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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2009 22:24:14 GMT
Hi all, Thought I'd ask for a bit of advice. My youngest daughter (7 years old in March) has been provisionally diagnosed with ADHD and has her second appointment next Wednesday which I expect will be when the consultant paediatrician (yup, checked spelling in dictionary) tells us his diagnosis and, assuming ADHD is confirmed, will proceed to offer medication etc.. Her school did not acknowledge that there was a problem. All of her teachers have said that they had never come across a more caring and helpful child but she was always behind in her school work and many things were left unfinished. She would come home upset because of all the tellings off at school and problems with her friends. However, my daughter has had a much nicer time at school since we informed them of her suspected ADHD. We have noted that her reading has greatly improved with the one-on-one reading lessons at school and she now consistently finishes a book (although she fights to concentrate after half way through the book). She still gets too energetic with her friends at school and the last Birthday Party she was invited to (very rare that she gets invited to any these days) her hyperness made her stick out a mile even from the kids younger than her. Our problem is that the school is not forthcoming with information on our daughters bahaviour and progress and when we ask everything seems to be 'peachy'. She is still a long way behind everyone else and is very hyper and immature in her behaviour but progress is definitely being made. When she goes to bed she messes until after 9pm, is up at least once in the night and is always wide awake before 6am. On her good days I question that there is anything wrong with her but on her bad days she is like a whirlwind. My question is (finally) - we can handle her at home (hell, I'm as bad as she is!) and things seem to be improving at school so would you recommend us accepting the medication option if the doctor suggests it? Thanks
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Post by roland on Feb 12, 2009 8:05:29 GMT
Hi Giddy, Once you've seen the paediatrician (yup, copied and pasted this word you may have a better idea of what will work best for your daughter. I know your daughter is only seven, but it might be as well to ask her what she finds most troublesome and what she feels she needs help with (and apologies if you've already done this). I'm hesitating to answer your question, because some of the options will depend upon her level of impairment. This is what the guidelines have to say about treating children: If the child or young person with ADHD has moderate levels of impairment, the parents or carers should be offered referral to a group parent training/education programme, either on its own or together with a group treatment programme (cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT] and/or social skills training) for the child or young person. • In school-age children and young people with severe ADHD, drug treatment should be offered as the first-line treatment. Parents should also be offered a group-based parent-training/education programme. • Drug treatment for children and young people with ADHD should always form part of a comprehensive treatment plan that includes psychological, behavioural and educational advice and interventions. www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG072NiceGuidelineV2.pdfIt might be as well (for both you and your daughter) to prepare ahead of time a list each of questions for the consultant and take them with you, and make sure the consultant gives you a written report that you can take home and digest.
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Post by annie on Feb 12, 2009 17:33:48 GMT
Hi giddy
You seem to be getting very mixed messages from school - on the one hand she's "peachy" then she's way behind the others and is now getting one-one help with reading!! Doesn't sound to me as though everything is alright.
Sometimes schools play down the child's difficulties - don't want to offend the Parent or if they identify she has problems then they will have to initiate School Action and this may involve more work. The trouble is, if the school don't respond to her falling behind in a productive way, very soon her self esteem is going to start plummeting. Your little girl will already know she's different, just by the behaviour of other children and it looks as though you are going to have that difference explained ie adhd. Did the school not fill in some rating forms for the Paed - you can ask to see them, that might be quite informative?!!
There is a tremendous amount of scaremongering about adhd in the tabloid press and I can understand Parents wanting to think very carefully about meds. However leaving adhd untreated can have dire consequences for the child.
I know you said before (have I got this right) you were trying to arrange an assessment for yourself. I suppose the question for you is, should you be dx what will your view be about taking medication?
