So my 19 year old dd got tested recently for ADHD. They did the WAIS-IV along with attention related testing (measures of impulsivity and attention). They could not give her a FSIQ and did not give her a GAI (not sure why -- she went the the appointment alone). She did get diagnosed with ADHD, though the tests measuring impulsivity and attention were both in the average range. The psychologist thought her scores were definitely all over the place, but as she is following up through her campus psychologist, she basically just went through the report with her and wished her well. Does anyone see anything I am missing, other than that she is kinda all over the place? She definitely is an odd mixture of achievement and struggle in life -- she is doing awesome academically but loses her possessions non-stop, trips and falls or bangs into things constantly, and has struggled for years with executive functioning and procrastination. Just wondering if ADHD is it or if the large gaps in these scores have any other meaning I am missing! Verbal Comprehension -- 141 Similarities -- 15 Vocabulary -- 19 Information -- 16 Perceptual Reasoning -- 121 Block Desgin -- 15 Matrix Reasoning -- 16 Visual Puzzles -- 10 Working Memory -- 100 Digit Scan -- 10 Arithmetic -- 10 Processing Speed -- 117 Symbol Search -- 15 Coding -- 11

I usually lurk but I'm looking for advice from people with similar educational philosophies as me. My 8 year old daughter is incredibly bright, creative, funny, and impulsive. I've always known she's distractible, but we've been able work with it til now. We're trying to do 3rd grade work and she can mentally do any of it but she can't focus, she can't sit. Math lessons take an hour, unless I work with her every minute. The careless mistakes are adding up. She can narrate stories for hours, but getting a whole paragraph out of her on paper is pulling teeth. In group activities she's the kid who has to throw up her hand and say something, but half the time it's "um, um, um, I forget". I love her and don't want to change her but my techniques for helping her concentrate, keeping her on task, and redirecting her aren't working any more. My husband and I aren't particularly enthusiastic about medication so I'd rather have that be a last result. Can you point me to resources about how to help her? Books on ADHD? Do I need to change out her curriculum? She's been doing an online typing program this week and doing so well with it, do I need to do more computer-based school instead of book-based? She will read for hours but I'm not sure she's retaining knowledge. She's suffering now because what she needs to be doing mentally and what she's capable of actually producing don't match. Both my husband and I are extremely intelligent and also distractible / have followthrough issues. I'm 95% convinced my husband has/had ADHD (we were both homeschooled so we never ran into formal diagnoses) and I am either high functioning Asperbergers or just really weird nerd girl, I don't need labels for us but I do want to make sure I don't excuse my daughter's issues by thinking it's completely normal. Thanks for your time.

I'm starting to think about classroom setup for the fall. Yay! I'll have a small class of almost all boys, almost all of them with ADHD and dyslexia both. My initial thought is that less is more in this situation. A lot of teachers go for extreme cuteness and classroom themes, but that's just not for me. I kinda just want to go minimalist... plants in colorful pots, some maps on the wall, a globe, and the basic art and writing supplies. As far as I can tell, kids neither notice nor care about how cute their classroom is. With older elementary boys, I especially don't want to offend their sensibilities with "baby stuff." I also think it's easier to concentrate in a streamlined, peaceful room. All thoughts welcome! It's fun to think about decorating a classroom :)

I've been reading a lot of research about kids' attention spans and how exercise helps focus and learning. Some schools are increasing recess time, but some are not. It seems like the pro-recess schools get as good or better results than the non-recess schools. For those of you with kids in school, how much recess/movement do your kids get? Or... how much do you wish they would get? For some reason I'm picturing 30-45 minutes of inside time followed by 15 minutes of recess, rinse, repeat. At my school they get one 30 min recess, with short movement breaks during classes, but there isn't any real serious outdoor time except for the one recess in the middle of the day.

Does anyone have any tricks for helping a kid learn to maintain focus? What do you do when they focus while you're talking to them (1 minute) and then instantly zone out (waaaaay out) the second you turn your back? It's making learning impossible, and this is a very smart kid. Very frustrating for everyone. I'm not sure if this is an autism thing, an adhd thing, or what. Asking questions as often as possible helps, but I can't always be doing that.

As a spin-off of the recent thread on improving processing speed, are there math curriculum or methods that work well with slow processing speed? My son's at 11 yrs is in single digits. On untimed content tests, he is low avg to average. On reading comprehension and logic, he is above average. We just finished 4th grade math with him, and it's just painful to continue for both of us. He is getting OT help with physical writing. I already accommodate - five problems or 30 mins or one good sentence, etc. Thanks.

Our 14 year old DS is very bright, but really needs help with time management. He's actually asked for planning systems to help him structure his time (he has inattentive ADHD). I'm thinking of something like Homeschool Planet this year. But what I really want are features thatwould send him text reminders and/or alarms. To help him know when to stop/start/get ready, etc. (I have no idea if Homeschool Planet or other planners have any feature like this.) Any good recommendations?

Update Post #26~ I know this is a weird topic for a homeschool forum, but someone on here has had to have had this problem. My DS 11 is wearing shoes that are literally 1/2 in to short. How do I know? He is wearing the horrible clogs his grandmother bought him possibly 1.5-2 yrs ago, and his heel sticks over. We have tried 3 times in the last 6 months to go shoe shopping and have come home empty handed or with shoes he wouldn't wear. He has ADHD with SPD issues with clothes, shoes, food, etc. Problem now is his heel is hurting from being over the shoe. Tennis shoes won't let his toes move. New clogs have bumpy things in the bottom. I don't think they are good for his feet anyway as many times he says his knees hurt. What can I get that he can run and play in, slip on, and move his toes in? Just thought I'd seek advice before I head to the more expensive shoe stores this weekend. PLEASE HELP ME!

