ADHD/ Emotionally Disturbed Question

<<Hi, I have a question for the educational experts here. A friend of mines son was recently evaluated through the school system. The determination was that there is “more than just ADHD”, he has real problems with social skills and doesn’t seem to be able to read social cues at all from others, he has academic challenges, although responds fairly well to one on one instruction and guidance, he has a problem with noise making and smelling papers- although his Dr doesn’t think that he has OCD or tourettes, I’m not sure about all testing, overall IQ was 91 and his verbal vs non-verbal scores were 127 and 76. >>

Hi Roxie,

Gosh, what I want to say about those experts can’t be repeated on this board. As an adult with NLD/ADHD, please tell your friend to take a look at these NLD sites to see if this kid might have it. It sounds like he has all the signs but of course, I don’t want to play amateur psychologist even though it sounds like I could do better than those folks.

http://www.nldline.com
http://www.nldonthweb.org
http://www.nlda.org

Unfortunately, I can’t advise as to how to conduct the fight but Sue Thompson, who is the premier expert on NLD, says that kids with that condition do not belong in a class for kids with ED. Yes, they have emotional issues but the underlying problems causing them are totally different. For example, many NLDers would not do well with a logical consequences program .

Even if I am wrong about the NLD diagnosis, I would think that an ED classroom would be the wrong place for a kid with ADHD. It seems that is the school’s way of coping out and not wanting to provide accomodations that might cause those emotional issues to lessen.

Hope this helps.

PT

Thanks PT
NLD is exactly what the mom sees from the research she has done. The psychiatrist, that doesn’t speak to the child during visits, said no when the mom suggested it and decided to increase his Concerta to 54mgs and add Lexapro, which does seem to be helping with the noises. I will give my friend those websites to look at, I haven’t seen them before. Thanks again for your input.

Has his hearing been checked by a specialist?

Well if he has Tourettes that would not be emotional. Sure stress plays in, as it does for many things in life. But it would be considered a neurological problem. OCD is one of those things that has been considered a mental/emotional problem. However a lot of kids seem to have it without other signs of emotional problems like depression, etc. It does go along with Aspergers and Tourettes among other things.

I think the good doc is not the best doc for you. YOu need someone who is more a neuropsyche type.

—des

I’ve shared your comments with my friend- She thanks you all. She is too concerned about the ED label and just what that means. For now, in elementary school, it doesn’t mean a special classroom, but pull-out of the regular classroom during specified times and he can now go to the social worker, PhD, or resource teacher instead of the principal when he is behaving inappropriately during class. I work in the middle school he will be attending and I know that they do have a BD classroom, so my concern (which I haven’t shared with his mom) is that the ED label may land him there, especially if there are still behavior issues. Does anyone think that it is in this mom’s and child’s best interest to push the school for neuropsych testing? I know for a fact that their families insurance does not cover any neuropsychs.

The danger of the label is greatest when it is the WRONG one…sounds to me as if the good Dr. ‘doesn’t know/believe’ in the NLD dx, which I am sure is a bad sign…and the school has written the child off and passed the problem over to his parent! I’m not a teacher, but it seems I have read that the ED label is the most dangerous of all, even if appropriate, when it comes to ‘warehousing’ of ‘unteachable’ children…hope some of the knowledgable teachers will jump in here, Roxie!

I’d change doctors if possible, and FOR SURE reject the ED label and push for neuropsych testing…hope you will get some advice on the how-to’s.

You are a good friend and a true ‘tiger mama’! For the whole jungle…!

I’m joining the party late as I normally don’t read this forum but I’d agree that EBD IS a warehouse in our district. My older child was labeled EBD for anzity disorder and I’d never, ever do it again. EVER. Only 23% of our EBD students graduate and I now know why….