ADD/ADHD

These are questions that are easy to answer by looking up some information. Try Mel Levine’s Educational Care book for good strategies.

ADD = attention deficit disorder
ADHD attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity

The Connors Scale is a popular diagnostic tool but diagnosing ADD or ADHD is hardly an exact science.

New term ADHD replaces the older term ADD.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ADHD_Bulletin_Board/

[quote=”kykz”]What is the difference between ADD and ADHD? How do you identify symptoms of each disorder in our students? What are the best teaching techniques?[/quote]

I understand a lot about the issue due to having a child with ADHD; however, as a teacher I sometimes “know too much” and therefore, I am not sure of what I can tell parents to ensure their child gets tested without holding the district responsible for paying for it. What is a good way to handle this?

[quote=”kiverson”]I understand a lot about the issue due to having a child with ADHD; however, as a teacher I sometimes “know too much” and therefore, I am not sure of what I can tell parents to ensure their child gets tested without holding the district responsible for paying for it. What is a good way to handle this?[/quote]

If you “know” that a child is exhibiting signs of ADHD, then you have a moral (and probably a legal) obligation to tell the parent of your concerns and to inform them of the availability of testing at school expense. A good way, indeed the only way, to “handle” such matters is to play fair with parents. Your job is to provide a free and appropriate education for every student. It is not to save the school district’s money. If the child needs testing, then the school district must pay for it. If I knew where you taught, I would report the school district to the Department of Justice for suspected IDEA violations.

An outraged teacher

on her? She just asked a question…Sometimes parents don’t want to “hear” what we suspect and if we even mention the “ADD” word they go ballistic and say it is the teachers fault that they have it…So it is a no win situation on either side…Been there done that. I have learned to be more tolerant of differences of opinions.

[quote=”patti”]on her? She just asked a question…Sometimes parents don’t want to “hear” what we suspect and if we even mention the “ADD” word they go ballistic and say it is the teachers fault that they have it…So it is a no win situation on either side…Been there done that. I have learned to be more tolerant of differences of opinions.[/quote]

But her question was, essentially, “how can I make sure parents get their kids tested at the own expense so that my school district won’t have to foot the bill?” Sorry, but I don’t think we should be tolerant of any teacher who thinks their job is to find a way to permit their employer to avoid its legal obligations.

Outraged teacher

[quote=”Anonymous”][quote=”patti”]on her? She just asked a question…Sometimes parents don’t want to “hear” what we suspect and if we even mention the “ADD” word they go ballistic and say it is the teachers fault that they have it…So it is a no win situation on either side…Been there done that. I have learned to be more tolerant of differences of opinions.[/quote]

But her question was, essentially, “how can I make sure parents get their kids tested at the own expense so that my school district won’t have to foot the bill?” Sorry, but I don’t think we should be tolerant of any teacher who thinks their job is to find a way to permit their employer to avoid its legal obligations.

Outraged teacher[/quote]I also don’t think it’s a teacher’s job to diagnose a student with anything. That’s what doctors are for. Too many times there are other reasons for what they feel is “ADD/ADHD” associated behaviors such as family strife, physical or mental abuse, post traumatic stress disorder etc. Teachers need to stick with the FACTS and stop trying to label every kid in their class. jmho

frustrated parent

[quote=”suezqz”]I also don’t think it’s a teacher’s job to diagnose a student with anything. That’s what doctors are for. Too many times there are other reasons for what they feel is “ADD/ADHD” associated behaviors such as family strife, physical or mental abuse, post traumatic stress disorder etc. Teachers need to stick with the FACTS and stop trying to label every kid in their class. jmho

suezq,

I think you’ve misread something somewhere. The teacher wrote asking how she could get a child, who she though was showing signs of ADHD, to be tested to see if the child has the disorder. That is not a teacher diagnosing anything — that is a teacher saying “I have a concern that an expert should evaluate.” Teachers ought to be communicating those concerns to parents, even though that can be hard when the parents want to turn a blind eye. Just taking your examples of family strife, abuse, ptsd, those are all circumstances where a diagnosis of ADHD would be unlikely until other circumstances were ruled out as a cause of the problem. In any event, even if a child is experiencing these problems instead of ADHD, that child still needs some help, especially if it is affecting his or her school performance. So, again, it seems to me that teachers do have the responsibility to at least report the problems to the parents.

