What do I need to know

[kbutton]

I am sorry. What I meant to be an attempt to lighten the mood with some self-deprecating humor came across as passive agressive or outright hostile. I guess I'm the only one who thinks I'm funny. :) I have contacted my son's psych for more testing. I had such a good meeting with the IEP team that I guess I thought they would be more helpful than many here have experienced. Maybe I have more faith in credentials than others do. I don't know. I think I need to stay off teh internets for a while. :)

 

I am really glad you're getting more answers! I hope the IEP process goes well, and that you get what you need from the process.

[PeterPan]

I am sorry. What I meant to be an attempt to lighten the mood with some self-deprecating humor came across as passive agressive or outright hostile. I guess I'm the only one who thinks I'm funny. :) I have contacted my son's psych for more testing. I had such a good meeting with the IEP team that I guess I thought they would be more helpful than many here have experienced. Maybe I have more faith in credentials than others do. I don't know. I think I need to stay off teh internets for a while. :)

You know I missed so much of this, but I didn't mind your humor.  I knew you were just razzing.  I don't really care either, because I think you have to do what you're convinced of, no matter what that is.  And no one is telling you the ps eval process can't be helpful.  We're just telling you there's more to consider.  You did ask what you needed to know, right?  :)

 

You don't need to go anywhere.  You're fine.  :)

[Mom22ns]

I am sorry. What I meant to be an attempt to lighten the mood with some self-deprecating humor came across as passive agressive or outright hostile. I guess I'm the only one who thinks I'm funny. :) I have contacted my son's psych for more testing. I had such a good meeting with the IEP team that I guess I thought they would be more helpful than many here have experienced. Maybe I have more faith in credentials than others do. I don't know. I think I need to stay off teh internets for a while. :)

 

We had that good of an experience with the public schools. It happens. My best friend is director of special ed for a ps district about an hour from me. She is amazing. She is really knowledgable and does everything she can for the kids in her district. I hope your experience continues to be terrific!

[Crimson Wife]

Our first SPED eval through the PS was fine. And given my DD's functioning level at the time, I really doubt that there would've been much additional information that a private neuropsych could've given us. She didn't have the receptive or expressive language, atention span, nor social interaction skills at 3 that she had this summer. And even now, there were tests that the NP couldn't run because DD is still too young and language-delayed. The NP recommended returning in 2 to 3 years for further testing (we'll have to see what insurance coverage we have and what our budget looks like).

[Citrusheights5]

I get it. It turns out our local district school has way more to offer my kid than the "elite" district I drive my other 5 kids too. We sent our kids here for 2 years before we sent them out of district. When we had to renew the interdistrict transfer I talked to the local ps special ed dept about my homeschool sn kid, and found out they would give him every accmodation I ever dreamed. After fighting tooth and nail to get the other district to even acknowledge his disabillities, it was a shock. The IEP process at district 1)was horrible, district 2 said they would have to rewrite the entire thing because it was so horribly done.

 

If they are helping good! If this is the best decition for you I am happy. Good schools, and districts are out there, my other 5 kids attend AMAZING schools. My SN kids wants to try PS since they will attempt to accmodate. (I'm terrified).

 

My advice, 1) don't defer just because they are experts, when they are good, you will agree, with their suggestions. 2)don't sell yourself, your mom instinct, or your experience teaching him short. Yes they will definately have modality that is different and may work better, but you ultimately hold the key to knowing what is best and will work best for your child.

 

This is true for PS, and homeschool kids alike

[mellifera33]

Can I slink back now? Thank you for showing me grace as I had my little hissy fit.   :blushing:

 

The best thing about having a neuropsych intern who is finishing up a PhD is that we can get in for appointments rather quickly. lol P had an appointment on Wednesday, and we have some more answers. He has been officially diagnosed with ADHD and he...well, I don't know if the correct word is pass or fail, but the autism screening tool suggested that he should have the full diagnostic interview. She suggested that we have a consult with a child psychiatrist to talk about ADHD meds. I'm on the fence about this. I don't want to rush into meds, but I do want to give him the best chance to learn.

 

A nice incidental is that she asked him to read some words from the Titanic poster in her office, and he was able to decode some phonograms that he had only seen a few times on his Dancing Bears flashcards, and not read yet in the workbook. So that approach seems to be working for him. 

 

After talking with the psych, some relatives, homeschool friends, and friends with kids in the school district, I've decided to keep him home again this year. He is relieved. 

 

For the rest of the summer I will be researching how to set everyone up for success by improving EF. 

