Another Acronym

Just wanted to let everyone know that the psychologist told us that Brady has ADHD. Not a huge surprise, but having a professional say it really brings it home.  I'm glad she's not seeing any other issues, though. So, now I'm doing all my research on our next steps. I guess I'll be calling the pediatrician today after giving it some time to sink in. Looks like we're going to be trying some medication. I've read lots of articles about how much it can help, but I'm still scared. Hoping that we'll be able to find the right one for him very quickly.

Oh, and the psychologist, who works in the same office as the OTs, said that SPD isn't a real thing. I kind of expected that, but it still made me mad. I kept my mouth shut, though. Told our OT about it the next day and she was surprised. I told her that I haven't read anywhere in the ADHD research that says that these kids like to smell everything, freak out at loud unexpected noises, or have to touch everything, crash into walls on purpose, etc. Ugh. I feel okay with the ADHD diagnosis, though, since we feel like we have a decent handle on the sensory issues through OT and a sensory diet, but he's still having huge problems with focusing on needed tasks and still gets out of control hyper at times.

So, if anyone has any words of wisdom dealing with an SPD/ADHD kid, I'd love to hear them!

Psychologist Appointment Tomorrow

We have another appointment in the morning, and I'm nervous. We've had our inital appointment where we discussed our concerns, and then we had one where it was just the doctor and Brady playing and talking. We've filled out tons of forms, had his teacher fill out a couple, and kept a journal of his difficulties. Tomorrow, we're supposed to go over her findings and discuss a plan. She wants Brady to come, and he will, hopefully, sit out in the hallway and play by himself while we discuss the grown-up stuff. I'm thinking we'll have to come up with a bribe to get him to do that. He seriously hates being left out of conversations. But she wants him there for part of the conversation, so he has to come along.

So, I really have no idea what to expect tomorrow. Will she give us a diagnosis? Will she say we need to see another type of doctor? Will she suggest medication? Will she tell us he's just a normal kid and we need some parenting classes?

Seriously, I don't even know what to hope for. A formal diagnosis of some sort would help us understand more what he's dealing with and possibly get us more help at school. I'm also scared of a diagnosis because I don't like the idea of him being labeled, especially in the school system. I'm scared about the possibility of medication. I also know that, depending on her findings, medication could help. I'm scared that she'll say he's a normal kid in need of some discipline because that means we're at least partially to blame. I'm worried that she'll just have us try yet another reward system. Trust me, we've tried and I don't need to spend tons of money on coming up with another one. But maybe she has some magic system that'll work for him and he'll actually internalize some of the lessons it's meant to teach. Who knows?