What is really wrong with the question this teacher asked however, is that the teacher was looking for advice on how to avoid having the school district pay for any testing to determine what was going on with the child. That’s not right and we all know it, or should.

[quote=”Anonymous”][quote=”suezqz”]I also don’t think it’s a teacher’s job to diagnose a student with anything. That’s what doctors are for. Too many times there are other reasons for what they feel is “ADD/ADHD” associated behaviors such as family strife, physical or mental abuse, post traumatic stress disorder etc. Teachers need to stick with the FACTS and stop trying to label every kid in their class. jmho[q/quote]
[quote]
suezq,

I think you’ve misread something somewhere. The teacher wrote asking how she could get a child, who she though was showing signs of ADHD, to be tested to see if the child has the disorder. That is not a teacher diagnosing anything — that is a teacher saying “I have a concern that an expert should evaluate.”[/quote]

I beg to differ. That is a teacher saying I think your child has XYZ (based on her personal experience) and needs to be tested for it. NOT I think your child has a problem because [i]he’s doing XYZ[/i] and maybe you should talk to your doctor about possible causes. That’s what I meant by sticking with the [b]facts[/b] and not presenting a possible diagnosis.

I do agree with your point about not circumnavigating the system so the schoold department doesn’t have to pay.

My point was meant to express caution to teachers who WILL say to a parent. I think little Johnny has ADD/ADHD you should get him tested. Sorry to drive the thread off topic.[/quote]

Quote “[i]Just taking your examples of family strife, abuse, ptsd, those are all circumstances where a diagnosis of ADHD would be unlikely until other circumstances were ruled out as a cause of the problem. In any event, even if a child is experiencing these problems instead of ADHD, that child still needs some help, especially if it is affecting his or her school performance. So, again, it seems to me that teachers do have the responsibility to at least report the problems to the parents.”[/i]

As a person who works in child welfare, I can assure you that kids are diagnosed all the time with ADHD when there are other complicating factors that are causing or exacerbating the situation, and that it is RARE that a physician ever looks into these problems before making a diagnosis. This is even true within the mental health community. I know of one kid who was in day treatment for 9 months before they discovered that he was being sexually molested by his father. The facility spent most of their time badgering the mother to put him back on stimulants, which had not been successful for him in her estimation. So it is wrong to assume that a child with an ADHD diagnosis has been screened for any other problem, especially if it is a problem a parent has an investment in keeping secret.

That being said, it is absolutely true that the teacher has an obligation to inform parents of any concerns they have regarding the child’s behavior. It is only problemmatic when the teacher makes assumptions or implications regarding the cause of the behavior. Even suggesting that the parent go to a physician to check for a particular condition can be perceived as pressuring the parent. The teacher’s job should be to inform the parent of the concerns, rather than speculating on causes. If the teacher wants to be helpful, they should instead be asking questions that may shed some light on the child’s behavior at home and what stressors they may be encountering in the environment, as well as asking the parent for feedback on what is workable for their child. In the end, the parent is responsible for medical decisions, and it is not the teacher’s job to push them in one direction or another. Many families have widely differing values regarding education, medical care, psychological care, parenting strategies, and much more. I think it is presumptuous for a teacher to insist on a certain strategy or approach to a problem, even if it is just to get a particular type of evaluation. They should be working to empower the parent to come up with a framing of the problem that the teacher and parent both can work with, and assist them in creating and implementing whatever plan the parent feels will be effective in addressing the problems. This teamwork approach works much better than telling the parent what to do or think, which tends to alienate or intimidate them. Teachers are perceived as having a lot of power. It needs to be used very gently and carefully if we want the best results.

“So it is wrong to assume that a child with an ADHD diagnosis has been screened for any other problem”

I agree. In all too many of the cases I’ve seen over the years people find what they expect to find - or what they’re trained to find. It’s not surprising at all.

John

Steve, thanks for saying so eloquently what I tried to express. I’m not against teachers, just against them stepping outside of their roles and offering advice they aren’t qualified to give.