What would you call this type of behavior | ADHD Information

It sure sounds like everything really piles up on your son, to the point of oversaturation. I bet on top of his own stresses, his radar is picking up all of the stress buzz around him, teachers and schoolmates. Sometimes at this time of year you can cut the tension with a knife, due to exams, holidays coming ... although I think it's much worse at the older grade levels. So I bet it will pass as soon as school's done, although that doesn't help now. If he's under the impression that the teacher is mad at him, that doesn't help at all. I'd talk to the teacher for sure.

I'd look at the meds too - I don't know much about the mixing of the 2 he's on, but like OlderMom says, that may be a large part of the problem, especially if you just raised the Concerta.

My hubby (undiagnosed ADHD) would get just like your son a couple of times a year for about 12 or so years, and it was totally tied to exam time. And this was well after he was out of school. His body seemed to remember the cycle of the stress. It always fascinated me!

PB

I guess it is part of my nature to look at the system first before I look at what an individual's problem in that system might be, and this is a prime example of a system that I think is broken. I truly do not get end-of-year testing.  Testing for weak areas at the end of the year is counter-productive to education.  It's simply too late to benefit the child in any way at that point. Any testing at the end of the year should have no more weight than testing, say, at the middle of the year, when there actually may be time for improvement.

Though I do have serious issues with some aspects of our local school district, they do not do this high-pressure testing at the end of school.  Whether the child "passes" the grade is a combination of year-long grades, parental opinion, and teacher input. I just don't see the benefit of high-pressure testing at the end of the year, just at the time children are feeling the summer friskies, thinking about planned summer activities, and are mentally "checking out" of school. This is a difficult test time even for academically "strong" students.

Sorry, I know this doesn't address your concern, I just had to vent about what I think is unfair to our kids. Good luck to you.

My daughter is in 3rd grade, and was upset several days ago because of what she was calling a "time test."  She said that she didn't think that she would be going into 4th grade next year because she didn't think that she could pass the test, even with the extra time that she was being allowed.  I wrote a note to her teacher in her log.  The teacher replied that she was talking about the timed math test, and that she had already passed it in December, so that there was no need to worry!  The teacher and I both talked with her,  and she seemed surprised, but now is fine.  I think that the teacher's are under a lot of pressure at the end of the year, and the kids pick up on this to some extent.  They are also in a hurry, which can create problems for the kids with ADHD, who tend to misunderstand/misinterpret things that are said  in class.  I would talk with the teacher about how he has been acting, and see if she can talk with or spend a little extra time explaining things to him.  There may not actually be a problem at all!

For LD testing, you can go to a PhD who specializes in education testing/assesment; your school district might be able to recommend someone--if he's already had an IQ test, they shouldn't need to redo that, but will compare where he should be based on his IQ versus his output, both verbal and written, timed and untimed. My daughter is  high IQ, ADD, and has processing issues, so she flat out can't do timed tests without cracking. Not that our school is willing to make any accomodations, since she's performing at or above grade level...

HI!  Thanks for your input, I appreciate.

Yes, I would consider giving him a mental health day or maybe 1/2 day, but this is testing week and he really needs to be at school these last few days.

He's been on zoloft for a couple years combined with stimulant and non stimulants, with no problems, but as I type this... his Concerta was upped about 3 weeks ago and I know it takes time to kick in, so I am wondering if that has something to do with it.  HUM...... thanks for bringing that up.

Yes, we are in close contacts with the teacher.  He's firm, but always takes into consideration what we say.  He had no idea, that my son crushes that bad under pressure.  I did give him a heads up.

We've asked the teacher to reassure him that even if the tests don't go good, he will be advanced to 4th grade.

What should be the first step for LD testing.  He's had IQ tests, hearing, vision, ect...

Thanks for all your help!

 

Hi, just one quick question, does your son have an IEP?  Usually if a child has an IEP, they will receive additional time for testing.... 

As far as him acting in this particular way, my son could not sleep at all and was very hyper during final exam week...but it may be also a reaction to the Zoloft?  My son was put on prozac for his anxiety and had to be taken off of it because he became so restless and jumpy.

Hello everyone.  It's been a long time since I've been on the boards.  I have an 8 yr old with anxiety/depression and ADHD. He's now on Concerta and Zoloft

I would like to explain to you how my son was acting last night and can you tell me what you would call it.   I called it an emotional breakdown.  What do you think?  Just curious.

My son's class is doing their end of the year testing in various subjects.  We all know how well our kids handle testing....  sorry it's so long.

