Few questions & concerns | ADHD Information

I just joined recently, but haven't posted hardly since. I'm sorry for that, things have been really hectic and crazy. But anyway. I found some things out about my son Trent. He wa diagnosed adhd and his dr put him on metadate cd 20mg. Well he was doing good on it, but it was wearing off within 4 hours or so. So he changed him to Adderall XR 10mg. Now he's really whiney and having mood swings. The dr says its normal and that he'll get past that the longer he's on it. Is this true?

Also, another thing I found somewhere I don't remember exactly where but I was reading how vision problems can really affect a child and cause them to have similar symptoms as adhd and actually be misdiagnosed. Well Trent went to preschool for a year, then he did pre-k last year and now this year he's in kindergarten and noone ever noticed anything wrong with his eyes. Well I've been really concered about the head injury he got back in May so I kept pushing the issue. I finally got them to refer him to a pediatriac neurologist. Then I notice my son in the office putting his face to the calendar to read letters. So I ask the dr and they do a little eye test on him there and said they noted decreased vision. So they made him an appt. Well I didn't feel comfortable waiting 3 wks, so I got him in at walmart vision. Guess what, my son can't see. His vision is really really horrible.

He is a +3.00 -2.00 (right eye & -2.25 left eye) x 180 in both eyes.

So he is nearsighted, farsighted, & astigmatism in both eyes. So needless to say he has glasses now, and oh my goodness he can see.

Anyway the main reason that I decided to really push and take him to walmart was his teacher was concerned that because even after being on meds for 2 wks, he still wasn't learning & recognizing letters & retaining info he was being taught. Well now I know why, he can't learn & retain what he can't see.

So anyway, my question is, is it possible that alot of his problems including his adhd could be stemming somewhat from his poor vision? And how is it that his teacher this year, or the last 2 yrs and myself, my husband or anyone else around him never noticed his eyes were so bad? It makes me so angry, i'm his mother, I definitely should have noticed something.

Unfortunately the school hadn't done testing this year, but i don't understand how they didn't catch it last year. They said its because they actually only look to see if you can see the pictures or not. So if a child squints to read it, they don't notice. They eye dr said its actually no surprise to him, just another child slipping through the huge hole in the system.

He is doing a huge amount better with his glasses. He does still get really wound up at times, but part of me wonders if thats just him being a kid and being able to see now? But at the same time I don't want to seem like i'm making excuses. If that makes sense.

I do know that he's very far behind in school now, and they want to know what I want to do about it? So I'm wondering whats the point. So I don't know if I should just pull him out and let him start fresh next year, or let him finish out this year and take the chance of still having to do it all over again next year. I am working so hard with him on the flash cards, but I don't want to push him to much because after all he is only 5.

I just want to do what is best for him, not the school And sometimes I feel like they think oh he's just another problem child, push him off to the side or where ever just get him out of our way.

Anyway thanks everyone. I feel a little better about it now. I just can't help but keep thinking how I could have missed this or even his preschool or pre-k last year. Or his teacher this year for that matter. And not once when I mentioned to the pediatrician that I was concerned about him not recognizing letters and his head injury did he ever once say has he ever had his eyes checked or anything. He just told me that that is part of adhd and once he's on the meds for a while that it'll help, but that it'll take about 6 months before you really start to notice that he's learning.

Should I run from this dr? I'm really worried now.

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He is a +3.00 -2.00 (right eye & -2.25 left eye) x 180 in both eyes.

So he is nearsighted, farsighted, & astigmatism in both eyes. So needless to say he has glasses now, and oh my goodness he can see.

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Don't beat yourself up on this one--it happens. We can't know everything to look for.

My sis is a special ed ECE. Her daughter--you'd talk to her she'd ignore you, then you'd yell and the kid would cry. Well, it turns out that for two years or so she only had 50% hearing in one ear.

Anytime there's a mental disturbance I always advise that the physical is checked first.

