Would you please share your views on ADHD and medication?

[RitaZ.]

We also had some problems with a teacher that was determined that my oldest DS had ADD. She decided to refer him to the Child Study Team at his school, however, they felt that it wasn't necessary to proceed with any testing.

He is now attending a new school and there are no problems. My concern was that the new school would see all the things that his teacher had written about "the problems" and would immediately label him (my friend who is an ESE teacher was also concerned about that). We had our first conference with his teacher and she said it was a pleasure to have our son in her class. The so called "problems" have never been brought up by any of his new teachers....

I do think that some schools are looking for a quick fix, so they press the parents to medicate their children. I have read a couple of books on add/adhd and one of them in particular tells an interesting story. The author of the book (a psychologist) was treating a boy using behavior modification techniques, yet the boy's teacher insisted he needed medication. The boy's mother asked the psychologist to go with her to a conference with the teacher to explain what they were trying to do. Long story short, the teacher was not convinced and told the psychologist that she knew that this boy needed medication because her husband was a psychiatrist. The psychologist's response was, "Well, my wife is a dentist. Would you like me to do a root canal?".

As far as medicating a child, it's entirely the parent's decision. The school has no say in the matter.

When we were having problems with that teacher, my brother told me an interesting story. When he was in law school, he said that MANY students took Ritalin when cramming/studying for tests/ finals. Apparently, the medication kept them alert/focused, thus they were able to study longer.

 

[perd]

RitaZ -

About what your brother said, the ADD specialist said something that makes the same point. He said the fact that since starting Adderall my son seems to be doing better does NOT mean that he has ADD. For one, it could be a placebo effect - my son may think that since he is taking medication he should do better, so he is doing better. Or, he may in fact be more focused because of taking the Adderall, but that doesn't mean my son has ADD. It would make ANYONE more focused. But that doesn't mean everyone needs to our should take it.

 

[amid chaos]

run...and get this book.
Raising your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

And while you are there...get the teacher a copy too.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...9894281/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-7800122-7212935

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by ripleysmom
One thing that I would also like to say though Sonya is I would not wait 2 years if his behavior does not improve. Currently his behavior is not receiving negative attention from his peers but if you wait 2 years it will be 3rd grade and by that time opinions are formed and he may not be able to overcome any negative impressions. Please just keep that in mind.

But, that's the point....His behavior has improved! Dramatically so! We think he is doing great and that it really isn't a problem, unfortunately, the teacher has already made up her mind and now Billy can't please her.

He is a happy and social boy and has no problems making friends. He is not the "annoying" kind of kid, nobody thinks he's weird. It's really, really not like that. I know you all think I am prejudiced because we are talking about my son but believe me...if I thought that this was affecting him (rather than affecting the teacher) I would do something. He's just a fidget, plain and simple.

 

[perd]

Another thing - once they are "labeled" ADD, they REALLY can't do anything to please the teacher. Part of the reason I wanted to take my son off medication is that even with medication, it'wasn't "good enough." It was almost like the teachers said what they thought they should be saying about a kid with ADD. Because they kept saying "not on task, problems focusing," etc and all the terms that everyone associates with ADD kids. But to me it was like it was their spiel that they say about any kid with ADD. And I, too, don't think I was being prejudiced just because I am his mother. I really got the feeling that if they couldn't think of anything to say, they'd just say those things that they were "supposed" to say.

I also say this because my son's 3rd grade teacher was also my daughter's 3rd grade teacher before that. My daughter is definitely not ADD, but I remember when we went in for a conference with this teacher (not because anything was wrong, they do a conference in the fall whether there are problems or not, just to touch base with the parents), it was clear to me that she had NO idea how my daughter was doing and that she was just making things up as she went along to have something to say to us. I think they are so busy with classes that are so big, that they actually do not know what is going on with each kid. Maybe some of them they do, but not all of them. So they just improvise.

