LD fro Pre-Schooler

Nilma,
Your pediatrcian should be able to refer you to a specialist in your area. Otherwise contact your insurance carrier. teh schools cannot label you child ADHD, a doctor has to make this diagnisis. Well, st least that’s the way it is in MN.
Good Luck
Patty

Sorry about the poor spelling—I was trying to do too many things at once!

It is pretty typical for the school to blame the parents for the child’s problems, you will have to be pretty thick-skinned about that. There is a difference between providing a child with a rich environment full of stimulating toys and books and giving in to a child’s will. You may have to explain to this to his teachers. The more knowledgeable you become about LD, the better you will be able to advocate for your son. I heard teachers say that LD children should be deprived of afterschool sports and activities so that they can spend the extra hours on homework. This is so wrong. Kids need to do things that they excell at so that they can have a feeling of self worth.

I agree with the other posters. Start with your family doctor who should be able to offer you suggestions and referrals to those thought qualified to evaluate your son’s issues.

I’d also say before turning down flat any program, go see all the programs offered and see if you can see your son in them. Visit the regular kindergarten and the other one. See what you see. I once viewed an LD first grade that I initially would have refused as placement for my son but the excellence of the teaching that I saw changed my mind completely.

Good luck.

I was exactly where you were a couple of years ago. This is what I did. Along with the social/behavioral stuff, I also kept seeing rashes, hives, eczema, asthma, and chronic diarrhea/constipation. I didn’t want to medicate the hyperactivity without addressing the other health issues. I went to the Feingold Association on-line. I had time because my kids were young and school (other than pre-school) wasn’t really an issue yet. I tried that first because it didn’t cost much and because it wasn’t invasive. We discovered a host of food-related issues which have cleared up the hyperkinesis almost entirely. We are still dealing with some problems that fall under learning disability, but it is much easier on us and the children. It’s sort of like taking out the static so you can see what the real problem is. Some of the parents who work dietary intervention are strongly opposed to medication, others, like me, are not. I think you should try every approach available to help your kids. For us, the first step was Feingold.

Frankly, our family pediatrician was no help at all, never diagnosed the ADHD even though our kids were so frenetic that strangers asked me what was wrong with them, and missed connected diagnoses for our son of celiac disease and Autism which were glaring in retrospect. My advice is to get a foothold by taking out the neurological irritants, then look to see what medical resources are available. My son with ADHD and autistic symptoms (who just last summer raged daily, avoided all eye contact, and stimmed daily) is now mainstreamed in a Montessori classroom, is unmedicated, and is in everyone else’s eyes completely normal. School and behavior will always be a concern for us, but to everyone else, he is happily mainstreamed and asymptomatic.Proceed with your eyes open and always let your child’s body tell you what’s working or not. Feel free to e-mail me directly if you wish for information.

I was in your shoes two years ago and here is what we did. First, we too joined Feingold and it has helped, and we continue to use it. We have been on this diet for two years, and really do know what foods trigger a reaction in our son. Second, we called our local Easter Seals Chapter and scheduled an appointment with an audiologist, and had an evaluation done to include central auditory processing. After that, we had an occupational therapy evaluation done. This evaluation can often times identify sensory processing deficits. Once those two evaluations had been completed, Easter Seals referred us to an excellent child psychologist who specializes in ADD/ADHD. All three of these areas can be related. After testing, we have done occupational brushing therapy, music therapy, the diet and balametrics. We have made some incrediable gains over the last 8 months or so. For the future we hope to complete the FastForward Program and PACE. We have many sensory issues to resolve first. This board has been a God Send. I know the process is overwhelming. Take one step at a time. Every child is different. And the path you will take may be equally as different. I hope this helps. Sharon K.

We are just starting our search for understanding our 6 year old son which all started 3 months ago over social concerns. We started with advise provided by the director of our preschool which has proven to be invaluable. We had an educational diagnostician evaluate our 6 year old son. The evaluation was conducted at the Winston School in Dallas - you could view winston-school.org to understand the process and terminology. This test isolated some learning disabilities as well as a very high IQ - not an uncommon mix. The Winston school analyst pointed us in the direction of highly reputable pediatric neurologist, occupational therapists, a doctor specializing in social skills with children, speech therapist, recommended reading, appropiate schools, classroom and home modifications to help our son, etc. This battery of test was also used for the generation of his IEP - although we are still deciding between public and schools specialized for children with learning disabilities with high IQ’s. The entire Winston experience provided us with direction. I hope you are able to find a similiar facility in New Jersey. I frequently visit the library. I see my future as learning as much as I can to be an advocate for my child so he will not be misunderstood. Currently I am reading The Edison Trait by Lucy Jo Palladino - your child takes initiative but won’t take direction, thinks of everything except consequences, is strong willed but not self controlled. This book has been very helpful - others I just pull what applies. I hope this helps.

I have a 3 year old (soon to be 4) who started pre-school this past school year. He has a delayed-speech problem. He did not start forming word sounds until he was 2 1/2. At three he is just beginning to say one-word things like his colors, one or two numbers, and persons names he remembers. He is not able to put words into a sentence, rather, he says two-word sentences; all the other words in the sentence are babbles. He gets frustrated in class when he’s not able to communicate his feelings to the teacher or other students, so he throw tantrums, or pouts. He is currently in speech therapy once a week through our HMO and I am seeing improvement.

Let’s talk.

At three years old your child should be entitled to special education services through your school district. These services can include speech as well as special education. If your child qualifies, everything is free. It probably depends on where you live, but you can start by calling your school district or even your state education department. In some cases, a special education teacher and/or speech pathologist can work with your child in the classroom. I live in New York and the services for preschoolers are outstanding.

May I suggest a book to you, Living with the Active Alert Child by Linda Budd, PhD ($6 used or $10 new from Amazon.com) I know her personally and have heard her present workshops. She is a psychologist in Minneapolis, MN area.

When I first read the book, before meeting her, I really wondered about it and was not impressed. But, I have re-read it and spent time thinking about the topic, concluding it is a wonderful resource for differential diagnosis of ADHD and learning styles.

Premis of book: some kids are ADHD and some are active (perhaps Kinesthetic) learners. First half of book is discussion of ADHD criteria and other information. Second half is anecdotal comments and case studies. Easily read.

(FYI Note: I am a school psychologist.)