[angelkisses0102]

Anyone here dealing with this?? Can offer me some guidance??

DD is 8 and is very ADHD, is very bright, and mommy's gut says she has a learning disability as well. Her reading comprehension and math skills (lots of reading/word problems) are horrible. Our state (Florida ~ FCAT) starts standardized reading testing this year (3rd grade) and DD took a practice test and failed...miserably!

I have done a quick google search and learned many ADHD kids have LD's co-occuring (30%.) I *think* she probably has some sort of visual processing issue (visual sequencing, visual memory.) She is also a very 'right' brain kind of child and with the ADHD...she's struggling.

I feel her intelligence has allowed her to survive so far...but now that she needs a deeper level of reading comprehension...she can no longer mask this.

Besides the reading comp and math, she still confuses things like 'b' and 'd', follows verbal direction much better than written instructions, makes many errors when reading aloud and often doesn't read the endings of words.

I have made a written, offical request to her teacher for help...I will contact the ESE (SN) coordinator next...and plan on discussing with her pedi at her appointment on Friday.

But, wow, there is so much info out there, I don't even know where to begin!

Any ideas? Thanks!!

[its_a_small_world]

My son who is 10 has classic ADHD symptoms. He is very impulsive, very hyperactive and lacks focus. He is on Adderall XR 40 mg a day for this. We also have a 5 mg pill for him when he comes home from school for homework. Once the pills kick in his impulsiveness is much better (although it is still there and this is something that we work with him on), his fidgeting is gone and his focus is on key. He is a very smart kid (A's/B's) but with the ADHD he takes a bit longer to learn something, but then suddenly he just "gets it". He is in a regular classroom, but does have an IEP. This helps him put him in a small group for standardize testing. He doesn't need an aid to help write it down for him, he does it just fine.


It sounds like your DD has some fine motor skills issues. Occupational Theraphy can help with that. Does she have an IEP or a 504? This can help get her the OT and an in classroom Aid if needed. I'm sure others here can help more!

[angelkisses0102]

DD does not have an IEP or 504...yet. And I do think we need to increase her meds as well!

She has no FMS issues...at all. She has 'beautiful' handwriting...even cursive....and is a great artist. She just can't ever remember what way a b or d go...among others.

Thanks!

[peregrinerose]

Has she had her eyes checked yet by a good eye doc? A very well known side effect of ADHD meds is accommodative infacility... the eye can't change focus from distance to near. The end result is poor reading comprehension due to lack of ability to focus on what is on a page. It's very easily treated with bifocal glasses. A lot of kids with ADHD have eye issues on top of this, and the first step to ruling out a 'learning disability' is to get the eyes checked. An 8 year old can't tell you there's a problem, as vision is learned after birth, so whatever a younger child like that sees is 'normal' to them.

[crick]

I second getting her eyes checked and then if there's nothing there, maybe look into dyslexia? The comprehension, not completing the sentences/words/b & d mix up can be related to dyslexia.

Like any learning disability spectrum, dyslexia covers a big one, so often it goes unnoticed if not all the components are presented together. For example, her writing is awesome and a lot of times kids with dyslexia have problems in both reading and writing. So it might not be thought of because her writing is so good.

[shy_bear]

I can so relate!! My dd is 8; she takes 20mg of Ritalin a day. She excels in math, but reading and being able to comprehend what she reads is very difficult for her. She does have a 504 in place. We actually are having another mtg with the school in 2 weeks. Her teacher feels she is making great progress and no additional testing is needed at this point. I feel we have been at this for years now and although she does improve she is still behind. She also has a hard time putting her thoughts on paper; she can orally tell her teacher the correct answers, but not write them. We have had her eyes screened, she failed the vision test at school, and we were told she is ok.

[arbuckle17]

I was diagnosed with a minor case of ADHD when i was a child, but have since been able to overcome it.

Reading comprehension is a symptom of it, and bad at word probs goes hand in hand with that.

b and d is a sympton of dyslexia, I am not sure if that relates to the adhd it might be an issue on it's own.