And although my son's grades were fine they were telling me he was not staying on task, not focusing, etc. And suggesting a different medication. I think they just had decided if he had ADD they shouldn't say everything is going fine because they just expect it NOT to be fine.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by KaitlinsMom
You didn't say if the psychologist you took him to was thru the school or not.
I would take you son to a specialist - Child Psychiatrist (someone who can perscribe meds) or ADD specialist -

We took him to be tested privately. It cost over $1,000 which was not covered by insurance. They tested for IQ, gifted, LD's, memory, behavior, ADD/ADHD, and a whole slew of other stuff. It was an all day event...7 hours long...I dropped him off in the morning, picked him up for lunch, dropped him back off again until testing was completed around 4pm.

Before I picked the psychologist to take him to I researched quite a bit to be sure I was seeing someone who was reputable and experienced.

It would have been great had we had it done at school for free but I wasn't aware that that was an option...I also felt I would get slanted results from the school and I wanted a REAL opinion. I actually think I talked the psychologist out of saying he was gifted because I told her about numerous folks I know who took their kids to be tested privately all came back gifted, I've never heard of anybody testing privately and coming up not gifted(except us). Anyway, I told her I absolutely didn't want to BUY any results, we wanted a true picture of DS.

So, that's the whole testing story...now I am debating taking these results to my pediatrician or to a pediatric psychiatrist for another opinion on meds. I don't want to take that road, I'm happy with things at this point but perhaps it would satisfy the school if I had another opinion against drugs. The problem is, what if the opinion comes in Pro-drugs?

 

[ripleysmom]

"But, that's the point....His behavior has improved! Dramatically so! We think he is doing great and that it really isn't a problem, unfortunately, the teacher has already made up her mind and now Billy can't please her."

There you are then. If his behavior had improved then, at this point in time, no other intervention is required.

If the teacher is unable to get past her diagnosis of his condition then it might be a good idea to try to have him moved to another class with a teacher that might be a little more accommodating regarding his fidgetiness.

 

[KaitlinsMom]

I agree - I would see if you could get him into another class with a different teacher. They might just have opposing personalities and he just needs a fresh start - Have you checked into that?

Since you had him tested privately by a reputable person, I would tend to trust those results. It sounds like you are doing everything right, but I know as a Mother, we sometimes feel as if we are not doing enough.

You are getting some great advice from fellow posters here, just do what feels right - A Mother's instinct is usually the best -


Karen

 

[DopeysGal]

Sonya, your son sounds exactly like mine. He had a hard time adjusting to 1st grade, couldn't stay on task, fidgeted, etc. His classroom situtation was unique in that he had 2 part-time teachers (new moms) that rotated days and their teaching styles and discipline were very different. My son needs a lot of structure and was having a hard time adjusting to a different teacher every other day. This was a public school and only 20 kids per class (K-3) per state law.
The school had me talk to their Special Ed counselor and she was telling me how her DS was ADD and the medication was great. While we were having this chat, my son was quietly sitting at a desk, coloring. I just kept asking her, Does he look hyper? They offered the free evaluation but I too thought it might be slanted so I made an appt for him at Stanford University (luckily it is w/in 3 miles of my house) and the test was administered by the head of their Child Psychology dept. At the end of the day, the Dr told me that my son was not ADD but was very smart (not gifted) and needed lots of structure, in the classroom and at home (he also called the school with his findings). He suggested that my son and I make a "contract", in writing, with rules and their consequences, if not followed. His teachers didn't really want to be involved with this so I relied on reviewing his schoolwork and just talking to him about his day to make sure he was following the rules (and sometimes he didn't and I had to retrict his playtime, TV or whatever we had decided on, per the contract). He got so much better once he really understood what was expected of him at school and home. He was a consistant A-B student through elementary school and has now started middle school, which some adjustment problems again. We made a new contract, his teachers were happy to help this time and he is improving steadily again.
So to answer your question, I believe behaviour modification can work in a lot of cases, epecially if we take the time to really work with our children. Medication is proper in some cases but I do believe it is being used too often (JMO). You are doing everything right to help your son by doing research and keeping an open mind and I know you will make the correct decision and do what is best for your family.

