Could My 6 Yr Old Be A.D.D.?

Hmmm... it could be either the past medicine or the fact that she almost died! It may take her a little bit longer to get on track if she has had a tramatic experience in her life. Consult with the school counselor or diagnostician. Let her teacher know all about her past so she can work with you more closely on how yall can overcome any problems. It is important for the teacher to know if she had any past medical issues because this is the age where you are going to see things come up that may be caused by tramatic experiences earlier in life. She's probably not permantly damaged by her past, it just might take her a bit more time to catch on. There is nothing wrong with that, at this age students are at many different learning levels for many different reasons, this is just her reason. Again you might want to consult with the counselor or diagnostician for a game plan if you are really concerned. Best wishes.

yes, it's possible she has ADD or Sensory Integration Disorder. Have her tested by a pediatric developmental specialist. i had my DD tested 3 years ago, after concerns expressed by her preschool teacher, and she was dx'd wtih a mild case of ADD inattentive, and sensory integration disorder. that is why we have her in private school (with walls and doors) rather than in CFISD, which is open concept.

Hi P.,

Your question caught my eye as I was checking my emails today. I am a Certified Dyslexia Testing Specialist in Midland, and some of the things you described about your daughter are warning signs for dyslexia. To learn more, go to www.Brightsolutions.us and watch a free webcast that takes about 40 minutes. Watch: "Could it Be Dyslexia?". It will give you lots of info and help you find the help your dtr may need. Good luck, L. Irvin, M.S., CCC/SLP

I am a student in the field of disorders. In addition, my son has Sensory Integration Dysfunction. What you have described could fall under numerous labels. If yours looking for a label you could go see a developmental ped OR skip the label. If your looking for help, someone to tell you what areas she's delayed in go get an evaluation from a Occupational Therapist. My son does not like coloring/writing because he is delayed in a reflex making this task difficult. This reflex often infers with crawling (then baby) and later attention (often these children slouch and fall asleep in class) and also writing. You can not physically see there's a problem until the OT shows you. Our OT helps us with coloring activities, and exercises to develop the reflexes involved. I would suggest seeing and OT. Every child on the face of this earth could benefit from an OT in some way, therefore you must have a doctors prescription. The evaluation will test for a range of problems and usually if one problem exist then there are more underlying problems that are all connected. Please email me back if you have anymore questions!