It may be that your child does not have ADHD. The frustration of not knowing what people were asking of him and fogging out from feeling clueless could have caused a lot of problems.

Deal with his eyes first. In six months [adjustment time, he's been hurt by his inability already] if he still acts ADHD then have him physically checked again for everything. If that pans out--THEN get him tested for ADHD.

Schools are far too willing to stick their opinion in and their opinion IS NOT VALID because they are not diagnosticians.

As for your doctor, I'd change him. Before putting ANYONE on psych meds the patient should be checked for all physical anomalies.

As far as I'm concerned to not do so should be considered malpractice and treated accordingly.

Amen to that response from Metis.

Before we even went to the neuropsych., our pediatrician sent us for a hearing test, and then a vision test.

I would NOT give him any medication for ADHD symptoms until you are certain after him having his glasses on for school.

Poor little guy, suffering over something as simple a fix as a pair of glasses. If he shows the ADHD signs with the glasses, then it is back to the doctor again.

My son who has 20/20 vision, couldn't handle adderall xr at all. He does well with concerta. You may also need to change meds., if meds are even necessary.

I am so glad you had his vision checked and that he can now see!! How come the school didn't catch it sooner?

we also checked hearing and vision at first diagnosis age 5. My daughter also had some nearsightedness and astygmatism and needed glasses. She did alos have ADHD, but we didnt go on meds for three more years. Truthfully, though the doc said meds, it was me who wanted to do the hearing and vision. In the end they were right, she needed medication, but I had to do it at my pace.Don't feel bad- it's hard to know that they can't see if they can't tell you. My mom didn't catch my sister's severe astigmatism until she was 9! How she functioned before then I'll never know.

Please don't beat yourself about the vision problems. I wear glasses and will tell you that he didn't know he couldn't see to tell you. I was in the 4 th grade when a teacher told my mother something was wrong.

I am so glad that I live in a large school distrist that screens all elementary grades, 6th and 10 graders each year. It is done by volunteers and we identify about 2000 children in need of eye exams out of the 70,000 that the volunteers screen. When a child fails, we have another volunteer on a different machine retest the child. I am amazed that we find one or two children ( every year) that are legally blind and no one knew it was that bad.

I would do2 things, not run from that doctor, but start looking around. Vision and hearing should be first in question (IMO).

Do not pull him out of school. How far behind can he be? It's only Kindergarten and it's only October! Worst case scenario, he is that far behind and does 2 years of Kindergarten......so what? At least give him the chance to do this year, it just started. Even if you only do it for social reasons. I have a child in Kindergarten. She is doing very well and is the kind of kid who loves to learn, but really, one of my BIG goals for her this year is to "get it". Understand sitting when she's supposed to. Doing what the rules are and not whatever she feels like doing. Understanding there are rules that everyone has to follow. Getting used to waiting her turn and doing things as part of a group, and playing with lots of different friends. She learned some of this in pre K, but Kindergarten is SO much more structured. Try to forget about the fact that this wasnt caught earlier, as Vickie stated above, move forward form here. HE IS ONLY 5. You have LOTS and LOTS of time to catch up. He can only move forward, keeping him home won't do that. School has no choice, but to accomodate him. Keep him in, push for the evaluations and services, even if that is all you accomplish this year, that is HUGE.

Good luck, you are doing all the right things.

Sorry, I can't really answer your questions, because just like you, my son is in Kindergarten and also just got diagnosed ADHD. I just wanted to say don't be so hard on yourself, you did a good thing by getting his vision tested right away, good for you! I bet you will see a improvement with your son, and I'm sure he is excited with his new vision!

Thank you so much. That's for sure about everyone is different. :)

Please do not beat yourself up for not catching the vision issues sooner. It is handled now so move on to the other issues your son is facing.

The vision problems could cause ADHD symptoms or made them worse. You will need to explore all the posibilities.

