My son is ADHD-ish, his teachers and staffs from school told me to take him to the doctor and have him dignose

Question

I dont agree with taking him to have him dignose with ADHD, when its clear we all know he has it. I dont want my child on medications. I want to help him naturally. But in a way i feel like the school people are telling me i have to have him dignosed by a doctor. My son is a good kid, he does his chores and do what we say. His only problem, short memory span, and attention. Do i as a parent have to take him to dignose or do i have the right not to? I left my job to be at home with him to help him with ADHD probs. and he is inproving.

Answer 1

As a parent, you of course have the right to make this type of decision about your child. If you are sure he has ADHD, however, I would look up different ways of helping him. You do not want him on meds, and I can respect that. It sounds like perhaps you have had some success dealing with his problems. Continue what you are doing and keep researching ways to help him besides medication. Share those strategies with the school so they can help him as well.

Answer 2

I agree about ADHD being over diagnosed too. I was in the same boat as you four years ago when my son was a first grader. My son isn't hyper, not anymore than any other young boy, but he was having trouble paying attention in school. I finally took him to the Dr. about it last school year (his second year of third grade). He was diagnosed and put on meds and I do not regret it, if anything I'm guilty that I made him go so long without help. He is 10 and was able to express to me they difference of how it was in the classroom with the medication, he did great last year, he was on the honor roll, and scored high on the state FCAT test that he was unscorable on last year(it was a mandatory retention since he did not finish the test). My son is on the lowest dose Daytrana patch, and he does not take it on weekends or school breaks, only while he is in a classroom setting. I hope this helps, it sounds like you are a good mom, I had lots of heartbreak from grade1-3 trying everything and having every other option fail. Just remember, you could always take him to the Dr. and have him diagnosed and you don't have to put him on meds, but they will have to make accommodations for him, longer time on test, quiet room for test taking ect. Good luck, I hope it works out for you and your son. You can email me if you have any questions.

Answer 3

Ok one im not sure how i feel about dignosing  a young boy with adha. I mean think about it he is a BOY! Young boys do have short attention spans, they acts up, they like getting dirty and be BOYS!  I personally would not put him on any medication, once you start more keeps coming. Bringing essintial fatty acids (fish oils, flax oil, primrose oil etc) into your child diet might help with his adhd. Make sure to include plenty of b vitamins and whole grains, complex carbs into your diet! Also daliy  exercise helps alot.

Answer 4

My daughter had ADHD.   The fact is, that by NOT taking him to the doctor you may be hurting him.  If he is having trouble at school with his attention or behavior, then he is going to get in trouble for something he can't control.  If he is diagnosed, you DO NOT have to medicate him, that is up to you.  But by having the diagnosis on record, the school has to provide him the services he needs to have a productive school year.  Tell the school that you want him evaluated (at thier expense-they have to do it by law) and then they have to provide him with all of the services that he needs to have a productive school year.  The "no child left behind act" protects both parents and students.  As a child with ADHD, he is entitled to special services.  You should look into it, it will only help him.  And like I said earlier, you don't have to medicate him, that is between you and his doctor, not the teachers.

Answer 5

Assuming you are in the USA, in order for the school faculty to have a written plan on how to help him, I think they need a doctor's diagnosis.  This written plan helps everyone who deals with your child, even the PE teacher, to know what areas are being worked on and in what way.  

A diagnosis does not mean he automatically will have to be medicated. You, as the parent, have the right to take him or not, and to decide on the course of action if he is diagnosed with ADHD.  This could include anything from special materials and modified assignments to attending a special class.  

If you don't want to share the diagnosis with the school, you don't have to.  I agree that the medication should be saved for severe cases, or short term.  We need to teach kids skills to cope with their ADHD.

I think you really need to have an honest conversation with the doctor and the school faculty so that you have a full idea of your options.  Remember, you as the parent have the right to be informed of what is being done for your child and to make any decisions for him, but it is wise to listen to those who have dealt with other children with similar difficulties.

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job being so involved.  Good luck.

Answer 6

This is a very difficult thing to face. It's commendable that you left your job to stay home with him but you can't go to school with him.  I felt the same way when my daughter had to be tested.  Her reports, I was told, "screamed" ADHD.  I too, was against meds.  The doctor spoke with me for 1 hour and answered all my questions about it and I agreed to try the meds.  The meds have been a godsend.  It hasn't diminished her sparkling personality, just provided her with focus.  Her report cards are perfect.  She's patient.  She stays focused.  She's playing the piano, doing sports and acting.  I know it's a scary thing to think about, but with such a drastic improvement, I support meds.

Answer 7

Are you a doctor to know just how clear ADHD is? You do not HAVE to take him in, but if he does have it and he isn't diagnosed, then it can be considered child neglect. (Neglect includes the terms proper healthcare) But you may be surprised to learn that he does not have it. It is best to have a real doctor look at your child and determine if things are not normal.

If he only had a short attention and memory span, then therapy can be good for him. A trained professional can help him naturally learn how to focus and how to remember things better. (A tutor can help the memory enhancing) Also, that does not fit under the definition of ADHD, so please let a doctor look at him and you and the doctor can find the best solution to his problem, if he even has one at all.

Answer 8

My son has a short attention span.  I can get him to pay attention for about seven seconds at a time.  He came home from school with math homework, and clearly couldn't add.  Someone had taught him to count on his fingers wrong.  The answers were off by one 2/3rds of the time.  My first link got him through that.  Oddly, he had less problems with multiplication, as you simply have to memorize 7 * 8, you can't just sit there and add.

I got him through reading by reading to him.  One day he went from struggling to read for 5 minutes, to reading for 6 hours at a time.  Clearly, the reading-for-enjoyment hurdle.  He went from way behind his class to ahead in under a year.