Good luck and keep us posted
annie
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2009 22:55:04 GMT
Hi again. Thankyou for your advice. It is very, very hard to get any information out of her (and boy have I tried). She seems to take a slow walk to another planet when asked about school. All I can gather is that her teacher has told her she understands that she has a lot of energy and finds it difficult to sit still and she is not being told off as much. She doesn't seem to be getting as upset with her friends at school but maybe she is learning to deal with her difference. The school OFSTED report was very critical of their neglect of years 1 & 2 (our daughter has been held back to year 1/2). We have lost faith in the school following their failure to notice our daughters problems. The teacher is new to the school this year and last year she had one teacher for the mornings and another for the afternoons which made it very difficult to get information. Both the school and ourselves had to fill in a Conner's questionnaire. As the school does not have a child psychologist the teacher filled it in. I was able to have a look at the questionnaire before handing it to the Paediatrician and if I've worked the scoring out right she scored very high for the hyperactivity but not for inattention which does not agree with her school work progress and reading. In contrast ours scored very high for hyperactivity, high inattention and ADHD index even though we both went over it a few times and lowered some of the scores. Interestingly, before we knew anything about ADHD a couple of the parents pointed out to my wife how hyper my daughter was and compared them to someone they knew with ADHD. Although not disruptive she was a lot more 'excitable'. I'm nervous about giving her meds because we can't monitor her at school and can't rely on the school to give us the unbiased feedback we need. If the meds are having a negative effect we may not hear about it through school. Perhaps we should wait until the holidays before trying them so we can keep an eye on her (although the sooner she gets help the better). I believe I understand what happens if ADHD goes untreated and wouldn't want anyone to go through it, least of all my daughter. As for me. My preliminary appointment with the psychologist is Monday 23rd Feb (counting down the minutes the last 3 months). Assuming I eventually get diagnosed with ADD/ADHD (can't sit still and fidget a lot) I have already decided to give meds a try but I'm probably expecting too much from them in improving my quality of life. I would prefer me to be the guinea pig before my daughter. I always sem to start off chirpy and finish with gloom. I apologise for that. If I could remember a (good) joke I would post it
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2009 2:06:27 GMT
Hi giddy, Just having a read of your situation now, your post triggered a couple of links in mind that I came across recently that might be helpful. Guardian Feb 06/09: Teachers 'failing to spot' causes of bad behaviour.Although I don't really like the the headline which appears to lay the blame on teachers. It seems like a part of the problem is that many teachers have not been given the training to spot some of these disorders. But they are asking for this training though, according to the article. I wouldn't have thought it would be such a big deal to produce some teacher guideline booklets on all the known disorders. At least teachers could study and refer to it when needed. Some handy information from: DfESMaybe it's possible for the paediatrician to apply for the records in his capacity as a medical professional? Its a strange one. In the blue corner, you have a provisional diagnosis by a qualified child medical professional. Who ought to be able to spot an adhd child straight away (depending on experience obviously) is it usual for a child to see a paediatrician on more than one occassion for a dx? There is anecdotal evidence from yourself and your wife regarding your daughters performance and behaviour, in a school, home, social setting. Observations made by other parents. In the red corner, you have the school saying that she is doing ok. And a set of records with god knows what in them. Maybe the school thinks that your daughter has moderate levels of impairment, and they think the best thing is to see how she goes on. But at the end of the day, it's not their call, they are teaching professionals not medical professionals. They shouldn't be biased in anyway about it. Like annie says there is a lot of mythological crap in the media surrounding ADHD and especially on the "Drugging of children" what's to say that someone in the school who has the authority to make a decision on your daughters future hasn't been swayed by some of this crap? I'd find it unlikely, but I'd be naive to think that situation could never arise. Regarding the medication route, the evidence based medicine results are in, and they are overwhelmingly in favour of treating ADHD in children with stimulants. It's a hard call to make and I don't envy your position. But if your daughter is ADHD and it goes untreated then the development/performance gap, and ultimately her life course outcome in comparison to her peers could seriously suffer as you know. The years between now and the end of school are critical in her long term development. I've lost track of the number of adult adhd posts I have read all over the net, whereby people have said, I wish my parents had known about this when I was younger and treated it. Anyway...with her best interests at heart, I'm sure you will find the right path. All the best to you and yours Craig
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Post by annie on Feb 13, 2009 8:50:03 GMT
Hi giddy
I do understand your concerns about getting feedback from the school, should your daughter be trialled on medication - I think it's a good idea to wait until the holidays, so you can do the monitoring yourself.
