Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 8/25/2008

Question
How do you know a child has ADD or if his behavior or lack of attention is a maturity thing?  

My adopted son is six.  His birth father was an orphan and somewhat of a loner.  His birth mother is mentally challenged because of her childhood hardships.

My husband and I have had our son since birth. He has not ever done anything quickly...for instance, he didn't crawl until he was 10 months and he didn't walk until he was 16 months.  He has had normal growth and the doctor says he is a fine young man. He has had some fine motor skills challenges which he goes to OT for and speech issues  (s, z). He has improved a great deal on OT & speech in the past 12 months.

My concerns are that he is easily distracted.  However, he
can watch a 2 hour movie and remember things from the movie that I don't catch myself but when it comes to school work he doesn't have the interest to learn.  

I don't believe he is hyper but I feel like his attention is the problem. Because he is easily distracted, this
causes problems in Kindergarten. There are 19 other kids that are competing with the teacher to keep my sons attention.

I have had him tested with the school psychologists. She
said that it was possible that he has ADD but I would need a Medical doctor to evaluate and diagnose him.

I have not had him tested by a medical doctor yet because my pediatrician thinks that it is a maturity thing. I don't want him to be labeled "ADD" if he just needs to mature a little more.    I feel that he is smart with no desire to learn school stuff.

I guess I want to know is 6 years old too early to be tested or should I wait and see how he does in the next
year of school.  

I don't want him to be on medicine if he doesn't need to be.

Thank you for your response in advance.

Patti

Answer
You have asked so much I could write a book in reply! I am assuming as you have asked me my opinion I am privileged to be frank.
 You are describing a neurological inherited immaturity of the left brain, ADD, not ADHD. It is  very common in adopted children. His dominant right brain will allow him to concentrate on movies and be visually distracted. His immature left brain will make concentration on words difficult. His very late developmental pattern could be part of a more sever  Pervasive Developemental Disorder and he should be seen by a medical  expert in ADHD urgently.
  Here comes the difficult part. Your Pediatrician is wrong in my opinion. OT could  make him worse or at best do nothing. This is not my opinion only, it has been researched. OT is not recommended for ADD/ADHD. Psychologists with the best of intentions are not medically trained to evaluate a neurological condition  and has correctly suggested a referral.
  On medical treatment his speech therapist could  have achieved much more. Nobody ever puts any child on medication just for fun. But if he needs it and is not treated, he is a deprived child.
   Six years of age in my  opinion is already late. The concept of delaying medical treatment until 6 years of age is no longer justified.
  I could do an internet assessment on him to confirm. Either way it would be important to have him assessed by a medical expert specialized in ADHD.