ADHD and high IQ

[florencerose]

Sorry about the name I have name changed from my name change and this was the 6th alternative I tried. I ended up scanning the page for ideas but ditched markwarner as just not me .

ds has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and a reasonably high IQ (prob betw 140 and 150 but some trouble assessing it!) I'm hoping to get some advice from here if anyone has the same issues.
I have serious concerns that the school has missed both issues (less about the G&T bit) his behaviour interferes with him accessing the curric, with his friendships (and also with family life).
ed psych is going to write to school and ask them to set some more IQ appropriate work but in light of the fact that they have glossed over the issues I would like to try and ensure they do something about it should I be looking for an IEP? what should I be asking for? (he will be in mixed yr3/4 class which might help)
thanks

[florencerose]

sorry just to clarify a bit what I'm hoping is that with some more appropriate work his behaviour will improve rather than angling for him to jump years at school!

[skintbint]

what have they put in place so far?

when you say school have 'missed both issues', how were they highlighted? did you get him assessed privately? (unsure how he would have been assessed through school ed psych if they had not highlighted there was a problem)

how are they differentiating his work currently? or are they unable to recognise his academic ability because of his behaviour?

google 'smart targets for ieps' there's loads of stuff on the web.

are you expecting two ieps to be drawn up? one to address his behaviour, and one to set targets for his academic ability? or are you expecting the ed psych's suggestions to be implemented in an iep as a 'two birds with one stone'.

why the uncertainty wrt iq? normally it's fairly cut and dried if they do the wechsler etc - were there issues during the assessment due to behaviour?

[skintbint]

are you planning on medicating for the adhd?

an awful lot will depend on whether you intend to try medication or purely look for a behaviour plan to be drawn up?

what meds have been discussed with you?

has he been seen by a developmental paed? gp?

[florencerose]

oh thanks
will try and answer your q's!

he has a behaviour book, space for each lesson, smiley face each lesson in 1 day gets him a sticker he has had the book for maybe 2 terms and got about 4 stickers. we have moved no further than that (he had a similar book last yr I think dh requested it rather than school initiated). dh made a comment to the head about ds behaviour and she basically denied knowing it was an issue (I think there are management issues in the school but that's another story)
we asked for him to do music lessons and were turned down reason given was that ds needed to concentrate on improving his academic work (whilst this was probably a catch all excuse it hardly inspires any faith in their ability to recognise what's going on!) also there have been some comments from his teachers along the lines of clearly doing x work at home/being coached whereas for many reasons it has not been possible to do anything additional at home even if we had wanted to.

work isn't differentiated as far as I am aware
I'm not really sure what I should be expecting hence my very general question on here!

he has ongoing health issues assessment was done as part of those
yes issues during assessment due to behaviour there were also some inconsistancies which we know underscored him IYSWIM
we don't know yet what to do re meds we now have to be seen somewhere assessment was done by hosp in one LA we live in another school in a third and GP in 4th!!!
thanks

[skintbint]

why was he assessed in the first place though? referred through school or done privately by you?

i would suggest they look at a behaviour plan/ contract rather than some random sticker book tbh - he's old enough to be working to a more concrete set of targets than 'earn a sticker'. that way they can come up with a plan for the behaviours that they expect, and what the consequences will be for undesired behaviour. it should be agreed by the teacher, senco, child and parents - and signed by the child!

how odd about the music - in our last school there was a specific music group for the more able children because it extended them in a different way.

what are his ongoing health issues? (sorry, being really nosy - just that it may have some impact on the way it is managed at school/ home)

should explain that of two of mine that fall into the more able bracket, one has sort of adhd/ odd/ sensory-ish issues (he was prescribed ritalin but it's still in the cupboard) as well as ongoing issues with continence, and one with cerebral palsy, (the third is a very boring bright child who does her homework without me noticing ) i'm no expert really, but have some experience of both sn and more able children. dd2 was only assessed to prove she didn't have a learning disability (long story) even though it was obvious she was at the other end of the spectrum.

how does the adhd affect him? i know kids with obvious behavioural/odd stuff, but also pure attention deficit too, again, it depends what is affecting him most i think.

who will you have to see to discuss whether meds would be appropriate? can your gp do it, or will they refer to developmental paed?

[skintbint]

have you been in to discuss your concerns with the school senco? it would be my first step now that you have a report tbh.

