ADHD Diagnosis Question

The schools do their own testing. That's pretty normal. Seems silly to me too when you already have a diagnosis.

whether or not the school insists on bringing in their own "expert" , should rely completely on the "expert" that they want to bring in being able to prove they have the credentials to begin with.ask who the school wishes to do the "independent testing" , ask for the person credentials and previous experience with adhd, and how much of a kickback are they getting from the pharmaceutical company and/or childs doctor for their "expert opinion". dont be fooled,the more "experts" the school brings in to "evaluate the child" the money they get from the pharmacy rep. adhd meds are very big business in public schools. K. h.

The school has a procedure in place that they must use in order to get government funding. I suggest further testing is not to get a diagnosis but to find what he needs and how the school can provide it.

my grandson has an ADD diagnosis as well as speech and sensory issues. He has an IEP. I see from your previous posts that your son has other issues in addition to the new diagnosis. An IEP is a different plan than a 504. My granddaughter also has an ADD diagnosis but no other learning difficulties. She also has an IEP.

Individual Education Plan. Federal law requires that school districts provide assessment and services. This means that how the district provides services is regulated by Federal Law. Our District did further testing with my grandson but not with my granddaughter. I don't even try to figure out Federal requirements. I trust that the district will do what they need to do to provide services. I focus on understanding the service and how it helps or doesn't help my grandchildren.

I am not an expert in providing services. How would I know if testing was inappropriate? I do ask questions and I do research but I trust until something happens to give me a reason to not trust te district. In the several years my grandchildren have been receiving assessment and services I continue to trust the providers.

However, I've learned that children benefit more with the combined service from the school district and private resuources. Once a plan is in place, check with your insurance provider and see what they are able to provide. My granddaughter saw a social worker whose office was in the same clinic as her pediatrician to learn organizational skills. My grandson has also received OT, PT, and Speech therapy paid for by insurance.

I can speak from the school perspective. I am school counselor who deals with this topic on a daily basis.

The school needs to conduct it's own assessments if they are thinking of qualifying him for any special services, either under an IEP (Individualized Education Plan, aka "Special Education") or a 504 plan (which refers to Section 504 of IDEA- the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Some school districts are more relaxed about the 504 plans, and they only require an outside diagnosis - such as ADD- and a team meeting to determine eligibility. Other districts are more strict and require the District psychoeducational assessments be done for 504's as well. IEP's are ONLY granted after the school has performed psychoeducational assessments to determine eligibility. They may include outside information from an MD or Psych (such as a diagnosis of ADD) but they are not written up on an outside evaluation alone, they always include the assessments by the District School Psychologist.

Basically, the School Psych has their own battery of assessments they run that look into learning style, processing deficits, academic strengths and weaknesses. These are assessments that a medical doctor doesn't typically run. On the other hand, an MD would be the only one who could assess for medical diagnoses, such as ADD, Dyslexia, Anxiety Disorder etc. So depending on your child's needs, sometimes you need BOTH the outside medical assessments and the school-based psychoeducational assessments. But you have to have the school based assessments if they are thinking of qualifying him for Special Education Services (and as I mentioned in some cases, for the 504 plans as well). In your case they need to make sure they aren't missing anything- they are looking at different things than what a medical doctor would have looked at. Even if what your Neuropsych did turns out to be very similar to what the School Psych would do, he/she would not repeat a test but would review records and maybe supplement with some other tests to make sure they have done their due diligence legally. (Assuming you gave a copy of the report over to the School Psych).

They are probably trying to determine what level of support he needs. IEP is a more specialized program that includes access to smaller class sizes, specialized teachers and aides, and specialized instruction. 504 plans are simpler plans that just allow for some basic accommodations within the gen ed classrooms. Both are legal documents and schools need to cross their t's and dot their i's.

ETA: Karin H above me is talking complete NONSENSE. Just FYI.

So, the schools may do testing but not for ADHD. The reason that school would test, and only with your consent, is if he needs services at the school to help him in class. They would test to see where he is at academically and to determine how the disability is impacting him in the classroom.
I think it is a little funny how people on here are offended by why the school would test again. It would only be if he needs an IEP and in that case, the testing is federally mandated as there needs to be evidence in order to provide the extra services.

No, I don't know how they would do the testing. Only a neuropsychologist or psychiatrist is qualified and I don't know of any school district with a doctor on staff, let alone one of these specialists. You don't need to prove anything.

What they may be doing is an assessment to determine if there are any learning disabilities accompanying the ADHD. I would ask them specifically what they will be testing. If they're trying to "prove" ADHD, put your foot down and say you have a diagnosis from a specialist already that qualifies your son for a 504 plan or IEP and no more is needed.

Start reading up on what you want in his 504 plan or IEP so you're prepared. ADDitude magazine will have some information and there was recently a post here about it. CHADD's website may also have useful info. on this.

Good luck! Don't be afraid to push back if the testing is unnecessary. Some schools are great about dealing with brain disorders and others are not, so you may need to take charge here.

ETA: Julie S is incorrect. ADHD on its own qualifies your son for services. It's a disability. Your son may not need an IEP if the ADHD isn't affecting him academically, but you will definitely want a 504 plan to address the needs specific to ADHD, such as seating closer to the front of the class, quiet space to take tests, etc.

If you want your child to qualify for services, he needs an educational evaluation. That is very different from a medical diagnosis evaluation.

Many parents do not know that there is a difference, so it was a good question to ask.

I suggest you contact your school district and ask and before that, go online and check to see what the policy or reason is.

If the doctor has already spelled out a plan for your child, I would think that is what they should use as a the guidelines to teach your child. If he just checked off the diagnosis box that says ADHD, then the school will need to do an evaluation to learn how to help him.

