We have signed up for testing at the school's urging. I suspect they believe she will get an ADHD diagnosis. But her focus in everything other than school doesn't seem to click for me with that, I'm open to the possibility though.
We've made significant modifications to our life and home over this year and we see a completely different child.
I don't know if your dd has ADHD or doesn't - but you've made significant modifications at home - that is perhaps an indication that her challenges are impacting her at home as well as at school.
We have a dd who was extremely sensory-impacted as a young child. We had to tackle things a little bit at a time. She had multiple food allergies, and removing certain foods from her diet absolutely helped with her behaviors. It wasn't as straightforward as removing gluten and dairy - but keeping track of what she ate, simplifying her diet etc really helped us identify what was causing issues with feeling foggy-headed and resulting in some of the challenging behaviors. DD was also extremely sensitive to odors too. Sending dd through a course of listening therapy when she was in kindergarten helped her deal with the distraction of background noises in the classroom, which made a huge difference in her ability to sit still and focus at school and at home when she had homework or was reading. The ultimate thing though - was that through all of this, none of us (parents, teachers etc) realized she had a severe vision challenge (double vision). So ultimately, while all of the other things we did were helpful and important, dd was still facing a big challenge until we caught the vision issue (in 2nd grade) and she went through vision therapy. Vision remains a bit of a challenge today and definitely impacts her ability to focus in the classroom.
I don't know if any of that or all of that applies to your dd, but just wanted to share that it can be a journey. I wouldn't be quick to jump to an ADHD eval without thinking through what else you think might be an issue, but I also wouldn't shy away from an ADHD eval if you feel it will be a thorough eval. Our dd was evaluated for ADHD and although she *looked* like a hyperactive ADHD child to the world and she for sure couldn't sit still at that point in her life, her eval did not show ADHD.
Best wishes,
polarbear
