Dyslexia/ADD?

[carol]

An ER is an Evaluation Report. It is a summary of the testing results. I do believe he should be getting it as well. I took him to a Scottish Rite Learning Center which is free Orton-Gillingham tutoring. A new center opened up in my city and I hawked the tutor to death until she took my son. After 6 months, I saw progress. The tutor was very versed in her field, but seemed to have somewhat of an agenda in that she counseled and encouraged me to seek assistance in getting my son a stimulant med to help with his ADD. He has not been officially dx since he has emotional issues which drs cannot be definitively sure if this is what intrudes on his focus. As a mother and an educator. I do think he has it, but as I have a strong gene in the family for Bipolar disorder and the complications that could affect my son if he innately has bipolar, I simply do not wish to start a stimulant med. It pains me to see him move at a slower pace and see him frustrated at times, but as he becomes more aware of his problems, he learns by way of his school and therapist and me, new, positive, healthy ways to cope with it. I ask myself often, an I doing him a disservice by not giving him the ritalin? I have to say I am ambivalent. I do see a difference with motivation and focus with the coromega. I am giving him time, time he has in a small learning environment of 6 children in the class to establish positive behavior patterns, learn to regulate himself with behavior mod and talk therapy and be happy. He is happier here. As long as it took him to get into the negative behavior patterns he learned at his old school is going to take just as long, hopefully not, to learn positive behavior patterns. He is in a therapeutic learning environment. I think he will be alright. It is me that has to stop feeling guilty and release some of the hateful feelings I have for the school officials who were at his old school.

[carol]

My son's IEP meeting is scheduled for the end of March. I think I will have a better idea of his progress and go from there. Thanks for all your input. It has been helpful.

[rakuflames]

Mar 1, 2008 18:15:53 GMT -5 carol said:

An ER is an Evaluation Report. It is a summary of the testing results. I do believe he should be getting it as well. I took him to a Scottish Rite Learning Center which is free Orton-Gillingham tutoring. A new center opened up in my city and I hawked the tutor to death until she took my son. After 6 months, I saw progress. The tutor was very versed in her field, but seemed to have somewhat of an agenda in that she counseled and encouraged me to seek assistance in getting my son a stimulant med to help with his ADD. He has not been officially dx since he has emotional issues which drs cannot be definitively sure if this is what intrudes on his focus. As a mother and an educator. I do think he has it, but as I have a strong gene in the family for Bipolar disorder and the complications that could affect my son if he innately has bipolar, I simply do not wish to start a stimulant med. It pains me to see him move at a slower pace and see him frustrated at times, but as he becomes more aware of his problems, he learns by way of his school and therapist and me, new, positive, healthy ways to cope with it. I ask myself often, an I doing him a disservice by not giving him the ritalin? I have to say I am ambivalent. I do see a difference with motivation and focus with the coromega. I am giving him time, time he has in a small learning environment of 6 children in the class to establish positive behavior patterns, learn to regulate himself with behavior mod and talk therapy and be happy. He is happier here. As long as it took him to get into the negative behavior patterns he learned at his old school is going to take just as long, hopefully not, to learn positive behavior patterns. He is in a therapeutic learning environment. I think he will be alright. It is me that has to stop feeling guilty and release some of the hateful feelings I have for the school officials who were at his old school.

"The tutor was very versed in her field, but seemed to have somewhat of an agenda in that she counseled and encouraged me to seek assistance in getting my son a stimulant med to help with his ADD."

That's not an agenda. That's her professional opinion. Unlike a teacher, she is providing these services to you for free, and she undoubtedly believes that he would benefit.

This is also my view When a child has both AD/HD and another difficulty (in this case Dyslexia), I think it is important that meds at least be given a try, and I can't think of a good (accurate) reason for not doing that.

She has undoubtedly seen children with AD/HD who went on meds and then benefited more from her services. I really do think she has your son's best interests at heart even if you don't agree with her.

You don't have to agree with me but I hope you wont' judge her too harshly. I think her heart is in the right place. It really is possible that he would progress faster on meds.