At 11, he's been taking violin lessons for 6 years, and also has 4 years of piano.  He has perfect pitch and otherwise has no musical peers in his school.  His new school this fall has an orchestra - so that should change.

Medicine has helped him get through school, and also helped with his discipline.  But the side effects can be bad.  And his have gotten bad enough that we've taken him off of them.

There are some good books that talk about better diet, exercise, and things that can be done.  We don't yet have enough experience to say it works.  But it can't hurt.

When i was young, my own attention span was measured in days.  Nothing was difficult for me.  So all this has required research.

Answer 9

I would be getting him diagnosed. It is most likely NOT ADHD. It is overdiagnosed. And even if it is you do not have to use meds. It may be learning difficulties he has and there is help he can get. It will not hurt to have him assessed. Also visit a health food store and get him on Fish Oil Tablets. They will advice you to how much he should have. My friends son was on these but she found too little amount. Was told to up it and her son improved dramatically. She was told at a parent teacher interview to not expect him to improve any more this year at school (we are 1/2 way through the school year) and he suprised his teachers how much he has come on. He is ADD and now can concentrate better. Also her is a link that may help in a natural approach to ADHD

Answer 10

I think in today's society... ADHD is over diagnosed. They wanted our son to take medication aswell and we refused. He's a good boy... he may have to study a little harder than most but he gets his homework done and is doing fine without any medications.

We have to limit his time on the computer and watching TV. The things he likes to do his attention is forever (his ADHD is selective to things he doesn't want to do). So we have him do more reading and studying math. He also a bit too impulsive and I have to teach him more self control.... I actually think all little boys have this problem.

Answer 11

Short memory span and attention problems are not enough to diagnose a child with ADHD - your son could just be a totally regular child for his age who just needs discipline (not punishment), guidelines, and scheduling.

You really should be taking him to specialists to get an accurate diagnosis. It's not smart to give him the label without there being backup evidence, and information for you as parents. You need to get him to a specialist who will do a brain scan, a psychiatrist/psychologist to do serious testing on him, a nutritionist to do food/chemical analysis, blood tests to have hormone levels and other things checked....

Good resource is Dr. Frank Lawlis and his book The ADD Answer. He outlines the specific types of testing which should be done - along with answers - and he and Dr. Phil are NOT proponents of meds unless totally necessary.

Some info here

http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/1...

Answer 12

You don't have to take him to the doctor, but if he truly is ADHD, it will be in his best interest if you do have an official diagnosis. If he is diagnosed with ADHD, the school is required by law to make special accommodations for him when necessary. As his parent, you have the right to choose if medication is a treatment option. There are many other ways to treat ADHD (therapy, diet, etc) that don't involve medication. I've even heard that some chiropractors offer therapy for ADHD children that is said to work wonders.

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD. I was always very against medicating children for ADHD until my son's diagnosis. I agreed to try the medication, and there is a huge difference in his behavior and his ability to focus his attention on the proper things. You by no means are required to put him on medication, but don't totally rule it out either. It's commendable that you are staying home to help your son, but you can't be there for him at school. You need to consider what is in your son's best interest.

Answer 13

Prescribing drugs to children is a clever way to make lots of money. Perhaps you're a bit too lenient on him, make him concentrate on his work.

Answer 14

dont let the school push you into something you dont feel comfortable with. once the label is placed on your son it will be harder to remove.

find out exactly why they say to get a doctors note.if he needs to go to a special class and you feel its neccessary then yes you may need to but if they can make some adaptations to her class for him then I would suggest that.

if they persist then I would get another class or schoo for him. do what is best for your child, public school is not the only form of education there is.

Answer 15

I would have him tested for ADD. Our daughter is 10 and has it and we finally got her on some medication that has helped her tremendously. We tried everything natural before going to a prescribed drug, but she calls her medicine her 'smart pills' because she feels focused and with it when she takes them. Your son doesn't have to be hyper-active to have ADD (our daughter is not) - that's ADHD.

I was a classroom teacher for 11 years so I have experience on both sides. He will feel so much better about himself if he doesn't get reminded in the classroom all the time to get back on task. His peers will definitely pick up on it and kids being kids, some will choose to use it against him in some way.

Do a little research online about it. There is an evaluation on webMD that you can fill out that will help you to know if this is in the realm of diagnosis for him. Also, there is a site that has video of what life is like with ADD (sorry, can't remember it and don't have it saved since my computer had a virus), but it shows what people with ADD experience in a classroom setting - it is very enlightening.

Most kids with ADD (attention deficit disorder) are highly intelligent. Due to the fact that they are so smart, they can slip through the cracks because they aren't failing or struggling with their grades. They can compensate to a degree, but it really takes a toll on them. Our daughter seems to have a lot more energy for life in general now because she isn't spending her energy on trying to focus.

FYI - medication is not a cure all. She still has some trouble focusing. I have to make her repeat what I have asked her to do so that she can remember when she walks away from me because other things catch her attention along the way and the thing she was asked to do flies right out of her head if she hasn't repeated it back to me.

We were able to work with her classroom teacher to make allowances for her, but once we found the right medication there wasn't a need anymore - she takes Concerta.  We found that others had too many side effects.  

You need to know if this is why he has trouble.  My husband fought me on a diagnosis for quite awhile b/.c he didn't want her 'labeled' - all that did was prolong her struggle.  I forged ahead and now he is totally on board.

Hope this helps!

Answer 16

Go to the library and check out the book called "Healing ADD" by Daniel Amen. It has an awesome checklist for you to evaluate whether your kid does or doesn't have it-----plus, if you decide he does have the tendencies, then it tells of natural ways to get him back on track without meds, if you are very against doing medicine, there are some other ways to intervene.