Do you or someone you know have ADD or ADHD?
I am a mother of a 5 year old who has been diagnosed with ADHD.
I noticed a few months ago that my daughter was having trouble focusing and concentrating on what she's doing. Then I started getting reports from her Kindergarten teacher saying that she wasn't finishing her classwork. Naturally the school wanted me to have her tested for ADD. I had talked to her doctor and he didn't feel that she needed it but supported me in my decision to test her anyway.
The test results showed that she showed alot of signs of ADHD. Thay gave me many choices of what to do, and we all decided to just keep working with her in class and to see if she improves any.
When I had talked to her doctor again and showed him the test results he was shocked and disagreed with the diagnosis. I didn't want to put my daughter on some drug that would probably just turn her into a zombie. When she was evaluated by another professional, they said that she was bored and neede to be challenged more.
As a parent, how are we supposed to know what to do when we have these so called "professionals" telling us diffent things. I have decided to just let her be herself and enjoy her childhood. If she needs the help then she will ask for it!
May 18th, 2006 at 2:48 am
It is indeed VERY confusing when you receive contradictory diagnoses. Your paternal instincts are right on the money. Five is a little young to be diagnosing AD/HD. When she enters grade school you will find her more mature and better able to communicate her troubles. I have AD/HD and I suspect my 7 year old has it, but we have not officially diagnosed her. However, I can see the signs. I won’t be surprised if she is diagnosed with it.
Most important of all when dealing with AD/HD in children is helping them like themselves despite the “stupid” mistakes. My daughter came home one day with a math test and dejectedly gave it to me. It had several empty answers circled in read, but there were also wrong answers. One in particular was “1+1=0″. Children make mistakes, but my daughter knew she knew the answers. She was mortified. Somehow she was distracted when taking the test and missed some and answered others completely wrong. What was stunning was that she berated herself as stupid. I had never called her stupid! It was like looking in the mirror, however. I knew what she was feeling.
“Stupid” mistakes are the careless mistakes we make when our minds are distracted at crucial moments. They come in the bucketfull with the AD/HD package. I took opportunity to teach my girl how to double check her answers, and I taught her how to laugh at the silly mistakes. Self-esteem is the first thing to go in kids with AD/HD. Behavior problems usually follow. Watch for them and keep your girl’s spirits up. Help her like herself. This is the most important thing you can do for her. Much better than medicating her. Good luck!
~Douglas
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