Wow, as I read your story I was having flashbacks. This exact thing happened to me, all except the almost dying and the drugs. Just to ease your mind I will tell you that it has a happy ending. My daughter is now 18 and in college which I never thought it would be possible that she would even want to attend college. I was told that my daughter, Caylie, should be checked for A.D.D. and put on medication by several people. I went to the principal at her private Christian school and she told me Do Not put her on medication for A.D.D. because that is just a narcotic and a miserable life for the child. I took her advise and am truly grateful for the advise and outcome. Let me give you a little background on Caylie. When Caylie was little, she was so shy that when my friends would come up to her and smile at her and ask her what her name was or any little question, she would burst out bawling. She was so shy that it was hard to deal with. I started enrolling her in everything I could find. Potter classes which she loved, tap dancing, dance classes, t-ball, soccer, jymnastics, and everything else I could find. When Caylie started kindergarten, everything went as expected and life was good. Then we started first grade. I continually had to remind Caylie that this was school and it was real. That this wasn't something pretend or daycare. She was starting to show small signs of some kind of disturbance. Then second grade came along. Caylie was having a horrible time. I would help her with her homework that she didn't do in class with the rest of the kids. Things just seemed to be NOT RIGHT. I couldn't really put my finger on what was wrong, but I knew it wasn't right. Then third grade came along. And Lord help us all. It was a living nightmare. We worked on homework from the time she got home from work until 11:00 pm at night every night and accomplished nothing. I also had a two year old daughter at this time that thought she must be homeless because Caylie was consuming all of my time on homework every night. I was horrible stressed and just couldn't deal with it any more. I went to the principal at the private school and told her that I quit! Fire me, fire Caylie! I didn't care, I just couldn't do it anymore. And the principal told me that she felt the same way which shocked me that this was the first I new that she was also frustrated with Caylie. She suggested that we have Caylie tested by the public school system to see what they thought. So we set up a time to have her tested. They found that Caylie had a learning disorder in three areas. Caylie's little brain just did not think like the rest of us. Caylie is not mentally challenged or have A.D.D. She was found to have a rather high I.Q. So now we had an answer. But our private Christian school was closing so for the fourth grade, I had to enroll her in public school. I tried to warn Caylie's fourth grade teacher of Caylie's disorder but she thought she could deal with it. But she had to call me back to school weeks later to try to understand what was going on. It wasn't until the fifth grade that life started to gain some form of normality. She was placed in a system within the school called A.R.D. (Admission, Reviewal, and Dismissal). It is a program that allowed Caylie to do her work like she needed to and not like everyone else. Let me tell you, life was good at this point. The sun came out and my younger daughter had a mother again. Caylie stayed in this program all the way thru school. She gained so much self confidence. She was in art, band, varsity tennis, cross country, club soccer, and the only girl on the high school boys varsity soccer team. I couldn't have asked for a better happier child. But the learning disorder is something that will always be there. She has now spent her first month in college and the challenge has started all over again. But with all the help that is out there, we will conquer this also. One word of advise that was told to me. My husband had left us when Caylie was in first grade. He was not involved with Caylie's school - the Christian school did not fit with his lifestyle - if you know what I mean. The reason for telling you that is because our divorce papers said that he was to be informed of everything. The lady that tested Caylie told me that men do not take this sort of thing lightly. They usually ignore the problem and say that there is nothing wrong with their child because it makes them feel some sort of less than a man for producing a child with a problem. So they don't want to deal with it. And she was right. I told Caylie's dad about the disorder and he screamed at me and told me that nothing was wrong with her. I calmly told him that it is what it is and from this point on I will no longer include him in this matter. He never again asked and I never again told him anything about her school progress. Hopefully you won't have that problem, but the lady was right when she warned me that men don't take it well. This may not be your problem, but eventually having her tested could put your mind at easy. Good luck, and you are in my prayers!

Hey P.,
I was that child in the second grade....by the third grade, I was sporting a brand new pair of glasses. I had, and still have, very poor vision. When you go your whole young little life not being able to see clearly, you dont know any different. You think that a blurry world is normal. Its just a thought. Perhaps a hearing/eye exam wouldnt hurt. Or maybe, she is just highly intelligent and shes bored!!!??!!!

Good Luck in your detective work,
Margaret :)

I had that problem in school (and so does my 1st grader), but it was that I had an overly creative mind. Too busy daydreaming to worry about any of the other stuff (I'm in Architecture now). But it sounds like from the posts that there is a general consensus to have her checked out. There are test to determine creative vs ADD. ADD is over diagnosed. I think I'm going to start looking into all this with my girl, too. Thanks for the post!

School has not been in session that long yet. Is she failing? What explanation did the teacher give for not displaying her work? How many years has the teacher taught first grade? Are you being consistent with homework and getting her to do school work at home? What are you seeing when you have her do work at home?
When there has been a medical trauma such as your daughter went through it can cause learning problems.
You do not want to medicate for ADD if it is some other kind of issue.
All of these things need to be checked into. Go in for a conference and ask for a counselor to be in on it also. Make a list of your concerns.
If your child is failing closer to Christmas I would have her evaluated by a more in depth child development place. Ask your doctor to recommend one. For instance in TX there is the UTMB Child Development clinic in Galveston, etc.