[carol]

Rakuflames,

With the tutor not being a doctor, I am concerned as to her giving me advice. She is advising to something when she does not have all the facts. He was not officially dx and seemingly has more pronounced emotionally issues with a strong family backround of bipolar disorder. Giving a stimulant med to a child who could possibly has a genetic gene for bipolar disorder can potentially be harmful, also he was dx as cllinically anxious. If I was going to try any med, it would be an anti-anxiety. She was counseling based on her past experience. I do not judge harshly, but am concerned as to how she can counsel or would have any authority to counsel a parent on a med when she does not know the child's entire history. She projected her opinion quite readily. He was progressing, but I could be wrong, maybe not quite as quickly as she would have liked. She pushed him to frustration and he began to shut down especially only after she knew I was not medicating. He was reading and she pushed me and she pushed him to a point, and then he stopped, stopped working, stopped reading. She asked him to leave when he was no longer working with her. After 6 mons of work, she asked him to leave. If he was difficult in the beginning, I could see it, but he did progress to a point where he was decoding and she asked him to leave. I do not think he stopped solely because of her. I think there was much truth in the assessments of his doctors in saying , "Although G has some attentional difficulties, his anxiety and depression are far more striking and of concern." Children can have attention difficulties for a number of reasons. Is he innately ADD/ADHD? Possibly, probably, I don't know and the doctors do not seem to know, because he has other mental health issues. I guess I could press the doctors for a cocktail of meds to deal with all his issues. Right now, he does seem happy in his learning environment. He makes positive steps in all areas of his life (socially, emotionally, academically, behaviorally), although they are baby steps, they are there and we praise him for them. I apologize for sounding somewhat resentful towards the tutor. She brought him to a point no other person has. She educated me tremendously. I respect her and will be always indebted to her for the precious time she did teach my son.

[rakuflames]

Mar 3, 2008 18:40:08 GMT -5 carol said:

Rakuflames,

With the tutor not being a doctor, I am concerned as to her giving me advice. She is advising to something when she does not have all the facts. He was not officially dx and seemingly has more pronounced emotionally issues with a strong family backround of bipolar disorder. Giving a stimulant med to a child who could possibly has a genetic gene for bipolar disorder can potentially be harmful, also he was dx as cllinically anxious. If I was going to try any med, it would be an anti-anxiety. She was counseling based on her past experience. I do not judge harshly, but am concerned as to how she can counsel or would have any authority to counsel a parent on a med when she does not know the child's entire history. She projected her opinion quite readily. He was progressing, but I could be wrong, maybe not quite as quickly as she would have liked. She pushed him to frustration and he began to shut down especially only after she knew I was not medicating. He was reading and she pushed me and she pushed him to a point, and then he stopped, stopped working, stopped reading. She asked him to leave when he was no longer working with her. After 6 mons of work, she asked him to leave. If he was difficult in the beginning, I could see it, but he did progress to a point where he was decoding and she asked him to leave. I do not think he stopped solely because of her. I think there was much truth in the assessments of his doctors in saying , "Although G has some attentional difficulties, his anxiety and depression are far more striking and of concern." Children can have attention difficulties for a number of reasons. Is he innately ADD/ADHD? Possibly, probably, I don't know and the doctors do not seem to know, because he has other mental health issues. I guess I could press the doctors for a cocktail of meds to deal with all his issues. Right now, he does seem happy in his learning environment. He makes positive steps in all areas of his life (socially, emotionally, academically, behaviorally), although they are baby steps, they are there and we praise him for them. I apologize for sounding somewhat resentful towards the tutor. She brought him to a point no other person has. She educated me tremendously. I respect her and will be always indebted to her for the precious time she did teach my son.

Sorry. I thought he had been diagnosed with AD/HD. You are right to be cautious with a family history of bipolar.

I don't want to tell you what to do either, but I am glad you can see that she means well. I think I would tell such people once - if they're working with the child - that there are medical reasons for being so cautious and make it politely clear that the topic is a closed one.