I have a 12 yr old who has taken Adderall for 5 yrs. He was diagnosed in 1st grade, and the benefits of the medication have helped tremendously. Now that my son is in 7th Grade, he has matured, and has pretty good self-control and behavior. He is an A Honor's student, participating in Advanced Placement Classes. He is doing so well in school right now, that he Doctor is suggesting we try to wean him off of medication. I'm sorta scared about that, but would like to give it a try.
My concern is his ability to stay on task and get his work done without it having a drastic influence on his grades. My doctor at first cautioned me about having my child take harder classes at school, because more was required from the students, and it was taking a lot of time for my son to complete homework. This year, we haven't had homework issues (7th grade teacher's have to compete with athletic and band programs, so they can't assign so much homework). All of the teachers at my son's school have been wonderful to work with and very accomodating towards his needs.
If his grades begin to slip, I'm sure the Doctor will suggest that I put my son in regular classes. I'm not sure I want to do that, and I'm not sure that's really fair for my child. If things get horrible, the doctor might think his way is best, and force us not to use medication. He's very conservative in his approach to prescribing medications -- sometimes, I think he goes a little overboard. I might possibly have to change physicians if things don't work out. I am agreeable to trying to wean the medication first to see how this all might work.
Has anyone on this board had experience with weaning your child or yourself off of medication after taking stimulant medications a long time? (Please only reply if you have experienced working with your own child, or have weaned yourself off medication.) If so, what are some of the things you noticed that were different in your ability to get things done?
I'm just wondering how this will effect my son. I guess we'll just have to try it and see. I'm just afraid the doctor will claim "he makes all A's, he doesn't need it!". He does naturally make good grades, but he takes the meds to help him organize in life and function daily -- not for the purpose of trying to be an all A student.
i am in high school, and do well in it, but only through my well , trying to be modest, intellect, i never do my homework, or any other classwork, or pay attention, i get by with straight As and salutatorian status by just winging everything and teaching myself for the most part. anyway i'm trying to combine and mix nutrional supplements what with omega-3 fats and stuff to see if i can balance my system correctly. but.. i have no idea what im doing, and the results are too slow to measure its effectiveness