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Hi -- it's been a while since I've been on here, but things have been busy. I took my middle daughter (7) to the doctor the other day because she has been having an extremely hard time focusing on some days. One day, her schoolwork will be neat and correct, and another day it will look like a 3 year-old has done it. Completely different writing style, etc. She also has days where she very literally CAN'T sit still or focus in any way. You have to stop her and look her in the eye to catch her attention. I realize that all of these things are normal for her age to a certain extent, but not to this severe a degree. Anyway -- we took her to our pediatrician for some ideas. I had read the book "Is This Your Child?" by Dr. Doris Rapp. It's about food and other allergies/sensitivities and how they cause changes in behavior and other things. I thought "this is IT!" I was hoping my ped. would agree and send us to an allergist or nutritionist or SOMETHING. She said that my DD's "symptoms" were consistent with AD/HD and gave us info for a behavioral eval. I'm not sure what to do! We haven't started homeschooling yet - are planning on it next year. I'm just looking for some feedback about kids with similar issues and what has been done. Also, ideas about HSing with a child like this, specifically using HOD. Thanks in advance!!

My best advise for you would be to ask around for another good pediatrician to see and get a 2nd opinion. You may be surprised at what a difference another physician's professional opinion will have on your perspective.
I say this as someone who has had your very experience and a new dr's opinion was definitely needed and we did have food allergies (milk and corn) and it did change our child's behavior once we eliminated the offending items and we did have an allergy panel.
This is the advise I would give anyone before proceeding get a 2nd opinion about what you should do and whether you need to have a behavior panel.
Val

We've been through this...dd is very bright, poor social skills, can't sit still, can't focus, etc. on most days, but she can if she is very interested. Can do incredible work sometimes, others it looks like scribbles and toddler thoughts. If it's an ad/hd symptom, she had it! Anyway...she fit the bill for ADHD and was tested, diagnosed, went through therapy, eventually medicated all of one month until I went back and told them..."You are wrong and I want more testing. I know my dd and she is not ad/hd...it's something else". So, we got allergy testing, but the allergist refused to test for food allergies since I was tying it to her ad/hd like symptoms-- he said that is not related. They also sent us to a neurologist, which is the tell-all. ALL truly AD/HD kids have some abnormality on an EEG. The neuro proudly said there is NO possiblity my dd is ad/hd-- she is however, gifted. She said many times, the "symptoms" of ad/hd and giftedness crossover.

Now that we have started HOD and I'm giving her more independence in her schoolwork (I'm not looking over her shoulder), she is improving greatly. I'm using guides with her where she is on the older end of the age range in order to be able to give her more independent work-- ad/hd and gifted kids alike are fond of feeling trusted and knowing their parents believe they can do something well enough to be left to do it themselves. I also have our school supplies well organized so she knows where to get what she needs, very few toys in her room so she can relax in there (whether for school or other-- most toys are in her brothers' room), we don't do real snacky foods, or drink much more than water, and all the kids HAVE to eat veggies-- it's proven that helps. You could also try amino acids/omega-3,6,9, fish oil, etc.

So, I feel your concern and I've btdt, but I can say-- labels are just labels, not a fix. You don't need to have someone say she has ad/hd to tailor your approach for teaching-- you can base that off her behavior and personal knowledge of what works for her and I imagine you don't want medication for her. I always doubted the diagnosis even though she fit it so well. There are other things out there and sometimes, it's just pure personality. (per the neuro doc ) Oh, the doc also said the more gifted a child, the more tics they might have...like hair twisting, tapping fingers, chewing nails or sucking fingers, etc. If you notice any of those with your dd, you might consider it just normal stuff or part of the behavior issues pointing toward giftedness. Maybe she is ad/hd, but a 2nd opinion and a doc that will send you for an EEG and/or allergy testing could be all you need to figure it all out.

This got long...sorry...HTH! And I hope you get some answers soon!

I was concerned that my daughter who is five may have ADHD. My husband has been diagnosed with it and takes medication. When I was researching about it I found out that kids who have eye problems can have symptoms that mimic ADHD. I took my daughter to an eye doctor that specializes in vision therapy. My daughter has double vision (her eye sight is normal doesn't need glasses). We have been doing vision therapy for a little over 6months now and she is much calmer. I had a woman from church who I had talked to previously about my concerns that my daughter had adhd ask me a few months ago if I had put her on meds because her behavior is so different. I also have a son who has sensory issues and if his sensory needs are not met he can look like he has adhd. So in saying all this I think that alot of other things can make a child look like they have adhd. Also some kids just are more hands on learners. I try to get the sit down work done first like reading and then we move on to the more hands on stuff.

I forgot to mention that my dd also has very mild sensory issues as well as mild hearing loss...if the sensory input is not provided (i.e. swinging, stretching her muscles against resistance, etc.) then she goes wild. If she doesn't wear her hearing aid, she needs more auditory input and talks and sings or hums to herself a lot, as well as talk very loudly. Her symptoms improved greatly with the hearing aid as well as after letting her press on the wall with her legs then go swing for 5 min. Her focus improves greatly!

Such great information! I do plan on getting a 2nd opinion before I go ahead with anything. I'm going to look for a ped. in a more "progressive" area of the city - maybe they'll have a more alternative approach to this rubber stamp dx! Thanks for all of your help. I'll be checking back for more later!

You might be interested in this book, by Kenneth Bock, Healing The New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies.

Then, you might want to look for a biomedical pediatrician. We found one in our area (http://www.integrativepediatrics.net).

My dd is NOT autistic. However, she had the same food intolerances. She has been on a gluten, casien and corn free diet for several months.

My dd was a lot like yours. She is 7 yo now. But, couldn't sit still, couldn't focus...sensory stuff.

Three weeks of being off gluten she was a new child. I thought she'd be like herself forever and I was exhausted. She had a cold and hot personality, too...she would get upset very easily but calm down just as fast.

If she slips with gluten, she is an emotional basket case and I don't go anywhere, we can't do school work.

I would have never belived her issues were all dietary if I hadn't witnessed the changes first hand. I just wish I had her on this diet back when she was a baby, and maybe I wouldn't have been so worn out and stress out while she was little due to her uncontrolable behaviour. Poor kid though, it wasn't her fault. It's all in how the dietary issues affect them neurologically.

Anyway, that book is amazing. Even though my dd is not autistic, alot of the health solutions apply to her because she exhibits lots of the same behaviours...or the root causes are the same. Just amazing what you can learn from it!

If you ever want to talk about anything, I am happy to talk over the phone as well.

Tab