 

[grinningghost]

I'm not real well versed on the subject, but I do have a nephew who has ADHD and is on Ritalin. When he isn't on the meds, he is absolutely out of control. While on Ritalin, he just seems like a nice, normal boy. His case may be far more extreme though. For him, he wouldn't be able to make it through a school day without the meds. The docs are hoping that as he grows older, he will need the meds less. It's all a big waiting game.

 

[joeokw]

OK.... Here is our exprerience with my younger Ds who has ADHD. He is 4 years younger than mt oldst son. My oldest son is very high spirted and was "on the cusp" with the diagnosis of ADHD/ADD.. We are both RN's and always felt that medications would be the last resort. We bought our oldest Ds to the top people in the NYC area and we felt that the wait and see was in order. As long he was ok inschool and was ' socially ok' meaning as long he was not taunted or oscarsized by his peers he would be ok. So as time went on we were ok with him. Now he is 12 and now he having a bit more of a strugle just like what we were told.

Now getting to my Youngest DS. He entered the same pre- school the same teachers and hung out with the siblings of the most of my oldest DS. and right waway we noticced somthing very different. We thoght ok.. he will be ok. We got notes from his teachers.. that he would not interact or engage in any activity..... all he wanted to do was yell, roll around, walk around, when it was not time to do so. He never engage in eye contact, refused to sit still. He had no atttention span.. NADA!!! We were at the school a lot and We saw it first hand. So we took him to the same specialists and many differnt diagnosis/treatments. We tried two years of Occpational Therapy for Sensoy Intergration Disorder. which the theory goes his brain had to be "retrained" in order to him to processs infromation that he was not hearing right We tried the Feingold diet which spouts no dyes, limits on certain fruits, grains, meat. for the same time span. we enrolllled him in a special school for children with autistic type of problems. So as you can see medication was never high on out list. These thearpies only helped those who made bucks from it. ..not my child. So we were still hoping that he would grow out of it. by Kindrgaten age he had no friends because they made fun of him because he would not play right or ddisrurt the games.... he was a loner as opposed to my social butterfly older son. it broke our heart.
We decided to send him to the same public school as ,my oldest.. he had the same kind teacher as my oldest did. We explained to her our dilemna. She said she would be extra diligent to see how he was doing. The first marking period came.. He seemed to like school he made his first real friend too!! Then the teacher showed us his work.. he barly was able to make a picture.. or drw numbers or letters.. but she said even though he we be walking around rollling around, staring out of the window watching the cars and trucks going by he was able to repeat everything she said. he stiil was a loner. We decided to take him to a friend of the family who was a pediatric neurologist. he spent 2 hours observing him, taking a total family history of DW and I then he said put him on Ritalin. We said no way. He begged as to try.. because we tried everything else and it was unfair for us to let him go any further because we tried everything out there. So we decided to give a try. We decided not to tell the teacher. well within one week she caled us and said what did you give to Matthew? She said he was getting involved socially , laughing for the first time, sharing, things sharing stories listening to rules. We said Ritalin. And she said she knew it because she seen this work for many kids before. He is now in the thrd grade. He is bright,, but has the most intense imagination we ever saw, he has many friends , and loves to talk to others. We still are still limiting dyes in his food. I really think that the anti_ritalin crowd should not make parents guilty for giving their sons "speed" "amphetamines" or 'Drugs" yes I know all the controversey.. yes he is thin,, yes it is a drug.. but at least he is a social being now.. and a social misfit!!!!

 

[CrazyBoutDisney]

I, too, have an ADHD child. Behavior modification did not work with him, it only made him worse because he was made to feel that he was "bad" and a "problem".

