ADD Vs. Receptive Language Disorder

Maybe it is just a simple case of being too emotionally imature, misses her sister who is close to her own age. Our son regressed in the first 3 grades, finally couldn't even add 3 and 1 at the board, in the 3rd grade, froze! he had headches, stomach aches, then lost patches of his hair, so held him back in the 3rd grade, then he blossomed, but was always shy, but gradually overcame it as his self confidence grew. He was 5 years old , 6 in Nove. 27, when we started him, nothing takes the place of immaturity, and can be a problem the rest of his life, if not noticed early--not impossible to correct, it just complicates a normal, trait in a sweet child! PR

I may have some words of encouragement. My oldest son had problems in the classroom. I had a teacher educate me on the fact that alot of children that re medically diagnoised with ADD or ADHD, or lerning disabilities may only have eye concerns. So we went to a Eye Dr. that specialized in Childrens eye's and does eye theropy. I found out that there is alot of kids that are being put on drugs when all they need is either glasses & or theropy for the eye's. My Sister's son found out the same thing. I don't believe in giving drugs for everything when there can possabily be a proactive way to live your life. I took my son to a eye Dr. that specilized in Children's eyes and eye theropy and he only needed glasses for classroom and a few eye excersies he was in the 5th grade when problems started, but it wan't until 7 grade when a wonderful caring Teacher shared about this, because she too had this all her life awesome teacher by the way. My Son will soon be graduating in May has went to High school and college while playing football and working a job. he hasn't struggled since. Will finish College in only 1 yr after graduating this spring. I share this with you because there can be a happy ending if us parents don't give in. My nephew is also exceeding in school and sports. So Good Luck! Please share this with other parents, it may help them as well!

Just make sure you rule out any hearing loss, if you havn't already...
I'm a mom of a child with moderate hearing loss and the symptoms you described were very similar to my daughter before she got aids...good luck.

Another thing to watch for is Asperger's syndrome, is it often misdiagnosed as ADD. It is a high functioning disorder on the autism spectrum. Children with this have problems reading social cues, poor organizational skills. It is more prevalent in boys then girls but can show up in girls. My 19 year old has Asperger's that we finally got diagnosed in 7th grade. You need to find a good clinician that can screen for several things and is not quick to jump to anything. Our clinician took 3 months to diagnose. My advice, though it is more costly, is to go the private route. It is more expensive but this is your child. We have friends who have child with the same issue and went the route of reduced or free services. we had more help and information in six months than they had gotten in a year. Whatever the problem turns out to be, my advice would be to pursue getting it figured out so you child can have a much more pleasant school experience.

My 11 year old son has a language disability that was noted in preschool. He was tested through the schools special education department. He works with the therapist at school and has also worked with therapists at the speech lab at one of the local universities. You can access private therapists, get a reference from your special education teacher at school.

I would ask for a referral to the school psychologist and start there. It can be a lengthy and difficult process. But it can be worth it. You can also ask your pediatrician for a referral. Private services can be a quicker and easier process but obviously cost. My daughter has some special needs and gets some services through the school district and some private. You have legal rights and if there is a suspected delay they have to do an evaluation. There are many different learning disabilities and developmental disorders/delays that could be affecting her behavior. Some of the symptoms overlap with others, so it really needs to be properly evaluated. The school psychologist can do an evaluation as well as the speech therapist in the district. The results of those tests along with her teacher reports of academic and social performance should give you a clearer picture of what the issue really is. Hang in there.

C., We're raising a second family and I also have a 6 yr. old in first grade...she's the youngest but she's the "mother" of the class ...never met a stranger. Kids can be so cruel as she's "fluffy" & gets called names. Our 12 yr. old has slight special needs & you'll have to demand the school tests her or provide the resources for it...We got our oldest at five & she has alot of problems from her past. We've struggled but you can't back down...if your teacher is working with you maybe you could "sit" in class just to observe unannounced. It might be an underlying problem. I do know sometimes the oldest needs a little "special" time with you as the youngest requires more attention....good luck...!

C., First of all I will say that you have to basically demand help from the schools. They never seen to give it. I have a child with ADHD and he is in 7th grade this year I have been "nice" up until this year when he seemed to have a horrible time. Stuggle in all classes, not able to keep up, I had been asking for an IEP to be completed and not getting anywhere with this, I finally went to my congressman and found out they have 30 day from the time a parent ask to have this done. It is not an option. My congressmsan made a couple call and it was done immediately!! Read up on IEP's for schools and see if this is not something that might be an advantage for you.
Secondly do not let them give her an automatic diagnosis of ADD especially if you are thinking it is something else. ADD is easy for them. Then the work is over make it continue, keep looking, call pediatrian offices to find a someone who does the language screening,or even speech therapy offices and it may possibly be that she is very young and just not ready for this step in life yet. They are finding with ADD/ADHD that kids somethings grow out of it as they develop. So as an involved parent your child is very lucky and good luck to you. It will be very stressfull but I promise you when you start seeing the results it is so worth the stress you went through!!!!!!!!
Good Luck and God Bless R.

If the screening has been done then perhaps your child will qualify for speech therapy services. I live in Missouri so my expertise is on what I have gone through from here. Our schools and Special School District do not actually deal with Sensory Processing Issues or Sensory Integration. A great book on this is the 'Out of Sync' child. The way to go is private therapy. It is expensive and most insurance companies do not cover it. If you can use a flexible spending account as an option then that really helps. I know that isn't what any parent wants to hear, but our daughter is 3 1/2, in SSD, and getting speech and OT. We still had to go for private help and it has been an amazing turnaround in just a few months.

You want to go OT, Speech, and get a Behavioral Analysis done. All of these things may help you get more services from the school. In the meantime they will really help your daughter build confidence and learn with 1:1 professionals that know how to help her. I do not recommend any psychiatric therapy....in fact I am against it. All they can do is prescribe drugs. Do everything else first and it may help without the harmful side effects. Frontline:The Medicated Child can outline the drugs and effects and facts for any parent. It was a special done on PBS and can be purchased through them.

God Bless you and your child.

H.

Take her to Children's Mercy. They are great, they've been our savior. They have everything a child could possible need there, even a nice behavior department whith good psychologists

C.,
I am a speech pathologist with 32 years experience. Talk to the counselor at your child's school about your concerns and ask for an evaluation by the school's speech therapist. If by some chance, there is no speech therapist, look for a college training program in your area, or a children's hospital. Be prepared to be an advocate for your child--when my own son exhibited learning problems, no one wanted to do testing because he wasn't actually failing. It took a lot of work on my part to make things happen. A wonderful reading specialist showed him how to deal with his reading deficits. He is now doing well in school despite his learning disability because we know how to address the problems. He is not receiving any special services currently.

Good luck,
D.

C.,

I would go to the special education director of your school district & express your concerns. I was told with my son that if comes down to it, they are required to provide testing if you say "I want my child tested by a speech therapist (or what is applicable)" for receptive language disorder. Good Luck!

I have children younger than yours so have not had any problem like this, but I would talk with her pediatrician and see if they can help facilitate something. I know all docs are different, but I think mine would be able to help in some way, she is awesome. The MD may also have information on a therapist.