Just for your information, no state school has a psychologist on site and the Connor's form is better filled in by the teacher who knows your child. Depending what progress your daughter makes, you can ask the school to bring in the Education Psychologist to do an assessment and from that the school can be given advice about how best to help your child.
When you see the Paed do ask if she knows of any assessment services for adults - the new guidance does say " if a child has been assessed as having adhd then the parents should be offered an assessment"
Anyway good luck with your own appointment and keep us posted.
annie
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 19:33:44 GMT
Well, thought I'd give you an update after my daughter had her second appointment today. Not good. The schools Conners questionnaire apparently conflicted with the one filled in by us and suggested that my daughter was oppositional whereas when I scored it before handing it in I thought it she got a high score for hyperactivity and a low-ish score for innattention (guess I was wrong). Both me and my wife were both shocked at the suggestion of her being oppositional - all of her teachers so far have said that she is a very helpful and very caring child and we certainly have had no problems with her being oppositional at home. The Paed is not going to offer any treatment and did not want to perform any further tests himself even though he could see her running around infront of him getting every toy out of the cupboard. Instead he is going to contact ADHD Northwest and see if someone can give him a second opinion. We can't believe it! All the other kids in the waiting room were sitting patiently whilst ours was pulling a donut on the toddlers buggy before making a 5 ft tower out of duplo bricks. She stands out from everyone else soooooo much. How can the school mark her so differently? It doesn't make any sense. My wife was sceptical at first but when she looked deeper into the whole ADHD thing and now is certain she has it - its me that has the ups and downs and the doubts now. I took the day off work and intended to spend the rest of the day out with my family but I was so depressed after seeing the Paed that I didn't know what to do with myself and went to bed. We are absolutely miffed and have no idea what we should do next.
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Post by sherry on Feb 18, 2009 20:14:39 GMT
My school report said what a helpful child I was too, I was seven. Sounds to me like she is a genius, its a fine line between that and ADHD lol! Seriously get a second opinion.
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Post by annie on Feb 18, 2009 21:31:23 GMT
It would have been helpful if the Paed had stated at the very outset, he did not have the experience to assess and dx ADHD. Instead your child has been put on yet another waiting list!!
I would stick with your instinct and don't be too put off about the assessment of the Conner's forms . If I remember correctly it was the Head who filled in the form, not the class teacher, so the accuracy of it has to be questionable. Also the Paed appears not to be an "expert" in adhd therefore may not have the expertise to interpret the forms.
Ring the Paed tomorrow and ask who he is referring your child to and the tel no of the clinic. Also when he expects to get his letter off. Tell him you don't want any further delays in having your child's condition assessed as you need to access help for her as soon as possible - delay only harms your child.
You can see why NICE recommend, where adhd is suspected, the person should be seen by someone who has the necessary expertise!!
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Post by roland on Feb 19, 2009 8:18:41 GMT
I agree with Sherry and go for the second opinion because it will give you more information. Also don't worry too much about the Connors test, because it's an adjunct to an assessment not the sole basis.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 23:06:40 GMT
Hi, I'm back with yet another update. Not exactly riveting stuff I'll grant you but it is a tale with a twist. Over the last couple of days I've been mulling over everything that was said by the paed and something just didn't seem right. Amongst other things he was showing me the second sheet of the Conner's questionnaire (the bit with the white squares) whilst pointing to the upper squares and telling me she is oppositional - he hadn't even transferred any scores across. I know this should have rung alarm bells immediately and prompted me to ask how he had come to his conclusion but this sort of thing never hits me until after the event. Anyway, on the way home from work I formulated a cunning plan and got a copy of both ours and the teachers Conner's questionnaires from the paed's secretary (no I didn't think to ask for them at the time of the appointment). I learned that the paed was a locum doctor standing in for the guy that left and the permanent position was only advertised last week. We saw this guy twice and had no idea he was an imposter! The secretary was also kind enough to give us details of the ADHD specialist that she is referring our daughter to. Even more of a relief is that when we scored the teachers Conner's questionnaire we found that our daughter had scored a big fat zero for oppositional, 49 for inattention, 68 for hyper and 61 for ADHD index. We still think that these scores are lower than they should be but I guess they show that we are on the right track. Hopefully we are back on track for getting our daughter the help she needs and deserves. Why do people make things so difficult?
