Inattentivness

I hope that I don’t offend anyone when I share what I have learned about ADD-Inattentive….Sounds like my kiddo and she is the youngest of 4 kids, has CAPD and been diagnosed with ADD-Inattentive. It took me 3 to 4 years to figure out that ADD was the part that was not being addressed in my daughter’s LD’s…ADD-Inattentive kiddos are hard to diagnose because they are usually really good in class and don’t have a lot of “behaviors”…..The one thing you do notice is that something just isn’t right, you can be talking to them and it is like talking to a block wall because they can go into their own little world, their body is physically there but their mind is elsewhere….My kiddo is different because she is extremely organized, very punctual, neat as a pin but when it comes to doing schoolwork she has a very hard time paying attention to the details such as spelling things correctly, omissions when reading and writing and making silly mistakes on math. When she isn’t on meds she is very immature, goofy and since she has been on meds she told me…”Mom, I can finally concentrate” and the immature behavior is minimized…She still struggles with LD’s but the meds have really helped us gain some rapid ground. Last year we did an intensive program at a Learning center Lab Class where she learned to focus, be aware of her inattention and she learned many skills so that she could catch up to her peers. Now she is mainstreamed in 7th grade and doing really well…

What is your son’s processing speed, is it low?? Ask your son sometime where he goes in his mind during class, you may be surprised at what he tells you… Good luck in your search for answers…

Thanks for the input. Your daughter sounds like my son. He does process a little slow - at times. I have to admit that I am not comfortable with these meds. They don’t know the long term effects. I know children who have also had success from meds. I would seek out other methods and doubt that I would put him on meds. This is extremely difficult for me because I want to help my son with all of my heart. I hope I will have some answers soon. What strategies have you used to help her? Thanks again and GOD bless America tonight.

I used to feel the same way you do about meds…until I saw the wonderful things they have done for my girlfriend’s son for close to 16 years now….and tried them myself….and how they helped other adult friends lead fullfulling lives after years of scattered depression because of their lack of focus and inattention. I know one teen that was diagnosed inattentive when they were 6 years old. The parents chose not to medicate, well 8 years went by and the child slipped further and further away from them academically and socially. The teen had ingrained inattentive behaviors that have been difficult to break, they were ways that teen coped with depression and lack of achievement. The psychologist put the teen on zoloft and not on a stimulant..it has helped quite a bit too and the mom said..I wished I had done this years ago…look at all the time we have wasted…

The meds allow them to get their brain working with them instead of against them…by not dealing with the ADD for years causes depression, poor self-esteem and a feeling of failure. Sometimes kids who are ADD will act like goof balls because it is a coping mechanism they use to mask the problems focusing and subsequent LD’s.

Once I got my kids problem figured out I realized that I had a similar problem paying attention, I was blowing easy tests in my college program because of my inattention to the details and I had a problem focusing in class. We used an assistive listening device since kindergarten. That was why she did ok for so long but by the time 3rd grade hit the ADD-Inattentive behaviors were coming out really strong and I chose to stick my head in the sand…not my daughter, no way I told them it is because they didn’t know how to teach her….Wrong…I had the same ADD behavior and I couldn’t see it. She still uses the Assistive listening device, we did Brain Gym, and we still do Brain Gym but it wasn’t enough, meds were what turned her around… I use an Assistive listening device in college and meds to help me with my focus when I am taking difficult tests or doing writing. We don’t do meds everyday, just when we know we need to focus.

Yes…God Bless America and all of.our loved ones

You might want to check out NLD. Good reading skills combined with poor math skills is one of the characteristics. http://www.nldline.com has some good articles, including at least one that describes the general profile.

Mary

Pattim,

How do you sort out CAPD versus ADD? I was just talking to my son’s teacher and she told me, upon my questioning, that my son often appears to be listening but it is clear he really isn’t. I was asking because he writes things down in his agenda book but then doesn’t seem to know what they mean. Now, if listening tires him that could account for it…. I know that after FFW, his resource room and slt both thought his listening improved so clearly CAPD was part of it.