I could tell something was wrong by his behavior the last few days, he's been real snappy at us, showing anger by his tone of voice and what he says (mimmicking ect), little bit of yelling and "blowing up"

well, yesterday after school and scouts, he get's home and is just so darn mad.  He doesn't want to come inside, doesn't want to take a bath, doesn't want to go to sleep, he's made becuase his leg itches, made becuase his nose is running and then I finally get it out of him that he had testing again today and he feels it didn't go good.  He's saying he can't pass to 4th grade (not true), couldn't do the testing becuase he couldn't remember anything he was supposed to, couldn't finish the math testing in the time allowed, teacher was mad at him, he said he was slower than the slow peopel in his class, he crying up a hysterical mess, wouldn't listen to any type of reason or help, he was picking at his skin, hiding in the cabinet crying, was so mad his head was going to pop.  I helped him with two of the testing areas at home and said to take the papers to school, he said it was cheating, I said it wasn't.  I didin't give him answers, I just helped him get them out of his head

He doesn't do well at all under timing, it takes him a while to get info out of his brain, down his pencil and on to paper.  and he of course, doesn't want it to be wrong, so he uses all the pencil eraser up.

you all know how this goes on and on.....

what do you think?  I'm kinda down in the dumps over this,

Thanks

 

Bless his heart!!!     What a sweet kid.  He obviously wants to do well and be accepted, as his anger at his own sense of failure shows. 

My son was tested out the boozoo, both privately and at school, this year for LD's.  By the time the school testing was over, he was one grouchy kid, so I let him take off from school one day and have a "mental health day," which is a day when he gets to do whatever he wants to do.  I give these to him every now and then, and I tell him he gets them because I know how hard he works and tries.  These special days work wonders for improving his attitude and self esteem. 

I will say, however, that nothing seems to make him happy at the end of the year.  My happy-go-lucky kid becomes a real bear at the end of the year.  I posted in the basement last week about how horrible his behavior was the last two weeks of school.  I was ready to ring his neck last week!!!  School was over Friday morning, and like a miracle, my happy-go-lucky kid returned, BOOM, just like that!  It's the strangest thing. 

I would seriously consider having your son tested for LD's.  Until you know for sure what is going on, just love, love, love him and constantly point out his accomplishments to him.  And take a deep breath because school is almost over. 

I would look at the Zoloft.  Zoloft ( and combined with Concerta wow!) can be highly stimulating and can both cause raging and anger. Together, a kid can blow a gasket. If he was ok before the Zoloft, I'd look closely at that. Remember, it takes a few months for Zoloft to totally kick in so sometimes kids are ok at first (even better) then go into a manicky frenzy. It also has a withdrawal effect where, if taken off of it, it has to be weaned and the child can seem worse rather than better at first. If the child is in any way possibly mood disordered that would only make him worse. I wouldn't allow my own kid on both those meds at the same time. There is an FDA black box warning about all antidepressants and children. First off, I'd look at the meds. If he was like this before them, then I'd want an evaluation from a Child Psychiatrist (with the MD) to see if he has maybe early onset bipolar or high functioning autism, both which tend to mimic ADHD. The anxiety can be dealt with in a better way than an SSRI antidepressant. I'm on one--think SSRIs are great inventions for adults with depression/anxiety, but they seem to often make kids worse, and are not recommended for anyone under 18. OlderMom38868.3863078704Also, you may want to share this with the teacher.  She may not have any idea that your son is this upset about his performance in the classroom, and she can do a lot to make him feel better about himself.  When he says, "The teacher is mad at me," this may not be true; instead, it may be his own frustration at wanting to please her and feeling that he is not because he's struggling with the testing.  Do you like his teacher?  Do you think she is supportive?  If so, do let her know what he is saying and how he is reacting. 

Thanks for your responses everyone.  He's on the 4th grade, like we all knew.  We stay in close contacts with the school.  The thing that really ticked me off about these tests is that these tests covered things that were not necessarily taught in this grade.  It's a test designed to push students to see how much they know and how far they go with the subject.

Schools out and he's on to a super dooper summer day camp at our local YMCA which will keep his mind and BODY active ALL SUMMER LONG!!! YIPPEE!!!

I think I am going to try looking into alternatives to our traditional RX's.  I AM NOT AGAINST MEDICATION!!! IT HAS BEEN A LIFE SAVER FOR MY SON!! BUT, I feel like there is more I could be doing and the summer is a better time to try rather than interfer with academics.  I'd like to work with diet, natural supplements(there are a variety out now) vitamins and omega's.

Have a wonder summer with you kids!!!