and I’m stumped!
We’ve had some things ruled in for him - anxiety, OCD, sensory integration disorder, Tourette’s (possibly), social problems, some dyslexia, reading problems, auditory processing and problem-solving difficulties.
A lot of other things have been ruled out as causes of hyperactivity: no sleep apnea, tonsil problems, seizures, etc.
He had previously been on meds and came off all of them. They were for tics and anxiety, and I could see more side effects than were reasonable. We have replaced some of this treatment with homeopathy (too new to tell yet how this is helping), Feingold diet (helps some), GFCF diet (helps more), and digestive enzymes (hoping to replace GFCF). He also takes fish oil and another supplement for concentration and focus.
In the classroom, he is occasionally demonstrating problems with distractedness. He will talk to himself (muttering, I think this is Asperger-related but not sure), moves around a lot (tips his chair back), has trouble sitting still, etc. He can finish assignments most of the time but needs varying degrees of teacher prompts. I think that, since the med withdrawal and trying the enzymes, the teacher is reacting negatively to his increased distractibility (not that I can blame her).
We are getting more of a behavior plan with related consequences from the school, rather than other ideas to help him. He told me one day, when he was experiencing a strong enzyme reaction (thankfully this is mostly gone) that he just could NOT think. Well, the teacher took away some recess time so that he could finish math, then he missed having a snack (which is very critical to his success in school), then his day snowballed from there. I am not happy about hearing any of that. I do have a call into the principal, special ed staff, and the school to hear more and tell THEM more of what I see will be helpful.
I am stumped as to what to tell the school (other than pointing out that more consequences aren’t going to be helpful). He keeps saying he is bored but that the work is too hard! I assume that reading problems make it difficult to get the assignments across, but I keep thinking it is more than that. He displays this same attitude at home - “I’m bored, please buy me a new Lego” to the point I am going crazy!
Auditory processing, speech, and occupational therapy interventions have all been a dead end. So has Fast ForWord and a complete vision evaluation. I am just frazzled (have I used that word yet), as we have been to plenty of specialists and none have really helped at all that I can tell. No one seems to have a recommendation, but they all point at each other (take him here and evaluate this area instead or make the school do something else). We have tried at least 10 meds and he never responded well to any, other than the anti-anxiety med that took the edge off.
He is a very compliant kid otherwise, will stay on diet and take any pill I tell him to…so I don’t understand this whole inertia thing. I can’t imagine what else it could be - other than depression.
Thanks for reading this far (it’s a true novel)…any thoughts?
He is 7 years old, almost 8, and in second grade...
And I was hoping he would describe the “bored” feeling more accurately, too.
Although I seem to have some of the same problem, would rather start something new than work on what is in front of me. Is that OCD or more ADHD? Or for that matter, depression? I take Lexapro (as of a couple of months ago) and can’t believe how much better I can function on it.
I am not totally med-opposed but I was trying to get at the root of my son’s issues (hence the homepathic treatment) before just handing him a Lexapro. It is tempting…
I do know that he would have these kinds of issues in any setting - home or school.
Re: Asperger/ADHD DS not doing well in school...
Has he been evaluated for depression? Some of what you describe is consistent w/what depression looks like in children. You might be familiar from an adult perspective with what it looks and feels like but kids show it quite differently. It can be real hard to diagnose in kids.
talk to the OT...about getting him on a Sensory Diet
I think I have an idea which I don’t think you have tried…and I think it will work…
I am an SLP and I have worked in conjunction with the OT for kids such as your son. Some kids that I worked with have that distracted/restless behavior and lack the sticktuitiveness to work successfully in the classroom without a sensory diet. Now a sensory diet isn’t anything one eats it is allowing the child a chance to deal with his restless behavior in a positive way. For instance this is some of the activities we incorporated in my classroom when I was working as a preschool teacher/SLP. The OT would come in and observe and then provide stretchy toys such as snakes, lizards, koosh balls, chewy toys, for them to use when they were stressed and not able to control their behavior, some had a special chair or pad they would sit on, some had a bouncing ball that they sat on…
It was amazing at how this helped them relax and calm down. She would also do Brain Gym with them before we did work related activities such as writing, coloring, cutting. I made a SENSORY Table out of a gift wrap box, and I had beans/ rice/ sand, anything that would feed their sensory system, strechy toys, funnels, cups, and when it was hot I was planning on taking it outside and make it a water sensory table, Sometimes she would come in with a long stretchy tube of fabric and have the kids crawl through it, sometimes she would use a sit and spin, a trampoline, roll them up in a carpet, lots of things that fed their out of wack sensory system. Also I would play the De-Stress CD from Advanced Brain technologies as background music when we were doing our work centers to feed their auditory system nice relaxing music. It was amazing how these simple positive modifications made such a difference in the children’s behavior.
I ended up leaving this classroom due to the fact that I was needed as an Itinerant SLP. The OT was sad to see me leave because I was so open to using a sensory diet..but I saw the positive benefits which made my speech and language therapy so successful in the classroom.
