I found out today after testing of my 7 year old son that he really doesn't fit into any 1 category but hits 3 different ones: ADHD, Depression and Anxiety.
The Dr. recommended Ritalin for my son as a starting point and made it clear that if it doesn't work, we can take him off immediately.
My son does well in school except for math. He is getting a D in it, but A's and B's in all the others. He is in second grade. I have gotten him a tutor for math 2 days a week/ 1 hour each time. His 2nd grade teacher told me that my son had a very hard time sitting still and being focused. At first, we attributed this to his age since he turned 7 in August at the beginning of the school year. But after the year went on nothing changed. When he does his school work he would rather be doing something else. His IOWA and other standardized test scores show that he is bright. His Dr. said there is no reason to hold him back, he's bright and if they did hold him back, it would do more harm.
I actually knew (maternal instinct) something was wrong over a year ago but when I asked the 1st grade teacher about it she assured me it was his age and maturity level so I let it go.
At home, he seems a little restless when we try to do school work together. He seems to have hard time following multiple step directions. My husband however said he doesn't think our son is that bad at all and doesn't need any meds at all.
I am really scared to death right now. I have never had to deal with this before. The idea of putting my son on a stimulant scares me. He is a loving child. He never fights, but seems to not be accepted by his peers.
I don't want to put him on the meds because he might need to be on it for a long time, I don't want to ruin any chance he might have to get into the military (he wants to join the Armed Forces when he gets older). I'm also afraid that if I don't then it will get worse.
Please! Someone give me some advice!
Tigerlily38419.6688194444In 8th grade the only ones i remember,I scored 98th percentile in Vocab and reading comprehension and high 80s in everything else except.... bottom 10th percentile on grammar/spelling/ sentence structure. Does your son take the whole test? i used to draw patterns of dots in the portions I really, really didnt like once I got to the painful boredom stage even in 8th grade I still couldnt make myself do some parts or pay attention enough to them.
For the time My folks advocated well for me. When i was very young the school had attempted to label me "slow" and special ed me twice. As I got older I got a little better at doing what I was asked and got labeled "bright but underachieving". Your Son is lucky to live in a time Society isnt quite as ignorant as it was 35 years ago and equally lucky to have someone who really wants to advocate for him...I don't have any answers but, I do know Iowa test results can really be distorted if you have ADHD and just cant make yourself answer the questions and do the dot pattern instead.
It will get worse. Don't stand by and do nothing. Take it from someone who knows. My son actually was retained in the second grade. However, now that he is in third, he is doing so much better, grade level wise. However, I thought by being retained he would be more maturer than the other children (my son has an early b-day too-July) but it did not, he was regressing not progressing. Once I got my head screwed on right and recognized that ADHD was not just a label but an actual disease I began to put a plan into action. Like you I was afraid of the meds. My son is very artistic and creative, and short. I feared that he would lose some of his creativity and that his development would be shorter because of the meds. So I decided to try the all natual methods. Changed his diet, did some counseling, and even started meditation. All did help, however, just not enough. We are starting the meds now. I know if it doesnt work I can take him off with no harm done. I dont want to hold him back anymore than I have, and by not doing something you will hold him back. There was another person on this forum who basically told me this his self esteem and confidence right now is crucial, and without the right help he will lose his lack of confidence wich is so important at their age level. If you are afraid of the meds try everything else first. It may work for you and your child, but if it doesn't give him a chance and try the meds. That is what I am going to do. I have a slight problem. My little brother was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in sixth grade but since then the school he attends put his profile in the inactive spot. Recently this year he was also diagnosed with ODD but the school is in violation because they haven't given him an IEP test in 3.5 years. He was expelled from school in February, is there some way i can convinced the school board that he doesn't deserve this and that he really is a great kid.I think its a very scary thing to put your child on med.s. My son was put on med.s at 7 Gr. 2. Prior to that he was in trouble at home, school and in the community-even with my supervision. I knew something was wrong for a long time. I refused to do anything accept behavior management and supporting the school. I needed to prove to myself that it wasn't just behavior. It came to the point that he wasn't learning, he was out of the class more often than not, and he was a very sad and angry child. He used to say, "I tell my brain to be good". I felt I had to do something, and with many tears made the final and best decision for my child. Weigh your pro's and con's. How much does it affect his life, relationships, and learning. Would it make his life alot better? Some children have a mild to moderate form of ADD and can manage through life-with more challenges, but they do okay. Med.s certainly don't make them smarter-which some not so intelligent people believe. &nbs p; Good luck on your very personal decision.I know exactly how you feel about putting him on meds. Here is my experience. We found out about a year ago that my son was ADHD. He is not really that hyper but he has a complete lack of attention when it comes to something he is not interested in. We thought we could just get by without medicating him so we tried all of 2nd grade to avoid it. It's not a problem at home, but the teachers definately knew the days he was medicated or not. Then after much resistance we started Stratera (non-stimulent) and he went absolutely psychotic (ie. uncontrollable fits, suicidal thoughts, etc.) then we tried Ritalen (concerta) over the summer which worked, but with some major side effects. Side effects included: not sleeping (at all!!!), headaches. Then he started having seizures in the summer. We took him to our local hospitals, every specialist we could find and no one could explain the seizures except that they were possibly a side effect of the Concerta. Finally in desperation I appealed to a school psychologist (private school so it turned out to be a great resource, unknown if public school has it) and she suggested a local psychiatrist that could monitor his meds closer. So all this story just to give you the following conclusion: We love our pediatrician, however, he didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to monitoring the meds so I definately recommend finding a psychiatrist or specialist that can tell you EVERY possible side effect or problem, because it is, as you said, very scary. Second, become an expert yourself and talk to any one you can for advice. Everyone has a different insight and experience and sometime it helps just to know you are not alone. And Third, DON'T PANIC. It is a helpless feeling to see the child you care about have to go through all the med trials, tests, frustrations, failures and pain, but you cannot rush results. The best thing we have found is being open with TJ and explaining things so he can tell us what is going on. I resisted meds for a long time, but having found one that finally works for us (Addrall) with minimal side effects (loss of appetite, remedied with protein shakes) I can tell you it has made all the difference in the world to him and us. Good Luck and remember there are a bunch of us with you!!!