At What age do they dx ADHD (Inattentive type)?

[Anonymous]

PP again. I would like to revise my above contribution by saying that in hindsight, the appropriate diagnosis was pretty obvious by age 2 ... it's just that he was an only child (i.e. had inexperienced parents!) and wasn't being observed by teachers who would have recognized what was going on much faster.

[Anonymous]

PP - what meds is your DS on?

[Anonymous]

He started on 5 mg Dexedrine ... stayed on that for about 2 years, but when needed a higher dose (because he weighed more) had to switch to Adderall to prevent side effects. Adderall 10 mg ... working great.

Oh, and didn't mean to imply that I would have started medicating him at age 2 had I known. As much as I appreciate the helpful effects of meds ... NEVER would I have done such a thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive at age 6, although it was really pretty obvious at age 5.

The "symptoms" were inability to attend (obviously!), very easily distracted, often preoccupied (looking forward to something, dreading something, or just mulling over something of unique interest that had absolutely nothing to do with matter at hand). Working memory was very limited which made more complex tasks, such a composing a story for dictation and later on, writing, almost impossible. These items affected not only his ability to remain "there" for schoolwork, but also his social interactions as he could not stay with another child's interaction ... he would sort of stop listening half way through their sentence and thus could not stay on topic, respond appropriately or even really hear what was actually said. The lack of hyperactivity does make it bit harder to diagnose ... the child quietly sitting in his place at school (in his own private Idaho!) doesn't raise the red flags as easily as the one running around being disruptive.

Medication made an immediate, obvious improvement.

That is fascinating. And encouraging, because you just described my child. Do you mind if I ask what medication you're using?

[Anonymous]

Whoops, sorry. Had I read to the next page I would have seen the meds.

I am pretty worried about side effects. I understand loss of appetite is a big one and DC is so small and skinny already. Do you have any words of wisdom for how you handle that?

[Anonymous]

No ... sorry, no words of wisdom. My DS never experienced that particular side effect although I often hear it mentioned here. And dexedrine WAS also marketed in the 70s/80s as DexaTRIM ... a weightloss pill. I think Adderall is less associated with appetite than Dexedrine as it is a combo drug. When you read about side-effects here and on webmd, for example, you get some really scary descriptions ... but those are the outliers and your child might very well not experience them at all or not to a degree that would be a problem compared to the benefits you might see. So I guess I would recommend that you be open to trying the meds and then reconsider based on whether they help enough to justify any side effects you might experience. At the low doses needed for very young children, you likely will not see many problems. It's when they get bigger that you have to sometimes change meds OR manage them a bit differently. Help this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lack of hyperactivity does make it bit harder to diagnose ... the child quietly sitting in his place at school (in his own private Idaho!) doesn't raise the red flags as easily as the one running around being disruptive.

I'd like to second this statement and add that we had an incredibly difficult time getting the IEP screening committee to either agree to accept our private evaluations documenting DS (then in K) had developmental delays or to do their own testing. By October of K, it was clear DS was not learning and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. We knew about the delays but knew there was something else going on. Since the committee declined to do anything we continued to pursue private evaluations and research studies) and hired an advocate. Once the ADHD diagnosis came, everything changed for the better. But, it's the quiet kids that often get overlooked, even when the parents are clamoring for attention.

[Anonymous]

OP here...sorry for the delay but I was out of town for a few days. Thank you to all your posts. It is encouraging and frustrating at the same time. We have an IEP (ISP right now since we are not currently enrolled in FCPS due to private pre-k) due to the CAE dx. so I hope that will make it easier to get some sort of services. Although my dc whole looks a lot better than his parts so he can trick teachers into thinking he doesn't need help. But I was a teacher so I know there is something going on. Maybe once we get the meds right for the CAE then it will help the distractability. I just have this feeling there is something else going on.

To the poster asking about the absence seizures...we got that dx after an EEG that showed textbook seizures and are seeing a neurologist to try and get the right dosage of Depakene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of hyperactivity does make it bit harder to diagnose ... the child quietly sitting in his place at school (in his own private Idaho!) doesn't raise the red flags as easily as the one running around being disruptive.

I'd like to second this statement and add that we had an incredibly difficult time getting the IEP screening committee to either agree to accept our private evaluations documenting DS (then in K) had developmental delays or to do their own testing. By October of K, it was clear DS was not learning and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. We knew about the delays but knew there was something else going on. Since the committee declined to do anything we continued to pursue private evaluations and research studies) and hired an advocate. Once the ADHD diagnosis came, everything changed for the better. But, it's the quiet kids that often get overlooked, even when the parents are clamoring for attention.

What school district are you in? What do you mean when you say that you couldn't get the IEP committee to do their own testing? On what basis can a school district decline to test a child?

[Anonymous]

The school's committee can throw up many administrative hurdles to getting a child tested ... starting with informally discouraging you from pressing your request for testing, formally documenting that they don't agree there is a need for testing (which you can then appeal), and on and on. I like to think they do this because resources are very tight and they just want those resources used on the most obvious cases of need, however, for a parent that feels something is amiss and cannot afford the $3k-plus cost of private testing ... it is very frustrating to say the least. And the ADHD-inattentive kids tend to be the ones who are much more subtle in showing they need testing and assistance.

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain how the evaluation happens? Is there a specific test or tests, or is it just observation?

My nine year old DD meets most of the criteria, according to her therapist, but this could also be due to her anxiety issues.

I'm just not sure where to go from here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how the evaluation happens? Is there a specific test or tests, or is it just observation?

My nine year old DD meets most of the criteria, according to her therapist, but this could also be due to her anxiety issues.

I'm just not sure where to go from here.

There's a whole battery of tests which can be done. Including a computer one which is very good as it removes the tester from the equation -- they can't impact the results of the test. I'm surprised your therapist didn't discuss the different tests available.

[Anonymous]

@13:34

Who administers this kind of test?