Curriculum for adhd daughter with anxiety

[Kencam]

Hi-

 

     I’m writing because I need some help.  Our 13 year old daughter was “diagnosed” with inattentive adhd and anxiety by her therapist.  I say “diagnosed” because we haven’t done official testing with a psychologist, but her therapist has said this is what the issues are.  She has difficulty focusing on her coursework and finishing her assignments in a timely manner, probably because of the difficulty she has focusing.  She is an extremely anxious child who fixates on things in the past and has difficulty changing her thought patterns.  She also complains almost daily about having headaches while doing school.  She wears blue light glasses for her online classes to help with the headaches, but it doesn’t seem to help much.  She gets very stressed out while doing her work.  We use a mix of curricula right now for her-math u see, BJU for history and science and bravewriter for lit/grammar.  She does fairly well with her classes, basically solid Bs, but can’t seem to get anything higher and is very anxious about tests.  I’ve been wondering if we should switch her curriculum for something else.  Wondering if something different would help her feel less stress about school.  I’ve looked at MP, but she’s getting older and I’m not sure it would work for her to start it now going into 8th grade.  Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do for her?  Should we look at switching curriculum, or would that cause more anxiety?  Would she be stressed regardless of the curriculum we use?  I hate to see her have headaches so much (she’s been to the dr twice and the dr says she’s fine) if there’s a different way we can do school with her.  Any advice would be appreciated!  TIA!!

Carrie

[PeterPan]

First, welcome to the boards and LC!  It's great that you're here. My dd was diagnosed with ADHD (and later anxiety) at age 12, so I know what it feels like to have a lot of water under the bridge and be sorting stuff out at this age.

So I don't know what your openness is to evals, but I don't think your therapist necessarily meant that her observations and the ADHD and anxiety meant those were the *only* things going on. My first and biggest suggestion is going to be to get a psych eval by someone who sees a lot of girls, preferably someone seeing a lot of ADHD, anxiety and maybe spectrum. 

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

She is an extremely anxious child who fixates on things in the past and has difficulty changing her thought patterns.  

I'm not meaning to put you on the spot, but this is a very good reason to be getting psych evals. Girls can go undiagnosed on things, and you'd like a more complete picture with someone who can take the time to sort these things out. Does she have any sensory issues? 

When we started with my dd, sensory stuff was so out of my loop. I'm very hypo responsive, as is my ds, so her experience as a hyper-responsive person was so outside what I understood. Sensory issues become sort of the 4 alarm fire BLARING all the time, making it harder to focus. They can also have retained primitive/neonatal/infant reflexes that can cause problems.

You might want to consider seeing a developmental optometrist for a vision eval. Who suggested the blue light filter to you? It's at least questionable and I'm not sure it's evidence based. It's more likely she has convergence issues or other developmental vision problems. They can be easily identified and treated by a developmental optometrist. If she has retained reflexes (google and search youtube for tests), those can result in the developmental vision problems. The vision reflexes develop as part of the progression after infant reflexes are used and "integrate" and the postural and vestibular reflexes do their work. You get this sort of cascade of glitches when any step doesn't work quite right. And of course, because she's a child, she has no way to realize her experience is not normal or typical. It takes evals by a developmental optometrist and possibly an OT (occupational therapist) to sort these things out. 

I would STRONGLY encourage you to pursue these evals. They are physical explanations for *some* of the symptoms she's experiencing. If you're at all hesitant about meds (since I assume you are, since you didn't ask), I'm saying these are legit physical problems to be looking at. They can *help*.

Anxiety is a tough one. I'm a christian and I am from a church tradition that is pretty strongly in the no med, meds are sin, anxiety is a spiritual problem camp. The challenge is that one you don't know the complexity of her situation (whether she has a larger developmental situation going on, given the amount of perseveration you're describing) and you don't know what component of the anxiety is genetic. I had anxiety for years and FINALLY got some explanation with genetics. Turns out a gene (NBPF3) affects your use of B6. Mine is homozygous defective so I burn through B6. When I take enough of the right form (P5P) and keep my zinc up, my zinc is largely controlled. So again, if you're looking for physical explanations and not wanting meds, I'm going to be saying look for a doctor who does this genetic testing who can start to get you some options. I've done meds and I've done genetics, both for myself and my kids. Meds are not a sin and meds work. Genetics can get you some help too. 

So you have the option of both meds for the anxiety and meds for the ADHD. You're probably not going to get significant improvement till you do meds. Meds and genetics or just meds. Is that something you're open to?

