I have tried numerous reward systems with my 7y/o. Lately I started a reward system where he can accumulate points for getting out of the house on time and also things to do before going to bed. (he gets 2 points for each lists of 5 items). He also gets points for coming home from school on green (good). I placed a reward chart on the refrigerator - 50 points go to chuckie cheese, 5 points go to a local park. 10 points go to a movie. etc. These are all things he would like to do. It worked for about 2 days. He now only seems concerned about being on green at school. (which I am happy with). He seems to be more irritable lately directed at me. He has started being disrepectful to me, bumping me and calling me stupid. It bothers me that I have no way of punishing him that seems to matter to him. He told me today that he did not care about anything but his DS and he has been on punishment for the last 2 weeks without the DS and just got it back 3 days ago.
Anyone have any ideas? He is currently taking Concerta, and risperdal. He takes Zyrtec for allergies. Which I am going to try to change to Allergra since I see that Zyrtec can make him aggressive and irritated. (however his aggresion was going on before he took the Zyrtec).
Has anyone seen any of this? Does this mean that he is not on the correct medication?
For our family, the charts/point system things didn't work. They never lasted long and the more complicated it was - the less adult follow through on our end happened as well. What worked best for us was when we kept it simple. We would work on one behavior at a time and track just that.For example - we worked on compliance with my daughter. We made a simple chart and every time she did what we asked (big or small), she got a tally on her chart. Once she earned a tally, we didn't take it away. This kept everything very simple and very positive. She used the tallies to earn back her DS (which was taken away for some bad behavior) and then later a new game. This worked well for my daughter and her situation.
Patients are usually advised not to take allergy med's when they are taking stimulants for ADHD because Zyrtec has stimulant properties thus, the amount of stimulants in the system elevates which could render too high of a dose. Too high of a dose could account for the irritability and the undesirable behavior. However, I recommend that you speak with both your pharmacist and your child's doctor because this may or may not be a reaction as a result of the two med's interacting.
About behavior modification.....punishment doesn't work and given long term, the child forgets why they are even punished. Immediate consequences are more effective and goals should be short term. Expecting the child to be well behaved over a long period of time is unrealistic because ADHD or not, kids will be kids. Positive reinforcement is way more effective but again, any behavior modification plan works better when the child is on effective med's. This is just general advice.....not meaning your doing this with your child but I'm just sharing what I have learned and experienced through the years. Please keep us informed 
About being unwilling to do extra work, he could just be so over loaded at school that by the time he gets home, he is done. When my daughter was in 3rd grade before she was diagnosed with ADHD, we pushed her really hard to finish all the work she wasn't completing in class. This made this at home so much worse. Her behavior at home spiraled down hill. In hindsight, I should have never pushed her so hard.
The child's refusal to do the work is about the child being overwhelmed and when a child with ADHD is overwhelmed, they shut down. Most with ADHD do hate school because more times than not they are made to feel inadequate thanks to the ignorance of society. If you force them they shut down more. Nothing is learned, nothing is accomplished and it then becomes a battle of the wills hence, the child lashes out.. No child wants to be in trouble all the time or be perceived in a negative way. The child shutting down is one of the core symptoms iof ADHD but those unaware view it as defiant, oppositional, lazy, etc Effective treatment and education about the disorder makes a remarkable difference because only the will the child rise to his or her personal best. Otherwise life in genreal can be one big struggle that sees many downfalls
Also, as I had mentioned in another post, I would check the interaction of both meds. More stimulants in the system than needed could really cause a problem. Thats why the dose is tailored to the pateints needs.My son would not have done well with the marble system. We worked out with he liked, legos and $. So far so good. He is also very good about saving his own money to buy something he wants. He really loves this, sets his goals and then reaches it.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am getting him retested soon. He was initially tested when he was in kindergarten. I had never thought of his shutting down being viewed as defience.
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