Hello,
My son is 13 and was diagnosed with severe ADHD (98th percentile) when he was about 7. He is currently on 30 mg of Adderall XR a day. I do see a difference with the Adderall (better than the ritalin). However, he is still struggling in school. I have started to think he has another learning disability (along with the ADHD) for a couple of years now. I have taken him to two Children’s Hospitals with departments in LD, I have had the school retest him, even talked with our Pediatrician about it. They all test for ADHD, say “yes it is ADHD, no wonder he has trouble in school, now OFF YOU GO!” No one will look past the ADHD - they think they’ve figured it out and don’t want to go further. I am not doubting the ADHD, I think it is clear he has this. But I believe there is more to it, possibly another learning disability. How do I find out what this is, or if there even is another problem, if all the “experts” follow the ADHD road and stop there?? I have an IEP meeting at school tomorrow and would like to go in “armed” with knowledge.
Thanks!!
Re: ADHD with other LD??
Did these hospitals do a neuropsych evaluation? If not, you might want to consider getting one by a very good neuropsych, or getting some testing done by an educational psychologist. It’s not unusual for children to have multiple things going on (In fact, it’s suprising this possiblity would be so easily dismissed!).
A good educational psychologist can look at current testing, help decipher what other LD’s may exist, and recommend testing that might help pinpoint areas of weakness.
I think schools don’t always catch everything, and there’s always a possiblity of misdiagnosis. Getting second, third and fourth opinions if possible are sometimes helpful.
One more idea, prior to your meeting tomorrow, consider what areas might be areas of weakness for your son (language, reading, math, etc….), research though this website and on Google which tests may help in determining if your son has any of the LD’s you suspect.
Good luck to you!
sure...ADD kids usually have problems with language
and this shows up especially in communication. Has he had a speech and langauge eval? Sometimes kids that are ADHD are so busy talking that they aren’t taking in the language around them, they talk in circles, there may not be an increase their vocabulary due to inattentive listening skills, they may not be organized, they may not be able to finish things they start, may have poor logic and reasoning skills, they may be inattentive to details in various things they do, they may not be able to express their ideas consisely. They may not have many friends due to poor pragmatic skills. Are these some things that are are seeing?
Re: ADHD with other LD??
I cannot believe they would not try to test for a comorbid LD. We have had presentations for the teachers and other personnel in our district that show the percentages of children with comornid LD’s is more than 85%. These are usually Visual or Auditory Processing Deficits. Keep pushing and see an Independent Child Study Team that usually consists of a Neuropsych and Child Psych and then the district will end up having to pay for it in the end-sometimes just “insinuating” that you will do that is enough to oush them to do more tewting. Keep in mind that the school CST is not there to diagnose, but to find your child eligible or ineligible for services.
Re: ADHD with other LD??
Trust your judgment. You know your child better than anyone else. If you think there is something in addition to ADD going on, it’s worth checking out. ADD and other LDs often go together.
The best money we ever spent was on an independent neuropsych evaluation. While this is expensive if you have to pay out of pocket, many insurance plans will cover all or most of it. With the independent test, at least I knew the score and could supply the school accurate information. Not that they knew what to do with it at first, but it was the first step to getting him services.
Re: ADHD with other LD??
Put your request in writing and give it to your school district’s special education director, school principal, son’s teacher, and superintendent if necessary. They are required to do testing in a parent requests it, and cannot ignore it very well if it is in writing.
Have an advocacy agency look at your child’s current test scores. Perhaps they have scores that indicate a learning disability and have not communicated the results clearly. They may not be doing further testing because they already have diagnosed him with both but didn’t make that clear.
Good luck.
Kimby,
There are some wonderful people on this board who can help you decipher the test results if you post them. What tests did they do?