Vent-Why does everyone think ADHD?!

[Mom2J112903]

So my son has SPD which is a Sensory Processing Disorder NOT ADHD like the school system wants to place upon him.

 

We have him in Catholic School currently, really like this school but with J's dx is it just too much on him sometimes, and we agreed to let the PS eval him-for peace of mind on their part more than anything else. That and J regressed some this year due to some personal/family issues and we could not get into a child pysch fast enough-for our liking.

 

So the Special Ed Corrdinator recently called me and asked if I would be attending the meeting on Thursday. Um, no because of a few reasons, I just told her we have plans already-which is true. She asked me if J had ever been dx ADHD. Again I tell her "No and our child pysch, whom specializes in ASDs (Autism Spectrum Disorders) refuses to give him that dx because it just.does.not.fit." J has SPD in addition to his HFA (High Functioning Autism) and severe Anxiety dx-combine those and yeah, I could *possibly* see how someone would just want an ADHD dx and not the *true* dxs that J *does* carry.

 

Why can't people STOP dx ADHD with the kiddos who are spectrum/SPD kiddos?! Give them some room, love them, hug them, but let them be who they are-not whom you are convienced they are. Sure J might be "fidigity" at times, but if you go and give him a big squeeze or let him have 5 minutes or so to "shake the silly's out" he will and can get right back on track. Is that so hard to ask?!

 

Also, what 6yr old boy is NOT "fidigity" and wants to hurry up with their classwork so they can go play?!

 

Sorry for the vent but this irks me and I know I am not the only one with a "spirited child" or ASD/SPD kiddo whom has been thru this. When will people accept the SPD dx?

[elizabeth]

They have some education in the area and the focus has been on ADHD but with more youngsters dx with Aspergers etc the colleges of education are slowly integrating this into the curriculum. I just dealt with this on behalf of my nephew. They have cut all ties to the school system and are doing therapy at a base hospital and home educating with huge gains in behaviour, academics and happiness. Can't beat that.

[Mom2J112903]

It is un-believable the amt of children being dx on the Spectrum. I run into so many families with Spectrum children, it is un-real.

 

They have some education in the area and the focus has been on ADHD but with more youngsters dx with Aspergers etc the colleges of education are slowly integrating this into the curriculum. I just dealt with this on behalf of my nephew. They have cut all ties to the school system and are doing therapy at a base hospital and home educating with huge gains in behaviour, academics and happiness. Can't beat that.

 

You certaintanly can not!

 

We will be having J evaluated for OT (again, we stopped OT once before, shouldn't have but the OT was not a good fit with J) for fine motor delays as his handwritting could use some help. So we will do private therapy (we have never used therapy thru the school though) and cross our fingers that homeschooling is *exactly* what J needs to not only succeed academically but be HAPPY again. He can not WAIT until "school at home starts", and if he has it his way, we will start sooner than later!

[Corraleno]

I think the dx of "ADD" is meaningless ~ all it means is that "for some reason this child has trouble paying attention," it says nothing about the cause.

 

My DS also has SPD, APD, dyslexia, anxiety, and an assortment of spectrummy issues; his teachers all said "ADD" because it's a convenient catch-all label that absolves the school (or other diagnostician) from having to find out what's really wrong. They just want to treat the symptoms (drug the kid enough to tolerate public schooling), not find out what's causing the behavior and treat the underlying issues. That's why I homeschool.

 

Jackie

[Orthodox6]

I think that the general public, with its overall very low understanding of the great variety of health conditions, has a greater awareness of ADHD. Thus people may notice behaviours in your son which resemble ADHD, and that is the only "knowledge base topic" they have to key into.

 

If it has been a while since your son was diagnosed, you might consider a second opinion from a profession with no ties to your current specialist. We learned the hard way how important this is to do. When a professional practitioner specializes in something, he or she tends automatically to make a diagnosis "fit" that specialty. That is why we endured nearly ten years of a seriously wrong diagnosis for two of our boys. A few years ago, we finally did the right thing by obtaining a second opinion, and we now know what really is the scenario. (and it is quite, quite different from the errors of the first professional) We can tell the second opinion is on target because of how much we have learned.

 

This last observation is more speculative; however, you write as if ADHD/ADD is a *bad* condition in your viewpoint, and maybe do not even believe it is a real condition. (Many people adopt that outlook, although I genuinely cannot agree with them.) This is just a feeling that I sense behind your words. I could be wrong in detecting that signal. ADHD/ADD co-exists very often with other conditions. It may, or it may not, be present in your son in addition to the SPD.

 

I hope you can work toward a good relationship with the school staff, especially as you sound pleased with the school overall !

[Mom2J112903]

Very insightful thought! Makes *a lot* of sense!

