People with children with developmental delay please help?

Question

My son who is 7 suffers from a serious case of ADHD. I know many people do not believe in ADHD but it does exist and my son has an extreme case of it. He is taking a very low dose of Concerta so he will be able to focus in school for learning. It took many years from finding the right doctor to treat him properly. One other doctor just kept putting him on too much medication which made things worse. This doctor he has now only gives him a very small controlled dose. He has an IEP because he is developmentaly delayed. As a first grader he is very behind the other students in his class. He was given a IQ test as part of his IEP and scored below average. He is the type of kid you have to do everything with differntly. He is not Autistic but is very dependent on adults. I think he is going to have to repeat the first grade. How do you deal with your kid who has big delays? Does things ever get better? Can their IQ come back to normal and function as a normal adult?

Answer 1

i agree with the other, just because they do an IQ test doesn't mean that he is below normal, most of the time these tests are done in steril enviornments and by people that you son has never seen before. so i don't think that you can really go by that, chances are he is smarter then half the kids in his class.

i would see if there is an outside clinic that can get some extra help for him, my son see's a speech, OT, and PT all out side of school and then has speech in school, but he is going to learn a ton just being in school with the other kids, my son has a speech delay with some development things and he has come a long way. he is 6 and his speech is that of a 5 year old so for him having a birthday in oct and had to wait a year to go to school it has done wonders for him.

it all does get better, he will come out of some of this and get better.  the best thing you can do is explore all your options clinics hospital ect and get all the help you can for him, and work with him on speech, or what ever you can at home too.

Answer 2

They diagnosed my son with ADHD in kindergarten and we went through all of the mess until we got him some control in school.  He also has an IEP, is in remedial reading classes and speech classes but still he struggles all the way through.  We have decided to hold him back this year (2nd).  The councelor we take him to assured us that yes he can overcome a lot of the delays that the problem was when he was suppose to be learning things he was behind and as he starts to get control of things that he will where he needs to be and that holding him back that one year can make all of the differnce in the world.  Your son might be a year behind as far as age goes but repeating the year will give him a heads up and then hopefully next year with the meds straight he will be on level of his class if not age which is not that big of a deal.  Our son has came along way this year with his math we decided to hold him back to give him the chance to catch up on reading skills as 3rd grade is a harder year.  My nephew was also adhd and was the only kid I know of being suspended from kindergarten but he graduated on time, with a b average and just got his business degree from college so there is hope.

Answer 3

There are some new studies that show IQ testing for children with developmental delays are faulty. It is hard to determine if they understood the directions, or were able to pay attention. My son has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). He is very high functioning. For me, the best tool is communication. Communicate regularly with teachers via email or notes. Let them know what kind of day your child is having. Give them strategies that work with your child. You know your child best and you have to pass on some of that knowledge to the school. At the beginning of the year, I send all of my sons teachers a note about him. I put information about how he learns, what upsets him, how to work with him if he is upset, etc. For the rest of the year, we use a "communication notebook" that goes back and forth to school in my son's backpack (he has a paraprofesional in class with him). I expect to receive notes at least 3 days per week. If you can, volunteer in the classroom for a day to see your son in the school environment. You may instantly see some things they could do to make it easier on everyone. You can make sure there are adaptations in place. For example, maybe he needs extra time on tests, or a place he can go if he is over-stimulated. These steps will foster a learning environment that will help your child succeed.

Answer 4

OK   I have a daughter that was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 6 . I will tell you things do get better . You as a parent need to let him know you have control over his behavior . Sometimes they act out because they get attention and sometimes we blow their behavior off as if they have problems . They key part to this is you have control not them . When you tell them to do something follow through or there will be consequences . Another thing just because they say they can't do something and you see they are getting mad take them away from the area and get him something to drink or a snack and explain how well he is doing and you know he is getting mad but if he asks for help you will help how ever long it takes you will help him get it done . OK I told you my daughter was 6 at the time and now she is 13 I had followed these rules and she was off her meds at 8 and I am so proud of her and myself because I helped . Good Luck !!! Just remember it is hard for you and hard for him just follow through and results will happen soon . Do not let him control the situation you control it . Good Luck !!

Answer 5

My 6 year old has high functioning autism. So I can relate as to what you are going through. Believe it or not my son is one of the most intelligent in his class. So to answer your questions, we deal with it day by day, even minute by minute on the "bad" days. We spend a lot of extra time with him to make sure he is getting the attention that he needs. Things do get better. A year ago my son couldn't do half of what he does now. I don't know about the I.Q., but I can say that  a lot of kids with developmental delays are able to function as adults, but he may still need to me monitored. My son has a TSS, which is a person that stays with him all day at school and sometimes at home to make sure he stays on task. Maybe you should look into getting one for your son. Hang in there, there are brighter days ahead.