Hi Jena,

Children as young as 4 can be diagnosed with ADHD but usually the younger ones are diagnosed because they are hyperactive and have behavioral issues. Your son may very well have the inattentive ADHD but it may be harder to diagnose at his age since the inattentive type doesn't attract as much attention from others. A doctor who is very knowledgeable about ADHD, esp. regarding the inattentive type, should be able to evaluate whether or not your son has it. My son has the inattentive type and he was not diagnosed until he was 10 years old and in 5th grade. He was smart but very disorganized, had horrible handwriting and didn't complete his homework or assignments and/or made careless mistakes. My daughter is inattentive as well and she only got diagnosed at 19 after her brother was diagnosed.

At home I had to constantly remind my son to do something and many times it still didn't get done. He would also become frustrated very easily.

You may want to research the inattentive type of ADHD, although there isn't as much research available on the inattentive type, in spite of the fact that an equal or greater amount of individuals have the inattentive type. Some of these individuals have a problem with arousal (my son had a difficult time waking up in the morning) and motivation. They may or may not be impulsive. They may tend to daydream or appear to be confused at times because they have slower mental processing. This has nothing to do with intelligence! Our neighbor has these same symptoms and his IQ is over 180!!

A significant portion of those with ADHD are left-handed (that's my daughter) and quite a few have poor handwriting (that's my son).

I hope I was able to be of some help.

Elaine

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While I'm not sure what to recommend, I know that just having my parents support and even their high expectations helped me through elementary and high school with undiagnosed ADD (I was diagnosed at age 24).

They kept me busy with piano lessons, violin lessons, private tutoring, etc. throughout my elementary school years and beyond. The piano lessons went as far back as first grade if not sooner, while I was kept busy with interesting after-school and in-school activities until I could start choosing them on my own (I love martial arts, dancing, sucked at singing, enjoyed theatre, got OVER focused on student government, and now have a career in research, writing, and computer programming).

When I had problems with controlling my speaking volume, they had me attend speech therapy at a young age. I suspect the speaking loudly was ADD related as opposed to a language problem, but it helped "calm" down my over-excited speech habits.

I feel just the fact that you're involved in both your sons' lives and that you're working with the school will benefit them greatly in the long run. As to whether or not you should hold them back - I'd go with my instincts if it were my situation. But in the end, I think your sons will turn out great.

On the side, I'm just surprised that a teacher would force right-handedness on a child (I'M left-handed!)! My grandparents did this to my Mom, and she thinks it really messed with her head (or it could have been undiagnosed ADD?). I understand in certain countries left-handedness is frowned upon, but in a school setting?

No offense to the teacher (well maybe a little), but if he/she is going to be that closed-minded about left-handedness, which I assume is a normal, acceptable, though not prevalent trait, how will ADD be handled?

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Thanks for the responses. I had a parent/teacher conference with the teacher for my youngest son. It was just unbelievable what she came out with! They have referred him for an occupational therapy evaluation because he would sometimes struggle to hold his pencil, regardless of which hand he used. However, she stated yesterday that she would like to have him evaluated by his doctor for low muscle tone in his back and neck. This is because he doesn't sit up in his chair for long periods of time when he's in her classroom. I explained that there's nothing wrong with his ability to sit up in a chair, and he does it quite well at home with no problems. Her response was "So, is it me?"

I explained that every morning he tells me he doesn't want to go to school, he hates being "the bad kid." He says he is "always getting in trouble". The homework he brings home is writing homework every day. Sometimes there are notes that say "needs to write this with his right hand" or "needs to write this with his left hand", and they are asking him to write the same thing 4 or 5 times on the paper. This for a child who is getting special education assistance because he struggles to write????

I expressed my concerns that he is getting bad marks (level changes) for things that are written in his IEP as problems he has. If we are having him assessed because he can't hold his paper correctly and has trouble writing, why are we giving him bad marks for not writing in the lines, not completing his writing assignment in a timely fashion, not wanting to start on a "free writing" assignment, etc. It's hypocritical - is it a problem that gets him extra assistance, or is it a behavioral issue?

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That teacher was WAY out of line! If your DS is already neurologically orgnaized to be a lefty, he is jsutified in becoming oppositional!

