I don't have an opportunity to come often and mostly just lurk, but after reading your post and skimming the replies I wanted to let you know that I have an adopted 8 1/2 year old daughter with ADD and SID. (My soon to be 8 year old adopted boy has LOBPI). SID actually seems like a form of autism. Anyway, we knew that Sarah may have some issues relative to birth family history, so I was more sensitive to changes/differences in others her age. We had her evaluated with the Birth to Three program after finally getting MD referral. He said, she is just a little behind, she will catch up. How often do we hear that? She was noted to have speech delays and we noticed how sensitive she was to certain stimuli. We got her in the Early Intervention Programs with our school system at age 3 and it was not until she was 5 that we were able to get a difinitive diagnosis. She was finally referred to a pediatric neuropsychiatrist who extensively tested her and gave us her diagnosis. He then helped us to set up her IEP with the school district. The problem is not all techniques work with all the children. It is kind of like playing russian roulette, you have to find the bullet. After much work, we found what works and I am proud to say she has really blossomed. We do have an awesome school district and they have been very supportive. But as her parent, I find that just when I relax and feel everything is going well, I need to step up to the plate because someone is not following her IEP.
It is hard to diagnose these kids sometimes and they do get labelled or you are made to feel like you are not a good parent. My daughter is sensitive to certain fabrics, how it feels on her skin. She is also extremely sensitive to noise levels. She has always covered her ears in church with the organ playing but no other music. However, she can be very loud. Our neuropsychiatrist said at times it is like these kids are on a superhighway and all this stimuli is coming at them at once and they do not know how to process it, so we have to learn methods to simplify processing and to teach them how to handle this when they are older. They can have tons of energy and bounce off the walls. We bought Sarah a mini trampoline and taught her that when she feels edgy or jittery she needed to bounce on it and get rid of her energy. This did prove to be very effective for her. We did in the end, after much contemplation, research and soul searching place her on Adderral to see if it could help her attend better. That for her has been a miracle drug. It has helped her to attend so much better. She still struggles with her sensory integration at times and her ADD, but overall she is a different child.
Best of Luck to you Anne...