Excessive day dreaming?

[Anonymous]

OP, don’t go to your pediatrician for a diagnosis. You need a full neuropsych so you can see exactly what’s going on. I’m willing to bet you will find ADHD ( it’s all called that now. There’s no such thing as ADD anymore. You’re either ADHD primarily inattentive, primarily hyperactive or combination. There may even be some other mild learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Op here - any recs of a neuropsychologist for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t go to your pediatrician for a diagnosis. You need a full neuropsych so you can see exactly what’s going on. I’m willing to bet you will find ADHD ( it’s all called that now. There’s no such thing as ADD anymore. You’re either ADHD primarily inattentive, primarily hyperactive or combination. There may even be some other mild learning disabilities.

I was the PP who suggested and was diagnosed by the Pediatrician. Why do you not suggest a pediatrician for this?

[Anonymous]

Classic inattentive form of ADHD.
FIGHT for that IEP, he'll need it later.

Unfortunately there are no truly effective strategies to stay on task if the inattention is severe at a young age: the brain is simply not mature, and you either have to wait until it is (in the 20s or 30s) and accept the consequences, or discuss meds with a psychiatrist, which we ended up having to do, after an extremely thorough neuropsychological evaluation. Research has shown that meds plus behavioral modification (teaching study skills and giving accommodations in school) works the best compared to meds alone, or behavioral modifications alone, which unsurprisingly is by far the least efficient.

Environmental modifications are: sitting close to the teacher, in front of the board, away from distractions such as windows, doors, computers or chatty peers, and receive repeated directions, get assignments broken down and have an adult sit next to him to redirect him during tasks when he daydreams; additionally and very importantly, receiving extra time on tests! ALL of these can be had with an IEP (and more, such as more time to hand in homework in middle and high school and receiving LESS homework), but they will be difficult to obtain easily and systematically without one.

Good luck. This is worth researching and preparing and working out with doctors and the school. I advise you to post on the Special Needs board, you will receive much support and advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don’t go to your pediatrician for a diagnosis. You need a full neuropsych so you can see exactly what’s going on. I’m willing to bet you will find ADHD ( it’s all called that now. There’s no such thing as ADD anymore. You’re either ADHD primarily inattentive, primarily hyperactive or combination. There may even be some other mild learning disabilities.

I was the PP who suggested and was diagnosed by the Pediatrician. Why do you not suggest a pediatrician for this?

This is the pp who said no pediatrician. Ours wanted to do a checklist and then declare the kid had ADHD. It just is never really that simple, and I would hate for OP to only get part of the picture. Our ped does not specialize in SN's. They do the regular ped stuff. They do have SN clients but who were diagnosed elsewhere. At the very least the OP needs to go to a developmental pediatrician to start. But, I still strongly suggest a full neuropsych so that if there is more than just ADHD going on it will be noted right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Classic inattentive form of ADHD.
FIGHT for that IEP, he'll need it later.

Unfortunately there are no truly effective strategies to stay on task if the inattention is severe at a young age: the brain is simply not mature, and you either have to wait until it is (in the 20s or 30s) and accept the consequences, or discuss meds with a psychiatrist, which we ended up having to do, after an extremely thorough neuropsychological evaluation. Research has shown that meds plus behavioral modification (teaching study skills and giving accommodations in school) works the best compared to meds alone, or behavioral modifications alone, which unsurprisingly is by far the least efficient.

Environmental modifications are: sitting close to the teacher, in front of the board, away from distractions such as windows, doors, computers or chatty peers, and receive repeated directions, get assignments broken down and have an adult sit next to him to redirect him during tasks when he daydreams; additionally and very importantly, receiving extra time on tests! ALL of these can be had with an IEP (and more, such as more time to hand in homework in middle and high school and receiving LESS homework), but they will be difficult to obtain easily and systematically without one.

Good luck. This is worth researching and preparing and working out with doctors and the school. I advise you to post on the Special Needs board, you will receive much support and advice.

PP again.

Pediatricians are NOT trained to properly diagnose and treat ADHD.
You need a psychologist to evaluate, and a psychiatrist to prescribe if ever you decide to do so.
We used the Stixrud group to do the evaluation. It cost us $3.2K out of pocket and it was worth every penny.
Some development pediatricians and psychologists will do a short, less expensive eval just for ADHD but it won't be as good and will not show the IQ subscores, learning and working style of your child, severity of inattention, and possible existence of learning disabilities, nor will it diagnose such. ADHD often comes with learning disabilities, so that's a problem.
Another thing I liked about Stixrud is that they have a great deal of experience with getting schools to give accommodations and services. The report was full of MCPS keywords, to make it harder for them to reject the report. And indeed, our school accepted it immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked for James Thurber! Don't shut that down with drugs - develop it into something creative! Let your child live his life

This. Don't kill the essence of your child's mind.

This is a b*llsh*t answer. I don't know if OP's kid has ADHD and its certainly worth considering, but ADHD is not "the essence" of my child's mind. It's a chaotic inability to regulate attention which makes doing the simplest tasks impossible and crushes his self esteem. Medication has given him a chance to live a normal life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked for James Thurber! Don't shut that down with drugs - develop it into something creative! Let your child live his life

This. Don't kill the essence of your child's mind.

This is a b*llsh*t answer. I don't know if OP's kid has ADHD and its certainly worth considering, but ADHD is not "the essence" of my child's mind. It's a chaotic inability to regulate attention which makes doing the simplest tasks impossible and crushes his self esteem. Medication has given him a chance to live a normal life.