When you break through all the big medical words and diagnoses and put it in elementary language, you find that ADHA is nothing more than a chemical imbalance in the brain. The parts of the brain that control short term memory, ability to concentrate and impulsive activity all have trouble processing seratonin. Just like a diabetic needs insulin, an ADHD person needs help processing seratonin. The day my son took his first dose (age 7, 1st grade), he not only finished his schoolwork for the first time in his life, he also helped his teacher with a classroom display. When I picked him up that afternoon, his teacher wanted to know who her new student was!! The right medication, given in the right dosage can make all the difference in the world. Unfortunately, too many teachers know too little and understand far less. Too many educators want their classes full of little robots who do their work, follow all the rules and cause no trouble at all. These kids also have no personality, no spirit, and for the most part, can't even think for themselves. That's because they are being medicated, but don't need it.

Sonya, you are doing the right thing in examining every angle of the situation. It sounds to me like your DS is one who does not need the meds because he has been responding positively to the behavior modification. BRAVO!!! Keep up the good work, mom!! Don't let the teacher push you. Stand by your guns and, if necessary, ask to have him shifted to another class. This could be nothing more than a personality clash, at this point.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Thank you everybody for your continued support, advice and wisdom!

We are leaning heavily toward the wait and see way of dealing with this. Socially he is fine. He is a sweet nice boy. He is bright and doing fantastic academically. The only problem he has at the moment is the whole fidgeting thing which I am hoping to see him mature and grow out of.

We spoke with him tonight and told him he is no longer on the point sheet (behavior chart) and he was very pleased. We told him that he STILL needs to focus on controlling his impulsiveness and fidgeting but that he will be judged behavior wise the same way the rest of the class is. Every student has a daily calendar and they get either a "mark" which is writing in their notebook detailing their problems that day, or a sticker. We're hoping for stickers but time will tell.

We also asked him how he feels about his teacher and his school. He likes his teacher alot and loves his school.

I know I'm portraying the teacher as the bad guy here and she sort of is in this one situation but other than this situation, she's a good teacher and we have a great rapport. She really believes she is trying to help Billy by making it "easier" for him to behave and sit still. I don't want to switch teachers at this point. I think that the 4 first grade teachers are such a "unit" that no matter which class he was in they would be finding the same problem if you get my drift.

I was second guessing myself after the student study meeting yesterday because I started wondering if I was doing him a disservice by working through this rather than letting him just take a pill and be done with it.

Keep the wisdom coming!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by CrazyBoutDisney
It sounds to me like your DS is one who does not need the meds because he has been responding positively to the behavior modification.

This right here is the heart of my dilema. We that is my husband and I, feel like he is being very successful. The school however says that he is not suceeding. I was floored to hear this. His behavior chart has 3 columns per hour for a total of 18 possible points for the day. He needs 14 or more points to get a sticker. He has been getting a sticker almost every day. At least 4 out of 5 days a week. But he hasn't gotten the perfect 18 points a day consistently. Their point of view is that after being on this chart for almost 2 months and focusing on this, he should be getting a perfect score every day. Since he isn't, he must not be able to control himself, so he must need meds.

I feel like he has improved so much that we should be applauding and just relax a little. In their minds, if he's not perfect, we should give him medication to make him be able to acheive this "perfection".

This is what made me start to second guess our opinions and decisions. What we thought was real progress is being dismissed as no progress at all.

We're kind of getting "done" with the whole thing and can't wait for Christmas break.....two weeks we dont' have to worry about this!

 

[Pembo]

He needs 14 or more points to get a sticker. He has been getting a sticker almost every day. At least 4 out of 5 days a week

4 out of 5 days with 14 points or more sounds more than acceptable to me!!!!! I'd be thrilled with that. My only comment is a chart with 18 points. WOW! Is that a lot of work for the teacher??? We did smiley faces with my adhd son and only had 5 a day and that was at home and it was alot of work.

Maybe the teacher is just tired of keeping track of all that for your son.

We have an excellent psychologist, she is a former school psych. She went and observed our son at school and made suggestions to us both for home and school. Maybe you can find someone, outside the school, who can be a liason between you and the school.

Good luck.......only a few more days to Xmas break, hang in there!