[florencerose]

he has a metabolic problem which can be associated with 'issues' (lots of diverse ones mild or severe) hosp doing a 'research' project so I put him forward (I'd been saying to dh for yrs there was something dh didn't want to look further)
research project wasn't really research but routine!
leadership in school is poor which probably explains the music more than anything

would rather see paed I think
I only discovered who senco was at very end of term so will try and see her once they go back
re ADHD he gets up and walks round the class for no reason, we have video of him doing some homework, which consists of him jumping on and off the chair, walking round the table etc it only stops when he falls off the chair (I think he is dyspraxic too) there is some mild sensory stuff (not wearing some clothes/touching various things) some not looking at who he is talking to, lots of not 'paying attention' but he has hearing issues which I think is a large part of that he does have some obsessive behaviours lots of fiddling with things an unhealthy 'Thomas' obsession when younger and some strange habits when playing.
However he is very sensitive (and more recently a bit highly strung) all his friends are girls because the boys wont let him play with them because of the dyspraxia type stuff.
Going out with him is a nightmare, fiddles with sibs hands constantly, eating out with him likewise, he's up and down, loud and shouty, winds sibs up etc etc he never gets asked to play anywhere and has been asked to leave his sports club and something else (can't remember what) this summer there has been pushing and kicking at a football session he went to and some rude words
current thing is to walk around house half the night
we have got him into reading which has revolutionised things for us however I will shortly be posting for advice for books for a 7 yr old with a reading age of 14!
he is such a contrast to sib who would give perfect Peter a run for his money (and probably beat him) and won year good behaviour award at school etc etc

sorry for the essay
I think I saw that dd was assessed for immigration do you mind me asking where you went?

[pinprickle]

Has he been assessed for Aspergers? Some of the behaviour sounds like it should be considered. It's often a comorbid dx with ADHD.

[skintbint]

canada

he sounds a lot like ds1 actually. he has some sensory stuff going on, and finds it impossible to remain seated - he even eats kind of half hovering, almost as if it will burn him for his backside to touch the chair.

and utterly utterly stubborn (hence his teacher suggesting ODD) ask him to clean his teeth and you'll still be there two hours later. he gets upset with himself though, he bottles up his anger and frustration and is usually shaking with rage and crying. all because you ask him to clean his teeth/ put his socks on.

anyway, he's a huge reader - there were loads of threads about this a week or so ago. ds1 has just monstered through the percy jackson books and is a huge rick riordan fan at the mo. cressida cowell is brilliant but a bit easier.

aspergers has been considered here too - the first gp said that ds1 made the hairs on his neck stand on end (!) and sent us off to the paed. the paed was more interested in continence (he's had a lot of issues) but apparently told the gp to prescribe ritalin to see if it helped. i'm half convinced about the adhd issue, but i'm not so much convinced about aspergers here. a lot of the 'other' behaviours fit, but so much else doesn't. he's not been assessed, and i don't think they will, although the next step is what passes for camhs here... so i suppose it might come off the back of that.

the ritalin is still in the cupboard as no-one has discussed it with me at all - i had a phone call to collect 'some meds' and got a container without even a leaflet explaining what it was, and side effects. just a tub with a brand name on it.

he sees the counsellor at school every so often (and will do again this year).

we have a perfect peter too dd1 is 10 and pretty much keeps us sane!

[skintbint]

[amothersplaceisinthewrong]

My son had ritalin for five years (UK). We were told side effects might be disturbed sleep pattern, and food and growth issues. None of the above happened, and the his concentration definitely improved. Did his O levels, A levels and a Maths degree. Son has (and to an extent still has) ODD - very hard to deal wi

[florencerose]

Sorry skint please can I not say who i was previously I have a lot of issues ATM and I need to get ome advice on here a RL friend has rumbled my usual name and I really don't want her making the connection!

