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ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
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By SwanJac
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Wed 28 May 2008 15:15
I was told before my Downs son went to school that he would not be tested for ADHD until he was at least 4 years old or older. Jac was 7 in April and since September 2007 the school and myself finally filled in the ADHD test sheets and then sent them off. I had an appointment to see the community peads with reagrds to the test sheets. Instead of a diagnosis, instead he gave me the NEW electronic form to fill in (this happened 5 months later)
. Last Friday (9 months from the start of the testing) my son had his school medical with the community peads and still no outcome of the results to the ADHD tests. They did say he is definatley ADHD but will not put pen to paper. Instead they are now sending him to the childrens mental health team. By the time this child is diagnosed we would have spent 4 years faffing about and no-one doing anything about it. Talk about being pushed from pillar to post 
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So the conlusion is;-
Any parent considering having your child tested for ADHD.Be prepared for the professional to waste 4 years of your childs life also your life without actually doing anything about the problem that was reported all those years ago!!
A bit of good advice when seeing the doctor for ADHD -
Just sit back and do nothing, let them see the true extent of your childs behaviour, do not stand in their way unless they will cause themself harm.
The nurse at the end of the appointment with be a nervous wreck and totally drained, but at least they will see exactly what the parents and family have to put up with from the time your child wakes in the morning till you give them their sleeping tablets at night.
Replies
- By kerry.
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Re: ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
Wed 28 May 2008 20:28sympathies swan jac- i know where youre coming from.
my yongest apparently according to the clinical psychologist who met him at school (where he was being completely occupied by his one to one) for two sessions of 15 minutes concluded that he didnt have ADHD and a bit of behavioural therap and parenting classes would do the trick.
he has fragile x syndrome and autism- adhd goes with the territory. my other son has the same but we didnt need to get him tested for adhd as hes quite mellow most of the time but doesnt sleep.
i soon put that silly cow straight- and got my own way about the ritalin!
stick with it mate. dont give upthe fight.
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By Gingatossa
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Re: ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
Thu 29 May 2008 11:33Hi SwanJac!
My eldest son has ADHD.....he wasn't diagnosed until he was 11.... even though i had suspected it since he was very small. He was always in trouble at school but as he his gifted/talented across the board, the teachers kept saying that he was far too bright to have ADHD!!
When he went upto middle school, the very first parents evening was the first that somebody else had noticed! He had only been at the school 6 months when it was suggested he was Dyspraxic and ADHD, and the investigation took 2 years.
Ironically, and i find it hilarious, i was studying for a Ba (Hons) Behavioural Studies degree in which my chosen topic for my dissertation was ADHD. My title was ADHD - BEHAVIOURAL PHENOTYPE OR SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED 'PROBLEM'? I did a literature analysis that concluded ADHD was socially constructed and children in Western countries were being medicated as an agent of social control, knowing full well that my son was going through the diagnostic proceedure and that living with an ADHD child was a very real, stressful, demanding and exhausting way of life. Anyway, i handed my dissertation in on the Monday and my son was diagnosed on the Tuesday. He now takes Ritalin on school days only. I didn't want him taking medication but he wanted to trial it and he was hanging onto school life by his fingertips! Not that he was awfully behaved, but just that the impulsiveness took over and he had to touch, fiddle, shout the answers out etc!! I have a lovely pile of letters that have been sent from school in regards of his behaviour!! I truly believe, if he wasn't as bright as he is (he is a member of MENSA as i had him sit the test last year, after his school refused to put him on the Gifted/Talented register because of his antics!! i was very pleased to take his results into school!!!!)I am not a fan of clinical pyschiatrists/child psychologists as my youngest was sent to see one as he is being investigated for Asperger's. We all went as a family, including my ex-hubby, my partner and my daughter who is 12 but has profound physical.mental disabilities that she is more like a 3 month old baby. The report came back that my youngest suffered with anxiety as a result of having such a disabled sister that clearly got all the attention!!!!
I was f***ing fuming! I wrote back to him clearly pointing out where he had misinterpreted and wrongly recorded info from out 2 hour session and stated that he couldn't come to that conclusion from a snapshot meeting of our family!!!! Needless to say, i heard nothing back!
The school and the child clinician thinks he too may have ADHD, as does his school.......
Fight all the way for what your gut instinct tells you and you can't go wrong!!!
Good luck with it xXx
- By kerry.
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Re: ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
Thu 29 May 2008 20:05grrrr GT these bloody psychologists!
mind you the one we had, this woman, well my mate had her son referred to her recently.
when she told me i just said well bloody good luck mate cos youll need it....
anyway some time passed and my mate told me that apparently there is nothing wrong with her son (according to this psychologist) and that hes just got them all on a bit of string and its thier own fault for not putting his needs above the family- e g if he decides he doesnt wanna go out at the last minute, even for a family occasion, they are meant to say "oh ok then we will all stay home" (even tho theres nothing wrong with him!!!!)
bearing in mind this boy goes to a school for severe sld and is autistic.the problem is that my mate has been trying to get respite for years (hes never been away form home overnight, expcept once we had him) and hes 13.
but now her chances are even less cos of what this stupid woman says as she carries a lot of clout.grrrr
some of em... well, it makes you wonder dunnit!
- By jimmytom
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Re: ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
Fri 6 Jun 2008 23:34Sorry to hear that you are having so many problems. It's nothing less than incompetence. It's outrageous, our money is being spent on these people who waste time - in your case years. Keep fighting.
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By SwanJac
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Re: ADHD Testing Farse!!!!!
Sat 7 Jun 2008 00:57Hi Guys (Update).
Thanks for the advice, yet I have been told tonight from Jacs LSA that the waiting list to be seen by the childrens mental health team is up to nearly 2 years. I am now left scratching my head as Jac was 7 in April and this will now mean he could be as old as 9 before they do something. I dont think I can cope another 2 years!!!
This will also mean it would have taken these so called professionals 6 ruddy years to get this sorted. This is totally unexceptable, As already stated A COMPLETE FARSE AND LET DOWN YET AGAIN BY THIS COUNTRY