Wow. A lot to think about here. Polarbear, it might be a vision issue, but I seriously doubt it. (If it turns out NOT to be ADHD, I will look into that, though). He had a muscle issue with his eye which made it hard for him to focus both eyes on one spot, and we had the option of either doing surgery (covered by insurance) or eye therapy (not covered by insurance). We ended up dropping over $4000 out of pocket for the therapy, and it worked really well. The suggestion of visual processing problems was made by the optometrist during a routine eye exam, not due to actual testing.
I'm thinking I may check with my insurance company to see if testing is at least partly covered. My husband is military, and in the 11 years we have been married, the eye therapy has been the only thing any of us have needed that is not covered, so I can go from there to see how to approach it. I agree that I don't think I want the school to do it - I have issues with the fact that school employees are overworked and underpaid, as well as the fact that the school gets extra money for every kid that is labeled as having a learning disability.
Diagnosing ADHD by using drugs? Are you kidding me? As I said, I'm not opposed to medication IF it is really needed, but really - how is that even legal?

Epoh - Your list sounds JUST like my son! Just this morning, before school, I told him to go brush his teeth and hair, and get his shoes and socks on. He got the teeth, remembered the hair only because he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, then sat on the couch with a book. When I asked him why he wasn't wearing shoes and socks, he said, "Oh, is it time? You never told me!" Or last night when he was working on his homework. The directions were to draw TWO figures with a specific perimeter, then compare the areas of each. He drew one, found the area, then moved on to the next problem. ARGH!

Has anyone tried changing the child's diet? I've heard that a high protein, low sugar diet helps, both for kids with and without ADHD. But I have found basically no actual research on the subject. Just parents who swear by it. I was thinking of trying dietary changes before I actually took him to a doctor.

Last edited by seaturtle; 03/20/13 05:37 AM.