I hate that you had to ask for forgiveness in advance, your question is not ignorant.

ADHD on its own does not get services. They don't necessarily need them. Sometimes it comes with learning disabilities and other issues, those get services so they will test. So they are not testing for ADHD, they are testing for other issues.

Even with my son who has autism, that doesn't directly give him services, they had to test to see where his needs are.

ADHD by itself and no other issues does not get an IEP. I am not familiar with the 504.
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Totally with Shannon, what the heck is Karin H talking about. Makes me wonder what her tin foil budget is. Since a consultant cannot prescribe why on earth would a pharmaceutical company waste their budget kicking back to them?

As far as Gamma saying Swedish exercise ball, not sure what is wrong with the Chinese one I own, understand your own child. I have four kids, all four have ADHD, I have ADHD, one of my four had spectrum as well. There is a core group of things that are universal but since how ADHD looks is so diverse there are so many things unique to the individual.

So not one of my family is the same, can you imagine what it is like when you go beyond the same gene pool? So don't listen to others when it is something like an IEP, after all the I stands for individual. Listen to the people who are testing to make sure they fully understand your son and all that is unique about him!

I don't know that I can answer your question, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that schools do not get financial kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. Yes, schools do get federal dollars based on the number of students who qualify for special ed services. But those dollars can only be spent in certain ways. Schools get very little choice in how they spend those dollars.

The testing that the school may do would be strictly for the purpose of finding in what ways to best help your child. They need to follow federal laws and guidelines for providing special ed services. Whoever does the testing will have the proper credentials. Again, because of the laws. The district I teach in has psychologists who do portions of the testing.

If they do additional testing - which is unlikely because it's an unnecessary use of school resources - then it wouldn't be the same testing that he's already had done. There may be some specific academic tests that they need, but if he's been tested by a neuropsych it's likely that that battery of tests included the "intelligence" tests that the school would use to help determine whether or not he has learning disabilities above and beyond what can be explained by the ADHD. Some tests, like the WISC, can only be administered every so often to still be valid, etc.

Just breathe and take it one step at a time. My oldest was dx'd 9 years ago in second grade and it took a battery of tests from different people to get the whole picture. Now he just has repeat testing every 3 years to see if he still qualifies for his IEP (which he actually didn't get until 2 years after his ADHD diagnosis).

The school will do their own FIE (Full and independent evaluation), not to determine whether or not he has ADHD, but to see what type of services he needs......

The results of the FIE may determine whether he will be in the Special Education program with its support services, or whether he will be served by a 504 committee. Either way, both will come with an annual meeting to determine the scope of services the child needs for his education.

Sometimes students with ADHD can be served with the 504 designation, other times there may be additional disabilities that interfere with reading or math, for example.

My grandson was evaluated last year (spring, in Kindergarten), but did not qualify for either at this point. The school, however, sees that there are problems, and he is receiving what they call "Tier 2" support, which will include pull-out support for reading and such. If they can keep him up well enough academically with the Tier 2 services, that will be fine. If they see he still needs more support, I'm sure he will be re-evaluated at a later date and possibly admitted to either the SPED program or a 504 designation.

Occasionally, students will start out with a 504 program, but as academic challenges pile up, they are then transferred to the Special Education program. Other times, it is the other way around.

The school is trying to help your child succeed....

Our school did not do any testing, other than her teacher filling out a survey at our doctor's request. We just brought in a note from the doctor for her 504 plan meeting.

I ditto what Mom B said below.

I have a child who I went through this process with a long time ago---when the Inattentive type was barely looked at.

The other step I took on my own was to go to a behavioral optometrist and get her vision looked at. My child had 20/20 sight, but, her vision was not good !!!

There is a book you might want to take a look at...."When Your Child Struggles- The Myth of 20/20 Vision" by Dr. David Cook.
Or cookvisiontheraphy.com

Testing again? For what? If you're referring to testing to confirm ADHD, I don't think they'll do that. In my experience, schools don't want to pay for lots of services UNLESS they are deemed necessary. I wouldn't think that retesting him is necessary.

Have you requested an SST meeting to discuss your child's education? If you haven't, I would start that process now.

In what way does his diagnosis impact his classroom experience? Do they need to set up a plan to address certain behaviors in the classroom?

Sit down with the principal and have a conversation to become familiar with the process.

No, they don't have to. If they want to it may be so they can make some specific determinations on his learning style, what special needs he may have, and any number of other things.

Make sure you google 504 plan. He needs one written up and YOU need to be your son's advocate. If you see something on there that your son needs then make sure you bring a copy of the document that shows it is allowed for your son. Then ask for this consideration, if they don't do it or they say no point out that this is something that is guaranteed to your son by the federal law.

They might still say no but you can file a suit against them if they don't supply it. For instance, he may need a quiet place for doing his work. Sitting in a room with tons of visual stuff can be very distracting for adults. I sat in a classroom one time for a teachers meeting and I told the teacher I was having a hard time concentrating and paying attention to her because I was too busy getting distracted by all her Garfield posters on every inch of the wall.

Sometimes teachers get fixated on some style and don't realize that it makes it harder for their students.

So a place with blank walls, a comfortable seat (maybe even a Swedish exercise ball), good lighting but not too bright, and stuff like this can make it so much easier for him.

The 504 team can be his psychologist and the person who tested him so they can answer questions and let them know what testing methods they used, then the teacher, principal if they want to, the school psychologist, and the teacher over the special needs program. These people have always come to my grandson's annual 504 plan and we've always come up with very good logical plans that met his needs and covered most situations that might come up.