[Vives]

Hi! Your son sounds a lot like mine - most of how you're describing him sounds identical.
My son (aged 6) was last year described as having ADHD and we've been going through the whole process of getting him statemented (it has taken a year and a half so far!). He is average at school - better at maths and reading, worse at writing, the main problem being his behaviour which gets him 'time out' on a regular basis. The school thought a cognitive test might prove helpful so he had one a couple of months ago. His IQ came out at 140, mostly brought down by the verbal element (he was on the 87th percentile for this) the other 3 things he was tested on he was on the 99.8th, 99.6th and 99.6th percentile for and the Ed. Psych. commented in his report that the results were some of the highest he'd ever seen!
When he first started at the school (we moved in to the area last year so he started late) he was put in the bottom sets for everything because of his obvious attention difficulties. In reading classes the school tried to teach him synthetic phonics but he decided to skip that whole stage and just memorise whole words so they (reluctantly) have had to move him up since he can actually read largely without synthetic phonics. In Maths he was just bored and misbehaved so now he's been put in the second from top set he's a bit more engaged and seems to be sitting still doing his work much more.
Meal times in our house sound pretty similar to yours. Our other son, who's 4, doesn't have the same attention problems but is equally lively (probably learnt from his big brother!) so that mealtimes tend to be one round of getting them to be at least not walking around, if not actually on their chairs!
We've got our second round with his Ed. Psych soon to discuss what to do next, and will listen to what he has to say. Don't want to put him on drugs, but TBH if the alternative is him not fulfilling his potential and being labelled 'the naughty child' at school by his peer group it definitely is worth considering! What are you thinking of doing?

[Princesitalinda]

Hello all, my ds1 is 6 years old and to me, it seems like he might have ADHD or/and something else. Being a foreigner, I am more at lost with the system, specially since I don't have friends with issues like mine who I can compare notes with. Even the term ADHD is new to me and only came across it when my son starting having behavioral problems at school. Reception year was a nightmare, his teachers complained that he did not sit still in the round (on the floor), and when he concentrated on something it seemed impossible to take him out of it.

The biggest problems were during play time, he liked playing rough (i.e. pretending to be an airplane) and 'accidentally' bumping into other children. He was most of the time on the 'sad' spot (which to be honest, broke my heart, but I accepted it). We all hoped it was just the adaptation period to school.

However, starting year 1 same behaviour was no longer tolerated and he started to come home with a 'behavioural record' where smiley faces or sad faces were drawn during each lesson and he brought the record home. I can not describe the pressure both him and me felt everyday about his behaviour. He would be punished almost everyday as his record showed that he could not refrain his impulses during play time and continue to play rough, sometimes hurting other children. I was dreading every day, specially picking him up from school, and face the other parents who I thought were thinking about my badly behaved boy. But during all this time, it never occurred to me that there could be an underlying condition behind his behaviour.

I also have a 4 year old and he is completely opposite (thank God) so I felt at lost as to why he would behave like that, and when I asked him why, he was always very sorry (even crying) and said that he could not help himself and that he was 'very bad at behaving good' (his own words). We decided to change schools, and make a financial effort to send him to a small private school, hoping that being in a smaller class would help. This was in November 2010. He just turned 6 yesterday, and had to be punished on his birthday because he hit a schoolmate during play time the day before, and his father complained to us yesterday.

We celebrated his birthday, but he was not allowed to play games until Sunday (and he was begging and crying, but we explained that unfortunately we had to punish him hitting his friend).

In school, he seems to be doing fine. I don't know about writing, but his reading is excellent, and he loves maths. But he has a big problems relating to the other children, specially to contain his impulses, which worries me so much.

The teacher wrote a letter for me to take to the GP and ask for him to be assessed for ADHD or else.

I have an appointment with the GP on monday about this, and I will go with the teacher's letter. What should I expect? Please can someone that has gone through this process please give me some advice as to how to push for a referral or what to expect from this meeting? I have met the GP before, but he refused to refer him yet as I just did the change of school and said he needed time to adjust to the new surroundings.

I am also giving him omega3 and omega6 supplements, as well as magnessium (kiddie calm), he eats food made from scratch (so no additives). I would think this is helping him, but I am slowly coming to terms that he might need even more help. When I started researching about ADHD I was reluctant to give him any medicine, but I am now not so sure, and I wonder if it will help him, specially control his impulses. Please if someone has a 6 year old with ADHD that is taking medicine, would so love to hear about your experience...

[Princesitalinda]

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[ilove]

reported PrincessTV

[SparklePrincess]

Hi, Im still puzzled as to how you actually got the official diagnosis & who from. Who was it that flagged up an issue in the first place? Ive been struggling for over 3 years now with CAMHS & school & my dd is still being let down because nobody will commit to a firm diagnosis, although its been said she has ADHD & ODD, they refuse still to officially confirm it. Am I missing something here? because it seems you got one very easily, or do you not actually have an "official" diagnosis yet, just a health professional said that's what it is & you are still at square one?