Moms w/ ADHD kids

[BetsyNY]

We just got this diagnosis today. I'm interested in hearing:

1. your child's age
2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
4. how your child does in school
5. great ADHD resources

Thank you.

[KatWrangler]

We are filling out the paperwork for my son to send to the Pediatrician. Not sure if he does or not.

[BetsyNY]

Your son is just slightly older than mine. What are his symptoms?

[columbusmomma]

My son was first thought to "have" ADHD symtpoms around age 4. Teachers noted behaviors, etc. in preschool. He was officially diagnosed when he was in kindergarten, around age 5.5yrs. He did ok academically, but behaviorally was hyper, couldn't sit still, focus, etc. He got in trouble a lot. He had the same wonderful teacher in K/1. We tried many things before trying medications this year in 2nd grade. He does much,much better. He's never had academic problems though. His handwriting is neater and straighter though. We've never done an IEP,504,etc. He takes vyvanse, 20mg(lowest dose)daily. It is the first and only med we tried. We also did some neurofeedback which helped.
Good resources:
www.chadd.org

[SpottedFoxx]

Originally Posted by BetsyNY

We just got this diagnosis today. I'm interested in hearing:

1. your child's age
2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
4. how your child does in school
5. great ADHD resources

Thank you.

1. He'll be 5 in July.
2. No
3. He has an IEP
4. He's only just starting kindergarten this coming September.
5. This site

My son is suspected of having adhd but they are now saying there is a better chance of it being central auditory processing disorder which has many of the same symptoms.

[SoCaliMommy]

1.She will be 7 in Aug
2 No Meds
3. She has a IEP it started March 2010
4. Major academic problems. She struggled alot in K when i brought up my concern about her speech i was basically brushed off by the school. Well 2months into the school year for 1st grade and her teachers agree with me about her problems. The school doesn't get around to starting the evaluation process til Jan/Feb.
The school's evaluation results are that she has ADHD Inattentive type, auditory processing deficit,and speech and language delay.
We meet with a psychologist her dr referred us to again in October.. he saw the schools opinion and wants to see how the IEP helps her and will evaluate her in October. He said meds should be a last resort.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by BetsyNY

We just got this diagnosis today. I'm interested in hearing:

1. your child's age
2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
4. how your child does in school
5. great ADHD resources

Thank you.

She is 7. We got the official diagnosis in January of this year.

She takes Vyvanse and it has made a world of difference for us all.

She goes to a small private school that does not have any sort of formal IEP/504 plan. She gets some leeway from the teacher though.

School is a mixed bag. She is doing OK academically, but probably was at the bottom of her class in reading. Since she tests gifted as well, she really shouldn't be there. We are seeing things improve by leaps and bounds since February. The fact that she is so bright masked her attention difficulties and the fact that she couldn't pay attention (or sit still) long enough to catch more than the teacher's first few words on any subject. Luckily, her 1st grade teacher is very experienced and had 2 ADHD kids of her own, so she's been a great resource and help with all of this.

We have a great ped. psych. who has stepped us through a lot over the last few months, but I'm definitely hoping someone who has been at this longer has some great (and less expensive) resources to suggest.

[NightOwlwithowlet]

1. your child's age:
Just turned 8, was orginally diagnosed with PDD at 4 years old, at six years old his diagnosis was changed to ADHD with mild SPD.

2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use;
We tried Medadate 10mg with good initial results, but a slow and steady increase in anxiety over several months. Then he grew and we had to increase his dosage and noticed a big increase in anxiety and he started to bite his toe nails and finger nails until they bled. After he had to take antibiotics for a life threatening infection and that combined with the ADHD medications, gave him severe anxiety and major phobias in a matter of 24 hours. He no longer takes ADHD medication, all his symptoms went away after stopping the medications. We've also tried cognitive behavorial therapy, diet changes (he's on a milk free, dye free, wheat limited diet), counseling, social skills group, martial arts, fish oil and other supplements, and a chiropractor.