 

I think the dx of "ADD" is meaningless ~ all it means is that "for some reason this child has trouble paying attention," it says nothing about the cause.

 

My DS also has SPD, APD, dyslexia, anxiety, and an assortment of spectrummy issues; his teachers all said "ADD" because it's a convenient catch-all label that absolves the school (or other diagnostician) from having to find out what's really wrong. They just want to treat the symptoms (drug the kid enough to tolerate public schooling), not find out what's causing the behavior and treat the underlying issues. That's why I homeschool.

 

Jackie

 

What is interesting about our child pysch is the *first* visit he saw J he knew that this child is *not* ADD/ADHD but indeed a "Spectrumy" child. Now wheather or not that is because we had a 2.5hr drive, J was in an office with toys and he was the only child in there or not, or Dr F is a very insightfull man (which of course he is ;)) is up for you to decide.

 

J was placed on a pretty heavy duty rx drug for impulse control-but he needed it here at home as well. He does have some issues at school that if we were going to keep him in school, this med would most likely have to be increased. We are not dealing with the most severe of side effects, like massive weight gain or muscle problems but we are dealing with a weakend immune system (J never has had a GREAT immune system-that is another vent/story) and if we would increase the med :w00t: we might as well start three times a day neb treatments year around.

 

It would be WONDERFUL if we could get J off *both* meds and what would the school think then :tongue_smilie:J is on a med for his anxiety but we feel confident that his hightened anxiety is due to academic stress placed upon him at school and "keeping up".

 

However with family hx of mental disorders we are honestly not certain if J will be able to competly come off *all* meds. Only time will tell but we can certaintly pray that homeschooling will help, right? :)

[jujsky]

Sorry for the vent but this irks me and I know I am not the only one with a "spirited child" or ASD/SPD kiddo whom has been thru this. When will people accept the SPD dx?

 

No, you're definitely NOT the only one. I have a 6 year-old SPD boy too. There is a lot of over-lap with ADHD, but it's not what he has. It gets frustrating to hear it. :grouphug:

[Mom2J112903]

The practioner we see now is a different person that whom dx J :) The person that dx J does not even have a practice here any longer. It would be nice if their were an ASD Specialist here, we would not have to drive 2.5hrs to see one. Dr F is worth it though, he is great!

 

I do believe ADD/ADHD exist but after *two* ASD Specialist, one at 3.5yrs of age and one right after his 6th Birthday saying J is *not* either one but a real SPD/Spectrum child it irks me that people whom are not well versed in Autism want to label him ADD/ADHD.

 

I :001_wub: my 6yr old Sensory-Seeking sometimes rather quirky little man. He makes my world go round like nothing I have ever experinced before. Things can be very interesting around here but I wouldn't change a thing about my little man.

 

We will miss our School family, but we know that homeschooling has been calling to me for many years and even to DH-but he wanted to give "traditional" Schooling a chance. We did and it is just too stressful for J right now, who knows what it will be like in the future. We take things as they come because don't you know if you want to hear God laugh, you tell him your plans. :tongue_smilie:

[Orthodox6]

Oops ! I could not tell at all from the original post that you were going to homeschool ! Homeschooling is not mentioned. (The sentence about "having plans already" conveyed to me that you had something else scheduled for that day/time.)

 

Hope you and ds will enjoy homeschooling ! Is the parochial school affiliated with the parish you attend ? If so, then your son can keep up with his school friends, and won't feel "a loss" so much.

[Mom2J112903]

We do have plans for Thursday and have made plans to homeschool, so you were right. :)

 

Oops ! I could not tell at all from the original post that you were going to homeschool ! Homeschooling is not mentioned. (The sentence about "having plans already" conveyed to me that you had something else scheduled for that day/time.)

 

Hope you and ds will enjoy homeschooling ! Is the parochial school affiliated with the parish you attend ? If so, then your son can keep up with his school friends, and won't feel "a loss" so much.

 

Yes, the school is affiliated with our Parish. Yet 50% of the school is made up of non-Catholic students. Even though we have three other private schools in the area, one Baptist, one that does not denote itself a specific religion and another non-parochial school, our school is the most "popular" due to its small class sizes and outstanding academics. I promised J we would still attend Friday school Mass and go to the playground *at least* once/week to see his friends after they get done with school. Needless to say J is wanting to know why they are not done with school at lunch time like he will be.

[Wendi]

J was placed on a pretty heavy duty rx drug for impulse control-but he needed it here at home as well.

 

 

I have a quirky child as well. He's 13, and over the years has been diagnosed with SPD, OCD, language disorder, etc. He's never been officially diagnosed with ADHD, but his behaviors would certainly lead a typical person to think he fits that label. I have read that some experts believe ADHD to be related to the autism spectrum, and it makes sense to me. So many of ds's challenges (anxiety, sensory, impulsivity, social skills, language) are common in kids who have ASDs, but we have been told ds is not in the spectrum.

