My daughter is in the 5th grade and is ADHD. She is on a waiting list to be tested, I think it's called assymetric (sp?) testing, to see what her strong subjects are and the week ones and also to find out ways of better helping her. She has been on the waiting list for a year now and still waiting. Has anyone had this testing done? Also, I'm trying to find ways to better communicate with her teacher and ways for me to help her more. What can I do?:confused:

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Nathalie:o

HI! I'm new too. I have an 8y/o dx last year as ADHD. I'd be interested in what you find out about that test. Keep me posted.

You can read more about me in the "education & learning" or "new member info" .

Been there and done that, My son was waiting for way to long, they tryed to blame it on everything else. Almost as if they didnt want to test him. After all the run aroung I took him in and had him tested at the cleveland clinic. When i came back with his paper work that said he was ADHD, then I got some action. The schools are more than helpful now. If your insurance will cover it, or most of it I wouldnt wait. The sooner you know the sooner you can act and the child is who is inportant .
Best of luck.

Witsend, hopefully we will both learn something soon.

Decrovid, she does get some help at school since her pediatrician sent them a letter, but the test they want to do is to see what her strong subjects and her weeker ones are and the best way to help her. Right now they do help her but she is not identified as being a child that needs help so this test would help. I'm trying to find out how to go about to get her tested outside of school, but having no luck as to where I can take her. Thanks again for the info.

Start w/ her ped. tell them everything that concerns you & that should get you started. or go to the school resouce specialist/ counselor(?). I found that they are a HUGE help & very understanding w/ lots of info since thats what they're employed by the school dist for.

Most of the time a school psychologist will test for learning disabilities and not ADHD. Psychometrics is another word for testing. Regardless of the outcome, I believe you are entitled to an independent evaluation outside of the school setting. Here's an excellent website : www.wrightslaw.com

I stand corrected on the independent evaluation. I just noticed you live in Canada. Sorry. I don't know how it is assessed there or if the school psychologist's roles are identical to ours in the States. I do wish you luck and think the other posts have provided excellent feedback. Good luck.:)

I did talk to her ped and the school resource specialist and she is on the waiting list and there is nothing they can do to make it move faster. They are giving her more help in the subjects she seems to show a hard time in and for some she is moved to a smaller group which seems to help. I just hope she gets that testing done so we know exactly what is going on.

Thank for all the feedback it did help.

Keep pushing ---remember---the squeeky wheel gets the oil!!

The one on one time has help tremendously w/ F5. He fell behind in his reading last year barely at 1.3 grade level at the end of the school year & I just got his RC & he's moved up to a 2.5 --right where he needs to be. he's 2nd grade.

I agree with witsend. Russell Barkley 's book Taking Charge of ADHD encourages parents to become what he calls "executive parents." By that he means that the child is the corporation and the parent(s) are the CEO's, while the school and the docs are like your consultants.

There's an entire section devoted to ways in which to help ADHD kids in the classroom in Sandra Rief's book The ADHD Book of Lists. By putting it in list form she has saved everyone the time of looking up each of these strategies from their different sources.She also provides references as well.

Good luck to you and your child.:)

Adhd List Book Is Awsome!!! I Highly Recommend It To You As Well!!
One Time Last Year My Son Recieved An Award (!) For His Love Of Learning About Science, Well The Class Had A Field Trip To The Science Museum The Next Week & Because Of His Behavior On The Last Ft. The Teacher & Principal Told Me He Was Banned From This One. I Took Him Anyways& Made Sure They Knew We Were There.--after That They Didn't Ignore Me When It Came To Him.

Wonderful job.Sometimes it takes being assertive to get their attention,especially as it pertains to truly understanding the disorder, which is an ongoing process for all of us.:)

Thank you! I have a don't mess w/ me & my kid kinda attitude. My husband thought I was crazy--oh well!

Thanks for the names of books, I looked at some at the library, but they are older, now I know which ones to look for. I'm more assertive at school with her teachers and others. I don't want her to miss out because they don't know how to do their jobs.

Thanks girls.

