Also you should keep in mind that in the future, as the work in school becomes more demanding, he may need med adjustment. At 7, Chase needed no meds at all, he was able to do the work easily because of his giftedness...by 4th grade, more and more is expected, and he could not keep up any longer...many of these children are extremely gifted, and slip through the cracks until 4th or 5th grade when the work gets much more difficult to do.
But there are varying degrees of ADHD and varying types. If your son is mainly hyperactive (no lack of focus) then tenex would be all he needs to calm himself enough to handle school.
Yes, there are varying degrees. When we got my son's dx it was mild to moderate ADHD. The brother of a child I watch was dx'ed with severe ADHD. But even withing those catagories the children themselves vary day to day with how they are able to cope. Some days my son seems like a typical 8 yr. old, others I am tearing my hair out and wanting to run away.
Sorry, I'm just being nosy here, but does your son see a therapist to help deal with the emotional aspects of both ADHD and the circumstances that led him to be in foster care? I only ask because my son has had a lot of issues with abandonment over the years and that's just because of his biological father's lack of involvement/interest. He hasn't seen ds since he was 15 months old. A few years ago he did relinquish his rights so that my husband could adopt ds, but he still has his moments of anxiety and says/does stuff that seems related to that. I can't imagine how much worse those feelings must be in a child who's lost both his parents and been though the foster care system.