Reply to Resources, family therapist, school for anxious, gifted, possibly suicidal ADD boy: HELP!

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[quote=Anonymous]IMO, you don't need a therapist as much as you need a school plan.  It is clear that whatever school plan has been developed is not sufficient.  IME, the anxiety and the negative self-talk cannot be resolved by psychotherapy or meds alone as they are a clear symptom of an underlying problem -- the failed educational plan.  (This is not to say that you don't ALSO need a psychotherapist.)

It is unclear to me from your post -- do you have an official 504 plan or are the "binder checks" etc. being done ad hoc without a plan in place?

If there is no 504 plan, you need to get that in place at a minimum, and perhaps an IEP instead depending on what is going on.

Re: applying to the GT/LD program -- who said "that ship has sailed"?  My understanding is that only the GT Middle School Magnets are by application, and it is true that if your son is in 6th grade he has already missed the application process for that.  BUT, as I understand it, in the GT/LD programs in middle school admissions are done as a product of the 504/IEP process --i.e. the school-based team (in which the parent is an equal participant) makes a recommendation for placement in these programs.

Please contact Marisa Stemple, who is the MCPS GT/LD county-wide instructional specialist.  It is her job to speak with you and let you know about the GT/LD programs, and even to review your case, observe your child, and participate in your 504/IEP meeting if you ask.   You might also want to hook up with the GT/LD network and get on their listserv and ask more questions there.  You can find Stemple's email and phone contact info on the MCPS website and the GT/LD network has a website.

If you have had no full neuropsych evaluation, you need one.  Who diagnosed the ADD -- the psychiatrist?  Generally speaking, a pDoc is qualified to supervise the meds, but I am very uncomfortable that yours prescribed meds without a "full work up".  Did he/she do even the most basic checklist evaluation completed by parents and teachers?  Only the neuropsychologist or a psychologist is qualified to do the full educational evaluation that can provide the necessary data and ID potential other diagnoses on which a proper school plan can be devised.  The neuropsychologist can do other testing objective testing on executive functioning and attention which can help with an ADD diagnosis.

Many ADD kids need IEPs, which provide instructional support that an ADD child needs in the areas of executive planning and organization.  "Binder checks" are often not enough.  Assistance writing homework assignments down in the planner, breaking up and monitoring the accomplishment of long term projects, understanding what is really desired by the teacher in the homework, checks on turning in homework (i.e. explicitly asking child for it), extra time on exams and limited homework may be necessary as well as the ability to move or have substitute physical motion, and redirection to task in the classroom.  Some of this is available on a 504 but some of it needs an IEP.

If you write a letter to your school and ask them to do the educational testing, they will be obliged to do so free of charge (given the facts as you describe them).  Say that your child has ADD, you think that the current educational supports put in place are not adequate due to his increasing anxiety and plummeting grades and you believe that he might need "specialized instruction" to help him cope with his ADD in the classroom, and that you are requesting a full educational testing workup by the school psychologist to see if there are any additional issues and that you want to schedule a meeting with an IEP team. (if he doesn't qualify for an IEP, the team will have to consider the alternative of a 504 plan.)  There are pros and cons to public school testing vs. going private, of course.

BTW, you sound very suspicious about neuropsychs.  Almost all neuropsychs offer some services.  Would you go see a doctor who both identifies your diagnosis and prescribes treatment - of course.  Yes, as everywhere in life, there are some people who take advantage of a parent's desperation to prescribe expensive and unnecessary therapies, but you can be on the watch for this and read up about which therapies have the best evidential support.  A neuropsych typically does extensive testing (2 days usually) and uses testing instruments which have been normed, standardized and validated.  You will see objective results for most test instruments that report your child's score against a bell curve.

We have used Stixrud.  Lab School is also good.  The Stixrud testing and report were good, and there was no effort to sell services to us.  I think what the poster in the thread meant by testers who offer services is that if you go to Huntington Tutoring to get "tested," you will only get something that reinforces their services.  Neuropsychs have a professional obligations that these types of tutoring services do not.  That said, asking for a sample report and references (or asking around to see who has used someone they like) is always a good idea. [/quote]

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