seeking info re: adhd, combined/primarily inattentive

[Anonymous]

My 11 year old son was recently diagnosed with combined type adhd, primarily inattentive with severe executive dysfunction and mild anxiety (via a neuropsych done at Stixrud). We liked the doctor and she went through the results in great detail, but we didn't get much if any information about where to go/what to do next. Can anyone recommend a "primer" (book, website, etc) that helped them formulate a plan after receiving an adhd diagnosis? I don't know, for example, who I would talk to discuss pros and cons of medication, what types of coping strategies we can help our son start to implement, etc. I have a linear working brain and want to think about this in terms of small forward moving steps, or else I feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start with helping DS. Thank you so much.

[Anonymous]

There's no one path. We were already in therapy when our child was diagnosed, so we continued with that. Then we made an appointment with a psychiatrist and added medication. We also met with the school and discussed accommodations and social issues. You can see if you might want to add an academic tutor or executive function class.

CHADD.org has resources and articles that might help you start wading through.

[Anonymous]

I think Smart but Scattered is a helpful book, and the additude.org website is pretty good.

CHADD.org is another good resource and hosts workshops and trainings.

I'd ask your pediatrician to recommend a psychiatrist you can consult about medication, the pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

A psychiatrist can also recommend non medication treatment, but yoi'll need to find a different provider to implement them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Smart but Scattered is a helpful book, and the additude.org website is pretty good.

CHADD.org is another good resource and hosts workshops and trainings.

I'd ask your pediatrician to recommend a psychiatrist you can consult about medication, the pros and cons.

If you are going to start meds you should see a psychiatrist who can prescribe. You may want to look into an executive function coach. Plus start the process for a 504 plan at school for accommodations your DS needs (stixrud should have suggestions in their report).

[Anonymous]

Thanks from OP. Stixrud did list suggested school accommodations in their report -(in my opinion, the list was way too long and unrealistic for a straight A student but that is neither here nor there). I was hoping to find an "ADHD for dummies" type book so that I can start to understand all of this. I will check out the book Smart but Scattered - thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks from OP. Stixrud did list suggested school accommodations in their report -(in my opinion, the list was way too long and unrealistic for a straight A student but that is neither here nor there). I was hoping to find an "ADHD for dummies" type book so that I can start to understand all of this. I will check out the book Smart but Scattered - thanks.

If your child is getting straight As, why did you seek the evaluation? Social issues? executive functioning?

If you share what your initial concerns were, we can probably give you more targeted resources.

Also, don't discard the list. Plenty of us have kids who were pulling straight As up until about 7th grade, when the wheels began to come off the cart.

[Anonymous]

understood.org is also a good website

[Anonymous]

We used the report (not Stixrud but similar) to get a 504 plan in place at school.

They did not recommend medication, so we haven't gone down that that path.

They did recommend therapy. At the same time, they also recommended tutoring for exec functioning. Both are time consuming, and we had a more pressing academic need (not a straight a student by any stretch). So I looked at the tutoring list the Lab school publishes and started calling tutors that specialized in exec functioning, and we've been working with a tutor for the past year, and it has helped tremendously.

Now, this year, we're going to add therapy, because there are some social issues cropping up (our initial thinking was that academic help would give our child confidence in their academics, so that would help with confidence and was more important to get into place first).

This board has helped me a lot. I've not found any good overall resource of this is what you should do.

I think we're falling down in some areas - I think we could streamline our home (i.e., declutter), restrict TV and devices more, stuff like that and we'd see more improvement in the inattentive piece. But one thing at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks from OP. Stixrud did list suggested school accommodations in their report -(in my opinion, the list was way too long and unrealistic for a straight A student but that is neither here nor there). I was hoping to find an "ADHD for dummies" type book so that I can start to understand all of this. I will check out the book Smart but Scattered - thanks.

CHADD has a course called Parent to Parent that provides a good introduction. You can do it in person or online.
http://www.chadd.org/Training-Events/Parent-to-Parent-Program.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks from OP. Stixrud did list suggested school accommodations in their report -(in my opinion, the list was way too long and unrealistic for a straight A student but that is neither here nor there). I was hoping to find an "ADHD for dummies" type book so that I can start to understand all of this. I will check out the book Smart but Scattered - thanks.

CHADD has a course called Parent to Parent that provides a good introduction. You can do it in person or online.
http://www.chadd.org/Training-Events/Parent-to-Parent-Program.aspx

This looks great, just what I am seeking. Thank you, from OP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all of the posters, from OP. I will check out all of the suggested resources, and appreciate the tips. Long time dcum user here, and this board is by far the best.

[Anonymous]

Our 11 y.o. has the same diagnosis. We got into a supportive school program (GT/LD in MCPS). They provide some supports, and we're playing wait and see as to whether we need to add an Exec. Function tutor or meds. We're also trying to focus on sleep/nutrition/screens at home. And then reassess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 11 y.o. has the same diagnosis. We got into a supportive school program (GT/LD in MCPS). They provide some supports, and we're playing wait and see as to whether we need to add an Exec. Function tutor or meds. We're also trying to focus on sleep/nutrition/screens at home. And then reassess.

OP again. The school is interesting, I didn't know such a school exists in mcps- is it part of the hgc program? My child didn't qualify for that. His neuropsych assessed his fsiq iq at 130, I suspect that would not qualify for a gifted program. Anyway, my real reason for responding to you is to ask where you have read about sleep/nutrition/screens with respect to adhd - this is the kind of info I'd like to start processing and incorporating, where possible. Tx.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 11 y.o. has the same diagnosis. We got into a supportive school program (GT/LD in MCPS). They provide some supports, and we're playing wait and see as to whether we need to add an Exec. Function tutor or meds. We're also trying to focus on sleep/nutrition/screens at home. And then reassess.

OP again. The school is interesting, I didn't know such a school exists in mcps- is it part of the hgc program? My child didn't qualify for that. His neuropsych assessed his fsiq iq at 130, I suspect that would not qualify for a gifted program. Anyway, my real reason for responding to you is to ask where you have read about sleep/nutrition/screens with respect to adhd - this is the kind of info I'd like to start processing and incorporating, where possible. Tx.

NP. GT/LD is separate from the HGC process. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/gtld/