Lots of good thoughts for you.

thank you, the vet called earlier to check on him and I am going to go pick up another pain killer. And I found a long sleeve shirt that works!

I'm looking around the house now to see if we have a long sleeve shirt that will fit...I tried one and it was too small. His chest is bigger than I though lol. I'm kind of tired because he was waking me up throughout the night and I'm spending my time watching him because he's acting weird ...maybe the sedation hasn't fully worn off? Definitely getting more normal than yesterday though. I gave him a rimayl because maybe he's in pain?

Do you know of a dog cone alternative that is effective? My poor boy has staples in his front elbow and his cone is so big. He's bumping into everything and can't seem to maneuver around very well. He's large with a long snout. Maybe he'll get better as he gets used to the cone? He's just using one of those big plastic ones from the vet.

Yay! So nice to hear that you're doing well.

Aw, she is adorable! What kinds of things will she do? Years ago we watched a series on Netflix called 'Working Dogs'. It was so fascinating to learn about all of the different skills and talents some dogs have, or can be trained to do.

He's just soooo cute!

Aren't they so cute!!!!

Well, the concerns about where the student should change, and teachers 'observing' are valid.... All this talk about showering is most likely not that relevant. The middle schoolers are NOT showering. They won't even be given enough time to shower if they wanted to. And this in Florida (lol) and it's likely that most of the boys aren't changing clothes anyways. Athletic shorts worn year round.

So cute!

We were selected for verification last year and had to do it for all of the college applied to....the colleges didn't all ask for exactly the same documents though. I have no idea what is 'normal'. One college asked for a transcript and then shortly after said they didn't need it.

Thank you, I'll check that book out.

I did take ds to the ped. when he was in 5th grade for an evaluation. We filled out some checklists, as did his teacher. I really like this pediatrician, but he spent about 5 minutes with us and I felt like he was looking for an extreme case--he said my son didn't have ADHD, but that his classroom situation was the problem. (That year he had a very lively, spunky class and the teacher had little classroom control) and he always had good grades. My son has a very high IQ so I think that makes it 'easier' for him to get good grades even when he's feeling distracted in class a lot. I really don't know if he has ADHD, or if he just doesn't like to put effort or pay attention to things he's not interested in. He says his mind wanders even in the classes he likes and he doesn't know why. It takes him 90 minutes to do any task at home that should take 20 minutes (homework or get ready for bed). I don't know what is normal kid /teen stuff (because my other kids were never like this) .

Lots of good advice and things for me to consider, thank you so much to those who responded! I called the local University center that does testing and they were very friendly but their waiting list is full so they aren't adding any new evaluation appts at this time. I have been trying to make some lists of psychologists in my area that do this testing and may take our insurance. Our insurance is lousy for some things and good for others. Also trying to sift through the Private Centers that do add/gifted/ld testing ...I wonder how reliable they are. I've known families that will test and retest their kids trying to get into gifted so I'm wary of some of these places that might be trying to 'help' them.

Is there any 'standard' for what is included in an adhd evaluation? I have read that evals can range from just a pediatrician's visit to a full day's workup with lots of testing. What kind of professional is best to go to? I've made an appt with an MD in psychiatry at a Children's Hospital that I've always had good experiences with; however, it'll be $400 for an 80 min. appt. (The doctors that take our insurance don't have openings until next summer) Can a doctor make an ADHD evaluation in that 80 min? This is for ds13. His grades are all over the place and he says he has problems focusing in many classes (ps). His dad most certainly has ADHD but refuses any help. I don't want ds to suffer if there are things he/we can do differently to help.