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

We use a mix of curricula right now for her-math u see, BJU for history and science and bravewriter for lit/grammar.  She does fairly well with her classes, basically solid Bs, but can’t seem to get anything higher and is very anxious about tests.  I’ve been wondering if we should switch her curriculum for something else.

You have multiple components here. One, you could drop the tests or modify how you administer the tests to reduce the anxiety immediately. If you get psych evals, it may turn out she qualifies for extended time and a limited distraction testing environment. Do you HAVE to administer the tests? Could you administer them open note? Could you extend the time? Could you change your grading and make them only informative, not saved? 

Another strategy here would be to keep the things that are working and change the things that aren't. I agree the BJU Heritage Studies is charming through grade 8. After that it turns into sheer drudgery. So you are definitely at a launch point for that where it would be good to consider something else. You might look at the 3 volume sequence from MOH, which is christian based and TOTALLY APPROPRIATE for her stage. It includes extension activities for older students and might be great for an ADHD student. She might like the projects. She could use the audio cds to do the work independently and embrace any abilities she has in the arts or creativity. You might also look at Notgrass and see if that progression could work well for her. My dd was very into history and read it avidly, so honestly I tended to throw textbooks at her and walk away. I was terribly busy with my ds (who had verbal apraxia and needed tons of therapy, sigh) and that worked for us. We used some of the BJU history in unusual ways, outlining, etc. I think we even used some of the tests. But I didn't keep grades. I just had specific skills I was working on, like outlining, and she enjoyed it. I think roll with what she enjoys, drop the stress.

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

math u see

Is this working for her? It's fine if it is. Again, no grade, no stress. 

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

science

Whoa, has she been doing BJU science? Definitely toss that. Their high school is really ramped up. Ok, I love the Earth Science, so that's fine. But that's 8th grade, yes? Their physical science is quite challenging. Look for something in reach and accessible. Have you looked to see what Timberdoodle is selling? If I tell you what I did, you'll die. We used the GA PBS Chemistry (online, free) one year and it was good. We did the BJU phsycial science *labs* just the labs, which was fun. And for other subjects, I gave her lots of reading that correlated to the topics from a spine text (biology book, etc.) that we used more as reference than anything. We had some labs. Her scores were amazing and nobody cares now and we got through, kwim? I think focus on the important things. What are your *goals* for her with the science? I wanted my dd to be aware of current issues, be conversant, and not to have her enjoyment of science killed. I knew she had word retrieval issues (which came up in the psych testing), so memorizing vocabulary for tests was not going to be a strength. 

I have the dvd series for Chem 101, Bio 101, etc. I think Timberdoodle sells them or used to. We liked them a lot. I think find something that is realistic that fits her and go with it. Does she like to research topics? There are researched based approaches. Do you want something more trim that she just reads and moves on? Walch Powerbasics are good for this. Find a strength you can work to and pick to something that harnesses her strength.

When we got our first psych eval for dd, that was the psych's big advice over and over, to be willing to GO OUT OF THE BOX. He said to go out of the box fearlessly, as far out of the box as I could, and it worked for us. So there you go, free advice. 

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

Would she be stressed regardless of the curriculum we use?

No.

4 hours ago, Kencam said:

 I hate to see her have headaches so much (she’s been to the dr twice and the dr says she’s fine)

So it would be interesting to know if she's having vision problems that are giving her headaches or if she's trying to communicate and not self advocating very well. https://www.kelly-mahler.com/what-is-interoception/

Edited June 7, 2021 by PeterPan

[Terabith]

I have a kid with severe anxiety and processing speed/ working memory problems that are severe and mimic ADHD.  Honestly, I would do the evals, including vision, but I cannot express the amount of difference anxiety meds made here.  Massively life changing.  

[Kencam]

Thank you SO much for both these replies.  There is so much I need to process.  I really appreciate the detailed responses and help!!  I have never heard of developmental optometrists, so I have started looking for info about this and to see if there is one in our area we could get in to see.  This could definitely help us learn more about our dd’s issues.  I have often wondered if her headaches were related to her eyesight, but at her dr appt this past spring, the dr did a basic exam and she passed, so I figured that wasn’t the issue.  But maybe there’s more going on than we know.  It may explain a lot.

