Saturday, November 24, 2007
My husband has been diagnosed as a child with ADD, later in his life while in marriage counseling he was really diagnosed and put on medication. It has helped him very much. My problem now lies with my son. well I have thought that he has had ADHD since he was small and before my husband was diagnosed with it because of his hyperactivity, but of course he was too young to diagnose. Now that he is older I see more and more of the possible symptoms that could diagnose him with it...well like every one of them! He is having issues in school because of the disruptions that he causes in school. I am in the Coast Guard and my husband and child live far from me in FL I am not there all the time but I can see as the time goes by that the symptoms get more and more pronounced. My question is does the public school system have prgrams for someone to go to the school and help with the diagnoses or is this all of the parents responsibility all of the requirements for the diagnosis of this?
Thanks for your post. ADHD is a medical diagnosis and therefore should be diagnosed by a doctor. Many family doctors today can accurately diagnosis ADHD. They will have both the parents and teacher complete a questionnaire and will have discussions with the parents and the child to help determine if ADHD is present. Your school district can evaluate for other conditions, such as learning disabilities.
You or your husband should start with your family doctor, if they are not able to help you, they should be able to help you find someone in your area that can evaluate your son.
In the meantime, your husband can set up some behavioral strategies at home and with the teacher to help your son succeed.
For more informaton on this:
The Diagnosis of ADHD
Finding a Health Care Professional
Treatment of ADHD
Creating a Treatment Plan
Behavior Modification
Creating a Discipline Process at Home
Parenting Children with ADHD
I hope this information helps.
Eileen