Meds

My daughter is in second grade and has been diagnosed with ADD. She also has an IQ of 126. From the 1st week of school, we have been trying to work with the school to keep her off of medication. I tried herbal and Vitamin supplements as well as nutritional support. In a conference, it was the principal that asked if the Dr. had suggested time release medicine… I was also told that because of her high IQ, my daughter does not qualify for an IEP. But because of the ADD she can’ complete the work that is assigned, so she does not qualify for the extended studies program for accelerated students So..I spoke with her pediatrican, and he suggested that we place her on time release Concerta, so that she would be able to concentrate and possibly qualify for the extended studies…he also suggested that we not tell the school to see if they were able to notice the change

It has been 3 months now, and accoring to the teacher, nothing has changed..
So in our next conference I am not sure what to tell the teacher. Any ideas?

Hi,
I am the mother of an11 1\2 yr old boy who has dyslexia AND adhd. I had an almost exact experience that you referred to.My son has been high strung his whole life and i was aware that he may have adhd, in addition as he went through k-3rd grades he was have some learning difficuty as well has behavior issues related to adhd (focus,sitting still,impulsive acts).By third grade i discussed with his teacher the possibility of having him tested for disabilities (after she brought up meds and even natural remedies for adhd)because i knew his bio father was dyslexic as is his mother. My son threw a giant fit everytime we had to do homework or read He would get so frustrated and impatient with himself and the school work.they tested him and while there was a large discrep in iq vrs. performance they did not find him eligable for services. We had him tested for adhd privatly and the result was adhd and dyslexia . We gave copies of this to the school, but to no avail.By fourth grade he hated school and everything about it ,he was in trouble on a daily basis and the staff was none to happy with him and they showed it.We had a 504 that was being ignored , he was losing recess all the time for behavior as well as not completing assignments.We were adamit about not medicating him largly due to his small size and already being underweight.we had several meeting begging for extra help , i pleaded with them to take a look at his school work, writting (some backwards ) and his spelling , but they put up their brick wall .i found a tutor that specializes in dyslexia remediation amung other stuff and she has been a life saver for him ,anyways in one of our meetings with the school the principal was very uncoopertive and said “the only thing that will help this kid is medication!’ I was so mad and frustrated that they would not see the dyslexia and blamed everthing on the behavior.finally in fith grade he has his tutor ,an awesome teacher and yes finally we tried the ritalin and the combo seems to make a world of difference to my sons education.However i strongly disagree with the school refusing to meet his needs and telling ME he needs meds or he’ll be unsucessful at school.this is a portion of our story sorry it’s so long even scaled down !!!I’m glad theres someone out there learning about and working twards a change in the schools.THANK YOU FOR CARING !!!!Galadriel

Hi Momma Di

I am a bit confused about her IQ score and the ADD issue- if she is not completing the work in class and the ADD is having an adverse effect on her academic performance, then she should qualify for extra help regardless of her IQ. If I am not mistaken, under IDEA, children with a medical diagnosis that inhibits their academic progress can qualify for services under Other Health Impaired. Therefore, she should receive extra support with her academics, as well as her organizational skills, etc. Also, is the teacher using behavior modification in the classroom? such as a defined discipline procedure, some sort of reward system (doesn’t have to be individual- can be classroom-wide). I really am not one to advocate for meds- I think behavior mod. etc. should be used definitely in conjunction with meds. Maybe Concerta is not the right thing. Sometimes it takes a little tweaking of the meds to find the right dosage/prescription. That includes collaborative effort between school (i.e. teacher, nurse, etc.), home (you and your family) and doctor. she should be monitored in all areas to get a clear picture of the meds and how they effect her. do you see any difference in her?

jessica

WOW Galadriel- What a story!!!

Thank you so much for sharing it with me because it helps me I think to be a better psychologist if I can understand the parents perspective. For myself, I am not one to advocate for meds- only as a last resort and definitely coupled with behavior modifications in the class and at home. It must have been so frustrating for you to not have your needs heard or met to help your son. I am glad things are going well for him- you finally got the right combination!!

Jessica

Hello!

This is just what happened with us!! Even the pediatrician had her own reasons for putting our (then) 3rd grader on meds. She said that sadly, the world we live in just doesn’t support kids being able to run around and learn by experiencing life. Instead, the school systems try to put all the different-shaped blocks into the one type of whole. The kid that just doesn’t fit, then, gets referred for medication till they find a way for the “block to fit.” IS THAT PATHETIC OR WHAT???

I must add, that even the resource room here (sp. ed.) is somewhat lacking in allowing these kids to be the shape they are.