I happened on this book at the library while looking for something else and was caught by the title: Dyslogic Syndrome: Why Millions of Kids are "Hyper," Attention-Disordered, Learning Disabled, Depressed, Aggressive, Defiant, or Violent--and What We Can Do About It by Bernard Rimland. I have not finished it yet. Rather than say more at this point, other than that it is changing how I am thinking about a lot of things I see IRL and read on these boards, I'd like to put it out here and hope that others will read it too and then want to discuss it. And maybe it can help somebody here. Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Dyslogic-Syndrome-Attention-Disordered-Aggressive-Violent/dp/1843108771

*Update in Post #15* We are waiting on reports from recent evals, but this is killing me. Can you name it? My 10 yr old son wants to be in groups with kids, do activities, seeks the attention and time with others. However, he is reserved, quiet, doesn't speak up much, and often misses cues or what's happening. Example, in small group at scouts, the boys were to vote on a yell for their group. I asked if he got to vote or voted, and he wasn't sure if he had or not. If I or another caring adult isn't there to walk him through, he misses what's going on, lags behind. My husband said he was the same way and always struggled in school because of it. He know has a few close friends, but I find he still misses cues like when a conversation should end or we should leave a place. His mother has it, too. She is unable to even hold a job because she can't understand what is happening or keep up or gets too upset by others or something. I know they all have ADHD or something very like it; although, I don't have a dx for that. Does anyone else have this?

I appreciate the help with the social issues yesterday, and so, I thought you might help me again. It is almost a daily struggle with my 10 yr old and instigating, teasing, picking, back-talk, just 'ugh' behavior. Under handed messing with peoples' stuff and pretending he didn't, saying he's not playing a game and then declaring himself the winner, etc. It drives his brothers nuts, which drives his parents nuts. When we talk to him about it, he doesn't seem to understand what he does, or doesn't remember, or claims not to remember, or says that everyone is always fussing at him. Well, he's always messing with people or their stuff, unless he is highly focused on his own thing. He honestly doesn't seem capable of learning to not piss people off or understanding what he did. Recall that we've had evals and are waiting on results. I did email to tell her these things, which we did talk about before, and ask if we could get in any sooner. In the meantime, I don't have any idea how to fix or improve this. Do we need ABA, more excitement, meds, counseling? Any ideas?

Our DD was in public school for PK and K, and then we homeschooled 1st, 2nd, and this year 3rd. She has always been bright but highly active and has difficulty sitting still. With occasional outbursts. However, this year has been a battle and she's been refusing to do work, writing nonsense when she doesn't feel like doing assignments, etc. We have already discussed ADHD with her ped, and there are probably both sensory and attention issues. However, I'm thinking of enrolling her back in public school while we have her evaluated. She may benefit from the structure, I need a break quite frankly, and our other child needs more attention than I am able to give at the same time. Has anyone done this and what happens when you re-enroll? Do they test? I'm thinking she may possbly have to finish the year, but then repeat this grade. Which may not be totally bad, as she is yo9ung for her age and behind at least in reading.

Our DD (8) is in 3rd grade. We pulled her out of public school in fall of her 1st grade year. She has other issues where she had to have an IEP (not behavior, a physical disability). Bottom line is, it worked well for two years, although there have always been ups and downs in her behavior. She can be hyperactive, challenging. But you know, it worked for two years. But this year the work is a bit harder, it does take a bit more concentration. And she has been SO challenging. She doesn't want to do her work, and she will actually make up numbers or scribble in her book to try to get away with not doing work. Multiple times. And she will shout, sometimes hit. And corner our animals. But then in between can be sweet and intelligent. But you never know when--except if you tell her no or try to correct her work or behavior, watch out. And we also homeschool another older child with ADHD and processing issues. Because of the attention, I have to constantly work to monitor progress. Did I mention one is loud and sensory seeking, and the other needs quiet to focus at all? I am literally shaking as I'm reading this, thinking about putting her back in public school. And this year also I've had some minor physical health issues that I need to get control of. What exactly happens if you enroll a child mid-year in public school? I'm thinking they might not count that year, or might test her abilities and then might not count some of the homeschooling since it isn't public. I'm not fond at all of the option, and we had problems getting and implementing the IEP, but I'm almost to the point of thinking that seeing her behavior corrected by others might help. Or at least give me a small break to regroup during the day. I know we need to pursue more evaluations, but in the meantime I am CRAZY trying to monitor her all the time. Any comments/suggestions would help so much. I need to be able to weigh what the options are. I don't want to pull in and out of school, but I'd look at this as a try it and see how it goes option. Maye?

We have a 13 year old and will be getting him a phone for the first time. He has ADHD inattentive, as well as slow processing. He's extremely bright, but needs a huge number of reminders of tasks to accomplish, staying on track, etc. The plan is to start with something inexpensive -- hopefullly not a smart phone, but a less expensive phone (possibly a trackphone). So there would be some limits and also if it is lost there is not a huge out of pocket expense. I KNOW an iPhone or something would have lots of helpful apps. But what could we get that is not as expensive if lost or as hard to monitor usage (especially internet). Any ideas?