I'm not sure how bad it would have to be for me to agree to medication (right now is waaayyy not bad enough), I suppose he'd have to be kicked out of school or something, but a diagnosis I can wave in the preschool teachers faces and a round of OT I feel caould only help.
Some of you may remember that I posted 4 years ago about a neuropsych assessement that we did with our ds. The neuropsych was *certain* that ds was very ADHD, both innattentive and hyperactive, and suggested meds. Our pediatrician intervened and had the school team (ST, OT, various teachers) and other family members fill out the Vanderbilt (NIHQ) assessments and *no one* outside of this neuropsych felt that ds was ADHD. Now, I will say that I completely believe that ds was probably acting wacky during this assessment, and he's a little quirky to begin with anyway. The neuropsych warned me that things would only get worse with ds. The neuropsych did rule out any spectrum issues - said ds was no where near the spectrum.
We recently completed another assessment in search of learning disabilities (and probably deserves it's own thread), and the assessor was also certain that ds had ADHD, until ds completely shined on the ADHD tests. The assessor was quite surprised that it wasn't ADHD that was causing some of ds', so that's when the assessor changed his opinion from ADHD to possibly a wee bit Asperger's . I knew it 4 years ago, and I know it now. The kid isn't ADHD or on the spectrum. He's a square peg. In 4 years we have polar opposite opinions.
Reading the updates tonight on this thread, and particularily joensally's, was very helpful to me in my current situation. I really do think that honoring the differences is what is necessary for kids like my ds. Working gently on areas that need improvement, but truly celebrating those characteristics that, while challenging at the moment, will be great strengths down the road.
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