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Post by annie on Feb 21, 2009 0:34:40 GMT
Well done Inspector Cleaseu ( can't spell!)
At least now you know this professional's opinion was not worth having.
Have you any idea how long it will be before you daughter is seen by the "expert"
annie
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2009 1:45:29 GMT
My son was recently diagnosed with the Connors 'thingy'....We filled out our part & basically thought, yeah school will say he's angelic & intelligent & thay have no problems with him. School did pretty well do that but......the doc showed me the resultant graphs & what struck me was how although our scores were way up on the top of the scale (we're neurotic & bad parents ;-)..) the schools were pretty well at the bottom of the page just going into the coloured bits a little. The doctor however said this is very common & that it showed a similar pattern generally - at home he's oppositional, at school butter wouldn't melt. Her comments were though that this is common as ADHD can thrive under the methodical rigid structure that school envelops them in & that it's not unexpected in an intelligent kid with ADHD particularly with a thirst for knowledge - at 6.9 years he had the reading age of a 9.5 year old so he loves to learn. The doc also went to observe him (he was on his show off best behaviour as he knew her by then) but she noted he sat still for no longer than 114 seconds throughout a time she monitored his fidgeting. How do you reach your potential when you can't even sit still for 2 mins! Anyhow - on the other hand my daughter was firstly passed off as sensitive (arghhhhh) & from the age of 2 when we had an early nursery place for her to give us 'respite' from her needing constant attention (& i mean constant) it took us 7 years to find out what we thought was up with her accidentally & pushing for a diagnosis before we got one after demanding a 2nd opinion where she scored 24/25 of the reported behaviours to a degree to be dx'd - the psychiatrist was amazed she'd been let down so badly when she scored so highly! I've waffled & can't remember the point of what i'm writing here so i'll bugger off now lol - story of my life....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2009 21:58:48 GMT
Thanks for all of your support. I guess we'll have to wait for a couple of months before my daughter is assessed again. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Post by twix on Feb 28, 2009 16:18:13 GMT
Good luck. Unbelievable that he can't even score properly. Did he have the wrong kids notes or something?!!
As for the different at home/school thing, that is not at all unusual. I am worse at home than work becuase I try really hard to conform at work. Probably your daughter is trying her best to "be good" at school.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2009 19:52:46 GMT
Hi, its been a while. Thought I'd give you an update on my daughters diagnosis. My daughter had her initial assessement 3 or 4 weeks ago. We managed to find a local NHS clinic with a child psychiatrist that specializes in ADHD. The initial assessment went well and although our daughter was well behaved she showed signs of ADHD in her impulsive and hyper behaviour. The next step was a school observation to be followed by a series of tests over the next few weeks. My daughter was observed at school over a couple of days. I really couldn't wait for their findings. Selfishly, I was hoping that they find problems with her behavior as confirmation that I was right not only about my daughter but about me too. But it would seem that my daughter is coping well at school. She does as she is told and she can see a task through. The specialist still recommended that we join an ADHD parenting group but will not give an indication if she has ADHD or not until after the tests are complete. I'm absolutely gutted. Its unfair and stupid I know and I suppose the news that she is coping well at school can only be good news but it really doesn't feel like it, and its hard to believe too. I have a tendancy of viewing everything through gloomy coloured glasses and got very depressed at the news. Everything is put into question. The fear of being wrong about my daughter and also about myself has made me more depressed than I have been for a long time. If I am wrong about ADHD then I am lost. On the plus side. After seeing us at my daughters initial assessment the child psychiatrist has had me referred to him for diagnosis of ADHD. Apparently, he is starting a new clinic for 16+ year olds funded my the NHS. If I wasn't so negative I might see this as a good thing. Sorry to trouble you with all this but I wanted to get it off my chest and throw it out there for any advice and comments you may have.
