I have been focusing most of my time observing the teacher and psychiatrist observe the child who they believed had ADHD. As the days went on, I noticed that the child was behaving differently then before. The behavior of the child began to worsen and it was becoming harder to hold the attention of the child. The teacher and I did as much as possible to help the child. We began to wonder how the parents had did their part in helping the child as well.
After the meeting with the child's parent the first time about the possibility that the child could have ADHD, they were reluctant to take the necessary actions. The teacher and I tried our best to explain to the parents that in order to help this child, both the teacher and the parents would have to work together.
I couldn't help to think of the possible damage not testing the child could have created further down the road in the child's life. Had we not done the testing and never discovered that the child might have such disorder, who knows what might have happened? This could be used as an example of a benefit from Developmental Screening; early detection.
I am wondering if the testing has been done on your student? It seems a bit scary to me to have this situation with very young children, how old is this student? This kind of parental talk always gets me nervous because of how they respond and then don't take action. From the sounds of your writing, the family has not taken action. True? How are they with you since the conference you had with them? I believe this is an excellent example for early detection. The staff I work with go through kindergarten screening and even though we have strong opinions about which children should wait a year it is ultimately the parents decision and we have to let it go only because we have given the information and have had conferences with them. It's tough!
ReplyDeleteThere have been so many students that have been misdiagnosed with learning disabilities. It seems to be a problem when children are placed in classroom with the wrong diagnosis. Children should be screened as soon as the parents or teachers feel that there is a problem. It is also a good idea to talk to the child's pediatrician.
ReplyDeleteYvette T.