 

And I have a melting-down toddler so I need to wrap this up. :)

 

 

 

 

 

[kbutton]

Can I slink back now? Thank you for showing me grace as I had my little hissy fit.   :blushing:

 

The best thing about having a neuropsych intern who is finishing up a PhD is that we can get in for appointments rather quickly. lol P had an appointment on Wednesday, and we have some more answers. He has been officially diagnosed with ADHD and he...well, I don't know if the correct word is pass or fail, but the autism screening tool suggested that he should have the full diagnostic interview. She suggested that we have a consult with a child psychiatrist to talk about ADHD meds. I'm on the fence about this. I don't want to rush into meds, but I do want to give him the best chance to learn.

 

A nice incidental is that she asked him to read some words from the Titanic poster in her office, and he was able to decode some phonograms that he had only seen a few times on his Dancing Bears flashcards, and not read yet in the workbook. So that approach seems to be working for him. 

 

After talking with the psych, some relatives, homeschool friends, and friends with kids in the school district, I've decided to keep him home again this year. He is relieved. 

 

For the rest of the summer I will be researching how to set everyone up for success by improving EF. 

 

And I have a melting-down toddler so I need to wrap this up. :)

 

:grouphug:

 

I am glad you are getting more answers, and I know it's frustrating to know the answers have some mystery to them as well. You don't have to decide about meds immediately, but I think it's probably good to have the consult so that you can ask questions. If the psychiatrist is really thorough in showing the options, then you will be a long way ahead of the curve in deciding--many people are hesitant because they hear horror stories or don't feel secure that the person writing the script isn't just pushing an agenda. You can always talk to another professional if this one doesn't sit right with you. I think some practitioners push when they could educate because they are frustrated and don't see the parent side of things. You have time to find a practitioner that will educate while you are getting the other details sorted. We have had a good experience with meds, but waiting did give us time to find out what was going on (I think the ASD diagnosis would have been missed or delayed if we'd medicated first because it would have lessened the immediate issues enough that we wouldn't have kept going).

 

I think EF is a wonderful thing to focus on and will help everything else go smoother.

[Storygirl]

I'm glad you're back. These issues can definitely bring up emotions! It sounds like you have made a lot of discoveries and decisions in just a short time. Are you still going forward with getting the IEP through the public schools? Since you have already started the process, I vote for continuing.

 

If you look back through old posts, you will find a lot about ADHD meds. DS has ADHD, and he has been on meds for a little over a year now. We were definitely not sure about doing it, but we are now so glad that we did. Working on helping the ADHD has not only enabled him to focus more on his schoolwork and everyday habits, but it has also made him easier to live with, so there has been an improvement for our overall family.

 

One thing I would suggest is to make an appointment with your pediatrician to discuss the NP test results and what to do about the ADHD. Some pediatricians are very good at managing the meds themselves, while others prefer to refer to a psychiatrist. Our pediatrician gave us a little caution about psychiatrists, saying that they tend to prescribe meds as a matter of course but don't always explore all the other available options. We did consult with a psychiatrist, but we also had input from our pediatrician and a psychologist DS was seeing. All three of them did screenings. All three of them diagnosed ADHD. We decided to have the pediatrician do the prescribing, because he took a more holistic approach than the psychiatrist.

 

All that to say, see what your pediatrician recommends regarding the ADHD. Hopefully they will be able to help you sort things out.

[OneStepAtATime]

Can I slink back now? Thank you for showing me grace as I had my little hissy fit.   :blushing:

 

The best thing about having a neuropsych intern who is finishing up a PhD is that we can get in for appointments rather quickly. lol P had an appointment on Wednesday, and we have some more answers. He has been officially diagnosed with ADHD and he...well, I don't know if the correct word is pass or fail, but the autism screening tool suggested that he should have the full diagnostic interview. She suggested that we have a consult with a child psychiatrist to talk about ADHD meds. I'm on the fence about this. I don't want to rush into meds, but I do want to give him the best chance to learn.

 

A nice incidental is that she asked him to read some words from the Titanic poster in her office, and he was able to decode some phonograms that he had only seen a few times on his Dancing Bears flashcards, and not read yet in the workbook. So that approach seems to be working for him. 

 

After talking with the psych, some relatives, homeschool friends, and friends with kids in the school district, I've decided to keep him home again this year. He is relieved. 

 

For the rest of the summer I will be researching how to set everyone up for success by improving EF. 

