He has just started on Adderall. We started hsg last April, before we knew he had ADD. He was not happy with public school and he was upset because he was having trouble academically. Now he feels like he wants to return to ps next year. He has trouble and gets frustrated with school work even at home, especially with math, and won’t hardly read a book. He used to do great at math and love to read. This has affected his self-esteem but he is glad to know now why he went from As to C- in some classes. I wonder if he could use some counseling but don’t know where to get it. The only places I found nearby take 3-6 months to get into.
How are public schools at dealing with ADD students? My son does not want the school to even know he has ADD, and I wonder if that’s a good idea. However, I understand where he is coming from. He feels they would put him in Spec. Ed classes and he is a bright child so this could hurt his self-esteem even more. I have heard stories about how ps treat these types of students and it’s not always a good thing.
Also, I see a different look in his eyes with this medicine. He says he feels no different, although I see a difference (not sure I like all of it). I see that I tend to push him more to eat and he definitely get dry mouth. We have to work on organizational skills to keep him on task better so he doesn’t have to rely on memory so much. Any suggestions?
I feel sometimes like I don’t know where to go and as a concerned mother, I worry about him. He has always been the type to take school (and life) pretty seriously. He always talks about his future and college, etc., and I try to remind him that although that is good, he needs to remember that he is 14 and that he should enjoy being 14.
Re: My 14yo ds just diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type.
Greetings Deb,
Since your son is having difficulties in specific subjects, has he had testing to rule-out LDs in those areas?
Last year my 14yo dd was diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type along with learning disabilities in both math and written expression. I homeschooled her full-time for about 18mos. This school year (9th grade), she is enrolled for 3hrs at the local public school and I homeschool 4hrs so we can focus on the subjects she needs extra work in. The state of MO allows this type of dual enrollment and I believe Mary in MN is doing something similar with her dd. This has been an excellent compromise for us and it’s something you might want to consider.
Blessings, momo
Re: My 14yo ds just diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type.
momoMo,
Good point you make about learning disabilities. When my son was tested for ADD, I thought he was tested for this type of thing as well. I don’t know exactly how that works but I will find out. I had mentioned an auditory processing problem possibly and they said no to that. My son always did well in math before until the last few years when all his grades started getting worse, so I didn’t think it was just a math problem.
In MA, they won’t allow part-time schooling. I wish they did.
Re: My 14yo ds just diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type.
The testing of ADD and academic skills would not necessarily be connected at all. Sometimes because of poor academic performance, the possibility of ADD may come up and parents then see their doctor to diagnose it (and there need to be teacher and parent questionaires to be filled out to make this diagnosis). The academic problems would be tested and diagnosed by the school. So unless your child was referred for academic testing due to poor school performance, the school would not have tested for LD. It would not have been done by the medical doctor. If the school had done academic testing, they would have had a meeting to inform you of the results of an IQ and achievement test.
They should not have told you it was not CAPD either. That can only be accurately assessed by specialized testing by an audiologist who specializes in APD. However, if the medication is helping him and he can focus better, then it probably is just ADD. Of course, there are children who have both problems.
I would definitely suggest having private achievement testing done. That can tell you where his math skills (and any others) are lacking. It is very important to fill in those missing skills before moving on in math. He very likely missed some skills because of the inability to concentrate. So you vey well may be correct that he may be behind in math but not really have a math learning disability. I’d just be sure he has “caught up” before you send him back to public school.
If the meds are working and he is doing well academically, then I might have the tendency to not tell the school about the ADD either. You might confidentially tell his counselor, though, just in case there are problems.
Regarding counselling, check out the CHADD web-site www.chadd.org. See if there is a chapter near you. There is a lot of great information on the site itself, too.
Janis
Re: My 14yo ds just diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type.
My son who is 6 years old and in the first grade was recently diagnosed with add/inattenative type also. I also was advised my specialist not to tell school right away because I probably would get a more positive response. My son is on adderall xr and I have seen a significant improvement and have gotten good feedback from the school. Last week I chose to confide in his speech teacher and told her of add and meds. After talking with her I decided to write the school a letter to explain of it also. I did this because my son also has a underlying LD. In november, we seen a specialist and he has language impairment/delay. Also possible CAPD,but too young to test for. My son does get speech class twice a week for 1 hour. He now will be eligible for resource room class(about an hour everyday) and thats because I told the school of the add. He now is going to be tested again because this past summer, where I had him tested at tested him with the wipsie(preschool test) and they want to see where he is at by testing him with the wisc r. It all can be overwelming!!! But if there could be LD , I would confide in someone at the school. Good Luck!!!
Re: My 14yo ds just diagnosed with ADD-inattentive type.
Hi, Tammy,
I just wanted to mention to you that your son is not too young to test for CAPD. Our daughter was tested three weeks after her sixth birthday in November at the APD clinic at the U of FL. Let me know if you have any other questions. I spend a good bit of time on the CAPD board as well. :-)
Janis
Thank you all very much! The meds are helping a great deal!
I really appreciate all your advice/responses. They have helped more than you know.
I have two kids one is ADD-Inattentive without an IEP and the other is ADHD and inattentive with an IEP. The 15 year old is ADD-Inattentive, & the school has no idea he is on meds…He was on Adderall and it helped somewhat but he just couldn’t focus when he was home to do homework…what really helped him was Dexadrine spansules that lasted all day. He still has moments where he is out in left field but his grades went up and so did his self-esteem with the meds.. If your son wants to go back to school,perhaps you should let him,it sounds like he is ready to go back.
I pulled my daughter out for 18 months and did a program from 5th grade to 6th grade to help her catch up and this summer she told me she wanted to go back to middle school. She was ready and she is now swimming with the same middle-school of fish and holding her own. Feel free to e-mail me if you need some more help and a listening ear.
It is tough to be a mom and homeschool a kid with ADD. I think if he was in Public School now that he is on meds the teachers can push him more and you can be the supportive cheering section at home and possibly your stress level will ease up. I know mine has…just my 2 cents…