I live in the house of ADHD. First grade picks up and moves a bit faster. I have taught First & Kindergarten. Is she just needing a little more time to adjust and/or mature? Can she sit somewhere else in class so that she can concentrate? Is it a social thing more than a distraction thing? Keep in touch with the Teacher and what is observed. If it continues and especially disrupts her ability to learn you can consult your pediatrician and get to a Dr who can test for ADHD/ADD, if that is what you think is needed. With my daughter, immaturity was there too so I held her back in first and she was doing fine but was all over the place. By mid year it really started to affect her learning. Her Teacher and I were doing all the techniques & tasks to get her focus but it just wasn't enough. When the Psychologist tested her, it came out strong that she was ADHD. It takes some pushing & encouraging & observing to organize her and get her to keep herself focused on tasks. For her, medicine was necessary. Nobody knows as much about your child as you. Thus you would know the best route to go when you have all the facts. Definitely talk to your Pediatrician.

My gut says it's definitely not ADD. And how big is her class? The teacher should be working with her, encouraging and posting her work on the door - not just reporting that she's "spaced out." It's her job to engage your child so she will learn. She might be losing out on the proper attention required from her teacher because she is quiet & shy. The loudest kids, good and bad, usually get the most attention by default.

Have you had her hearing and eyesight checked professionally? Those are the 2 main reasons (that often go undiagnosed) that prevent kids from getting involved at school.

Definitely do not label her as someone who "hates writing" or anything at this point. She's still really young and just learning this stuff. Good Luck.

Your story mirrors that of my family. I just couldn't get help, seemed like doors kept shutting at our face. There are few teachers/principals who are strong enough to see and get to the root of the problem. Pediatrician was frustrated and could not believe how his attempts to have further evaluations taken seriously. These "specialists" actually barked at me for I guess wasting their time.

I strongly recommend you have your child checked by Dr. W. Bieker, optometrist in McAllen, he is full of information and is pro-kids and pro-education. If it wasn't for him, my son would still be struggling, feeling "damaged". My son has seen counslers, one got him out of his extreme shyness (due to "damage" feeling), he has been evaluated by phyciatrists(one did not recommend meds, the other did), and neurologist who gave him meds temporarily which helped, but he did not want to even hear me when I asked about the possiblities of autisim and wouln't even hear my observations that related to this.

Dr. Bieker saw an eye problem which cannot be corrected but can be trained with exercises which he will have to do for the rest of his life. I can tell when he has not done his excercises. Just last week my nephew was telling me about his eye problems, which lead to learning disabilities, which he researched, sounded like I was talking with Dr. Bieker. I have consulted with my (former) optometrist and he stated that this is the first thing they learn in school but does not know of anyone who actually practices this. Needless to say we thank God for our friend who told us about Dr. Bieker.

Also, make sure that there is consistancy in your household, not easy with kids but it is very important that kids can follow a constant routine.

GOOD LUCK!

She sounds just like my daughter (she is 6 and has ADD). ADD runs in my family, but there are other causes than just genetics. You can talk to your pediatrician who can refer you to a doctor who will diagnose if it really is ADD. I also recomend reading the book Healing ADD by Dr Daniel Amen which gives lots of tips for dealing with ADD issues. Good luck.

I don't think that she is add. she might not just be liking school now because she wants to be with you. add mostly run in boys and adhd in girls. I teach science and need some murals drawn if you have time. thanks.

Have you talked to her ped. about your concerns? The doctor should be able to answer if there were any repercussions as a result of her past medical history.

Hi P.,,
your daughter sounds like my early childs life's,i was in and out of the hosptial till i was 5 ,,if it where me i start with her Dr ,,and maybe a childrens counsler and see what they think,, but it sounds like she just doe'st get the coloring and all ,,but as we know she will have to ,,,to stay with her age group .
good luck L.

If you go to a psychologist they have tests that they can do to find out about a whole spectrum of learning disabilities. After that they can recommend what kind of doctor you should see if any. I had ADD and as a child it was very difficult to concentrate. I was never medicated but I did get sent to a quieter room if I needed to get away from the noise to take a test or something. Teachers are much better trained now than they were 25 years ago, but I remember feeling so frustrated because I kept getting in trouble for things I felt like I couldn't help. In girls, ADD doesn't always manifest in the same way it does in boys so I think a lot of the time people don't see it for what it is because they don't have the discipline issues that go with it. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating for your child. Girls with ADD tend to get depressed easily. They are usually very smart but they have this overwhelming feeling that they are not ever living up to their potential. If this sounds like your daughter then you should probably go get her tested.