3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
No, but we home school. He didn't have on in kindergarten, but I wish he had.

4. how your child does in school,
He does great, but we home school. Last year, he did fine academically, but struggled with his sensory issues and he was badly bullied, so it's hard to tell what caused his issues.

5. great ADHD resources
CHAD and my sister with a kid with ADHD

[kme]

1. He is 11.

2. He is not on meds now but was from 3rd-5th grades. (He is in 6th grade now), He was on Daytrana.

3. He does not have an IEP or 504. We were told he did not qualify.

4. He struggled from kg-3rd, mostly with paying attention and being "with it" enough to be truly engaged. He did "OK" academically during that time but really blossomed in 4th grade on Daytrana. he got straight A's through 4th-5th grade on the meds, with the exception of a couple B's in math. This year, off the meds, his grades have dropped a bit and he is struggling much more with organization and paying attn in class. He has A's and B's, with some "Not working up to potential" and "Does not participate in class" type comments. He has struggled to maintain a B in math and science.

Basically, he is a smart kid who REALLY struggles with organization and paying attention. His hyperactivity has decreased a lot in the last couple years but he was very hyperactive as a young child.

5. I got a lot of help from his doctor

[BetsyNY]

We were planning on homeschooling as well, but that's out for a variety of reasons. The dev. pediatrician thinks that kindergarten would help ease his anxiety...any truth to that?

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by BetsyNY

Your son is just slightly older than mine. What are his symptoms?

Imulsive. He has to be the center of attention. It's all about him. He interrupts conversations constantly. Won't sit still. Constantly in motion.

He doesn't finish projects.

This link I swear is like talking about my son. He has most of these.

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-symptoms

We filled out the questionare for the Ped. Now we are waiting to get in to see him to go over it. My son's Kindergarten teacher filled one out too.

[KatWrangler]

The other major thing is, he talks extremely fast almost all the time. Most of the time I can't understand him.

[Mama Shifra]

1. your child's age
My son just turned six. He was diagnosed when he turned 5. Evidently, he was unmanagable in school--didn't sit still or pay attention. The most troublesome problem was the he ocassionally got violent with the other children which is why we went with medication...
2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
Metadate ER 30 mg every morning, with a dose of 5mg of liquid Ritalin (very, very expensive!) on school days to keep him chilled during the afternoon. We use Metadate because it comes in a capsule and can be broken open, the powder put on applesauce and eaten (as opposed to being swallowed). This is cheaper than having a compounding pharmacy making up more liquid Ritalin.
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
No he does not. He is in a private, religious school. It would be helpful, though, but I couldn't be sure that they would follow even if there was a written IEP.
4. how your child does in school
Not very well, but his violence has diminished (is it the medicine or maturity? Hard to say). He will probably repeat kindergarten next year, as his reading skills are not up to what the school wants for first grade. We may partially homeschool him next year.
5. great ADHD resources
First of all, try to get a good pediatrician, pediatric psychologist and/or psychiatrist to diagnose the ADHD. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a well-balanced book called ADHD: A Complete and Authoritative Guide . The other responders have good resources listed also.

[Ellen Griswold]

We are taking my son to the pediatrician this Friday. I will be shocked and amazed if he doesn't get the official diagnosis.

1. Age
Turns 7 in 10 days.

2. Medication
No because we don't have the diagnosis yet, however I am fully resigned to this at this point.

3. IEP/504
No, my son attends parochial school for kindergarten and this isn't really an option where we are. I don't think this is necessary at this point.

4. School performance
Average at this point, but one of the major reasons that we are proceeding with the evaluation is the fact that his problems are starting to effect his school performance, as well as causing major issues with his peer and social development.

