Leaning Disabilities

Sorry to throw another thing in the pot, but I've been reading about sensory integration (or processing) disorder, which appears similar to ADD. The good thing about it is that the treatment is cognitive, retraining the brain and nervous system, rather than medical. One thing that seems very important is no TV. TV is different for developing minds, and things such as the flashing from view to view every few seconds, and lack of real context, affect the brain's development and processing.

Hi~
Here is some information from: http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-symptoms

“There are three different types of ADHD, including:

1) combined ADHD (the most common type), which involves all of the symptoms
2) inattentive ADHD (previously known as ADD), which is marked by impaired attention and concentration
3) hyperactive-impulsive ADHD, which is marked by hyperactivity without inattentiveness

… Inattention may not become apparent until a child enters the challenging environment of school. In adults, symptoms of inattention may manifest in work or in social situations.

A person with ADHD may have some or all of the following symptoms:

• difficulty paying attention to details and tendency to make careless mistakes in school or other activities; producing work that is often messy and careless
• easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli and frequently interrupting ongoing tasks to attend to trivial noises or events that are usually ignored by others
• inability to sustain attention on tasks or activities
• difficulty finishing schoolwork or paperwork or performing tasks that require concentration
• frequent shifts from one uncompleted activity to another
• procrastination
• disorganized work habits
• forgetfulness in daily activities (for example, missing appointments, forgetting to bring lunch)
• failure to complete tasks such as homework or chores
• frequent shifts in conversation, not listening to others, not keeping one's mind on conversations, and not following details or rules of activities in social situations

hope that helps :0)

Medically speaking, the only real difference between the forms of ADD and ADHD appears to be whether a child tries to fight the sleepy/distracted/drifting state or not. If they try to fight it, the usually do so through motion to increase the brain's activity levels and counteract the low frontal lobe activity. But some children, for reasons of their own don't feel the need to force themselves back into functioning at a higher rate, so the sort of drift. It is more common as a manifestation for girls who get more pressure to sit still and not be as wild and crazy as people assume is normal for little boys.

Find a good psychiatrist, and if you can afford to, a good behavioral coach or OT or such who can help come up with behavioral solutions to struggles she will face. The psychiatrist can help with meds to increase her frontal lobe activity.

In some children these symptoms are actually an indicator of intestinal damage from a food allergy or antibiotics exposure or other sources, so talk to a regular MD about those as well.

Start your research with looking up CHADD and ADDitude online. And consider a book called "I can't sit still: Educating and affirming hyperactive children" because while it is focused on hyperactivity somewhat, it is really about best techniques for working with children who are neurologically different than the rest, and how meeting their needs often helps meet everyone's needs better anyway.

My daughter, now 11, was evaluated in kindergarten for learning disabilities. During that process she scored high on the inattentive ADHD scale, much to my surprise. My daughter is not anymore hyper than what I would deem appropriate for a girl her age, but she is impulsive and easily distracted. The school is not pushing for meds and it has never been my experience that they were. Her ADD is controlled by environment and behavior modification. All it really means is that the child has a hard time staying focused and on task and is forgetful...alot.

I love the following book: "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders" by Kenneth Bock, MD and Cameron Stauth.

You may want to check your library for books and resources on this subject too.

As I understand it (and I'm not a health care professional) there are different causes to symptoms that look like ADD, and almost as many ways to handle the issue. If it were me I would look very carefully at all the options before placing my child on medication (which is what schools seem to want). Sometimes medication is warranted - but I would want to get at the root problem before I went down that path.

I would get several opinions from different types of health care providers too.

Good luck to you and your daughter.

Inatentive ADHD is a medical diagnosis, and you should seek out a very qualified professional to make the initial diagnois. Developmental Pediatricians, Pyschiatrists, and Nerologists are qualified to make the diaganois. The original diagnosis should be accompanied by a full evaluation that includeds pyscho-educational, medical, speech and language, and occupational evaluations. The best choice, by far is a Developmental Pediatrican (found at children's hospitals) but it may take a long time to get in to see one. You will probably be able to get in to see a psychiatrist more quickly, and I would suggest that you select one that is board a certified child psychaiatrist who works with a neuropsycholgist to do a full psycho-educational evaluation that will inlcude IQ, academic, ratings scales (done by you and her teachers) and social-emotional testing.

Although Dr. Amen's books are very interesting and will help you understand brain function, you will probably never find anyone to do a "scan" of her brain, it is not used to make the diagnosis. You can find very good information about ADHD from any book by Dr. Mel Lavine, or Dr. Russel Barkely. Both will describe great strategies to try that will help you deal with all aspects of ADHD/inatentive type.

Also, since the school made the suggestion, they are now obligated to do a full evaluation. This does not mean that you should skip a private evaluation, as you never want to know less about your child than the school does, and you will always want to own an evaluation that you control and use to check the accuracy of the schools assessment. Good information on how to access appropriate educational services can be found at www.wrightslaw.com.

Inatentive ADHD has a large impact on every aspect of a child's life. It is a true medical condition, and you should seek treatment and therapy ASAP.

M.

I think they might mean, "inattentive ADD", I actually have this. I wasn't diagnosed until i was over 30 years old. But a great doc that I found in Portland that specializes in learning disabilites is Dr. Lange ###-###-####. He is really into meds though, just to warm you. But a very smart & sweet guy. I survived without meds & would never recommend that a child be put on them. The only benefit that I think could come from being diagnosed as a child is that I would have had different learning & testing situations that would have helped me throughout school.
But the downfall of being diagnosed is that they will most likely recommend meds when all that is needed is accomodations in school. You don't want her to be stigmatized as having something wrong with her. But anyway, inattentive, if that is what it is, means that instead of being the hyperactive ADD type, she is more of the detached type, tending to seem "spacey" & forget things. Good luck with everything, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me, I have tons of experience with this type of thing & have developed techniques to deal with it & not have it take over my life.