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Post by annie on Apr 9, 2009 15:20:15 GMT
Hi giddy
Thanks for keeping us updated.
I wouldn't be too disheartened about what's happening. It does sound as though the psychiatrist is being very thorough, Do you know what other kinds of tests he is going to carry out?
I looked back over your earlier posts and there's some very conflicting info about school. Why was your daughter kept back a year? This would obviously suggest she has some difficulty with learning which doesn't seem to be related to her overall intelligence.
Our daughter never showed any behaviour problems at age 7, either at home or in school. However she did show learning difficulties, all denied by the school, and it was only when we had her assessed (through the Dyslexia Inst) did we realise how much she was failing in relation to her very high IQ. I should qualify the info about the behavior problems - she was a very "high maintenance" child but being our first we just accepted this as the norm!!
That's good news about your daughter's psychiatrist being willing to see you as well - how did your appointment go with the psychologist?
From what you've said I think it is very much "on the cards" that the psychiatrist is still taking adhd dx as the likely outcome. Initially I thought the suggestion of Parenting courses was a bit of an insult to parents. However parenting a child with adhd can be really challenging and you do need skills over and above those of your next door neighbour who has a non adhd child!! Make sure the parenting course has been particularly designed to address the needs of parents with adhd children and not just a general parenting course.
Keep us posted
annie
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2009 19:51:58 GMT
Thanks for your kind words of wisdom Annie. Wish I was is a more 'up' state of mind when I wrote the last post - it might have come across better. The psychologist said that she didn't believe my problems were psychological and was trying to get me referred to a psychiatrist that had ADHD experience. She was struggling to do so and was about to put me on a lengthy waiting list for a 'normal' psychiatrist when I got the referral offer from my daughters child psychiatrist. Looking at it now it does suggest that I'm right about the whole ADHD thing but tomorrow I will be full of doubts and worries. Still, shouldn't have too long to wait for a diagnosis one way or the other. The parenting course/group has been suggested to us by different ADHD sources for quite a while now. But it seems wrong to take her to them if, in the end, we are wrong and she doesn't have it (in which case I guess we will need to go to a different parenting course!). Before we recognised that there could be a problem (ADHD) things were pretty much under control. There are many things that we have already put in place to keep our kids under control i.e. star charts, fixed morning routines, walks etc. I always seemed to have had a better understanding of the kids and stepped in when I thought my wifes expectations of their behaviour was too high (many, many, many arguments). My wife hasn't taken the idea of living with an ADHD family too brilliantly. She says its like looking after 3 1/2 kids (me being the 1 1/2!!!!) and the prospect of having to deal with it for the rest of her life doesn't sit too well. She has been very 'stressy' of late. Yup, you are right .... a parenting course would be a good idea.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 9:00:58 GMT
giddy I fully understand your desire to be right about a diagnosis. Didn't think I would be so sure about that at oe time. My son was diagnosed at 23 years. If only his difficulties at school and home had been attributed to ADHD. At 4 and 1/2 years at a pre-school medical, the school doctor questioned learninf disbility but when the school couldn't get a TA, that suddenly wasn't an issue. My son's primary school realised there were attention difficulties but because he wasn't paricularly disruptive, his needs went unnoticed. They tried to keep him in a play time to catch up until I complained as it was making him miserable as he couldn't let off steam. Secondary school was a waste of time. He was put in lower sets with disruptive pupils. Now that my son is an adult I am relieved at the diagnosis but the need for continuing support is an uphill struggle. Makes me laugh, I am classed as a carer, and my son's needs are recognised through DLA, but he isn't getting the support he needs. Battle on giddy for wht you believe is right. A diagnosis should make others understand at least.I do also sympathise with your wife. I struggle from day to day and often say to my son in one of his manic momemts: 'I am not sure that I can cope with this much longer'. I often feel like I'm on a rollercoaster and can't get off! No disrepect intended for all you who feel you suffer from ADHD, please.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 14:26:55 GMT
Thanks for the words of support jayj. I sometimes feel that I am seeing things in my daughter that aren't there. Maybe I'm looking too hard. My wife is in no doubt at all. I don't want her to suffer the same problems I had at school and give her the best chance of success in life. Since discovering ADHD my life is starting to make some sense. I knew I had problems at school but only recently learnt how difficult things were - in the infants I spend much of my time at the back of the classroom painting on my own as punishment whilst the rest of the class did the school work (I loved painting and drawing). By the time I got into juniors I was way behind academically. I was always getting into fights. In the juniors I spend a lot of my time facing the corner at the front of the classroom (but I did get to wear a rather fetching pointy hat ). I was always getting into trouble and labelled the class clown. I reckon my daughter can read better now than I was able to at secondary school. Secondary school was horrible. I believe my problems with schooling and education has left me with the issues that effect me even today and I don't want my daughter to go through a similar experience.
