We have all the results of ds8's psycho-educational assessment in, finally. Basically I was thinking the whole thing would be inconclusive, the doctor had been hanging back from saying anything definitive about adhd or aspergers, although he had pointed up the processing speed issue as a deficiency which would likely impact ds grades in coming years.
The good news: Ds does not appears to have any major or even medium signs for adhd, aspergers and on the LD scale, he is certainly looking just fine (a scale showing how much any possible ld is impacting his life: very little right now).
The very bad news is, socially DS is still just floating along not connecting with kids and, unlike some kids who are not bothered by this, HE IS REALLY BOTHERED by this.
I really could not believe it when the dr. stated unequivocally that ds is actually depressed and really needs help, focusing first on social skills/ peer interaction and to go from there with possible one on one counseling for some school related anxiety. He seemed to draw a relationship between the diagnosis and some lower than expected scores on achievement testing, but didn't come right out and say that the signs and symptoms of depression can be similar to ADHD. From what I have been reading since our meeting, this does seem to be the case, at least in a younger child -
distractability, forgetfulness (forgot books again), restlessness. Ds is also having trouble sleeping but I don't think that's a sign of adhd. And, he's sad - but not really all the time. He'll just have a really really bad reaction to something that most kids might be able to laugh off. Because he is generally cheerful 'enough', this really was a shock.
So anyway, as shocked as I am and frankly a little hesitant to post about this, I decided it might be of help to other folks out there trying to figure out a kid dealing with similar, vague issues.
The ok news: This is pretty treatable stuff especially when caught at this age/stage, and some of the slowness and lack of focus should improve as he recovers. Also, just the other day he declared that his number of friends has gone up from 4 to 5 - some of the things we've learned here on this forum, and at the dr's have already been helping him fit in better.
Of course, I feel like a bad mom for being sooooo clueless on this, but I guess we did go in there with the social issue as a major question.
