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<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 403590" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>I haven't heard of an IST. It may be something local that the school is using to keep from providing an IEP or even a 504 because those 2 come with legal protections under federal law. Can you explain more about the IST?</p><p> </p><p>As he doesn't seem to really fit ADHD, I recommend having him evaluated by a neuropsychologist. MANY problems look like ADHD - and ODD is often a symptom of other problems that goes away when the underlying problem is appropriately treated. Any of a thousand other things could be causing the ADHD symptoms and with-o testing you won't have any idea if you really are treating the right thing. It could be a processing disorder, a learning disability, or some totally different problem. Often problems run in families, so any info about problems in his father's family and yours is helpful. Relatives with alcohol and/or drug problems are often a big red flag that there was something else going on and the person used substances to treat the problem because they didn't know or could find/afford other types of help (or refused them).</p><p> </p><p>As for the future, PLEASE do not cross that bridge until you get there. At 8 we were super worried about my son. By age 12 it was a LOT worse - we worried he would grow up in a prison of some sort because he refused to stop hurting us. By 14 he couldn't live iwth us and now, at 19, he is a delightful young man that we truly enjoy spending time with no matter what we are doing. He has had a job for 3 years, has his hs diploma, finished a vocational course, and is now in college!! At 8 we were hoping he would graduate high school outside of a juvy facility and by 12 we were hoping he would be safe to live outside a prison facility. These are NOT jokes - they are what we feared based on his behavior and choices. I don't have a clue what caused his changes and neither does he. All we know is that he chose to turn himself around and managed to do it. </p><p> </p><p>Your son is NOT NOT NOT doomed to parole, prison, probation, or anything else. Don't get too caught up in the future - there is enough to handle in the now. </p><p> </p><p>How severe is his ADHD? Sadly there still are a lot of cases wehre normally active kids are diagnosis'd adhd because they are in schools that simply expcet behaviors that are NOT possible for kids their age. I have a friend who had the ONLY 2 boys in her town who were not on adhd medications. It was a small to medium town with 1 fairly large elementary school and 2 pediatricians. The teachers told the parents of every single boy that their child was adhd because they wouldn't sit still and do their work and lsiten quietly all day. And because they wouldn't do that stuff even if recess was taken away! Elementary aged kids are SUPPOSED to have lots of energy, it is what is normal at that age, and sitting at desks for a full day is NOT. Taking away recess would make any normal child more restless, in my opinion. ESp in a school with strict rules like this one. My friend and her husband moved away largely because of this and the boys' teachers in oru town were shocked that anyone thought they were adhd. The school district was taken over by the state, the teachers were reprimanded or not hired the next year, and the doctors lost their licenses because my friend made some complaints to some people her family knows who knew some people. This took a long investigation and happened after they moved, but it is something to think about.</p><p> </p><p>I am NOT NOT NOT saying that your school is unreasonable, just that this is something to be aware of. I only have the info in your words, and cannot see the degree of the behaviors, so I truly do not know. I do know that many feel that adhd has been overdx'd. i also know that many of us, if not most, first got adhd diagnosis's for our kids. Then we pushed for more testing and evaluation to find out what was going on, esp if the adhd medications were not helpful. For a lot of us adhd is part of the picture, but not all of it.</p><p> </p><p>I also encourage you to have a sleep deprived EEG done on your son. My daughter was diagnosis'd with inattentive adhd but I insisted on this before we started medications. We did not expect to find anything, just knew that sometimes a seizure disorder can look like adhd, esp inattentive adhd. Turns out she has Absence epilepsy - seizures that are very short (less than a minute) and have no outward signs other than staring into space. She was having so many that she actually was missing about half of everything that was going on during the day. Treating this stopped the symptoms that looked like adhd so she never did need the adhd medications. </p><p> </p><p>Don't EVER feel bad because your son's problems are not "enough" or "as bad" as others!!! You have EVERY RIGHT to be sad, mad, cry, mourn, grieve, and feel every single feeling that you have over your son's problems!!! (And to feel every other feeling that you have, period.) We do NOT rate our kids' problems or the severity of them on any kind of scale. This isn't an Olympic sport and there are no medals for worst problem, most outrageous difficult child, best parent, etc.... It just doesn't work that way. We are a family here and we support each other. Period. So jsut because your son has one diagnosis instead of another, or this problem rather than that, doesn't mean that you shouldn't feel whatever you are feeling, or shouldn't ask for whatever you think he needs to help him. The fact that other kids have different problems is irrelevant