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The issues enough are big enough that she has to be "retaught" in order to do the work. If she doesn't find it interesting, she goes elsewhere in her mind, talks to herself or makes "spit noises".

As far as what we are doing, she is being evaluated at school. A process that is taking MONTHS!!!

It could be that she doesn't want to learn things that she is not interested in. She LOVES reading, science, and all the "Arts" programs. She dispises Math and has a very hard time writing (could be dysgraphia?).

My reasons for no medication run very deep and I will leave it at that as I do not wish to debate it. I would rather work any other avenue. Right now we are trying some nutritional changes.

Mamabear,

We also explored many other options before resorting to meds and that makes perfect sense to me. The meds my DH is on do have side effects and we do not take the decision lightly. OTOH, looking at his unmedicated family members, we shudder to think what would have happened in our marriage and his life if he were unmedicated.

Depending on the evaluation resources available in your school, you may wish to go outside of that system. Second and third opinions can be very useful in a situation like hers. Even if the district resources are excellent, I might still want to look to a private expert as well.

We are looking at any avenue we find.

I appreciate that meds work in your situation. As I said, I am wanting to debate that at all. Everyone has to do what is best for their family.

Thank you for your input. It is helpful.

Mamabear,

I wasn't wanting to debate either; I am very supportive of your decision to try other options first. I hope that you don't have to go the medication route.

I've been thinking about this for a long time and I guess this is what I want to tell people who are faced with these decisions. For us, when we first went with meds it felt like a failure, like maybe we should still be trying other things. That was discouraging for us, especially for DH who really felt like if he were a better person or if he tried harder, he wouldn't need meds. In fact, he really beat himself up about it. Several years later, we don't see the meds as failure, but reasonable option of last resort. I truly hope your child/spouse doesn't need meds and that you find solutions without side-effects, but if it ultimately comes to meds, be kind to yourself.

Hugs,
Anne

Thank You for your input Anne. I truly appreciate it!

[quote=Mamabear]Does anyone have a dc that is ADD (no hyperactivity)? We are in the midst of a variety of testing and I am seeing lots of subtle and not so subtle moves toward medications.


Mamabear,

I have an 18yo gifted daughter who was diagnosed Inattentive ADD at the age of 12. She was much more difficult to diagnose than her brother (ADHD). With a master's in gifted ed, I was concerned about gifted characteristics being mistakenly "diagnosed" as ADD/ADHD, but my children are truly both. If you have any questions about inattentive ADD, PM me and I can give you more info on the path we took. (She is now a freshman in college and enrolled in the honors program so there's hope!)

Through further testing, we have discovered that dd has visual issues that can mimic ADD symptoms. I really have not been sold on the diagnosis for DD, because she is so inconsistantly inattentive.

For now, we are following up with a behavioral Optometrist. It seems like this is the better fit for dd.

I appreciate your input and will continue to check in as I do more research and have further questions/concerns.

Thank you for your response!

Mamabear,

Have you looked at Tourette's as a possible cause? Tourette (TS), AD/HD and OCD are believed to be genetically related. It causes verbal tics (including spitting), behavior problems and handwriting issues. There's no cure and I think of it as an eccentricity. No biggie. Check out www.tsa-usa.org

Interestingly, the tics wax and wane so it causes inconsistent behavior.

Definitely not Tourette's. We have since discovered a serious lag in visual/perceptual skills. She is in Vision Therapy currently and we are seeking OT/PT evals (motor and sensory). This has been a long road but we are gaining on things...I hope!

Thank you for your thoughts!
MB

If I understand correctly, they've changed the label to just AD/HD with a slash. There is no ADD anymore. Then, whoever is doing the diagnosis selects the subtype of which there are something like eleven.

How is it going with the visual opthamologist? What is the treatment like? I'm really interested in this area because I suspect DS6 might have auditory problems that are causing AD/HD behavior, but I'm not sure.