Anonymous wrote:I've been seeing several posts lately like "I wasn't diagnosed until 8th grade" or "Problems didn't crop up until middle school and I wish I had put DD through neuropsych testing earlier." Is this one of those cases?

our started in 6th. 5th grade 1 referral 6th grade 5

We thought our DS had ADHD, but because he got good grades and didn’t have many behavior issues in early elementary school — just an occasional email or note home — we didn’t pursue testing right away.

Things changed in 5th grade when he got sent to the principal’s office for starting a food fight, and now 6th grade/middle school has been a mess. He’s been suspended from the bus for a week for misbehavior, had two other referrals for behavior in class, and one for cell phone use.

We started medication last week. His grades were still okay before meds, and friendships weren’t really being impacted yet, but we’re glad we started now. Looking back, if we had known earlier, we would have gotten him tested much sooner.

I would guess you would get a diagnosis. Read the Vanderbilt survey and see what you think.

But, unless you medicate, most of adhd treatment at that age is parent coaching. So you could juat read up and research these tactics on your own, and see if anything helps.

Its sounds more inattentive than hyperactive which can generally go undiagnosed until executive functioning is truly needed - high school or college for lots of people.

My son was very obviously hyperactive type and was diagnosed at age 5. For him medicine helps, and having an IEP at school has been wonderful, mostly for social skills and behavior attention.

If you do getba diagnosis, you are not required to even do anything at all, so one way to look at it is, sure why not investigate, but on the other hand that is money and time that you might use other ways.

Anonymous wrote:My 10yo just had a comprehensive neurolopsych evaluation for ADHD, autism etc (ordered by a specialist). When I was sitting in the waiting room (these evaluations take all day) the receptionist answered dozens of calls and explained that the current wait list for scheduling an evaluation is 6-12 months, unless there is a specific concern. So, my advice is get him on the wait list. It might be moot by the time it actually happens, or it might not be.

Do you not find it odd that “dozens” of calls are coming in within the one hour you see there? All for adhd/neurosych evaluations? Give any kid some 4 hr neuropsych test and odds are high they will be diagnosed with something. Agree these tests are potentially harmful. Unless your kid can truly not function in school and is a problem at home- don’t go looking for a diagnosis. Just help them in the areas they need help. Some kids are more diligent and organized by nature, but many aren’ t. We’ve now turned disorganization and a touch of laziness into a pathological mental illness

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At most schools, teachers are not able to suggest screening. They are giving you many, many hints though. You have to take the initiative here.

To the contrary, in public school teachers are required to refer a kid for screening if they suspect a disability.

True if you are talking about speech, language, etc. ADHD is a medical diagnosis and while we can suggest a visit to the pediatrician, some parents can’t read between the lines very well.

Anonymous wrote:ADHD is a spectrum and most kids grow out of it as they mature. If you have to ask on a forum then your child doesn’t need the diagnosis. Read up on it and you’ll find ways you can help impact his organization. It takes time and patience and effort to learn these skills they’re not automatic. Your child doesn’t not have adhd and the harm you’ll put him through by testing for it is irreparable.

Have you had the testing? How is the testing/evaluation intrinsically harmful? I'm really curious to know.

My 10yo just had a comprehensive neurolopsych evaluation for ADHD, autism etc (ordered by a specialist). When I was sitting in the waiting room (these evaluations take all day) the receptionist answered dozens of calls and explained that the current wait list for scheduling an evaluation is 6-12 months, unless there is a specific concern. So, my advice is get him on the wait list. It might be moot by the time it actually happens, or it might not be.

Anonymous wrote:At most schools, teachers are not able to suggest screening. They are giving you many, many hints though. You have to take the initiative here.

To the contrary, in public school teachers are required to refer a kid for screening if they suspect a disability.

Anonymous wrote:At most schools, teachers are not able to suggest screening. They are giving you many, many hints though. You have to take the initiative here.

This. They are banned from suggesting it. Get him tested.

It could be that he just needs to learn strategies and organizational skills, especially if his grades are fine. And if he isn’t showing these same traits at home, it’s more likely that something is happening at school that is causing this. Is he rushing through things to get to recess or to do something else that’s more fun? Does he dislike the teacher? It could be any number of things other than ADHD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ADHD is a spectrum and most kids grow out of it as they mature. If you have to ask on a forum then your child doesn’t need the diagnosis. Read up on it and you’ll find ways you can help impact his organization. It takes time and patience and effort to learn these skills they’re not automatic. Your child doesn’t not have adhd and the harm you’ll put him through by testing for it is irreparable.

The harm you’ll put them through by testing is irreparable?? Please enlighten us more on this one.

And no, most don’t grow out of it if it’s truly a disorder. You grow out of general childhood bad habits and maturity kicks in. But if it’s truly ADHD you don’t grow out of it you just learn ways to manage it.

Many kids grow out of the hyperactive part of ADHD. Mine did. He no longer met the criteria for it by college.

Talk to your pediatrician about it. We had questions about it for our DD in 2nd grade and her pediatrician gave us an evaluation form to fill out and to share with her teachers.

Anonymous wrote:ADHD is a spectrum and most kids grow out of it as they mature. If you have to ask on a forum then your child doesn’t need the diagnosis. Read up on it and you’ll find ways you can help impact his organization. It takes time and patience and effort to learn these skills they’re not automatic. Your child doesn’t not have adhd and the harm you’ll put him through by testing for it is irreparable.

The harm you’ll put them through by testing is irreparable?? Please enlighten us more on this one.

And no, most don’t grow out of it if it’s truly a disorder. You grow out of general childhood bad habits and maturity kicks in. But if it’s truly ADHD you don’t grow out of it you just learn ways to manage it.

Get screened. I regret not trusting my instincts and waiting too long.

Or at least, treat the symptoms. Something like an executive function coach if that’s what’s needed. One of my kids NEEDS meds and I regret waiting so long. The other just needs to learn some strategies for getting organized (it quickly escalated from a messy desk to not knowing what you need to study for that upcoming test, and losing that email from the neighbor who wants to pay you to cat sit).

ADHD is a spectrum and most kids grow out of it as they mature. If you have to ask on a forum then your child doesn’t need the diagnosis. Read up on it and you’ll find ways you can help impact his organization. It takes time and patience and effort to learn these skills they’re not automatic. Your child doesn’t not have adhd and the harm you’ll put him through by testing for it is irreparable.