to what your son needs - and deserves!! </p><p> </p><p>(((((hugs)))))</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 403590, member: 1233"] I haven't heard of an IST. It may be something local that the school is using to keep from providing an IEP or even a 504 because those 2 come with legal protections under federal law. Can you explain more about the IST? As he doesn't seem to really fit ADHD, I recommend having him evaluated by a neuropsychologist. MANY problems look like ADHD - and ODD is often a symptom of other problems that goes away when the underlying problem is appropriately treated. Any of a thousand other things could be causing the ADHD symptoms and with-o testing you won't have any idea if you really are treating the right thing. It could be a processing disorder, a learning disability, or some totally different problem. Often problems run in families, so any info about problems in his father's family and yours is helpful. Relatives with alcohol and/or drug problems are often a big red flag that there was something else going on and the person used substances to treat the problem because they didn't know or could find/afford other types of help (or refused them). As for the future, PLEASE do not cross that bridge until you get there. At 8 we were super worried about my son. By age 12 it was a LOT worse - we worried he would grow up in a prison of some sort because he refused to stop hurting us. By 14 he couldn't live iwth us and now, at 19, he is a delightful young man that we truly enjoy spending time with no matter what we are doing. He has had a job for 3 years, has his hs diploma, finished a vocational course, and is now in college!! At 8 we were hoping he would graduate high school outside of a juvy facility and by 12 we were hoping he would be safe to live outside a prison facility. These are NOT jokes - they are what we feared based on his behavior and choices. I don't have a clue what caused his changes and neither does he. All we know is that he chose to turn himself around and managed to do it. Your son is NOT NOT NOT doomed to parole, prison, probation, or anything else. Don't get too caught up in the future - there is enough to handle in the now. How severe is his ADHD? Sadly there still are a lot of cases wehre normally active kids are diagnosis'd adhd because they are in schools that simply expcet behaviors that are NOT possible for kids their age. I have a friend who had the ONLY 2 boys in her town who were not on adhd medications. It was a small to medium town with 1 fairly large elementary school and 2 pediatricians. The teachers told the parents of every single boy that their child was adhd because they wouldn't sit still and do their work and lsiten quietly all day. And because they wouldn't do that stuff even if recess was taken away! Elementary aged kids are SUPPOSED to have lots of energy, it is what is normal at that age, and sitting at desks for a full day is NOT. Taking away recess would make any normal child more restless, in my opinion. ESp in a school with strict rules like this one. My friend and her husband moved away largely because of this and the boys' teachers in oru town were shocked that anyone thought they were adhd. The school district was taken over by the state, the teachers were reprimanded or not hired the next year, and the doctors lost their licenses because my friend made some complaints to some people her family knows who knew some people. This took a long investigation and happened after they moved, but it is something to think about. I am NOT NOT NOT saying that your school is unreasonable, just that this is something to be aware of. I only have the info in your words, and cannot see the degree of the behaviors, so I truly do not know. I do know that many feel that adhd has been overdx'd. i also know that many of us, if not most, first got adhd diagnosis's for our kids. Then we pushed for more testing and evaluation to find out what was going on, esp if the adhd medications were not helpful. For a lot of us adhd is part of the picture, but not all of it. I also encourage you to have a sleep deprived EEG done on your son. My daughter was diagnosis'd with inattentive adhd but I insisted on this before we started medications. We did not expect to find anything, just knew that sometimes a seizure disorder can look like adhd, esp inattentive adhd. Turns out she has Absence epilepsy - seizures that are very short (less than a minute) and have no outward signs other than staring into space. She was having so many that she actually was missing about half of everything that was going on during the day. Treating this stopped the symptoms that looked like adhd so she never did need the adhd medications. Don't EVER feel bad because your son's problems are not "enough" or "as bad" as others!!! You have EVERY RIGHT to be sad, mad, cry, mourn, grieve, and feel every single feeling that you have over your son's problems!!! (And to feel every other feeling that you have, period.) We do NOT rate our kids' problems or the severity of them on any kind of scale. This isn't an Olympic sport and there are no medals for worst problem, most outrageous difficult child, best parent, etc.... It just doesn't work that way. We are a family here and we support each other. Period. So jsut because your son has one diagnosis instead of another, or this problem rather than that, doesn't mean that you shouldn't feel whatever you are feeling, or shouldn't ask for whatever you think he needs to help him. The fact that other kids have different problems is irrelevant to what your son needs - and deserves!! (((((hugs))))) [/QUOTE]
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