marytheres - I am NOT saying your son has either ADD or PDD, but I am a parent that dealt with the all the "symptom" issues first (dyslexia, SPD, hypotonia, etc) and then realised all the remediation had helped a lot BUT it still wasn't enough and that she still had issues/differences, which in some ways were easier for me to see after peeling back the overt surface issues. Only problem was I had a really hard time getting my DD the Aspergers diagnosis she really needed because I had already don't so many of the things that they would immediately recommend and they HAD helped. Again I am not trying to diagnose your child, I am just saying I wish someone had told me not to put the cart before the horse. That often "lesser" issues are part of a more over arching neurological difference and you are better off starting with the primary issue.
I hear you but my son is sooo much better since just his vision and hypotonia issues were addressed. His acting out and anxiety have pretty much disappeared. There is no way he could have ASD - his conversational skills are phenomenal and have been since he was 2 years old. He is VERY empathatic and sensitive to other people's feelings, he is very very able to see things from other's perspective. I should have said he'd have an ODD dx too. But his oppositional behavior and anger has subsided almost entirely since vision therapy and since he is allowed to take a break when his eyes hurt. I also do not believe he has add/adhd either (and, incidently, his teacher this year and the principal, both of whom have children with adhd and add do not believe he has that either)... Kids act out especially when they do not know why they are feeling so lost and stressed. Sometimes, it's the other way around - problems, physically, that no one knows you have and even you don't know you have can cause some crazy acting-out symptoms and anger paricularly in children. How much better would he have been given lables of ODD, ADHD, or ASD and put in behavioral therapies (or on meds) when the physical issues causing him so much stress and frustration would not have been addressed?
Also, just as an aside and interestingly, when we took him back to CHOP last week to assess his hypotonia - his hypotonia was so mild now they think they would not even give him the diagnosis. Amazing!
The difference in my son since VT and OT and classroom support for those issues has been nothing short of incredible. He is so much happier, so much more confident and so much less anxious and so much less angry.... There is no doubt in my mind he just needed some VT and OT and some understanding. The only lingering issue is my concern re dyslexia. My strong suspicioon is that he has it but it is mild.