Please don't listen to that. It's a hard diagnosis to pin down. Just keep being a loving Mom and helping her with her homework and all that diagnostic jargon will be just that.
Children mature and adjust their behavior and learn at different ages.

A couple of thoughts:

Allergies -- when my kids have been exposed to their allergens (dust/mold; milk in all forms; rice; soy; artificial coloring; and others) they not only have physical symptoms (rash; tummy aches) but they have mental/behavioral symptoms (hard to concentrate; hard to obey; lethargic/hyper). This would be worth checking out. If you suspect a food, just eliminate it for at least two weeks, then re-introduce it slowly. It may take a few tries to be sure, but it's so much better to adjust diet than medication.

Dr. Amen/Brain Scan -- Several years ago my husband had a brain scan done at the Amen clinic in Tacoma. Insurance covered it (or most of it). The results indicated that he was/is ADD, OCD and depressed. He is now on medication for all three and he is a different person. I'd marry him all over again! :) It took a while to get the medication types and dosages right for him, so medication is not my first choice. I believe diet would also make a difference for him, but there's not much I can do if he doesn't wish to change it. At least you have some control over your daughter's diet! :)

TV/Screen Time -- Within months of his being born, I found out our oldest (now 13 years old) gets "brain fry" if he has too much screen time. It's as if his brain is over-stimulated. It becomes hard for him to be nice, hold a thought, obey simple requests, etc. We used to limit screen time (TV or computer) to 1 hour a day. Now we sometimes splurge and let him view for a few hours (sick days) and make sure the other factors that affect his behavior/brain are taken care of.

Outside -- My oldest also let us know early on that he needed to be outside each day (crabby on days we were house-bound) -- even if it's only for 10 minutes. He needs to be outside or he gets the above symptoms.

Hope some of this helps.

There's a book called A Magnificent Mind at Any Age by Dr. Amen, that would give a lot of info, just don't let anyone diagnose her without a brain scan. It is way over-diagnosed as you probably know, largely because schools get more funding for having ADD kids. The school counselor really isn't qualified to diagnose, and should not be suggesting that your child has this. At the most she should recommend that your child be tested.

Hi P. - If the school counselor has suggested this then the district will need to start the special education process of evaluations (don't be scared by the term special ed, this covers so many more kids than we realize). Schools can not give a "diagnosis" (they can guess all they like but dont take it to the bank unless you have outside expert work with your child to verify - save money and let the school do the evaluations, then you can take those with an outside expert - developmental peditrician, etc). Just so you know even if your daughter does get some ADHD, etc diagnosis that does not mean they automatically give them medication, majority of the time these kids function right along with typical peers but with some accommodations, classes, tools, etc that help them the best way they individually learn.

Since you are starting a new venture of the schools you will also have to help educate yourself about you & your daughter's rights. One of the other posters already suggested www.wrightslaw.com and I can't tell you enough that is one of the best places to start learning about this process. One thing to also understand is that kids may have all types of disabilities but for them to qualify for special ed services their evaluation testing has to fall under a set % (this you will be able to learn via Wrightslaw). Start now and document any conversations, letters, etc with the schools or specialist (use a notebook, like a journal), this will help with any documentation if needed but it will also allow you a place to write about your daughters behavior and other observations that will help when working with professionals. I was glad for mine because it also gave me a place to get my frustration out when dealing with our district. If for some reason your daughter does not "qualify" for special ed services (IEP) she very well may have rights & accommodations under the Section 504.

Special Education & Learning Disabilities is such a large category of what it can include. I also suggest that you go to your state's department of education website and they "should" have their state special education manual, this will tell you just about everything that you will need to know about the process and the % for qualifying. Also check to see if there is a parent support group in your area, they will be a wonderful place to get information about specialists, doctors, etc as well as offer support about this possible change in your life.

I am sure this will all start to feel overwhelming but know that you are not alone, just take it one step at a time. Connect in person with other parents as well as online will help you with your support structure. One day at a time! God Bless

You can learn so much if you just google, google, google. That's what I did when my daughter was diagnosed (obviously you do not have a formal diagnosis unless you have her evaluated by a child psychiatrist/psychologist). One thing I learned going through the process is you have to be your child's advocate. Learn everything you can and don't take what anyone says face value. I know I didn't answer your question directly but that is only because if you google "inactive ADD" or "symptoms inactive ADD" or "types of ADD" you will get all the information you need and so much more. Good luck.
P.S. Is it possible you meant Inattentive ADD? I am pretty sure Inactive ADD does not exist. I could be wrong.

You have a lot of advice, so I will try and keep mine simple. If someone else is bringing that to your attention, listen. Talk to her dr. and really take notes on things that you might want to ask the dr. Don't be afraid to gain more knowlegde. I know it can be unsettling, but it will always be okay. My daughter does have autism and I remember some of the dr.s saying, "Why do you want to label your child?" I can understand that, but, knowing what is going on helps me to learn how she works and how I can be the best mom I can be to help her. Having all the knowledge is power! Having ADD is not a bad thing, just think of it just like this, that her brain works differently than yours and that is okay. She may learn a little bit differently than others, but knowing what is going on gives you the power to help her! Best wishes to you!