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Post by adhddirect on May 2, 2009 23:30:09 GMT
Hi Giddy, In our ADHD parent programme, Parents INC, one of the analogies we talk about is the 'Have/Cause'. Let me explain. Children with ADHD who present with challenging behaviour are invarioubly seen to have problems - these children cause problems so therefore, they clearly have problems.
However, the inattentive child who is nice, pleasant and cute, who does not present with challenging behaviour, is more often than not perceived as not having any problems because they are not causing problems. Big problem is, they are nor fulfilling their academic potential.
Therefore, they often do not get the support they need, particularly if they are bright children.
Does this description reflect your situation?
Regards Gordon
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Post by twix on May 3, 2009 6:42:14 GMT
giddy the fact that you understand and are sorting it out means that things will be better for your daughter.
Gordon, that describes my childhood situation, and it extended into adulthood, my first contact with mental health was a phone call from someone saying we've discussed you and you can't possibly be having problems, you have a degree and a job.
Back to the point, its getting sorted now, hang in there everyone.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2009 14:59:42 GMT
Hi Gordon, Yes, I believe your description does reflect our situation. At school she is very, very helpful to both the teacher and other kids. She is extremely eager and always first to put her hand up for everything in class - in many cases she hasn't understood the question or had time to think of an answer. She seems to try too hard to please the teacher. She has been held back a year and has recently been having 1-on-1 lessons for reading and literacy which has made a huge improvement to both an also given her confidence a boost. She believes she is not as clever as everyone else in the class (even though they are all a year younger) and is aware that she is more excitable than the rest. She makes a joke of her own forgetfulness but sometimes gets upset when she can't do something immediately because she thinks she will forget. She will drop everything to help someone if they are upset. She will talk to anyone in the street or on the bus and give them a big hug when they part. She is always on the go, runs or skips much of the time, loves to climb, jump & dance. She is a nutter on her scooter! She loves to draw and paint but doesn't have the patience to colour in. She will sit happily doing jigsaws and prefers to spend most of her time in the garden. She loves making necklaces with chains made of bog grass...wierd! She has no friends at home because she can be too energetic and boisterous. She clings to 2 friends at school - one of which is completely sane and tells her what to do and the other is a boy whose Mum has asked school not to let her play with him because she feels she is a bad influence. There are occasional days when she is very level headed and 'with it' (but doesn't last the full day) and there are many days when she is forgetful, distracted and busy and there are some days when she can be a monster!
Thanks Twix. We shouldn't have too long to wait for a diagnosis now, one way or another.