If the problems on the adderall do not settle down within a week or 2, I would ask the doc to go back to the metadate and see if it works better now that a potential cause of anxiety (vision) has been handled. THe emotional lability on the adderall could get better or worse. Everyone is different.

Ok, here is their definition of very far behind. And I got this through the grape vine. My mother in law and his teacher are friends, so they spoke last week about him. And all I know is my mother in law said that she is going to have to start coming and getting him every single night after work and working with him to get him caught up because he's very far behind.

Well he still can't recognize letters. Well hello, he couldn't see. What do you expect a kid to automatically learn letters in 1 wks time seriously. He knows his alphabet, and he can count, and he can write his name, and some other letters now but he can't recognize the rest of the alphabet. He's learning, and he's trying. And since being on meds he sits at his desk with his feet under his desk with interest in his face. watching the teachers every move. so i don't know what more they want from me.

Anyway so I went out today and bought him the leapfrog phonics desk thing. It has all the alphabet on it. So we are going to make it a daily thing that he use it at least 15-30 min. Depending on his attention and how long he can sit with it. But like wednesday he's having surgery in st louis, so we will take it in the van and if he wants to play it on the way or while there or on the way home, we'll have it. And hopefully this will help him some. And I also have flash cards for him and I bought 4 new phonics computer games. Trying to find him fun interactive things that will hold his attention long enough to keep him interested.

Any other suggestions?

Oh yeah back to how he is behind, he's the only one who can't read 3 and 4 letter words in the class. And he's the only one who doesn't recognize his alphabet. That's why he is so far behind. Unfortunately I feel he got cheated last year in pre-k, because they didn't teach them a single thing. My daughter is in pre-k this year and a new teacher took over for the teacher my son had last year, and my daughter has learned to write her name, say her alphabet, write some of them, count and draw things. Plus they do arts every other day, and all kinds of awesome activities, plus go outside. The teacher last year, let them PLAY and they never got to go outside. This year Avery plays with shaving cream, paint, you name it. Her teacher said don't send your kid to school in good clothes, because this is a hands on class, we get dirty and we have fun but we still learn. :)

Anyway, so my 3 yr old is actually ahead of my 5 yr old in some ways.

Anyway, if anyone here has any advice i would love to hear it. I want to do whatever I can to prove he's a smart kid. He listens to music and watches movies and he can repeat things back to you that he heard. Like a movie he watched a week ago, he still remembers it. So I don't think its a matter of not retaining what he's learning. I still think the eye dr said it all. He can't learn & retain what he can't see.

And also if I can ask everyone to say a little prayer for my lil guy wednesday morning when he goes for his surgery. Thanks. Just a little bit of mommy jitters. :)

Ok i've rambled enough, sorry.

Luvmykids0239383.8932175926

There are children who do not go to pre-K. He cannot read any words yet because he can't recognize the letters. Again, he is only beginning Kindergarten. Ask for the readiness list. This is where they should be be at the end of Kindergarten. All the things you are doing are GREAT! He does not need to spend 30 minutes a day. That's a LOT. If he'll do it great, but dont stress about it. A few minutes a day is plenty. If your MIL wants to help, let her .

Good luck on Wednesday!

Thank you very much I appreciate it.

I love my mil to death but I agree I was very upset to say the least that she was getting progress reports and I get nothing, no notes, nothing. And it would be fine and dandy if she did step up and help my son, but she says things like this to me about my kids all the time then thats just it they are words. Unfortunately she rarely ever sees my kids. She maybe calls once a month or every two to check on them and see how they are doing. Anyway back to my son. :)

He grabbed it first thing this morning and started working with it. I didn't have to say a word to him. I agree Diane I think a time limit is to much on him. After thinking about it, I'll be happy if he just uses it at all. I am doing everything I can to make it fun for him.