Have you tried IM with your daughter?

Beth

P.S. Your posts on this subject have really got me thinking.

It is really hard to tease the two apart…I will send you an attachment which is a paper that I did on this subject… When a person “appears” to be listening but their mind is someplace else is what happens with ADD….with me having a hearing impairment it is so easy to “tune out” and entertain myself in my mind when I am so tired from listening…having CAPD on top of the ADD is no fun…that was why I struggled with the decision of whether or not to medicate because I thought for sure it was CAPD when in reality it was both…

No I haven’t done IM. I see their AD’s all the time in my Speech pathology magazines…some of Audiologists are kind skeptical about it too..

I’m very interested in this subject. Could you send the attachment my way, too. Thanks much.

I’m very interested in this subject. Could you send the attachment my way, too. Thanks much.

Thanks. I def. appreciate you sending the paper.

Why are the audiologist you know opposed to IM? When I initially looked into IM, it was an audiologist who was the trainer. (we would have been her first clients—my son did so poorly on the pretests that she recommended OT first—that’s how we ended up doing Neuronet.) The audiologist we see for Neuronet seems to think it is overkill—more exactness than necessaary with rhythm and not a broad enough program. While I think Neuronet is the best program we have done, it doesn’t work attention. The tasks are all very short in duration (a minute or two) and they differ. I am sure this is part of the reason why my son likes doing it!!

BTW, my dh last night told me that he wondered if he doesn’t have some symptoms of ADD. He has always overfocused on things, which can be a problem when he totally ignores the kids ect. At work they call him very “task oriented.” Now he tells me that he has to work really hard to pay attention if something isn’t interesting and that this caused him problems in college. Now me—I just wrote letters, read books, daydreamed halfway—while taking notes—basically did two things at once when bored. It was great preparation for motherhood!!!!

Beth,

Both my husband and I have problems with attention….My husband can be very focused like yours and be inattentive to other things and I do the same…My husband is so easily distracted that he has to study in a quiet room, no windows and sometimes uses earplugs…Me… I can tune things out and at other times I am easily distracted by noise, which is ironic because of my hearing impairment….. but …visual stimuli does not distract me like auditory stimuli…

I think why some audiologists snub IM is the cost for the training and the equipment….again it is still in it’s infancy in regards to research etc…..Because the assitive listening device has been so helpful to me in paying attention and completing my degree..the students with disabilities office at my college would like to do a research project using Assistive listening devices with college students who have ADD. Currently I am the only one at a 30,000 student campus who uses one….incredible huh?.

Hi. My son had his eval today with the head of Devt. Med. at Dupont. Nothing glaring stood out to her. He is inattentive in school but does not have all the other criteria for add-inatt. He just brought home papers from school and they are filled with so many careless mistakes. This is 1st. grade review and I know he knows the answers. We discussed anxiety and how this could cause inatt. He does show signs of anxiety but we have been doing things to help this for a long time. He is just not comfortable in school. . We also discussed the possibility of “minimal brain dysfunction” (he had a traumatic birth). His birth ct scans were fine but he was anoxic. Lets say that he doesn’t fit into any one category and needs to work extra hard in life to learn(which might be the case due to his birth experience). How do I help him with his inattentiveness, numerous mistakes, self-esteem and immature behavior? We will fu with a behavioral psych. but what can I do in the meantime. I am against giving him meds. I have had success for my son (sinus problems and asthma) and myself with alternative therapies. Any ideas? Thanks. It is nice to have a place to turn when you need help.

According to my pediatrician, a high number of ADD/ADHD kids also have either CAPD or Visual Processing Deficits. It’s not always a one or the other thing. My son has VPD with ADHD.

wHAT IS NEURONET?

We found that anxiety levels came down as soon as we started homeschooling.

Mary

http://www.neuroacoustics.com

It is an occupational therapy type of intervention that can be very helpful to children with auditory processing deficits and/or problems with vestibular development (rhythm, balance, coordination, timing, etc.).

Mary