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Post by twix on May 3, 2009 19:38:47 GMT
She sounds so much like I was at that age. She'll be OK I reckon. I muddled through pretty well and she is years ahead getting the help now (I am in my 30s)
If she is worried/upset about forgetting things she can't do immediately, can you help her to write it down for later. Maybe have a special note book, or a little white board for her. I try to either do it straight away or write it down so I don't forget. Like all my tactics it doesn't always work, but it helps a bit.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2009 9:27:17 GMT
Hi all I am having exactly the same problems With my 5 year old son. He went to special needs playschool ( teachers there agreed he was hyper and inatentive) he still doesn't sleep through the night, has melatonin to sleep, very sensitive, few friend, vocab of a 9 year old and gets upset saying " I just can't take it any more". He's also very clumsy, always accidently hurting people or himself. He has cried going to school every day until a month ago when I kicked off and insisted a few changes were made at school. We have filled out 2 Connors questionaire but the school says he is fine. They are looking for a monster, not a boy that tries so hard all day then comes home and explodes because he is so stressed. Me and my OH both have ADHD and we know our little one has. Now we are being told he might be dyspraxic and dyslexic (specilist thinks I might be too). I looked it up and they are very similar. In some ways I don't care what they call it, he just needs some support at school. I'm not having him go off the rails and feel bad about himself like me and his dad! This whole dx thing is such a mess. My boy is so clever and caring, really full of life. Of course he has no friend to speak of. Then he goes off and plays with the big boys who end up hurting him. He trusts everyone one and is learning the hard way Don't worry I have dragged the school over the coals about this one! I just feel powerless. I guess when he finally melts down at school they will see what I mean but I hope it doesn't come to that! X
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2009 21:17:45 GMT
Hi mrsmuddle Best of luck with your childs diagnosis. The differences between our daughter and the other kids at school are becoming increasingly obvious as she gets older. The rest of her class are more mature than she is despite them being a year younger. She has always been hyper and impulsive but we expected her to grow out of it. I'm guessing there will come a point in the next couple of years that the school will no longer be able to control or ignore the problem. Both my daughters are being assessed by the CAMHS service by a child psychiatrist that understands ADHD. We came across CAMHS accidentally when our daughter was wrongly referred to them by the paeds secretary - lucky mistake. If you haven't seen them already, maybe there is a CAMHS service in your area that can help. You can ask your GP to refer your child directly to them.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2009 8:40:29 GMT
Hi Giddy, Thanks for the advice. My son has been seen by the CAHMs team. Unfortunately our team only had an ASD psycologist. Well 2 actually! They both agreed that he isn't autistic (i know that!!). They obeseved him in class but it was first lesson Monday morning so I dont think they got a good reading of him. They both said he does have a problem but the good old Connors questionaire got in the way again. They have suggested that he maybe dispraxic. I have spoken to the head about helping Zak get organised and keeping an eye on him at playtime. This seems to have helped. Now we are waiting for a ocupational therapy appointment. Other than that I think I am just going to have to be patient and wait until they notice at school take care x
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2009 17:23:31 GMT
Hi again, Gordon, Annie please can I ask for your opinions .......again Not wanting to appear like someone that is on the edge of sanity (regardless how close to the truth it may be ) but this whole ADHD thing has been driving me insane for the last 7 months. Its become something of an obsession and I've been analysing my quirks and behaviours in everything that I do. One minute I'm sure it is ADD/ADHD and another I'm looking for reasons why it can't be - I've not found one as yet but the doubt is always there until I get an official diagnosis by an expert on the subject. My life is filled with doubt. I've tried to keep an open mind on the subject and looked at all the alternative causes for ADD/ADHD symptoms that I can find. I understand that you can't make a diagnosis over the internet but can you tell me if the earlier description of my daughter sounds likely to be ADHD? What else could it be? After everything I said about her there are times when she is calm and collected and does things that make me doubt that there is a problem, for example she has just finished colouring a picture in and she has tried really hard and done a fantastic job! And (just to make sure I was suitably confused) afterwards, she tidied her colouring stuff away without us asking (don't worry, I've checked, she's definitely ours). The CAMHS team seem reluctant to give anything away at this stage. For the last 7 months my life has been completely consumed (I looked the word up) by ADHD and I have actually been understanding myself for the first time. I so desperately want to tell my daughter the reasons for her being 'different' but I daren't in case I'm wrong. I know all the answers to these questions will come to light in time but I guess I'm looking for some re-assurance that I'm on the right track and a little guidance. I can't stand the wait! I think its made worse by my appointment with the ADHD specialist in just over 2 weeks.
