reading problems | ADHD Information

vickie, what medication is your daughter taking? my younger sister just turned 11 and my mother has to constantly supervise her to make sure she studies, completes assignments, etc. i think ADHD runs in my family...my father most likely has it, just never was diagnosed. i have not been officially diagnosed as i am still in the process of finding a doctor and getting evaluated, diagnosed, and treated. i am concerned for my sister because it's like watching my elementary school years all over again (I am in high school) and school is only going to get harder for her. my parents are very skeptical about the meds, but i think for me, and maybe my sister as well, the benefits would certainly outweigh tht risks. i need a doctor that can build up enough trust with my parents that they won't be so opposed to putting me on meds. they don't understand that even though i am an A student, i have to work three times as hard as my peers to do well. not that i expect honors classes to be easy, but they certainly shouldnt consume all my time the way they are so that i have no free time to do anything else. and i'd like to resolve this before college, where i'll have even more work to do, and i'll have to manage my time more on my own. sorry for rambling. glad to hear your daughter is doing better :)

I hope you can find help for yourself and your sister. I think a good psychiatrist that can disscuss things well would be of great help.

My daughter is on 27mg concerta in the morining and 2mg guanfacine AM and PM. Because she is so skinny and started to lose weight on the concerta, the doctor could not increase the concerta to a more effective dose (it works well, but not quite enough). So he added the guanfacine because it is also effective for some adhd symptoms and helps with weight gain.

It is so nice to see my daughter successful in school this year. She is now happier, more confident and the anxiety and depression of last year have disappeared. Last year, she was getting mostly Ds and Fs in any area that needed reading (she did well in math), despite the hours struggling with homework. In her strong subject (math) she could not pass the timed tests; she just went too slow (got every problem that she completed correct, but could not finish enough problems to pass). She is now passing these timed tests (with 100% correct).

It takes me FOREVER to read. if it's boring, for eaxample, if i'm doing homework, it consumes all my time and i have no time for anything else. if it's something i'm interested in, i still have a problem. although i guess all of my homework takes longer than it should, the reading is what takes longest. there is a reading assignment i did not do over the summer, so my teacher just said to give it to him whenever i finish. my other work is already taking way too long, and i don't know how im going to finish this other assignment. plus, i just keep putting it off. i was never diagnosed with any kind of reading or learning disability, yet when i read, my focus is so poor that i feel like im illiterate.
is this something that medication would help with? i really think i need to do something about it soon.

If you have ADHD, the meds may help you stay on task and get through the "boring" stuff without your mind wandering too bad. You need to sort out the posibility of dyslexia with the doctor as well. If you try meds, you will have to make yourself learn new study habits, but should be more successful at this than before meds (they do not do all of the work for you). If you don't get the desired effects (after giving them a good try at optimum dose), you can always stop them, and not be in any worse shape than now.

My 10 year old daughter went from 3+ painful hours of homework a night before meds (with fighting and constant supervision to keep on task), to homework being done in school or before I am home from work. She doesn't like reading like her sister, but does it without complaint and actually gets something out of her reading now. She now gets As and Bs in school rather than the Ds and Fs of last year before meds. She has mild dyslexia with her ADHD.

vickie39045.8844444444

I believe ivanhoe is referring to vision therapy.

VT MIGHT HELP FOR YOU .what's VT? I'm confused READING DISORDERS REGARDLESS NEED FIXED. EYE Q WILL HELP YOU READ FAST i SAW THE ADVERTISEMENT. IT WAS APPROVED BY A EYE DR. THIS IS VT FOR THE HOME.

The weight issues do not happen with everyone, and may go away after the body adjusts to the meds. To counteract this issue, you can make sure to eat before meds in the morning and after meds wear off in the evening, make protein shakes, add protein powder or olive oil to foods to boost the calories (I add these to my daughter's soup-her favorites), make milk shakes with icecream and pediasure, etc. My daughter's appetite is not really affected, she just never had a good appetite and she is skinny like her dad was at this age. We just have no leeway for weight loss for her.

It's funny to hear that....math is my strong subject as well, and for me, the more reading that's involved in the schoolwork, the hader a time I have with it.When I take math tests, and when I took the PSATs, I was OK with the material, I just always run out of time. On the PSAT I missed about a third of the problems in one of the math sections because I ran out of time. the reading section..forget it. i probably got half of what I was able to complete wrong, and the rest I had no time for. actually, someone on this forum told me to not even read the passages. i'm going to try that, but i still will take long with the math, and may still run out of time, just because everything I do takes longer than it should.

do you know if the weight loss from the meds is one of those side effects that eventually goes away, or if it's something that sticks with you as long as you're taking it? my parents are very worried about that, among other things. yeah i realized that after i posted...sorry...

i think the problems i have with reading are mainly inattention-related. i was actually tested a while back for a visual processing disorder, and supposedly i don'thave one. i alsojust found out from my mom that dyslexia would have shown up on this test as well. so i've pretty much ruled everything out, except for ADD...i took a CPT test that showed some inattention problems, but the doctor that gave me the test (in september) doesn't want to see me againuntil january, because he only sees his patients every three months. i don't think that's enough; he's a neurologist,not a psychiatrist,so there's not much talking involved. i'm considering looking elsewhere.

anyways, sorry for rambling...and i apppreciate everyone's help & advice!