 

And I have a melting-down toddler so I need to wrap this up. :)

Glad you are back!  And hugs.  And glad you have some answers even if that adds in more questions.  Good luck with the melting toddler.  :)

[Crimson Wife]

I would encourage you to either watch the following video (be forewarned it's long) or read the book that my little one's integrative neurodevelopmental pediatrician wrote about treating ADHD without medication. That said, we exhausted his suggestions and my DD was still having symptoms severe enough to interfere with her ability to function so we did medicate. But I'm glad that we tried everything natural first because now I know that she really DOES need to be using pharmaceuticals. Dr. Newmark does believe that medication is appropriate in some cases, but that it should be a last resort rather than a first one.

 

http://uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?keyword=newmark&x=0&y=0

[mellifera33]

:grouphug:

 

I am glad you are getting more answers, and I know it's frustrating to know the answers have some mystery to them as well. You don't have to decide about meds immediately, but I think it's probably good to have the consult so that you can ask questions. If the psychiatrist is really thorough in showing the options, then you will be a long way ahead of the curve in deciding--many people are hesitant because they hear horror stories or don't feel secure that the person writing the script isn't just pushing an agenda. You can always talk to another professional if this one doesn't sit right with you. I think some practitioners push when they could educate because they are frustrated and don't see the parent side of things. You have time to find a practitioner that will educate while you are getting the other details sorted. We have had a good experience with meds, but waiting did give us time to find out what was going on (I think the ASD diagnosis would have been missed or delayed if we'd medicated first because it would have lessened the immediate issues enough that we wouldn't have kept going).

 

I think EF is a wonderful thing to focus on and will help everything else go smoother.

 

Interesting. Ds's np suggested that if we are going to medicate, we come back and do the asd screen again with medication on board. She said that depending on the kid, she has seen the symptoms that can be indicative of either asd or adhd be controlled on the meds, indicating that they were actually caused by the adhd neurological processes, or occasionally a kid who is medicated with adhd meds will suddenly look very autistic--the asd symptoms were masked by extreme adhd symptoms. 

 

I'm glad you're back. These issues can definitely bring up emotions! It sounds like you have made a lot of discoveries and decisions in just a short time. Are you still going forward with getting the IEP through the public schools? Since you have already started the process, I vote for continuing.

 

If you look back through old posts, you will find a lot about ADHD meds. DS has ADHD, and he has been on meds for a little over a year now. We were definitely not sure about doing it, but we are now so glad that we did. Working on helping the ADHD has not only enabled him to focus more on his schoolwork and everyday habits, but it has also made him easier to live with, so there has been an improvement for our overall family.

 

One thing I would suggest is to make an appointment with your pediatrician to discuss the NP test results and what to do about the ADHD. Some pediatricians are very good at managing the meds themselves, while others prefer to refer to a psychiatrist. Our pediatrician gave us a little caution about psychiatrists, saying that they tend to prescribe meds as a matter of course but don't always explore all the other available options. We did consult with a psychiatrist, but we also had input from our pediatrician and a psychologist DS was seeing. All three of them did screenings. All three of them diagnosed ADHD. We decided to have the pediatrician do the prescribing, because he took a more holistic approach than the psychiatrist.

 

All that to say, see what your pediatrician recommends regarding the ADHD. Hopefully they will be able to help you sort things out.

 

We are going to go ahead with the school iep eval. We are hoping for speech therapy services again. We all see a family practice physician, so no ped here. We're deciding what to do about the med question. 

 

I would encourage you to either watch the following video (be forewarned it's long) or read the book that my little one's integrative neurodevelopmental pediatrician wrote about treating ADHD without medication. That said, we exhausted his suggestions and my DD was still having symptoms severe enough to interfere with her ability to function so we did medicate. But I'm glad that we tried everything natural first because now I know that she really DOES need to be using pharmaceuticals. Dr. Newmark does believe that medication is appropriate in some cases, but that it should be a last resort rather than a first one.

 

http://uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?keyword=newmark&x=0&y=0

 

Thank you! I am looking for non-drug methods to try first. If nothing else, maybe he will end up on lower doses of meds, if it comes to that. :)

[kbutton]

Interesting. Ds's np suggested that if we are going to medicate, we come back and do the asd screen again with medication on board. She said that depending on the kid, she has seen the symptoms that can be indicative of either asd or adhd be controlled on the meds, indicating that they were actually caused by the adhd neurological processes, or occasionally a kid who is medicated with adhd meds will suddenly look very autistic--the asd symptoms were masked by extreme adhd symptoms. 

 

I'm not sure I've heard it put that way before, but that peculiarity of the ADHD/ASD and how they are related has come up on this section of the boards several times.

 

Sounds like a generality that would be nice to be able to make, but it also sounds like either approach--medicated or not--will mean that some kids will be misdiagnosed either way (my son's profile on meds changes, but it's not a clearcut pattern like what is described here).