We are not opposed to meds, but would rather try to avoid them as long as possible.  We hate to start her on the meds as we would prefer for her to learn ways to cope with the ADHD and anxiety naturally, but if she needs meds, then she needs them and we will get them for her.  We do not view any of this as a “spiritual crisis” or having any spiritual basis.  We believe that meds are useful when needed.  Anxiety definitely runs in the family.  I am on meds for it, as well as my mom, dad and sister.  My husband also struggles with anxiety, but is not on meds at this time.  My other sister (I have 3) probably has ADHD but was never diagnosed.  My dad has aspergers (diagnosed as an adult), so we are aware this could be an issue for our daughter as well.  In fact, her therapist suspects she may also have some ASD and conducts their sessions on this basis, but again, nothing is “officially” diagnosed.

Another “issue” in all this is that we are missionaries.  We are in the US right now on our furlough “time off,” but plan to return to the field in Sept.  So, we don’t have a lot of time to figure out a plan for all this.  Our field home is in Kenya and there is limited help for these issues there.  We have a lot to process and try to figure out and resolve before we need to return. 

Regarding curriculum, I’m glad to know that BJU science really ramps up in high school.  Better to know that now, rather than later!!!  She’s enjoyed life science this year, but maybe we need to start looking for a new program.  Same with history.  She’s never really done American History.  She’s bounced a lot between programs and seems to always do the ancient/middle ages cycle, but never going beyond year 2.  We’ve done some TOG, some MOH and this year, BJU.  We really need for her to have American History and do some geography.  I’d considered MOH, but I’ve read that it’s a bit “light” for HS.  Is that correct?  BJU 8th grade history is the American Republic, which I was excited about because it would give her focused American history for the year.  Should I still plan for this, or reconsider?  And for science-I’m lost.  We’ve always done BJU, but Peter Pan confirmed what I’ve suspected about it ramping up in difficulty.  We are trying to lower our dd’s stress, not add to it.  As it is, we’re finishing the year without doing tests.  Just reading, lessons and the section reviews in the chapters.  What other science should we consider?  I will take a look at what Timberdoodle uses.  Would Apologia be a good option?  I think they have an audio book option with their books.  My dd has difficulty focusing on her reading, so maybe the audio option would be good for her. I just feel lost in all this.  This has all thrown us for a loop.  

I will continue to think about all this over the next few days.  I definitely see the benefits for the testing  and evals suggested.  Thank you for allowing me to just “throw this out there.”  We desperately want to help her and feel lost in navigating through all this.  Please let me know any suggestions for history and science going forward.  I was thinking about Excellence in Writing for....writing.  Her writing skills are a bit below level.  Not bad, but she hates writing, and so it’s a battle getting her to work on it.  And we were considering MP for lit next year rather than BW.  I need a bit more hand holding than BW provides.  Thoughts on these options??  Thank you so much!!!!

[PeterPan]

15 minutes ago, Kencam said:

We hate to start her on the meds as we would prefer for her to learn ways to cope with the ADHD and anxiety naturally, but if she needs meds, then she needs them and we will get them for her.

You're out of that range. You're now into messing with her self concept if you don't get her to a place where she feels consistently well. Teen depression rates are HIGH with ADHD and anxiety.

16 minutes ago, Kencam said:

she may also have some ASD and conducts their sessions on this basis, but again, nothing is “officially” diagnosed.

So is that helping her get help? I gave you a link for interoception. A LOT has happened in intervention for ASD in the last 5 years even. Right now the cutting edge thing is to work on *interoception* which bumps her self awareness so she can advocate for herself. You're saying you want her to have tools to deal with her anxiety, and that would be the path. There are other programs (Zones of Regulation, etc.), but really Interoception is the first stop, the big ticket. 

What you really don't know at this point is whether the headaches are physically happening or whether they're a way of pushing back about what isn't working. Also, this is a total side thing, but if someone's methyl levels are too high, that will give them headaches too. You'd see that in the genes if you ran genetics. Given that you have family history here, the anxiety, etc. are genetic. Fwiw, I was completely shocked how the genes panned out when we ran them. I have two sort of contradictory defect (MTHFR and COMT, you can google them) so that the net effect sort of cancels and is less noticeable. However each of my kids got *one* and with only one, the consequences are disastrous, go figure. So I'm huge on genetics because we got a lot of breakthroughs sifting through them. 

22 minutes ago, Kencam said:

Sept.  So, we don’t have a lot of time to figure out a plan for all this.

Hmm. What's your funding and what do you want to make happen? 

-OT eval with someone who is trained in interoception. Go to the FB group and you can find someone.