It has been my experience that the kids that are adhd/hyper with behavior issues in class are the ones that get tested first. So fortunately, with my son being off the chart hyper with major behavior issues, he was sent to be tested early on. We we very fortunate. I have had to push for other tests though. Like when he was in kindergarten, they complained about his messing handwriting. I called my insurance and at the time, it covered an occupantional therapist to actually come to his school and observe him. She was able to suggest modifications for both the teacher and myself such as larger lined paper, fatter pencils, a extra piece of paper on his desk for doodling so that he wouldn't constantly me drawing on his school work, and a stress type ball on his desk so that he could fidgit. He used to press down very hard when he wrote with a pencil. If he made a mistake, he would get soooooooooo frustrated and actually tear wholes in his papers when erasing. What a mess. He would then have to start over. Which again was a nightmare.

When we first started the IEP process, my mom would go with me and we'd be at a big table full of teachers, resources personnel, principal etc and I would leave ready to cry because I was so frustrated. They make it seem like it's all your fault. That you don't work with your child enough at home reading and teaching social skills. That is defininately not the case. I have a daughter who is 2 years older than him that is the exact oppposite. I eventually contacted the organizaiton CHADD and started to go to a few of their meetings. I got the name of a Special Ed Advocate that worked for a disability lawyer. Boy did she know her stuff. I paid her $50 per hour to attend the IEP meetings with my mom and I, and it was worth every penny. By the way, my husband can't do these types of meetings due to his ADD and would definitely loose his cool with the teachers and cause a scene :)

With the experienced advocate, we would walk into the meeting much more confident. (I started wearing red at meetings to show them who was in charge.) She brought a tape recorder because they always denied saying things at the previous IEP meetings. She had a wide variety of stories from other local schools and what was and was not done to the children. Usually I had to bring her when he was suspended. After a few years, my mom and I are his advocates. We know what is legal and what is not. We also bring a tape recorder. I demanded that due to his learning disability in math, he will use a calculator. Due to his adhd, he will stand up when he needs to. He will leave the room to cool down. He will be allowed to go to the bathroom when he needs to. In the past, when he was in the principals office for whatever, if he had to go the bathroom, they wouldn't let him and he'd wet his pants. I would have to leave work to bring him clothes. Boy did I let the principal have it. On another occasion, a substitute would not let him go to the bathroom and he again wet his pants. I doubt that the sub is subbing any longer. I also let him have it.

Another test that I had to push for was an audio processing test. This had a long waiting list but I demanded that he get it done asap. This is the test that they wear headphones for and tell which ear they hear the beep. Two words are given at the same time and they tell which, if any, word they hear. This test was VERY beneficial because he did lack in audio processing skills. This means that the teachers HAVE to make sure that he understands what they are saying. His hearing is fine. He just is not perfect in processing what he hears. The teachers have to break the instructions down for him. Instead of open your science book, turn to chapter 13, read paragraphs 4 and 5 and do the questions....they would make sure that first he gets out his science book. Then he turns to the chapter, etc.... It's the same if you give your child instructions. Break it down to first go to your room. Pick up your clothes. Put them in the hamper, etc.... It really helps. Otherwise, he will go into his room and come out and say "what did you want me to do?".

Grade school was horrible for us because the teachers were not as familiar with adhd as I would have hoped. They are now.

Middle school (6th grade) has been better. In the first month, I constantly got phone calls regarding his talking out in class, throwing paper, fidgeting, touching others, etc... I had a standard phrase of "Have you read his IEP". When they called again, I would say "Have you read his IEP". I guess they finally read his IEPs when I sent copies of it to all his teachers, including the Assistant Principal and Resource Officers.

He just got suspended in February for 1 day out of school and 1 day in school. The school did not handle this well at all and I again let them know. His grandfather was in ICU for 2 weeks and passed way. Two days later my son had his issue with hitting another student. They are friends and were just messing around but they actually saw my son hitting. I told them everything that had been going on in his past week but they did not seem to care and suspended him anyway. I immediately called the head of the special student district who advised me that if this is his first suspension all year, he's doing great. He is getting good grades and has perfect atendance. She calmed me down and said to just let him serve the suspension and come back with a new start. We did this but I also gave the Assistant (weasle) Principal a seize and desist on calling me in the future and for him to put everything in writing.

Oh well....he's in 6th grade now. Only 6 more to go. I call him my "ticket to heaven".

Don't give up. Play the legal cards. Read your rights. If possible, find an advocate that knows the law and can teach you what you need to know because it's a long venture but you can do it.

Hope this helps.

That was very helpful and an excellent post.It spoke from the heart and shows resliency on your part.Good luck.:)