Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional We had a horrible appt for DD today

Sounds like a horrid experience with an uncaring doctor. My son also goes by a middle nickname - and they always call him by it even when I put his first name on the insurance forms - and that's whether I write his nickname down or just tell them.

We took DS6 to see the certified neurologist chiropractor Friday. He recommended up for 2000mg a day of Omega - and you have to know whether its 2000mg of the actual Omega, or just 2000mg of fish oil in general. He gave DS6 exercises to do to strengthen the right side of his brain after doing several physical tests.

I agree on the eye issues. Behaviorial and sensorial therapists are trained to see more than an Optometrist. I would never relay on just an Optometrist anyway - always go to ped. Opthamologist/Surgeon if possible - for more training/better opinion. If we had only relied on an Optometrist or the Pediatrician who checked hearing, eyesight in general DS6's amblyopeia (SP) (wandering eye) issue would probably have gone overlooked as they kept on telling us from birth onwards that infants and toddlers eyes don't always behave correctly when they are young! I suspected from birth that one eye was moving way too much!

I still haven't put DS6 on drugs - not even to try them. I know that's worked for some Mom's here - but it should be the last resort.

I would get a second opinion. I would be against putting her on medicine based on that appointment.

On the facial tic/blinking......a friend researched this extensively. ADHD meds are contraindicated w/ tics or family history of tics. If she already has tics/blinking, the meds could really exacerbate this. My son's pediatrician wouldn't even discuss ADHD before age 8.

And the tics don't always go away after meds are stopped.

I almost sound like she might have Asperger`s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder with the sensory issues, interrupting, and impulstivity. Many AS kids are really smart too, but they don`t often have long attention spans and can`t concentrate as your child can.

Your DD sounds just like mine. However, my DD may be a bit better at staying put in class. I firmly believe that my child's greatest gift is her energy and enthusiasm. I have found her trigggers and try to work with them.
People can slam me, but she still uses a pacifier at 4. It calms her down. She is very oral and would go right to her thumb. Everything is touch. She always want to hold my hand.( a little annoying while driving my manual car).
Because she is sensory, I use alot of touch. We have a twenty minute cuddle session every morning time permitting. When she is agitated I get down on her level and hold her. We work as a "team" and I tell her Mommy is always on her team because I realize that she must feel out of control sometimes and I want her to know that she is not alone.
She definetly is sensitive to some red/blue dyes. Blue dye makes her an absolutely crazy lady. I cut out dairy and she gained weight (she had been very skinny)
But the best thing I did was read
http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Your-Spirited-Child-Perceptive/dp/0060923288
I am not against medication but I think everything has to be ruled out first. My ped. requires an 1 hr appointment to renew ritalin and I think that is how it should be.
I was just thinking that my brother, who is 45, would be pushed into medication if he went to elem. school today. He is very sucessful and it is exactly the drive and energy that use to drive his teachers crazy that got him where he is today.
Good luck these things always seem worse in the beginning.

I read the above book also - when DS6 was 4 and always in trouble at Montessori. The County Counsellor we worked with evaluated him as highly spirited - again - lots of correlation with highly spirited kids and ADHD kids - and when they are younger than 6 or 8 - really hard to diagnose them accurately as ADHD.

Even the nurse at the Opthamologist's last week told me "if you put him on drugs - he will be like this "did zombie impression of passive child". That was despite the fact that we went through another 3 hours of hell waiting and transitioning between waiting room with play room, first computer test, exam room, - he wanted to touch every instrument, lense, door knob, light swtich, swivel in the chair, raise the other chair up and down, pretend the equipment was a Periscope (gotta had it to the kid - it sure looks like a periscope). Even 1, 2, 3, discipline, threats, treats, holding him down - didn't work! And he screamed blue murder when they were dumb enough to tilt him backwards and put "stingy drops" in his eye only to tell me afterwards that next time they'd do the "no stingy drop" eye test. 3 of us were holding him down - before I really realized their plan I was in a nightmare. He can't abide bright light and refused to let them look in his eyes anyway. I don't think they've successfully seen the back of his eyes in 3 years and they are Pediatric Opthamolgoists !!

All this to illustrate my point - that if a nurse that sees thousands of kids says don't jump to medicate after going through that type of appointment with my child - who would be easier to cope with drugged ....I figure she knows what she's talking about. But this isn't the same type of behavior as the Mom's on the board who really have had to use medication with success report.

I also hope it illustrates that there are many kids with severe sensory issues - or just like DS6 - particular hatred of certain enviromental stimulae. He acts up a lot in class too - and I still don't know if we've ignored a deeper sensory issue. But it all seems tied together with their brain
development/sluggishness & immaturity in certain areas - and giftedness or intelligence/advancedness in others.

RJH,
Ritalin took away the impulsivity and interrupting. This enable him to make more friends at school because he wasn't annoying. His grades shot up.
Hoping for the best,
San