5. Resources
CHADD and I have been looking for more.

[damona]

1. your child's age
2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
4. how your child does in school
5. great ADHD resources

my sons are 11, 8, 7, and 5. all of them have ADHD.

all but my 7yo are on meds. the 8 and 11yo's take concerta, 72mg everyday. my 5yo ds takes vyvanse, 20mg, but we are upping it next month to 30mg.

my 11 ds does not have an IEP. my 7 and 8yo's do, but they are also dignosed with PDD-NOS and aspergers, respectively. my 5 yo doesn't start kindergarten til the fall, but i imagine he will need an IEP for sensory breaks and such.

my 11yo does amazing, as long as he is on his meds. if he is off, oooh, boy, look out! my 8yo is doing very poorly in school, to the point where i am considering homeschooling next year. my 7yo does fairly well, given his other difficulties. both 7 and 8 yo's spend about half their day in the special ed room, working in smaller groups.

i wish i had some great resources for you, but most of what i know is on the internet or from our family dr. also, friends and family with similar issues.

ETA: meant to say that we tried a bunch of different meds before we settled on these. also, it seems like they are taking a huge amount of these meds, but they metabolize it so fast, we had to raise it this high. i hate doing it, tho. also, my 11yo takes a med called clonidine so that he can actually sleep, otherwise he is literally up all night and will go days without sleeping.

[justmama]

Not to hijack but does anyone's ADHD child have slow processing speed as well? I hear it's very common in ADHD kids, along with other learning disabilities. Mine is 9 and ADHD-combined type with a secondary "diagnosis" of slow processing speed and she is not yet medicated. I was not surprised with the adhd diagnosis but the processing speed threw me a curveball. I guess it makes sense knowing her but it never even occurred to me that it could be an issue given her good grades at school. So I was just wondering if any of these kids had the same issues or if mine is just weird like that.

[hergrace]

Originally Posted by justmama

Not to hijack but does anyone's ADHD child have slow processing speed as well? I hear it's very common in ADHD kids, along with other learning disabilities. Mine is 9 and ADHD-combined type with a secondary "diagnosis" of slow processing speed and she is not yet medicated. I was not surprised with the adhd diagnosis but the processing speed threw me a curveball. I guess it makes sense knowing her but it never even occurred to me that it could be an issue given her good grades at school. So I was just wondering if any of these kids had the same issues or if mine is just weird like that.

Just to say that my DS has just been diagnosed with ADHD and has slow processing speed.

[Ellen Griswold]

Originally Posted by Ellen Griswold

We are taking my son to the pediatrician this Friday. I will be shocked and amazed if he doesn't get the official diagnosis.

1. Age
Turns 7 in 10 days.

2. Medication
No because we don't have the diagnosis yet, however I am fully resigned to this at this point.

3. IEP/504
No, my son attends parochial school for kindergarten and this isn't really an option where we are. I don't think this is necessary at this point.

4. School performance
Average at this point, but one of the major reasons that we are proceeding with the evaluation is the fact that his problems are starting to effect his school performance, as well as causing major issues with his peer and social development.

5. Resources
CHADD and I have been looking for more.

Just to update, he did get the ADHD diagnosis. However, as we discussed everything, we all think that waiting till late summer might be the best time to start medication.

[NightOwlwithowlet]

Originally Posted by hergrace

Just to say that my DS has just been diagnosed with ADHD and has slow processing speed.

S. has a slower processing speed for spoken instructions. To quote his kindy teacher, "If he can see it, he can learn it." Forget telling the kid anything.
Sorry for the hijack...

[big-mama]

1. your child's age

12. diagnosed at age 4. began medication at age 6, when it became clear that although he has a gifted level iq, he wasnt going to be able to function in school. he was spending all day rolling all over the floor, running around, etc. once he got on the medication, it was like night and day. he has also been diagnosed with PDD-NOS which I question somewhat. he is socially challenged but its hard to tell if its true PDD-NOS or just the general immaturity (ADHD kids are typically at least 3 years behind maturity wise).


2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use

concerta in morning, generic ritalin at lunch and after school. this has changed several times over the 6 years that he has been taking medication.

3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan

no but only because he is medicated and in a private school with 6 kids total, mixed grades, in his class.

4. how your child does in school

A honor roll

5. great ADHD resources

CHADD. there are also lots of books but specifics escape me right now.