Diagnosis and Evaluation of the Child With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AC0002)
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
…”CONCLUSION
This guideline offers recommendations for the diagnosis and evaluation of school-aged children with ADHD in primary care practice. The guideline emphasizes: 1) the use of explicit criteria for the diagnosis using DSM-IV criteria; 2) the importance of obtaining information regarding the child’s symptoms in more than 1 setting and especially from schools; and 3) the search for coexisting conditions that may make the diagnosis more difficult or complicate treatment planning. The guideline further provides current evidence regarding various diagnostic tests for ADHD. It should help primary care providers in their assessment of a common child health problem.”
http://www.aap.org/policy/ac0002.html
Re: What's your alternative?
Virginia, keep in mind Ball’s advice is from someone who has never had an ADD child and believes everything he reads on the internet is true. There is a quack a minute out there with some trumped up cure to take your hope and money, and your child’s future. Ball is an advocate for these folks, complete with abusive tactics if you don’t buy what he is selling.
If you think it might be time to change how you’re handling your children’s ADD, it’s worth a visit to the doctor to discuss what options and alternatives are now available. For instance, there is a new-this-year ADD medication (Straterra) that is not a stimulant that might be appropriate. There may be therapies or learning programs to build particular skills that you could try, particularly for your younger child. In the past this board wasn’t such a mess and you’d hear about those kinds of things and people’s experiences with them. You might try this site’s resources for ideas.
Good luck to you!
Re: What's your alternative?
I have done a many things to avoid meds. Vision therapy, interactive metronome, diet changes. I have seen a huge improvement in my son’s ability to learn, ability to demonstrate what he has learned and overall self control.
I think it is very sad that someone like Ball inhabits these boards. I think it takes away from those of us who have a message that for some there might be another way.
If anything he speaks with a voice loud and clear that states, “Medicate your child or he could possibly end up like this.” He completely lacks self control and it seems glaringly obvious that he needs some kind of help.
I am not against medication for those who choose that route. I think it is a very serious and personal decision.
For some who seem intattentive or fidgety there are other answers. Despite his superior male intellect, sigh, ball does not have them.
Re: What's your alternative?
Virginia,
If your child has ADHD, there is nothing out there that will make him focus entirely, 100% of the time, when necessary. There are medications and non-medication therapies that may improve his focusing ability, but none of these offer a cure. As I think about this, I wonder if any of us, ADHD or no, are able to focus entirely when necessary. I’m pretty sure I can’t, and I do not have ADHD.
Andrea
Re: What's your alternative?
Virginia,
I have a high school son like yours…his math teacher thought for sure he wouldn’t make it in Algebra….he almost didn’t…his freshman year. He had Algebra in summer school and it just about killed my husband who was tutoring him every chance he got. By the time his first year of high school started he was in a tailspin, he couldn’t juggle it all and he was drowning. We had put off trying meds for about 7 years… because he was a “good” kid, just a little spacy but he was a procratination king and inattentive to school and especially math. We finally decided to try meds when he was 14 and what a difference it made for him all across the board. He went from C’s to Deans list, and he started realizing what he could do if he could pull it together.
We also read the book by Daniel Goleman called Emotional Intelligence and he realized a lot about himself by reading that book too. Interestingly enough by the time he was almost 17 he wanted to go off Dexadrine as he didn’t like the way he was irritable so we tried the new drug Strattera and it was a nightmare, so he went off all meds for about 2 months… and during that time his grades, self-esteem plummeted, distractibility and inattentive behaviors were rampant. Finally he went into the Dr’s and decided to try Adderall, This past week we went to the open house and his physics teacher said, he was bombing the first part of the semester but the last two weeks he had been getting 20% higher scores…and much more attentive on his homework. I told the Teacher about the fiasco of medication and then no meds… but now he was back and on an even keel in all his classes.
It is a personal decision but if your son keeps with these behaviors he will get more frustrated with himself as his inattentiveness will limit the choices he has in the long run.
We have a high school son who is struggling terribly in a few subjects. One in particular - Algebra- really bugs me. We have never had him on meds, but now I am beginning to wonder if we should have at least given them a try. According to his Psyc. evaluation and PSAT testing he is supposed to be way ahead of grade level, yet he struggles to even get a C. I believe his lack of attention to detail is ruining everything for him. If not a drug, what can change his mind and cause him to focus entirely when required?
We also have a kindergarten son who is very hyper, always talking, and continually fidgeting to the point of exasperation to all those around him. He is beginning to experience negative social as well as academic feedback from his peers. Is there another way of helping these children?