the teacher wasn't giving him his accommodations). I also knew to experiment with meds in fifth grade so he didn't have to do that during middle school. He didn't need meds or accommodations during elementary school since there were no behavioral or learning issues, but it's definitely best to understand ADHD and get a sense of how to manage it before a kid is burdened with a lot of executive function demands.

If a preschoolers' inattentiveness sticks out, that is significant. As a rule, preschoolers are very bad at paying attention. OP is lucky that she has a heads up that she should be looking out for signs of ADHD. I didn't know my first child had ADHD until she had some extremely miserable experiences in middle school and it would have been amazing knowing what she was dealing with much earlier on.

You’re a great parent, and this is all probably a little too helpful for some of the posters here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a private school. Public schools teachers aren’t allowed to say this.

Not true, my son’s public school 2nd grade tried that on me. I have an older child with ADHD so I was 99% sure it was just boredom that was causing his inattentiveness.

They are allowed to describe specific observed behaviors (off task, can’t stay in seat, interrupts, etc) but can’t suggest a diagnosis. We are specially coached on this. Teachers saying what it “might be” are not following directions.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for your insight and recommendations. He goes to public school. The teacher is really great and experienced, and I trust her opinion. Basically if the teacher is giving a lesson, and the other kid are looking at her, he's off to the side playing with a truck. His soccer coach described him, affectionately, as having his head in the clouds, but a smile on his face. He is the oldest in his class so the fact that he sticks out makes me want to investigate. He definitely isn't hyperactive at all, just either inattentive or doesn't care to pretend to be attentive.

[Anonymous]

I think adhd is over diagnosed in boys frequently. Especially young ones. Are you noticing symptoms at home? Something else to note is that some boys thrive in all boys environments where the adhd label magically disappears. Co-Ed schools are often geared towards girls- they’re developmentally able to focus longer without breaks in early elementary years. One more point I will make as the mother of several kids who have undergone multiple neuropsych evals- you are paying professionals thousands to find problems with your child. They will find something, that is their job. I’m not saying they are all inaccurate but there is a lot of research on how the methodology for neuropsych testing is flawed, particularly for adhd testing. Just something to keep in mind.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it's just one data point. What are your other data points telling you? How does he compare to his peers when you see him in other settings? There are lots of online screening quizzes - take one, but take that with a grain of salt too, because screeners over identify. But then you know what areas to keep an eye on.

If it's not affecting his learning or his behavior, then there's not much to do anyway. Before my kid was diagnosed I learned that she needed a lot of structure - checklists for bedtime routines and cleaning her room, saying her name before giving instructions and have her repeat them back for me (Larla, you need to brush your teeth and put on your shoes - what 2 things do you need to do?). These are good strategies for any kid, but having him learn ways to focus and remember things now could be important later.

[Anonymous]

Do you not see it at home?

Can he follow multiple step directions? Can he focus on listening to a book?