I would ask for a screening w/ the nurse for her hearing. Really, seeing a doctor to get a true picture would probably be best. It sounds like she's extremely distracted by auditory noises.

Have you asked the teacher why her papers aren't hung up? If she's not getting them done at school, then why not send it home so she can finish and return it to schoool?
Do they not have a daily or weekly mode of communication w/ parents? I find that hard to believe since she's in first grade that the teacher hasn't communicated with you yet.

Ask for a weekly, if not daily, communication for a little while. Best wishes! Keep encouraging her to stretch her comfort zone a little bit at a time by using her strengths.

This happened to my son and the school wouldn't test until 3rd grade...which is stupid, without help the child would be way behind by then. 1st grade is so important. We took him to a Developmental Pediatrician he was diagnosed with ADD and then we demanded the school test him (IQ test....) to enable him to get help staying on task. It killed me and still does to give him medication everyday, but he is now getting all his school work done without help and is getting good grades. Without the medication he falls way behind, daydreamy and side tracked... I have tried taking him off the medication and didn't tell the teachers and after 2 wks I started getting notes and phone calls from teachers...asking me what is different. Hope this helps.

Your description sounds much like my daughter that has the Inattentive Attention Deficit Disorder. She was diagnosed by her pediatrician and then by a neurosurgeon. That is one of the hardest to figure out when they are silent, don’t cause problems and daydream. My daughter has a hard time staying on task and if you give her more than two commands like, ‘go to your room and put your shoes away’ she easily forgets any one or more of the commands. There were many people in my world that were for medicine to help the issue and many against. I was given reading material and there are things that help with the reading issue like rolling, kicking or throwing a ball back and forth. This helps them stay on a line that they are reading so they don’t get lost on the page. When they are constantly losing their place they get frustrated and forget what they are reading about. Certain vitamins that help the brain function more effectively are available and gentle on the system. Intense exercise in the morning before school and in the morning giving a meal especially high in protein like eggs, meat or peanut butter are good for helping the mind concentrate. A good diet with little sugars, dyes and preservatives can help your cause no matter what the ‘issue’ may be. This is not an issue with them being ‘smart’ or not and often these children are thinking about and solving many issues simultaneously which takes longer to do than just solving one problem. Also they often are thinking more in depth about an issue when a teacher moves on and they miss out on a step in math or a piece of the puzzle to whatever they are learning about, which causes them to think that they can’t understand something, but in reality they could understand it if they had been listening and receiving all the ‘pieces.’ These children often develop socially at a slower rate and can often be found hanging out with younger kids. Much of the time they are ‘in tune’ or sensitive to things that kids their age wouldn’t even be paying attention to or know about until later.

My daughter’s teachers from the second grade till now knew that she had attention issues but didn’t want to sound an alarm. They would often sit her close to them and tap her shoulder or desk when they realized that she was ‘spacing out’. We waited too long to get her tutoring but when we did it made a huge difference. She will need extra attention and help from you and the school but it will pay off in the long run.

Yes, ADD is a posibility, but have you thought about having her hearing checked? The trauma she went through at 14 months could have resulted in minor hearing loss. She was so young, that she might not know the difference herself. Many children think their hearing loss is "normal" because that's all they know, and it goes undetected until they become adults and sometimes never. She said she can not hear the teacher, that may be why she is 'spacing out'. If she can not hear the intstructions, how can she know what to do and do it correctly?

