Son recently diagnosed with ADHD | ADHD Information

I feel the same way - not sure if some of my teen's behavior is related to ADHD, ODD, or being a teenager. Though he's always been this way since 6, now I have no idea what types of things are attributed to what.

I hate to say it, but a lot of those things sounds like a typical teenager. I went through a phase in high school where I drank, smoked, experimented with drugs, crashed my car, hung out with the wrong crowd, and generally was a royal pain in the a** to my family. But I came through it fine and attribute all of that to being an arrogant, ignorant teen.

I also think that meds alone isn't going to solve the problem, but that maybe going to therapy may help? Maybe there's other things going on with your son and he's externalizing it by doing these things?

Good luck to you, let us know how it's going.

You know I was that same way as a teenager.  I wasn't rude/disprectful to people and I cared if my parents found out if I was screwing up.  He seems to not care at all.  That part I'm not sure is "typical" teenage stuff.  I too have turned out A-ok and I have to sit back sometimes and say, "I did these same stupid things."  Not that I want my children to do them though.  And not that I accept it either.  He is in counseling as well with our Pastor at church.  Sure hope that helps too! 

Thanks for the thoughts. . .

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to.  Busy week. 

As for the behavior that was "tolerated", he is just very moody and always has been.  We have tried to just "live with it", because we didn't know why it was this way. 

As for the Concerta, I'm still not sure if it's working. He is at the correct level now and has been for about 3 days but I'm not really seeing too much of a change.  I do have to wonder, like you said, how much of this is due to his age, gender, etc and how much is due to ADHD.  What concerns me the most is his behavior.  Since we started the medicaiton, I have found some things that I was unaware of and some things that are relatively new.  He is smoking, and apparently has been for a couple months.  My husband found a small bottle of alcohol in his car that was open.  He insisted it was somebody elses.  Who really knows?  He is rude and disrespectful to us as a family.  He is mean to his girlfriend at times.  His teachers are seeing some disruptive behavior patterns.  He thinks he can do whatever he wants, come home when he wants and say what he wants.  Again, how much of this is related to ADHD and how much is "being a teenager"?  He is my first teenager so I'm not sure if this type of behavior is somewhat "normal".  I certainly don't like it!!!

How do you get a neuropsychological evaluation?  He was dx just by a visit to a psychiatrist.

As for how he feels about it all. . . he really doesn't care one way or another.  But that is normal for him.  He really has no cares about much.  Sad but true!

Thanks for listening and thanks for all your help!

Hi and Welcome to the forum,

There are a lot of terrific and supportive people here which I hope will be helpful for you and your family.  I too have a son dxed w/ adhd when he was seven and will be 18 in two days.  I am sorry you are going through such a difficult time recently, but at least you are finding help for him now instead of him trying to figure it out years from today as so many adults have.

 I am not clear about the behavior that was "tolerated" What do you mean?

 Although the psychiatrist dx'd him as ADHD, it seems rather fast to decide after ten minutes.  I've heard of similar experience from other posters too.  There are other conditions that do display similar symptoms as ADHD. 

If methylphenidate (concerta) works it should be immediately apparent if the dosage is right.  Do you or your son see any difference after taking it?  It can take quite awhile to get the dosage right, but in our experience, we know it is right after a couple doses.   (It was interesting that the first time ds took a very low dose of Ritalin I saw a difference even though it wasn't at a therapeutic dose yet.)

Another item that your post brings to mind is something I have thought about in the last few days.   and that is trying to differentiate whether the behavior I'm seeing is  due to  being:  ADHD (also LDs, disgraphia, gifted),  almost  18 and not wanting mom around that much, a teenager,  fatigue, senioritis (hasn't hit yet), a math geek.   Interesting combination- huh?

Altho ds was dxed early, we did not have a complete neuropsychological evaluation until he was 16 1/2.  There were no surprises in the evaluation, it mainly provided a name and number to areas of strength and weakness which we aready knew about.  It helped him understand why somethings are harder for him as an individual and also bolstered him in realizing what an amazing job he has done given the weaknesses he has.  The testing is also critical for recieving  help at school or extra time on tests, in class writes, seat location, use of a computer in class and for accommodations for SAT and AP tests. 

Keep posting.  I want to hear how it's going.  What does he think of all this?
Regards and best of luck!


Well I'm new to the forum and new to ADHD. My 17 year old son was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago. We'd always known there were issues with him but never understood it. We "tolerated" his behavior for quite a long time but something changed when he turned 16. 4 months after he got is liscence, he was in an "at fault" accident. Someone was walking down the street and he turned to see them and didn't see the light turn red and ran it. 3 months later, he got a speeding ticket for going 102 mph in a 75. His only reason was "he was bored". He traveled that road every day to school and it got "boring". As a result, his liscense was suspended for 6 months. During that entire time, his behavior got worse. He became very rude, disrespectful, no drive, threatned to commit suicide, threatened to run away several times. He was VERY difficult to live with. After several visits to the doc, we were referred to a psychiatrist. She diagnosed him within 10 minutes of our meeting. I left in tears and in denial but willing to do whatever neeeded to be done to get my son back. The following week, we started him on Concerta. He has only been on for 2 weeks so I'm not sure if it is working yet. I also have an 8 year old son whom I now know is also ADHD. We will have him tested once we get my oldest son "leveled" out on the right dose of medication. This is really hard to discuss with other family & friends. I was hoping to find some others who can be of support and be available to talk. Sometimes I feel so all alone and that nobody out there is living the life I live but I know that isn't the case. I'm hoping to find some "experts" that have lived this life and can give advice as well.

Thanks for listening and I hope to hear from some.
It seems to me that your son has some really strong points.  He must be able to cope really well if it's taken this long for things to come to a head. And how fortunate for your younger son that now you know what to look for and how to intervene. I agree that adhd is a very touchy subject with family anf friends, all of whom seem to have preset ideas about it.  I just found out that two of my husband's nephews were diagnosed years ago. I wish that we would have been able to talk about it so that we'd know it was in the family.  There are so many things that cause shame in a family...something blameless like adhd shouldn't be one of them.  Good luck and keep us posted about your journey.