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Post by annie on May 8, 2009 17:47:33 GMT
Hi giddy
I can well understand your impatience about getting a dx for both your daughter and yourself - it is just so annoying to have to wait for these follow up appointments, but hopefully the professionals are doing things behind the "scene's"
I know you have 2 daughter's, is that correct, and I'm assuming your talking about your youngest?
It's certainly quite normal for a child with adhd to have periods where they can focus extremely well and complete tasks - it's usually when it's something they are enjoying doing. I'm not sure if I've got this right but was your younger daughter ( the one I'm talking about) not held back a year because of the problems she was having?
Many children with adhd do not show the extreme behavioural problems which is expexcted (popular press!) in early years, however this can change if the condition is not recognised and treated accordingly - this is more likely to happen in secondary schools when so much more is expected of them.
Giddy - you are lucky, believe it or not ! You're an informed parent who has got his child into the right system i.e Camhs and your not going to give up until she receives the help she needs!
I can't say if your daughter had adhd , however some of your descriptions would certainly point that way. I hope you feel happy with Camhs conclusions. Remember if you are not you are still that informed parent, who will want to ask questions.
Good luck and hope you have a good weekend!
annioe
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2009 23:44:59 GMT
Can't sleep - head spinning. Need some advice. Youngest daughter has been seen by CAMHS and they have also observed her at school. Their conclusion is that she shows all the signs of ADHD (impulsiveness, hyper etc.) but is coping well at school and is able to complete a task given to her by the teacher. If her problems are not seen to affect her academically then they say that they can not make a diagnosis. I don't understand what is going on. The teacher says she can do really good work one minute and be away with the fairies the next. Some days she can read a couple of pages of a book with few problems and other days they have trouble keeping her focused. Her latest school test results show her just lower than the class average. They have not observed her at playtime or dinner time. She comes back with new bruises everyday. One of her best friends parents doesn't want her to play with him (I think because she can be so boisterous and excitable) and she has not been invited to his Birthday party even though she plays with him everyday at school and many of her friends have been invited. We take her to gymnastics lessons after school and she is always being told off for not listening, jumping, swinging, doing cartwheels, bouncing on the mats when she is supposed to be stood in line. She stands out so much from the rest of the girls that some of them have now turned on her and bully her until she cries. She is far too sensitive and naive. All of the onlooking parents have commented on her behaviour to us or themselves. Yesterday she crossed our street straight in front of a car that barely managed to stop. Her friend was on the other side and she completely forgot everything we told her about the dangers of the road and how to cross it. She gets so caught up in the moment she even forgets she needs the toilet and wets herself. I can't believe we have to wait until everything turns to cr@p at school before we can get a diagnosis and help. The CAMHS service seem to rely on the results of a test they can give you on a computer before they have the confidence to offer a diagnosis. Given that most of the signs of ADHD are there I'd have at least expected that they would test my daughters IQ and see how they compare to her academic level at school but they say they have no suitable tests for her age. We wanted a diagnosis for my daughter so we could give her some understanding of why she does things, why she is so forgetful, why she is so emotional, why she is different etc. but without a diagnosis all we can offer her is our best guess, which, means nothing to the frustrated gymnastics teacher, the non-understanding school teacher, grandparents, the friends parents etc. I don't know what I should be doing. Perhaps we should stop her doing gymnastics until she has matured and is less hyper. I am presently being assessed by the CAMHS service but my attitude has changed from 'my/our new life will start here' to 'I'm just wasting my time and theirs'. Why bother. I suspect the social stress is far more damaging than poor academic grades. What can I do and say to help my daughter deal with her problems so that she doesn't turn out like me?
I know I'm going to wish I hadn't said so much but, soddit, I'm going to bed - I'm up in 5 hours and probably be woke up by my daughter at some stage during the night too. Bliss.
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