What Options Are There for Kids with ADHD/OCD/ODD (Oppositional-Defiant)

My daughter was evaluated through Richmond Kaiser for ADHD a few years ago. Call the psychiatry department and tell them what you're looking for. There is a whole process where they send you questionnaires to be filled out by you, his father, and his teacher. Then there is an evaluation process where they meet with your son (and other children) to ask questions and give tasks while simultaneously in another room talking to the parents about the disorders and how to work with them once the child is diagnosed. I believe they also will follow up with therapy (I am not on Kaiser, so I was only able to have the eval, not the follow-up.) Everything was very professional and thorough.

I would highly recommend reading books on whatever diagnosis you receive before you decide to medicate. They push medication, but I took a different route with great success. My daughter has mild ADHD with some impulse control issues. Most of it has been worked out through switching to a private school, counseling, movement therapy, omega 3-6-9, and lowering refined sugars in her diet (who needs them anyway!) There are also some behavioral modification techniques my husband and I have used that have been helpful as well. I'm not sure at this point that she would be diagnosed the same!

The point is, there are many answers to these challenges that our young ones face and medication is only one. If the diagnosis is ADHD, there are a few books I have found VERY helpful from Western medical perspective to an organic acceptance perspective.

My heart goes out to you. My daughter is also creative, highly intelligent (95% on the GATE test!) but she had a hard time and was difficult to manage (at one point we thought she was deaf because she would ignore us!) I have been careful not to put the label ADHD on her, as I want her to be more identified with her strengths than her weaknesses. However, the diagnosis helped ME a great deal to have compassion and understand that she was not just being obstinate. It is somewhat out of her control.

I have someone who could help him, but she is Los Angeles County. I used to work for her and she did amazing work with children like your son. She might know of someone who does what she does. Please look at her website and the give her a call. Google Richards Family Health Center in Glendora. Like I said she might know of someone who does what she does where you are.

Your son sounds normal to me - I am the mother of 5 and a special Ed teachers assistant. He is persistent in getting his way an active because he is a boy... Both qualities will be desired in his adult life...

There is a center in the Concord/Pleasant Hill Area that deals with these behaviors without meds - I would see what help they could give you...

I know you said you didn't have the best of help from Kaiser Oakland but could it have been the therapist you saw? My son has been recieving therapy at Kaiser Oakland for about a year w/great success. He sees Ed Spolarich who is just great! Our son is part of a social skills group that Kaiser Oakland offers for different age ranges. A lot of the kids in his group have some of the same issue as your son & are struggling w/what is socially appropriate. The kids meet once a week w/2 therapists, one of them is Ed Spolarich, they play games that the therapists choose & w/kids that the therapists match up & then after the group have to give feedback to the kids they played with. Sometimes they're in groups of 2 or at times, in 3 to put them in a situaion that might be a challenge & problematic. They can then work out the problems, on their own, but supervised & w/help if needed. While the kids are meeting, we parents meet in a support group of sorts w/a therapist who tells us how our kids did the previous week & what we can do ot work on some problems. I know this sort of therapy won't be the be all end all for your son but it could really help him as a lot of kids w/your sons's issues have a hard time reading people's social cues & understanding why they aren't getting what they want from adults &/or kids. Like your son may not get how annoying & inappropriate it is for him to constantly poke his teacher. Even tho she's probably pretty obvious in her annoyance, he may not be able to read her emotions. So, I urge you to look into Kaiser again & try out this group. Look for another therapist that works for you & your son. Our son started off w/a therapist that just wasn't a good fit so I had him switched & got really lucky w/Ed Spolarich. Hope this helps & good luck!

There exists an often overlooked but common contributor to ADHD and behavioral problems: sleep apnea. If you son is snoring or your hear him stop breathing for a few seconds and then start again suddenly, he may suffer from sleep apnea or another sleep disorder. This is especially common in this age group if there are large adenoids (tonsils) or if the upper jaw is narrow or it appears your son could benefit from braces now or some day in the future. It warrants further investigation before you pursue medication or some other intervention. It is possible you could simply have the tonsils removed or expand the upper jaw (orthodontically) and resolve these issues. Good luck

Does your school district have an evaluation program in place? Often times they have intervention programs for children with learning disorders, speech issues, etc., with special classes/instruction that takes place on the school campus. The evaluator would first see your son in a private meeting to evaluate him. Check with the school district, and then back it up with the medical insurance.

You might want to try the Ann Martin Center http://www.annmartin.org/ , a nonprofit across the street from Grand Lake Ace Hardware. I'm not familiar with their services for children your son's age but one of my daughters has benefitted greatly from their Cornerstone program for preschoolers with social development challenges (Aspergers, ADHD etc.)