 

If your dc is on medication for impulse control, I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if people assume he's got ADHD. I would try not to be offended. Many people don't know a lot about either sensory issues or autism spectrum disorders, but they do know about (or think they do) ADHD.

 

My ds is about to start taking Strattera, and he doesn't have ADHD either. But his impulse control is really causing him problems.

 

Wendi

[Mom2J112903]

J was placed on a med for impulse control (it is not one typically associated with ADD/ADHD but mood disorders) because of his *very* quick mood changes and impulse control issues that were leading him to do *very* un-safe things. For example, he tried to "fly" off the 2 story stairs one day at school-he gets the thought in his head and it did not leave until he acts on it. Thank GOD his teacher was *right* there.

 

Some say J is *only* SPD and that is why we see some of the ASD behaviors and anxiety. Simply because the SPD interferes that much with in his daily life.

[Perry]

She asked me if J had ever been dx ADHD.

Are you upset because she asked you this? Sounds like she is just trying to fully understand the situation. I wouldn't be upset about that.

[Mom2J112903]

This was the *2nd* time she personally asked me and she has asked J's teacher the same thing. I understand the 1st time, but not the 2nd.

 

 

Are you upset because she asked you this? Sounds like she is just trying to fully understand the situation. I wouldn't be upset about that.

[*********]

I have no experience with public schools misdianosing my boys, since the littles have never been.

 

I can, however, offer my 'btdt'; Moose has SPD. I know what a rollercoaster it can be sometimes. One day, I can shrug off his 'quirks' as 'well, that's just Moose being Moose'. Other days, I'm almost in tears because I'm just *sure* he's going to suffer his whole life because of his SPD.

 

:grouphug: You're so right; love them, hug them, let them be who they are.

[Mom2J112903]

Just wanted to say Moose is such an adorable nickname! J's nickname, well I am the only one who uses it, is "boo" and that has its own story ;)

 

I can, however, offer my 'btdt'; Moose has SPD. I know what a rollercoaster it can be sometimes. One day, I can shrug off his 'quirks' as 'well, that's just Moose being Moose'. Other days, I'm almost in tears because I'm just *sure* he's going to suffer his whole life because of his SPD.

 

:grouphug: You're so right; love them, hug them, let them be who they are.

 

Everyone tells us J is going to be a stunt man because of his SPD and his sensory seeking ways. Hey, they do make good money but I would worry about him even more than I do now, lol.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Mom2J112903

[TravelingChris]

Okay, here is another viewpoint. WHen someone says that a child, spouse, or friend has a more serious diagnosis, some people try to make you feel better by suggesting a milder diagnosis. Is it right? No, but it is a way they try to cope with bad news. So if you tell them Johnny has bipolar, they will suggest adhd. If you say ADHD, they will suggest food intolerance. If you say food intolerance, they will tell you the story of how Aunt Sue used to be so allergic to X but with herb Y she is no longer allergic. I have this happen to us all the time with all of our illnesses/differences. My RA gets dismissed as we are getting older (of course I got this at 30) or eat x or y and you'll be cured. Our ADHD was dismissed as boys will be boys but not much is said anymore when it is my dd who has it and much more severely than her brother. I can go on and on.

[*********]

Just wanted to say Moose is such an adorable nickname! J's nickname, well I am the only one who uses it, is "boo" and that has its own story ;)

 

You know, his nickname fits him to a T, and it's actually related to his SPD; though we didn't know that when we gave him the nickname. He's very physical (he is sensory seeking in some ways, and sensory avoiding in others). He likes to wrestle, snuggle, be tickled until he can't breathe. He hurts me, unintentionally, quite frequently, because he's so rough. Anyway, that's why we call him 'Moose'. Cause, well, he's kinda always acted like a big football player guy who might be called that; even if he's just an averaged size four year old. :)

[Mom2J112903]

Sounds like my J :) Like a bull in a china shop, huh?

 

We have to stop J as well, he gets *so* into "tickle monsters" that he actually starts wheezing he is laughing so hard.

 

You know, his nickname fits him to a T, and it's actually related to his SPD; though we didn't know that when we gave him the nickname. He's very physical (he is sensory seeking in some ways, and sensory avoiding in others). He likes to wrestle, snuggle, be tickled until he can't breathe. He hurts me, unintentionally, quite frequently, because he's so rough. Anyway, that's why we call him 'Moose'. Cause, well, he's kinda always acted like a big football player guy who might be called that; even if he's just an averaged size four year old. :)

 

Boo is J's nickname well because he was crowning for 45 freakin' minutes! And all of a sudden with one HUGE push, my son was on my chest and I blurted out "BOO!" It stuck :)