My daughter is a lefty, but she has a nerve injury to her right arm so maybe she should've been organized as a righty ... but anyhow, she has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and requires a lot of Special Ed. help ... we do not know if it is BECAUSE OF her neuro organization being forced on her (and I doubt it in fact), but I definitely have read that ASD is much more common in lefties. Which is no complaint against lefties.

But WHY in this day and age woudl the teacehr try to force him to CHANGE?

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I'm a lefty well into adulthood and nobody EVER dared make me switch. I did fine in school - as an honours student, actually - and left-handedness never hindered me one bit. I know several other lefties who also did well in school and can't understand why kids are STILL being made to switch. That is crazy! Whatever hand is dominant has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to learn. These teachers are have no idea what they are doing.

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Well, I had another meeting with school about the little guy. I swear, if I acted the way this teacher acts at my job, I wouldn't have a job! This teacher is horrible!!!!

He qualified for occupational therapy, so that will start on Thursday. They've also determined that he has at least one, if not 2, sensory processing disorders. The school will not test him for ADD, even at my request. I will have to contact his pediatrician for a referral to have him tested. I plan to do this today, to get an appointment in January.

Is is possible to have sensory processing disorders without ADD? I hadn't heard of them until my son was diagnosed with ADHD, then with auditory processing and OCD.

I have requested a letter from the pediatrician, noting that my youngest is left-hand dominant, and to allow him to complete his assignments left-handed. If this persists, I will contact the superintendant of the school. I think it's horrible to try to force anything on a child, especially something like this.

I want to write more, but I'm just too frustrated right now. Thanks for all the support!

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Two quick thoughts from a mom with a four and a half year old who has an official ADHD diagnosis...

I strongly recommend you have your son tested. If the school refuses, seek your own source for testing (you could push this issue with the school...I would think they would have to accomodate but it might not be worth the struggle). I recommend testing with a child psychologist using a diagnositc instrument in addition to seeing a peditrician. We begin working with a child psychologist at age 3 for EXTREME hyperactivity and behavior issues. She is our hero! We worked on behavioral therapy for a full year before she officially tested our son at age 4. He is is a pre-K program and doing extremely well at school (all previous school like experiences had been horrible).

A child psychologist will spend a significant amount of time with you and your family. He or she will use testing, etc. to establish a diagnosis. A pediatrician may spend just a few minutes with you and your child before jumping to one conclusion or another. I believe both a psychologist and a peditrician are important to the process. Use a team approach (by the way, we also see an OT for sensory and it has been a wonderful experience).

Finally, there is almost nothing more important that ensuring your son has as positive a school experience as possible. You want him to experience success young so that school doesn't become a chore or something he hates. I have no idea if your school system is large or small, etc., but if the teacher doesn't get your son...insist they move him to another class. When I read your comments about the way the teacher is handling this, I am infuriated! ADHD and similar disorders are not uncommon. If she can't handle that, she shouldn't be in the teaching profession. Do all you can to make your son's school experience a good one!

Best of luck!

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I am a child psychologist and I agree with the previous poster that you need one right away for a comprehensive evaluation. I would also consider consulting with the principal and with the special education coordinator for your school district about an official policy around handedness. If, as I suspect, there is not one, you need to make a positive statement that you want your child to be allowed to use his left hand and that any attempt to force right handedness will be acted on by you. the principal should then talk to the teacher and that should end that. The only reason to change handedness would be if an OT eval recommended a change because handedness was not fully established. The teacher has no say in this.

Also you need referrals for an advocate to attend all school staffings with you and to make sure you are getting an appropriate IEP and appropriate services. You can find referrals for your state at www.nichcy.org. Click on state resources, click on your state and find the parent information and training center that every state is required to have and they should be able to refer you. Or go to www.thearc.org and find the local ARC chapter for your state . They also have advocates. I am a professional advocate for families with children with special needs and I am based in Denver Colorado. I review all testing with parents, attend all school meetings and generally make sure schools comply with all laws and regulations to provide a child with appropriate services.