-eye eval with a developmental optometrist, which you find through COVD

-psych eval with a psych who specializes in autism who sees a lot of girls

-SLP eval for narrative language, pragmatics, etc. I know that is not on your radar, but I'm just saying if you want to get a ton done now, pronto, and have lots of pieces to go forward with when you go back to Kenya, that's what you want. The psych will *not* typically get the testing done for those areas, which is why you need an SLP as well. And it's not a run of the mill SLP. Look for someone who does a lot of expressive language and autism issues and they'll know what you're talking about when you say narrative language and pragmatics.

If you get the evals done over the next 3-4 months, then you can buy the materials you need and take them with you. The OT can get most of the Interoception intervention done before you go back if you get started pronto. The vision can be done by then too, again if you start quickly. The psych eval you can get done. Then you're left with the results of the SLP eval. That's what will point you toward materials you want to buy. You'll just buy them and take them with you, no problem. There are lots of online trainings you can do, so it will be very simple to keep up. Main thing is to get evals now and get that jump start so you realize what you need.

28 minutes ago, Kencam said:

BJU 8th grade history is the American Republic, which I was excited about because it would give her focused American history for the year.  Should I still plan for this, or reconsider?

Hmm, well you're asking a history hater. I've raised two who love history, but I HATE it. My mother and step father both worked in museums till retirement btw and my mother dragged me to all kinds of history mess growing up. If a person has central coherence issues (hello, autism mind blindness) and doesn't engage with social narratives and doesn't get the big picture, then history is just really this ramble of disconnected mess. It's a fractal of never ending detail, so you never realize how anything fits together. I literally missed that things ran parallel!! I didn't get how anything connected.

So I think that doing something that doesn't make sense to her neurology is a waste of time. I think engagement is better than disengagement and that using something the person is inherently interested in to organize the world makes sense. So is there something she's into? 

I was into Russia and musicals. They should have done all my history study relating it to music. If you look at The Well Educated Mind, this is what she says to do, taking an organizing concept that interests you and following history across time from that perspective. Would that be so wrong? It's nontraditional and out of the box, but it's not *wrong*. So what does she like? Is there a way to use that? 

The other thing I think is important, the more unusual the person, is to throw out sense of what is not good enough and just say what will stick, what will make sense, what will develop understanding or connection or analysis or whatever or goal is.

If she has no sense of the big picture of american history and you want her to have that, then does the difficulty of the book you're using make that go better? Or does a simpler spine where she can actually SEE the flow help? For instance, VP has a series of 5 sets of cards to cover all of history. What an AMAZING way to help a person see the big picture!! Another way is to use a simple spine, something where the structure is very clear so she doesn't miss it.

 

[PeterPan]

36 minutes ago, Kencam said:

Would Apologia be a good option?

Sure, perfect.

37 minutes ago, Kencam said:

My dd has difficulty focusing on her reading, so maybe the audio option would be good for her. I

You've got the ADHD meds piece and the question of whether the SLP eval will turn up any language issues. HIGHLY recommend you look for an SLP who does expressive language and autism and see what they turn up with testing. It will be actionable and might give you a lot of practical insights into teaching her. Vocabulary, narrative language, EF (executive function), they can look at all kinds of things. And it's all actionable. 

38 minutes ago, Kencam said:

Her writing skills are a bit below level.  Not bad, but she hates writing, and so it’s a battle getting her to work on it.

So get the SLP eval. https://mindwingconcepts.com/pages/methodology  this is very possibly why she's having a hard time writing, and it's something the SLP who has the tests (they're specialized) can identify and it's something you can do the intervention for using appropriate materials. Personally, I wouldn't mess around with more curriculum when you suspect a disability. Get the testing and use materials meant for it.

40 minutes ago, Kencam said:

And we were considering MP for lit next year rather than BW.

Hmm, pretty dull. Maybe wait till you get the results from the psych and SLP testing and then decide. You need some data to drive this. If you read about the narrative language, you might see where it's affecting her engagement with the reading.

There are going to be other things you piece together. I've thrown you some stuff to let you jump into the deep end really fast. My ds with ASD2 is 12 and been getting services for years, so I've been digging in on this stuff a lot longer, lol. It feels like the hard way to eval and tear everything apart, but it's really the best way to get the information to find the real problems. You're probably *seeing* things and not even making the connections. For instance, as you read about narrative language, you'll see the "critical thinking triangle." The person uses their emotional awareness to recognize the problem and form a plan. It's where interoception and problem solving fit together. 