Do her the favor of taking her to a specialist rather than the pediatrician. I took a med named dexadrin as opposed to rittallin and avoided a lot of the side effects. Additionally, they were cautious to not over med, I have seen some scary stuff come out of pediatricians who don't fully understand the DX.

What she is experiencing would be similar to you trying to read with a blow horn comming from a random location every 2 min. Except her blow horn is any movement or sound. It is a sort of hypersensitivity and what makes it worse is her inability to sit still which in turn lends to its own distraction.

The meds generall reduce those outside annoyances.

Something else to try is a weighted lap pad. It gives a general pressure on their legs as they work which gives the kiddo's something that is a constant unintrupting focus. I never used one myself but we use one with our autistic kiddo and it helps him a lot.

[hrisme]

Dealing with it myself--in addition to ADD (mild, but initially tested as severe due to co-existing disorders) I have an auditory processing disorder, and probably several other learning disabilities we simply threw on as "LD-NOS" since I didn't particularly need them to get services (big fan of only using a label if it serves a cause).

Vision issues can also be a big factor in it--who would have known I was walking into walls not because I was "spacy" but because I couldn't see???

I agree with others, get an eye exam & a full diagnostic evaluation will be worth it's weight in gold in getting services (you should be able to force the school to do it, but doing it privately is faster though it may cost its weight in gold!).

[lucyjoy]

Have her eyes checked by a developmental optomitrist. Many eye docs only check the eyes one at a time. Several of mine had trouble with both eyes not tracking together. When this happens, the brain gets two different messages about what letter is seen first. It's easy to correct with eye exercises.

[peregrinerose]

Originally Posted by lucyjoy

Have her eyes checked by a developmental optomitrist. Many eye docs only check the eyes one at a time. Several of mine had trouble with both eyes not tracking together. When this happens, the brain gets two different messages about what letter is seen first. It's easy to correct with eye exercises.

With optometrists, it's the same as any other doc... there are really good ones and really crappy ones. There's a 'developmental OD' right now who claims to 'cure' everything from autism to ADHD through vision therapy. This is BS. There are ODs like me that are not 'developmental optometrists' but do the full battery of binocular vision testing, so that the appropriate referral for vision therapy can be made if needed.

The issue that goes along with ADHD and the meds is accommodative infacility most of the time, and that's treated with glasses most of the time. I'm all for VT just like I'm all for ocular surgery... but you have to use the right tool at the right time.

Switching bs and ds isn't necessarily dyslexia. That can be a visual processing disorder, an auditory processing disorder, an binocular vision disorder, and accommodative disorder, or high farsightedness as well as dyslexia.

Unfortunately, the insurance that most foster/adoptive kids have is medical assistance. It's really hard to find a good doc of any specialty that takes it because the pay rate is so low. I don't participate for that reason. However, I do free eye exams for kids in foster care/adoptive placement on an as needed basis if parents suspect there is a problem that the present eye doc isn't correcting, and they get the full battery of testing. Of the kids I've seen, 100% of them had significant visual issues ranging from high prescriptions to psychogenic visual function loss.

[its_a_small_world]

I wouldn't worry too much about putting thoughts on paper at 8 years old. My DS had this issue until 4th grade. He LOVES to read anything and could let you verbally know what is going on, but not on paper. Writing assignments for school were the worst and we had many crying sessions. His teacher and Aid really worked with him in school and we did as well at home. Towards the end of 4th and now in the 5th he does really well with it. I have heard this of many kids, not just those w/LD's. I just think it's the age.

[angelkisses0102]

So DD went to the pedi today...and we are upping her Vyvanse to 30 mg to start. If that doesn't work, we will try Concerta. I am also going to have the school do their evaluation and we are taking her to a behavorial health institute that does 'everything':
Learning Disabilities (LD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Behavioral Assessment
Emotional and Personality problems
Autism Spectrum
Psychoeducational Assessment
Aptitude and Achievement
Neuropsychological Assessment.

The pedi is not compfortable with us taking her to a developmental optomotrist...but if we don't find anything thru the above, we will go to the neuro-ophthalmologist DS saw.

Thanks everyone!