Official Diagnosis...

Yesterday morning was the parent meeting...


The child psychologist, speech pathologist and child development nurse practitioner all saw Joey and met with me and hubby.


It was found that Joey has made great gains over the past year in his speech and articulation. He is more "normal" with his speech than ever before. Yay Joey!!
His cognitive testing shows that he's a very solid average. This is wonderful news because last years testing he was low average to middle average so he's made some great gains in both beginning reading and math along with overall IQ type stuff.


The one area he was a high average was math. The average range is 90-109 and he scored 113!!! This was further qualified by his earning a gold medal for Math today in school! The gold medal can be earned by all but it requires the child to not only know the standards required for advancement but to go considerably above the standard (ie counting by ones to 120 is standard, counting over 200 is gold level. counting by twos to 20 is standard, counting by two's to 100 is gold standard etc.)


Behaviorally, this wasn't really discussed but was in the report it shows him Borderline (65-70) for Attention problems, and aggressive behavior and clinical (which means significant being >70) for social problems and rule-breaking behavior. I think that was based off my checklist for him.


Based on the teachers report the significant issues, in the clinical range was inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, borderline was rule-breaking behavior.


What I really appreciated with all this testing was that it wasn't just all numbers. She said the teacher didn't number things that horribly but would notate concerns and those were taken seriously as well. And even though I may score something higher or lower doesn't mean it was ignored if it wasn't totally in sync with other scores.


It was recommended that we talk to his school and seek out a 504 plan or OHI to his IEP.


She gave a general list of ideas to try help Joey succeed both at home and in the classroom. She suggested we parents read "Taking Charge of ADHD: The Authoritative Guide," by Russell Barkley and "ADHD: The Complete and Authoritative Guide," by the American Academy of Pediatrics. (I them both reserved at the library as I 'speak')


Now onto the "good" part :)  Medication. After the miserably failed attempt with the Metadate we're going to give Intuniv (guanfacine). We have an appointment for June 19th for a quick blood pressure check before we can start it. 


I have my SIT meeting at Joey's school on Tuesday, 8am...