Greetings Jessica,

Are you familiar with the work done by Dr. Amen in which he has identified 6 types of ADD? If not, I would encourage you to check out his website at brainplace.com which describes his findings as a result of SPECT imaging. Not being previously familiar with his work, I spoke with a local psychiatrist who also specializes in ADD. He was both familiar and in agreement with Amen’s model.

Blessings, momo

My son was dx add/inattentive in 1st grade only after he was having trouble learning his letters and learning to read and was having his green card pulled for not paying attention. I took it upon myself to take him to the ped. to have his ears checked and discussed his problems with the ped. who referred me to the developmental ped who made the dx. My son also saw the speech teacher at the hospital who dx mild capd. No teacher has at anytime(nor school) asked me to put him on meds or increase them. He does take Ritalin and has since 1st grade, it has done wonders for him as far as school. I agree that school should not try to make parents medicate if they feel strongly against it. I also agree school should make the adjustments needed for these kids to succeed. That has been the hard part for almost all of us parents. I must say, I too wish I could just send my kids to school and they would sit in class, learn everything they need, play nice with the other kids, come home and cheerfully do their homework. Since my kids don’t do all that, the teachers and I have to deal with the little individuals we got!

thanks for the info- i will definitely check it out!!

jessica

As a teacher and a parent, I think medication is a parent’s decision. However, as a teacher, I would share with you that you can try other interventions only if you have the time and the space to do so. I’ve seen smaller class size be of great benefit to some ADD kids and I’ve seen other ADD/ADHD kids benefit from different teaching styles.

Often though the “other interventions” get written down on paper but can’t get implemented. I teach in an independent school and so we do not have IEPs but when caring parents bring me long lists of suggested interventions for an ADD child or any other, I often can’t do it. I’m willing to do it but as my kids rush out the door at the end of class, which ones are supposed to have their assignment books checked? Which ones am I supposed to walk around and tap on their desks to keep them on task? How often in a class period can I walk around the room?

Sometimes teachers push medication because it’s the one intervention that can get done in the course of the day. However much I agree with you that medication should not be “pushed”, I understand why some do it.

Here’s our experience. In second grade, our son was referred to an Educational Management Team (what they do with problem children who aren’t coded for a disability) because of being unable to sit still, etc. They sent us to our pediatrician who after getting paper evaluations from many sources diagnosed ADHD. But he said his approach to medication was to determine 1)is the child on grade level? YES 2) is the child succeeding socially? YES 3) is his self-esteem good? YES. If all answers are YES, who cares if he drives the teacher crazy? (Sorry, teachers out there!) So we didn’t medicate him. At the next EMT meeting, almost every member of the staff tried to lay a guilt case on me for not medicating him. They really laid it on thick. I ignored them.
Today, he’s in 8th grade doing fabulously, but still fidgety! Some teachers are better at tolerating behavior differences than others. Some are just unhappy if they don’t have complete authority and control.

The three criteria that the pediatrician told us about have helped us over and over again. They helped me know that something was going on with our second child. The school had no idea he was LD; they ignored him because he was quiet.

Hi all,
As the parent of an ADD/NLD 10 year old girl and as a SPED teacher, I can certainly relate to this topic. Sometimes, despite our reluctance to use it medication is the one intervention that really works. My daughter is on Concerta for her attentional problems and, while it seems to help her focus, tends to also make her spacey and detached. The past several days I chose not to medicate her so that I could gauge whether or not the medication was actually making a difference. Wow- what an eye-opener! She was completely unable to focus in school (according to her own observations) and could not begin to do her homework (despite repeated reminders, refocusing, and redirection. This experience really made clear why, and how much, my daughter needs her medication in order to function. It's not just about calming kids down and making them sit still; rather, it's about giving kids the ability to focus on a task and see it through. I plan, though, to consult our pediatrician to see if there's anything out there that can do this without negative side effects. Thanks for listening- Karen

Hi,
My problem has not been the school pushing medication. My problem has been they didn’t want me to know what the law really was and what they should be providing for my child. Long story short for 4 years now out of 6, I attend all meetings with all files of every ARD meeting and a copy of the law. They don’t give me the brush off as much now, but they will try sometimes. At my ARD meetings there is usually 10 or more people attending. And it isn’t unusual for the Co-op director to attend. They know I mean business. In addition, I also work well with the schools. I might bend a little on one thing for them to give more in another area. I have a lot of respect for the teachers and staff that work with me and my son.

I hope that more studies will come about. Our children are important.

Information to pass on to other parents - the law is on your side!!

Liz

Greetings Karen,

It makes me wonder, because your daughter is “spacey and detached” while on Concerta, that she might be on the wrong dose of medication or even the wrong CLASS of medication. Concerta (a reformulation of Ritalin) works well for certain types of ADD but not all. Depending on the type of ADD and the severity, there are effective supplements. You can read more about it at www.brainplace.com.

Blessings, momo