Greetings. I'm new to the forum. My 16 y.o. daughter was diagnosed with AD/HD - Inattentive type this past spring. Given her test results and progress so far, I'm wondering if we're on the right track or if there is some other disorder or disability we should be considering.
Daughter was an extremely independent and self-motivated learner through the 9th grade. She had a grade skip from 6th to 8th. Straight-A student. Very perfectionistic. Brother with history of AD/HD - Hyperactive type, gifted, and severe depression (doing well now in college).
In 10th grade, she developed depression and anxiety. She missed a lot of school but was able to make up the work and still got straight A's. The situation was still difficult enough that we decided to homeschool. In the 10th grade, she liked the homeschooling better, but continued to struggle with keeping up with a full academic schedule - actually did not keep up with a full schedule last year. Grades still A's and B's - except Algebra II. Very resistant and anxious about the material.
The depression and anxiety continued, so we had further psychological testing done last May with a psychologist. The Brown scale was highly suggestive for AD/HD. Myers-Briggs was INFJ. I was very surprised by WAIS-IV results: Verbal 143 (99.8 percentile), Perceptual 113 (81 percentile), Working Memory 80 (9 percentile), Processing Speed 92 (30 percentile). The discrepancy between highs and lows was a surprise given she had done so well academically in her early years.
She is currently taking Cymbalta for the depression/anxiety and Intuniv for the AD/HD. She tried a variety of stimulants, but they all caused worsening anxiety. She also takes a small dose of clonidine and Xanax at night for sleep.
She has up and down periods - more ups than downs lately - except during her menstrual cycle when she is down and very unmotivated for school work. She has regular counseling every two weeks or so. Homeschooling gives us some flexibility with her schedule when she is in a down period, but I'm concerned about helping her be more consistently productive for when she starts college next year.
Her favorite subjects all related to the language arts. She's a voracious reader. She despises math. We abandoned Algebra II and are doing a personal finance curriculum instead.
So...give that history and those results, does it seem like we are on the right track with the diagnoses. Is there anything else we should be thinking of or addressing?
Thanks much!