take care, Susan

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Hi Jena, I just read your post regarding how old to diagnose your son for ADHD. I feel terrible for you and what you have been going through. I work in the school system as an Instructional Aide for children with ADHD and Autism. I am appalled at the thought of the teacher trying to force your son to write with their left hand. This is a very archaeic method of teaching. I didn't think there was anyone today who would try such a thing. I would definitely report the teachers behavior as they leave a huge impression on children especially at his age. There is a couple of things I'd like to comment on. One my son was diagnosed with ADHD at about the age of 6 and the psychiatrist told me that it was borderline that they were able to accurately diagnose at that age and that they really shouldn't be diagnosed prior to age 6. However my son was in Kindergarten and his teacher brought it to my attention. It is my understanding that a teacher cannot tell you what they think he might have but can suggest you meet with the school psychologist and get testing either in the school system if it allows or outside. They would also suggest different resources available to assist your child with whatever may come of it. I tried for a few years, until my son was in grade 3 to keep him active through sports and activities before I gave in and put him on Adderall XR, 10 mg. I was very leary of any medication and thought I could always take him off it. Well the first day he was on it, his teacher and him called me at work to let me know that he was 2nd in his class to finish his math and you have to know my son, but he NEVER ever finished anything in class. He was always behind. He is now in grade 4 and needs to have his meds reviewed as the teacher and I feel they are not as effective as they could be anymore. I had previously tried to go up to 15 mg and that was awful. He experienced unbelievably weird nightmares that were combined with a bit of sleep walking. I could not wake him up right away from whatever he was experiencing and he was convinced it was right there in the room with him and going to get him. So I went back to 10 mg and will be taking him to get new meds. To this day my son is not on an IEP and the school has never suggested one either. We just work very hard at trying to get him extra help where he needs it and I work at home with him. One other thing. I had trouble with a teacher with my daughter in grade 1. She also lost focus and had issues at school. She wasn't diagnosed until she was 15 with severe Bi-Polar disorder. Her teacher wrote her off in grade 1 and said that she didn't want to do anything and thinks she can get away with it because she is pretty. I could not believe what I was hearing. My daughter would scribble in her journal instead of write and the teacher didn't even have the audacity to ask her why she was doing that. What kind of teacher is that! Anyway I had to meet with the principal twice, and unfortunately nothing changed much so at Christmas time I changed schools. It was a sincerely messed up place where she was at and instructors and principals like that can seriously ruin a child's life. Children need their parents to act as their advocates and if the parents don't know what to do they need to get more than one opinion and/or research the possibilities out there. They may be making your child out to be worse than he is and that is scary. You need to stand up to them for you son's sake! Good luck!

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Thank you, Val and others for your suggestions and support! I finally sent a rather long e-mail to the principal, addressing my concerns. Among them were the fact that he is being forced to use his right hand for his assignments, and that whatever writing work he does, the teacher marks up with bold red marks about how he's not doing it correctly. It's to the point where he won't write anything! At first, his response was "you should have brought this up in our meeting." However, when I replied that I did bring it up, and nothing was done, he changed his tune. He's supposed to be meeting with the teacher and teacher's assistant today to discuss this at length. He said he may call me if necessary.

I've contacted his pediatrician, who is a family friend, and we talked at length about the issues we are having and what we need to do. He has decided to write a rather strong letter to the school principal regarding the issues, addressing his vision disability and the effect that will have on his writing. He is also willing to attend the next meeting with me, to give a more medical view of what's going on and how their actions are effecting him. I'm very thankful to have such a wonderful resource.

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Well, Wednesday was the last straw! The school principal contacted me at work to tell me that my son was sent to the office for defiance to the gym teacher. Apparently, he didn't want to participate in whatever activity they were doing in the gym, so he climbed the bleachers to sit down, as another teacher instructed him. When the gym teacher told him to get down, he said "no". As a result, he was sent to the principal's office. Long story short, the principal suspended him, a 5 YEAR OLD, for defiance towards a teacher!

After I got the phone call, I sent a rather strong email to the principal, stating that I would be withdrawing him from school. I spoke with the administrator of a private kindergarten, and am working to get him in there after the first of the year.

Can anyone tell me a good resource to go to for information regarding the school district's responsibilities in teaching children that qualify under IDEA? I have a feeling the school district was rather negligent in their handling of this situation, and I would like to get more information before proceeding on this.

Thanks!

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