Eh, I don't know. As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and medicated, I very much resent it and push back at the fact that everyone in this area RUNS to aggressively diagnose and push drugs. Being on those meds really killed a part of my personality - I didn't feel like myself st all, it felt like my mind had been dulled down. Perhaps it would be better than you recognize your child as an individual, with his own strengths and weaknesses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked for James Thurber! Don't shut that down with drugs - develop it into something creative! Let your child live his life

This. Don't kill the essence of your child's mind.

This is a b*llsh*t answer. I don't know if OP's kid has ADHD and its certainly worth considering, but ADHD is not "the essence" of my child's mind. It's a chaotic inability to regulate attention which makes doing the simplest tasks impossible and crushes his self esteem. Medication has given him a chance to live a normal life.

Eh, I don't know. As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and medicated, I very much resent it and push back at the fact that everyone in this area RUNS to aggressively diagnose and push drugs. Being on those meds really killed a part of my personality - I didn't feel like myself st all, it felt like my mind had been dulled down. Perhaps it would be better than you recognize your child as an individual, with his own strengths and weaknesses

New Poster here. My 7 year old has told me how much HAPPIER she is on medication now. She can focus better and pay attention. She is able to complete work that was left undone before. She gets better responses from teachers and has better interaction with her peers. Like PP said it has helped her self esteem. There are more medication options than there were back in the day, so if one doesn't work or leaves you feeling "dull" that means you are on the wrong med or dose. Our psychiatrist has specifically told us that the medication should not "dull" her or it means we haven't found the right one or the right dose. My child still has plenty of personality medicated, but she is able to function much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Classic inattentive form of ADHD.
FIGHT for that IEP, he'll need it later.

Unfortunately there are no truly effective strategies to stay on task if the inattention is severe at a young age: the brain is simply not mature, and you either have to wait until it is (in the 20s or 30s) and accept the consequences, or discuss meds with a psychiatrist, which we ended up having to do, after an extremely thorough neuropsychological evaluation. Research has shown that meds plus behavioral modification (teaching study skills and giving accommodations in school) works the best compared to meds alone, or behavioral modifications alone, which unsurprisingly is by far the least efficient.

Environmental modifications are: sitting close to the teacher, in front of the board, away from distractions such as windows, doors, computers or chatty peers, and receive repeated directions, get assignments broken down and have an adult sit next to him to redirect him during tasks when he daydreams; additionally and very importantly, receiving extra time on tests! ALL of these can be had with an IEP (and more, such as more time to hand in homework in middle and high school and receiving LESS homework), but they will be difficult to obtain easily and systematically without one.

Good luck. This is worth researching and preparing and working out with doctors and the school. I advise you to post on the Special Needs board, you will receive much support and advice.

PP again.

Pediatricians are NOT trained to properly diagnose and treat ADHD.
You need a psychologist to evaluate, and a psychiatrist to prescribe if ever you decide to do so.
We used the Stixrud group to do the evaluation. It cost us $3.2K out of pocket and it was worth every penny.
Some development pediatricians and psychologists will do a short, less expensive eval just for ADHD but it won't be as good and will not show the IQ subscores, learning and working style of your child, severity of inattention, and possible existence of learning disabilities, nor will it diagnose such. ADHD often comes with learning disabilities, so that's a problem.
Another thing I liked about Stixrud is that they have a great deal of experience with getting schools to give accommodations and services. The report was full of MCPS keywords, to make it harder for them to reject the report. And indeed, our school accepted it immediately.

OP here - so you mean that rhey Could rule out other possible learning problems? Also, is your child also gifted at the same time in some areas? I was told he’d never get an iep due to his abilities. Um also concerned they would not select him for the gifted program due to the inattention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again - also, I’ve heard from some other parents that his school doesn’t easily grant IEPs.

Well, you'll actually need to instigate the process. You don't know until you try, but if he's on target academically maybe you'll get a 504. Personally I wouldn't bother. He sounds fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked for James Thurber! Don't shut that down with drugs - develop it into something creative! Let your child live his life

This. Don't kill the essence of your child's mind.

+1

[Anonymous]

I agree you will want a developmental pediatrician or a neuropsych. to do a complete evaluation and diagnosis - it will be more thorough and rule out some things as well as rule some in. Remember - IEPs and 504 plans can be crafted for gifted students as well -- if he has a DSM diagnosis and needs help he is entitled to it! As to medication, it's one of those things that each parent/child has to decide for themselves based on pros and cons - and remember its something that you can change your mind on - try it then stop or don't do it then later decide to try it. Just make sure you're doing what you feel is best for your son not what everyone else feels is best!

[Anonymous]

We got the re-vibe for my son, and it worked wonders: https://www.amazon.com/RE-vibe-Reminder-Wristband-Anti-Distraction-Wearable/dp/B01JJXOII8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1509929432&sr=8-6&keywords=Reminder+watch+for+kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree you will want a developmental pediatrician or a neuropsych. to do a complete evaluation and diagnosis - it will be more thorough and rule out some things as well as rule some in. Remember - IEPs and 504 plans can be crafted for gifted students as well -- if he has a DSM diagnosis and needs help he is entitled to it! As to medication, it's one of those things that each parent/child has to decide for themselves based on pros and cons - and remember its something that you can change your mind on - try it then stop or don't do it then later decide to try it. Just make sure you're doing what you feel is best for your son not what everyone else feels is best!

Well said.