Now I have another question related but not. This morning when he got up he was whiney and just absolutely wouldn't take his medicine, he actually cried because he didn't want to take it. He said he'll get in trouble at school if he takes it. He was honestly devistated that we wanted him to take it. ????? I don't understand, did I miss something somewhere? Has anyone else gone through this? What do you do?

[QUOTE=brtsqd3]

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First of all, if every child in that class can already read 3 and 4 letter words, they are a bunch of geniuses. I do NOT believe that. Kindergarten should be letter recognition, letter writing and the beginning of simple word recognition like "I," "and" and "the." If the teacher is expecting more, then she is not up on child development and age-appropriate learning. I have heard that this is happening in some parts of the country -- luckily we have not faced undue pressure to learn developmentally inappropriate things at my son's school.

Honestly, how can you be behind after a month of kindergarten? I can't even fathom that unless the child is developmentally delayed (as in, can't recognize a single letter or can't count to ten). We shouldn't expect a child to have to go to pre-K to learn the things they will learn in kindergarten, when they are developmentally ready to learn them.

Not only did your MIL step out of bounds, the teacher should NOT have discussed this with her. It's absolutely inappropriate, unless you gave her permission. I would mention this to her or even discuss it with the principal. I wish that schools had the same confidentiality rules that hospitals do. That would keep everyone on their toes.

I would make sure you request the readiness list. You want to know where he should be LEAVING Kindergarten and then you and the school can work together to get him there.

Talk to the teacher and principal regarding communication. I would ask for a meeting with the teacher, the principal and the school's guidnace counselor. Request it in writing. Start it by thinking the teacher for bringing her concerns to you and you would like to get together to discuss what can be done to hlep him. Dont let them give you the run around. Be nice, but be FIRM.

I completely agree. I didn't think he was that far behind. I mean I knew he was as far as letter recognition, but I didn't think he was doing to bad. And then for her to go behind my back and discuss all of this with my mil and not me. I don't know, she's been gone for the last 2 days, so I'm going to have to address this with her when she comes back, because I am his mother and I want to be the one hearing about his progress. Thank you very much for the insight. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks this.

And thanks for the reassurance about him not being that far behind. He has been in school since August 15th I believe. So I think he can get caught up, but it will definitely take time at home to help him. Which I'm more then willing to do. When I asked the school this morning if they had any options for him to help him get caught up and she said NO the only thing we can offer is his teacher has a student teacher in the class so you can go in and discuss with her and ask her if the student teacher can give him more one on one time.

So it appears that it'll all have to be done after school hours and on weekends.

I think your mother-in-law has great intentions but has overstepped her bounds. I think I would be very upset with his teacher having such an indepth discussion with your mother-in-law. This discussion should have been with you and your husband. It sounds like your mother-in-law told you what she was going to do instead of offering to help. Personally, I would be angry.

You are on the right track. He is not going to catch up overnight. He has to adapt to being able to see. The world is new place for him since he has better sight. You might need to have your husband talk to his mother about boundries. I say your husband, because she will get mad at him but forgive him because he is her son. She may not be so nice to you. My mother-in-law and I got along on somethings and then there was those other topics.

If his teacher continues to discuss your son's progress with his grandmother and not you, then it is time to talk to the principal. This is totally unprofessional behaviour.

You and your family will be in my prayers. Gooed luck on Wednesday.

His teacher said she'll have me that list today after school so we'll see. And I have a parent teacher conference with her on the 6th so I'll go from there with the discussing of his progress to my mil and not me. I understand that they are friends and in a group together, but I feel I should be getting the progress reports not her. I mean I am not sure why she even cares, she might see my kids once a month and thats if we bring them to her. And I asked her at the beginning of the year to help us with him, because of his adhd and him not sitting still and not having an attention span longer then an inch, and she said "once he's on medicine and settled down i'll start working with him". That never happened, so I don't understand why she's saying this now. I don't know. I'm just annoyed right now at everything.

On a good note, he didn't have his medicine yesterday for school and he never got in trouble. Thankfully :)