Here, I'll blow your mind. https://www.unl.edu/asdnetwork/practical-strategies-obtaining-critical-mass

and the powerpoint https://www.unl.edu/asdnetwork/TASN%20Kansas...Webinar%20Presentation%20Using%20Practical%20Strategies%20to%20Obtain%20Critical%20Mass%20in%20Conversation%2C%20Problem%20Solving%20and%20Emotional%20Understanding%202020.pdf  

What you'll see is she builds the case that 1) Interoception/Emotional Awareness 2) conversation (the pragmatics we were suggesting you get tested with the SLP), and 3) problem solving (that critical thinking triangle from the narrative language) merge together to get people functional. So I'm giving you all the pieces upfront, throwing you in the deep end, but it's actually legit and how leaders in the field see things coming together. It's what is working really well for my ds. And think about it, if she has those pieces, she can self advocate and work with you to problem solve and get through this. Then it won't be you just guessing. 

[PeterPan]

48 minutes ago, Kencam said:

We desperately want to help her and feel lost in navigating through all this.

Keep us posted on what you try. We're eval junkies here, haha. We can talk you through it. 

[PeterPan]

Would she enjoy the YWAM biographies?

For list and history, you might consider something nontraditional too. Around this age I did an opera study with my dd and a shakespeare study. You can find kid friendly short versions of the stories and then watch the full on youtube. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C4SNEY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1  This is the book we used for opera. There is also lite opera. https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Gilbert-Sullivan-Operas-Bulla/dp/0690776365/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=gilbert+and+sullivan+stories&qid=1623036754&sr=8-11  Bulla has a couple books and then you can watch the videos. Or just watch the videos. 

You could call it lit if you want. Around that age we also did short stories, spooky stories. https://www.amazon.com/Monkeys-Other-Tales-Mystery-Macabre/dp/0897334418/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+monkey's+paw+short+stories&qid=1623036059&s=books&sr=1-1  Something like this. 

Or go a different direction and spend the year reading mysteries (agatha christie!), poetry, whatever you want. The BJU 7 has such a delightful variety. Did you read anything by McManus in it? https://www.amazon.com/McManus-Treasury-Pleasant-Misery-Grasshopper/dp/0805047085/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=grasshopper+trap&qid=1623036158&s=books&sr=1-2  I think it was gr7, maybe the gr8. Good stuff. Both my kids have done all the McManus books we could find.

Consider having her outline whatever you decide to use for history.

 

[kbutton]

21 hours ago, Kencam said:

We are not opposed to meds, but would rather try to avoid them as long as possible.  We hate to start her on the meds as we would prefer for her to learn ways to cope with the ADHD and anxiety naturally, but if she needs meds, then she needs them and we will get them for her.  

Another “issue” in all this is that we are missionaries.  We are in the US right now on our furlough “time off,” but plan to return to the field in Sept.  So, we don’t have a lot of time to figure out a plan for all this.  Our field home is in Kenya and there is limited help for these issues there.  We have a lot to process and try to figure out and resolve before we need to return. 

I will continue to think about all this over the next few days.  I definitely see the benefits for the testing  and evals suggested.  Thank you for allowing me to just “throw this out there.”  We desperately want to help her and feel lost in navigating through all this.  Please let me know any suggestions for history and science going forward.  I was thinking about Excellence in Writing for....writing.  Her writing skills are a bit below level.  Not bad, but she hates writing, and so it’s a battle getting her to work on it.  And we were considering MP for lit next year rather than BW.  I need a bit more hand holding than BW provides.  Thoughts on these options??  Thank you so much!!!!

I am not sure if it was said, but covd.org is a good place to find developmental optometrists. 

I am glad you are not opposed to meds, but for some kids, they need ADHD meds to focus on learning new strategies. That's been the case here.

Regarding going back to Kenya--a lot of therapy places are now doing online sessions. This can really be helpful if it clicks for your child. I just wanted to offer some hope that you might have more options than you would pre-pandemic. 

Science--consider looking at Rainbow science. It's an option that lasts for two years, and it's written directly to the student. It should be easy to scaffold if she needs a little more hand-holding. It's a little pricey up front, but you can find it used (PM me if you think you might consider this as I might have things I can pass along for this program). 

