Argh. My frustration with school continues. My 6yo son is in all-day kindergarten. He started meds (ritalin) end of last school year and did great. No meds over summer. Started concerta at b/g of school year for s/th long lasting and had a freakout moment. Switched to Vyvanse, for which he's been great at home but still issues at school. Upped the Vyvanse, which helped with acting out at school but made him really quiet at school and just too zombie like at home, so we backed med down again. Add to the mix that he's very bright and already reading at 3rd grade level.
Now son isn't "perfect" at school and is still having some challenges. Here's what they look like: Doesn't like to go to music (it's a class with 45 kids) and will refuse to go to class and/or throw a fit, has trouble transitioning, doesn't like to be told which activities to do if it's center time, will sometimes refuse to do certain things, threw a fit in gym because he didn't like this huge ball rolling on the kids, got upset that a friend picked mac and cheese for lunch because he hates the smell. However, he has days with no incidents about 50-60% of the time. He also has challenges socially at school in that he tends to focus on his work, although he does join in on games at recess and likes to play/have friends, he just has trouble initiating. At home, he plays normally with neighbor kids in smaller groups and we don't have many issues except for an extreme fear of Halloween. Went to zoo this weekend, which we didn't realize had a a Halloween event, and he just shut down and said he wanted Halloween to go away. He also can be a bit anal retentive -- for example, gets irritated if his sister isn't playing a game the right way or mixes up paint colors (so they're not the right colors when he wants to paint).
The school principal, who I am not a big fan of, has said she doesn't think the school actions are ADHD behaviors. They seem to think son has sensory issues based on the music and mac and cheese incidents. At one ponit the school thought maybe a bit of ODD, but then realized he wasn't being defiant on purpose but usually in reaction to something. I'm sensing more likely that it's still just ADHD with perhaps some anxiety that maybe isn't being addressed or that this med is making worse. Or that it's just plain ADHD and that Vyvanse just isn't the right fit for him. I'm just frustrated because now I feel we're looking at more conditions and that we don't know what's going on and we're being forced into more testing, etc. when I just want to help my son.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any advice? Please help.
certainly could be either sensory or ADHD or both or neither. You know how this goes.
An Occupational Therapy evalaution will rule in or out the sensory concern. IMO, very worth looking into. If it is due to sensory integration, the OT can then work with him and help with all those concerns. There a few threads on here in regards to Sensory integration Disorder. There are a couple of good books worth reading too if you're interested. The Out of Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz is excellent. The other is Senational Kids, I forget the author. I wouldn't worry about the testing, it's not anything invasive and why not find out? Especially if they're offering!
i think it sounds like he has a bit of anxiety. i dont know too much about sensory disorders but i have anxiety probs myself and it sounds a little familiar.
kim
I lean toward this being the wrong med. Jessica N39908.4002546296