Whatever you do mom, don't worry. It is not the end of the world. :)

After you have exhausted all of the great recomendations posted by such loving mothers, and before you think about medication (which I believe have a very important role when necessary) try changing the household cleaners and personal care products used in your home. Talk to the teacher about her perfume, any cleaners she is using in the classroom. Many children medicated for ADD and ADHD are simply chemical sensitive. My son who is 11 now had similar experiences in school, and I discovered his teacher was wearing perfume that was bothering him. I purchase products from a manufacturer that specializes in safer, more economical, and environmentally friendly household and personal care products. They are delivered to my door, so no more fighting the crowds at the local store, or using gas. Let me know if you are interested in learning more.

Your school's councilor should be able to help you into the right direction to go take advantage of this now.

Hi P.. how was Haeley in kinder? did she like it? as i work in a school, i want you to know, that there are avenues that you can take for your little girl. talk w/Haeley, and then request a conference w/the teacher. if you have time, volunteer in your daughter's classroom, by reading a story, or doing playtime w/the class. observe, and ask questions. when you speak to the teacher, ask her specific questions about Haeley's participation in class. does she raise her hand to answer a class question, does she pay attention to the teacher when an assignment is given. you mentioned that you think she is ADD. does your little one have other disabilities from when she was a baby? that too, can be remedied, as there are specialists at the campus' that can help. talk to the school counselor, or an administrator of the school, and request your child be tested for that, or other learning disablilities. it is your right as a parent, and for your daughter's best interests. also, by being there in the classroom, for Haeley, she will feel comfortable by your presence, and being involved in what she does. you have the resources at school, just ask someone there to guide you to the right place. i hope this has helped a little.
about me: i am a grandmother of one, 2 grown children of my own, and work at a middle school (9 yrs.) w/7 & 8th graders. i am not a teacher, but an aide. i work w/children w/disablities, from bi-polar, autistic, ADD, ADHD, and other learning disablities. before that, i worked in five other schools around the country. i hope that puts your mind at ease. i hope that you feel better by my post, and i'd like to hear of how your little one does. good luck! G. ;-)

Hi P., take your child to a dr. of naturopathy. They are holistic drs and treat the whole child. Their treatments are all natural and painless. I have used an ND for many years and with great success. Blessings to you and your daughter! C.

Dear P., You are wise to seek help. I have testimonies that I can share that have brought great results. It might not be so hard to bring her back into balance. It could be the milk for the cows are given hormones to make them fatter faster &
shots to keep them well. I grew up on a ranch & drank all kinds of milk but we didn't use h-or s-. No red meat for same reason. There are other common things that cause this.
Call me if you want more information. Dora Sanderford, ###-###-#### or ###-###-#### c Send me your E-mail address so I can put it in my address file & we can correspond that way. Blessings

I would definitely want to talk with a ped. developmental specialist. I also thought of sensory integration disorder, and that can be determined by an Occupational Therapist. However, there are many things it could be, and given your daughter's history, I would be leery of a quick diagnosis of ADD by anyone.

My niece's boy had CAPD, central auditory processing disorder. As I understand it, the ear hears sounds, like voices, but can't always make sense of it. He could pass a hearing test, but he could not understand the teacher's instructions. So, have her checked out thoroughly. For the fist year they treated what they thought was ADHD, but it was CAPD.

Hi P.,

Hate to bring this up, but could her 'spacing out' be absence seizures? I would see my daughter 'spacing out' and found out she was having seizures. Talk to her dr about that in relations to her previous medical history.

T.

I would have her evaluated with a child psychologist. My 7 year old 1st grade son just did the evaluation and I am awaiting the feedback interview.

She might just be bored and your teacher needs to challenge her or she might be on the ADD ADHD spectrum. Either way, good for you for staying on top of it. A lot of parents are in big denial!

Morning P.;
She told you the reason, but, your not "Hearing"!

She has a "Hearing" problem! She said people are always talking around her and she can't "hear" the instructions!
I know, it's hard to believe that a 6 year old has a hearing
problem, but, you said at 14 months she almost died and that
she was on a lot of drugs!
Have her hearing checked!
Forget the ADD stuff, just hug her and make sure she hears
clearly!
B. C