History--have you seen Notgrass? They have several middle school options (Uncle Sam is the easiest and is a civics course). Uncle Sam doesn't require as much "history" type thinking--it's really more about citizenship, holidays, institutions, being a good citizen, how people become citizens, etc. You do not have to do the literature or all the Bible/writing stuff that is offered. It's very easy to leave that out, and the workbooks offered are not difficult at all. Another option would be to do some kind of geography. Memoria Press has good geography stuff. My kids enjoyed it. It is workbook style, but they loved the readings. Another option would be to modify Mapping the World with Art (not by heart--similar name, different curriculum) by Ellen McHenry. There are two-page lessons on explorers throughout history, hands-on activities, and detailed drawing lessons (you can get videos to go with it--one of my kids loved the videos and one preferred using the directions in the materials). It's too much at her age to do all of it, but picking and choosing parts is doable, and it's not particularly expensive. 

Writing--you really do want to see what a language evaluation turns up, and you want an evaluator that will use some open-ended tests, not just tests that are multiple choice. You want to see interactive stuff like the Test of Narrative Language, CASL, Test of Problem-Solving, etc. There are other tests too, but you want something that allows the therapist to see what your child produces for language, not just what she recognizes when given options. It makes a very big difference. 

That said, Evan Moor Daily Trait Writing is a nicely scaffolded option. Something like Wordsmith Apprentice can work on individual skills. I would also focus on writing good sentences, combining sentences, sentence variety, etc. if it's harder to come up with coherent paragraphs. It will pay off to focus on sentences. Truly. 

If language is glitchy, this is good place to come back and get some really thorough recommendations for language intervention that you can take back with you--Mindwing Concepts has some wonderful stuff.

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Agreeing with the others that it is time for evaluations (including developmental optometry and meds.  She's old enough that this is affecting her self esteem and her ability to function.  We have seen such a huge benefit from meds that I really regret not starting them earlier.  I view denying my son meds now as if he were deaf and I was refusing him hearing aids.   Meds make the playing field level, and allow him to work on developing the skills to need the meds less, but brain chemistry is what it is....if there is a deficiency, then fix the deficiency, iykwim.

[Kencam]

Thank you all so much for all the advice.  I really appreciate it!  As a quick update, we took her to a developmental optometrist this afternoon (someone cancelled, so our dd got bumped up) and everything there seems ok.  We are getting her some prescription reading glasses with special lenses to help her reduce eye strain and headaches while reading and using the computer.  At this point, we are planning to start her on meds.  We agree that she really does need them to help her not feel like a failure and to help her focus better for her school work.  I’m guessing she will have to have testing done to be put on meds.  I have some basic info for a place that may work with our insurance.  We will see.  I am planning to ask her therapist if she can continue to do sessions with our dd after we return to Kenya.  That is one blessing we have had through this pandemic-being able to do her sessions online!  It would be a huge comfort for our dd if she could continue her sessions after we leave.  
 

Her CAT test results weren’t great (we do that online as it’s what we could do while in Kenya), so my head is swimming with how to change some of her curriculum.  Her math scores weren’t great, but she does well with MUS that I hate to change that on her.  I’m trying to keep things the same as much as possible due to her anxiety,  but I also realize we need to change up some stuff.  History and science are two of them.  Also lit.  I’m at a loss for lit.  But, some of this may need to wait until we do testing and see what the results are.

 

Thanks again for all the time everyone has taken to offer advice and thoughts!  I am listening to you all and processing what you’ve said.  

 

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, Kencam said:

We are getting her some prescription reading glasses with special lenses to help her reduce eye strain and headaches while reading and using the computer.

My dd was this way and it seemed like her scrip would change every year. So sometimes only reading/computer distance, sometimes progressives, etc. She's very low tone. If you end up doing an OT eval you may turn up stuff. Is she by chance floppy? EDS can go with this too and retained reflexes.

3 hours ago, Kencam said:

 I’m guessing she will have to have testing done to be put on meds.

You have two components. You want a psych eval to get the full picture of what is going on, then you need an MD to handle the meds. And the MD can have their own way of diagnosing/confirming.

3 hours ago, Kencam said:

Her CAT test results weren’t great

You might get her meds stabilized and have her on them 3-6 months and then retest. I think you'll find those scores go up, including math. I would NOT change curriculum that you think is working just yet. Get the meds and then retest. My dd's scores went up DRAMATICALLY in math after she started meds. Also you want that psych eval so you can use appropriate accommodations for the testing.

3 hours ago, Kencam said:

History and science are two of them.

They're not important. Focus on what's IMPORTANT. Getting the meds balanced and complete diagnoses, that's important. 

You might consider running genetics and looking at things like NBPF3. It's a gene for b6 that can cause anxiety. You would just do the basic $69 23andme testing and run the raw data through some engines.