Also limit the time he plays with lego’s…he is stimming on them. I had one kid who would talk about trains 24/7 and when we gave him a sensory diet and he was on sound therapy at home the “train talk” subsided quite a bit. But I would use the legos as a positive reinforcer after he does some work he gets to play with his legos. You have to pull him out of his own little world. He is bored because he isn’t engaging in the classroom like he could due to his sensory seeking behaviors.
I still would not discount medication in the future, perhaps something like strattera would help him when he is older.
I hope this helps you somewhat, I really feel for you and kids who have sensory issues. As for myself…I am a sensory seeking person…I have CAPD and ADD…For years I have chewed on pens……i :oops: Now I realize that this annoying habit was just a way for me to de-stress… :lol:
Well, we did try some of that, but not quite that way...
and our OT’s always seemed to not get that the sensory diet didn’t help him much. He couldn’t handle Wilbarger no matter how we tried it, and the years of OT were for the sensory piece. None of it made a difference for him, and I’m still not sure I understand.
Someone else suggested walking to school earlier and playing for a while, which I suppose is possible. He used to use the squishy seat in first grade, and it didn’t seem to make a difference either. I could try giving him a koosh ball to play with right before starting math, but I am not sure what else to try.
Why would sensory diet and/or sensory-based OT not work with him? Do you have any ideas? No one has been able to answer this for me. We have a trampoline at home, and jumping on it never seems to calm him either.
He hates going outside, says he doesn’t like how it feels. I have bought him chew toys, sensory whistles, etc., all to no avail. We tried sound therapy and it was a disaster. Either we couldn’t remember to have him wear the headphones, or when he did, he was really wild when he took them off. When the OT used Jin-Shin and sound therapy with him, it also made no difference. We had him wear sacks of rice on his back - he hated that. (I finally gave up and cooked the rice - it is great for a gluten-free diet - LOL.) The only thing he likes is to roll up in the heavy rug on the floor.
I had his OT visit the classroom and they had no ideas on modifications - said he was fine (this was last year and it was rougher than this year!) The school district OT says every time she comes in he is on task and doing great. (I will probably call her again for this.)
While I do believe he is experiencing overload in the classroom, the OT (nearly 3 years of private OT plus 3-4 years of school OT) never did anything for him and I am stumped. (did I say stumped 500 times yet?)
Have you ever seen a kid like this? It seems we have the original nothing-works-for-him child here, so I am just quite frustrated. I am also willing to try just about anything…if only there were something new! And meds just seem to create more problems - med ramp-up, med withdrawal, side effects…and we’ve tried so many. Even Adderall made him hyper!
Re: Asperger/ADHD DS not doing well in school...
Have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy for the anxiety and OCD? Pretty good track record for this treatment and OCD particularly. Could be that his anxiety and OCD are interfering with everything. If meds are not an option then CBT could help. Even w/meds, CBT can be important. its good for depression too — almost as good a track record as meds. What kind of support is he really getting at school. Sounds like not that much from what you say. Usually Aspies have lots of associated LD, espec. writing. If school support is poor, frustration grows and kids who fear failure stop even trying. Especially anxious types. Also, does he have a high IQ (common in Aspbergers)? He might be bored out of his skull w/ the content of school and overwhelmed by the mechanics such as writing, sitting quietly, listening etc. Functional behavior assessment would also help like Rover said to show what might be causing the behaviors and also what helps to stop them. He might also need social skills training (Not sure if you mentioned this one on your long list of things you tried — you are doing a great job!) because he might not understand what the rules of behavior really are and he might not get that when he does x, y happens.
well
He seems more on the spectrum vs. ADHD to me…especially with all the pervasive avoidance behaviors you are desribing. One of the kids in my classroom was like your son. He went through many different kinds of meds until they found the right mix and we noticed when he was all wound up we would sit still and give him a deep pressure hug, you could just feel his little body relax and then he would calm down.
I would suggest Intensive Behavior Modification therapy to get him out of his world in combination with a sensory diet… In other words…perhaps his treatment should be more on the lines of a child with Aspergers/PDD than ADHD.
As a professional one would need to observe to see what triggers his behaviors and what calms him down to really pinpoint what is going on with him.
wow- of course you are frazzled! sounds like you truly have tried everything. You didn’t mention how old he is- that might help with more specific suggestions. a behavior improvement plan should have rewards in addition to consequences and be based on a “functional behavior assessment” which tries to get at the purpose his behaviors are serving— kids don’t usually act in certain ways just to drive us crazy (with the exception maybe of oppositional-defiant kids) The plan should also include accomodations to be made and any skills that need to be taught. As for the “I’m bored” I think some kids get into the habit of saying this when they don’t know how to describe what they are really feeling— especially if the payoff in the past has been to get adults trying to entertain him so he won’t be bored (or to buy him stuff!).