new probable diagnosis

I hear where you are coming from. As my son had a problem when he was six as a teacher assumed he ADHD, and I completely refused to medicate to long story short, with all my help and my daughters; I took my son to be evaluated 3 different specialists and it turned out my son had OCD and not ADHD. I still refused to medicate my son, so what a lot of hard work an learning techniques my son graduated college this last may with 4.0 GPA for all his four years. So the only this I can advise to you is that you make sure you, not the teachers, not family and or counselors, are completely 100% satisfied and sure before you begin any form of treatment. Reason why I tell you this is that my son struggled immensely but the last thing I wanted to to impair his brain with medications. Even if you must go that route make sure that you are completely sure of what it all involves and happy with your decision. Good luck and God bless your family and little one.

a school department is the last place i'd take a diagnosis from- and i speak from experience.they simply do not have the qualifications to assess no matter what they might think. they are often to quick to see a problem with things nowadays.

i would get a second opinion. when our eldest daughter was in grade 2, the teacher thought she had add. however, it was the teacher who had the issue. she likes little girls who sat still and our daughter, was a very busy child. she is like me, she couldnt sit still (neither can i! i need to be doing stuff!) so we went to the dr and he said daughter was fine. so we waited out the year and thankfully, she is gone from our school.

I'm very glad to hear that you won't subject her to medication. I think a lot of children are misdiagnosed--many of them are just normal, active children who naturally have trouble sitting still. Don't pay attention to labels. We ALL have labels, they describe who and what we are and don't have to be negative. Don't let them bully you into medicating your child! And remember all the high achievers who have had ADHD, speech impairments and a whole list of other things to overcome. Those things made them stronger, more determined, and led them to do great things!

School systems are very quick to tell us there's something wrong with our kids.. but they don't do much to help them through it. I've known there's been something wrong with my oldest since he was in preschool. The preschool teacher helped me get him tested for LD.. but in kindergarten he went to a different disctrict and all they kept telling me was that his acedemics weren't suffering enough to require any help or testing. My argument was that without help eventually the acedemics would suffer so much that he'd be helpless.. but that's not good enough for the schools and I couldn't do much at home to help him. Nobody told me how to help him or what to do to keep him focused. I got frustrated. I'm still frustrated, and so are his teachers.. but the school still won't do anything for him and at this point it's almost too late. He'll be in high school next year, but I don't think he knows the stuff they're teaching in 3rd grade.

It is difficult to have a label on our children and I'm lucky that to date neither of my children has received a label. My daughter is seven years old and she is quite gifted, but our district doesn't label in that way. I also think that she may be somewhere on the autistic spectrum, but I've never had her tested for it because she is able to overcome most of those things that she has difficulty with as long as there is someone that is patient with her.

First off, teachers are not doctors and they had best not be trying to prescribe medicines. If your daughter is disruptive in class or cannot learn, they may want meds, but you have every right to try your approaches first. Often parents feel ganged up on when they have three teachers to meet with. I think your daughter is perfect for her. No cookie cutters. A true diagnosis of ADHD needs to come from a psychologist in cooperation with a medical doctor. I certainly have changed my tune over the years. I do believe that for some children medications can really work wonders, I have seen it. For some it does not. Really good doctors will not attempt a diagnosis or consider medication until they are at least nine years old.

It's the attitude you have towards the label that the girl will look at. If you show her that though she has these problems, it doesn't make her any less wonderful then she'll adapt well enough. Your choice of non medication is your choice and one I can't say I blame you on. There are so many medications that are not necessary and too expensive, some we can't even be sure are working. I hate that school systems around the country have no money for education, tests that are too expensive just aren't given so "assumptions" are made, sometimes even being wrong assumptions.

Listen to me - I used to teach years ago. Do not let anyone make a quick diagnose of what is wrong with your child. ADHD my a##! All th teachers seem to want to do is to label children. Especially with ADHD. How old is your daughter? Repeat for effect: DO NOT LABEL HER OR ALLOW ANYONE ELSE TO DO SO. So she as trouble with a couple of sounds? What else? Let me know her age. One of my sons is dyslexic and it did cause him unhappiness out here. I taught him to read. He is no genius as he has a reasoning problem but he is happy and well adjusted and a wonderful husband and Daddy. Take a deep breath sweetie - you are going to be strong because you are the one fighting for your child. Is she disruptive? There are so many lazy teachers to think that most children have some kind of disability and not prepared to help out the children in their classes. I will give yo a simple test to do with her. Draw a diamond shape on a piece of paper and allow her to look at it and trace the shape with her fingers. Then give her a clean piece of paper and ask her to try to remember the shape and draw the shape. Let her be aware that she will draw it on her own. Let me know how she does. Your child is perfect - must be = God made her.

Hi Snuggles... I'm sorry for your struggles... maybe touching base with all us mamas out here that share your same situation will help... Looks like you've already gotten some helpful replies, but I wanted to add something else. I don't know what state you're in, but you need to look up and heavily research the state "No Child Left Behind Law." I think each state is different, but it is a federal act so there must be some trickle down effect with state resources you can go to. My son is (just) 5 and started Kindergarden this year - after EI and 2 years of preschool. He had a speech delay - which I'm relatively sure he's outgrown, but the schools keep him on an IEP because they know something is amiss, they just can't pin it down yet! The preschool was fabulous - keeping him on an IEP under "language delayed". He still shows NO understanding with/about letters/numbers. Although he can sing ABC's, and he can count - he still doesn't know an A is an A, and it's a letter, used for spelling words or that 4 is a number and used for adding/subtracting, etc. The thing is, in my state, until the school CAN label his disability, (or until he outgrows/overcomes it) they must continue to keep him on an IEP. EVERY step of this process - I am entitled to put my two cents in... I can agree or disagree with anything they say - and they MUST work with me until I am satisfied. Also, this is important because it's provided under FEDERAL law - if I don't agree with the school districts evaluation and/or plan, I can request and independent eval, one that is done OUTSIDE of the school district, and they MUST pay for it! Also, (in my state) if the school district CAN NOT provide the program or type of services for a child - they must pay for that child to attend a district that CAN provide what he needs. I urge you to log onto your state's department of education website and research your child's rights. The school is not going to offer up expensive testing - you HAVE to request it and they HAVE to comply. Now that they are starting to label your little girl with ADHD and such, you really should start the process of getting an outside eval - at the schools expense. I hope this helps - let me know... Best of luck!

I understand how you feel. My middle son has a learning disability and I was devastated when I found out. His learning disability is minor, however, you know how cruel kids can be. My son was made fun of that he couldn't read for a long time. He is 14 now, and in eighth grade. He still doesn't read on grade level, but he is make great strides. Your school district has to test your daughter, it is mandatory (I am assuming you are in the US). They did tell me a while back that my son was also ADHD. I, like you, refused to medicate my son. About a year ago, I took him to a counselor and they did all kinds of test and my son shows no sign of ADHD. I think teachers/doctors, etc. are so quick to label kids (especially with ADHD). Kids are suppose to be hyper and not be able to sit still. I have friends with kids that are clearly ADHD and there is a big difference. I now home school my son (very long story). Anyways, I am able to give him the one on one help that he really needs. He is doing so much better now, and I can concentrate more on his reading that way.

It's always hard as a parent to hear that something is "wrong" with your child. I totally support your decision to not medicate. We have found in my family that with many of our issues using homeopathic techniques have worked just as well, if not better than the western ways of medicine and they are much cheaper with little to no side effects. Good luck. I know it's hard, but it will all come together.