adhd-predominintly attentive

[em83]

My ds1 who is now 7 has left hemiplegia caused by a stroke.....
it affects his physical ability to a certain extent however he does not let that stop him trying things etc
the problem is, he is struggling with his school work and is behind with everything he has been refered to an ed pschologist and a speech and language inclusion team... the main concern is around his concentration which is very poor, as is his understanding of words and instructions,
i personally think he has adhd-subtype predominintaly inattentive as i have researched this for a while and he meets more than 6 of the criteria....
what do i do from here ? who do i talk to about it ?
his teacher is as useful as a chocolate fireguard, his physio doesnt have much of an understanding on anything but physio, the consultant at the hospital just seems to take notes on everything i say but never seems to follow any of it up....
i know the ed pschologist is doing assesments as is the salt ....im so fed up, just want this sorted once and for all
can anyone advise me further ?
thanx

Hi Em

I'm not sure that I can be of much help. The way our assessment here in NI was done can differ from the rest of the UK so it may be worthwhile going back to your GP to pursue a referral for an ADHD assessment - or speak to the Ed Psych and get his advice about what channels to go through next.

It can be a lengthy process - our Paed normally assesses children aged 8 and above -rarely before that. We only received our dx in August this year and then were able to tap into Occupational Therapy as well, which has been very benefical.

In the meantime is your DS statemented? Are there any ADHD Support Groups near where you live that you could tap into?

Hi, My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 7 1/2, three years ago.. He is non aggressive, just finds sitting still hard and concentrating at school even harder....things that I did that worked for me:-

Hubby and I went on a parenting course, to help us deal with his behaviour and be more positive with him.

Bought the book "Understanding ADHD" by Christopher Green.

Joined ADDIS

Removed all artificial colourings and preservatives from his diet (sugar was not really the problem). Immediate transformation.

Did some OT to help his coordination (not sure how much it helped)

Spoke to his teachers about how they could help him. Had a homework buddy/ someone to explain things to him again. Learnt to put his hand up when he missed something. Asked them to make instructions shorter, use simpler words. We also gave him a wriggle cushion to sit on at school and a ball to squeeze during lessons to help him concentrate.

Got his eyesight tested and his tracking.

Ed Psych helped by giving us lots of recommendations, but made sure we only tried a few new things every year, as we didn't want him to feel like an experiment.

Resisted putting him on Ritalin for over two years, but finally agreed and he seems to focus better. He knows when he needs to take it.

Hope some of this helps. I felt angry/frustrated a lot of the time, as there is not really one thing that works for everyone. Other people can be really unhelpful. As he gets older it will get easier. My son is now able to tell us when he can't do his homework straight away. He tells us when he needs to walk araound, when he needs to go and kick a football around for half an hour as his mind feels too busy. The parenting course made us see things from his point of view and we shout less at him in frustration.....