Moms w/ ADHD kids - Page 2

[justmama]

glad to hear there are others iwth slow processing speed. well. . . . .not glad. . . . . .but glad we aren't alone. it's SO frustrating for both her and I. We are doing a trial of concerta right now, lowest dose(18mg) and nothing noticable yet. Only been a few days but we do two weeks and move up to the next dose. I hear good things about vyvanse so that may be the next med we try if the concerta isn't doing it at a higher dose. She's been unmedicated so long and done well in school but her impulsive behavior and memory problems have gotten really bad lately and she's gotten to be dangerous with her sisters. Not aggressive so much as, she doesn't realize she's twice their size and she could really hurt them.

[enkmom]

1. Age - my daughter is 21. We got her diagnosis when she was in 3rd grade, and back then it was called ADD-Inattentive.

2. Medications - we did not start medications until she was in 7th grade and school became too overwhelming for her. She asked for the help. We started on Adderall, and also tried Adderall XR, Concerta, and Ritalin. They did help her focus, but caused her to lose a frightening amount of weight.

3. IEP - like some others, our children attended parochial school and even is she had an IEP I am not certain it would have been followed. We did feel that the small school where she knew everyone and was right across the street from our house was the best option (I had to watch for her to come home even through 8th grade because she sometimes read and didn't look before she crossed streets).

4. School - school was a disaster from a grade standpoint. She tests extremely well, read at a high school level in 2nd grade, and is an excellent public speaker. Even with the medication, she had a hard time remembering to turn in her homework and would not do anything she considered to be busywork. For example, she would spell every word correctly on her pre-test and on the graded test, and felt it was asinine to have to fill in the workbook, so she took a D for many years in spelling. In high school and college, she excelled in any class she was engaged in, but zoned out or did not go to classes she did not feel she was learning something important in. She is not currently taking medication as she does not like the way it makes her feel, and has withdrawn from college. She just found a full-time job that she likes, so that is her plan for now. She will be a great success at whatever she decides to do in life, but she will not take a "normal" path to get there.

5. Resources - I read everything that even mentions ADD in a peripheral way, and am always on the hunt for new approaches or solutions. My husband also has an ADD diagnosis, as do 3 of his siblings and and 4 of my daughter's cousins. My daughter is the only girl to be diagnosed so far.

[skyebones]

1. Sophia, age 9

2. Dx. age 8, does not take medication d/t her CHD of PA-IVS

3. No, she attends a Catholic school. She does, however, have a service plan which doesn't do anything for her really

4. Sophia does average in school, but socially, she has no friends. She's very ackward and immature compared to the other girls. She tends to play with the boys. It's very depressing to see and I'm not sure what to do about it. She cries a lot and frankly, so do I.

5. Resources? I guess the internet.

Laura

[luv2bmommie]

1. DD will be 7 in August. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ODD

2 We are about to try Ritalin 5mg, I am very depressed about this decision to try medication.

3. I definitely need to look into an IEP or 504 plan

4. My child excels in everything except behavior. She tested high in IQ, does all her homework, just cannot sit still or listen to simple directions.

5. The internet and Mothering

[gret the great]

1. DS age 9.6, diagnosed at 8.1 , mainly inattentive type with some hyper on occasion
2 no meds....yet (trying to decide what to do... still)
3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan -no
4. how your child does in school - he does amazingly well. He has been lucky with good teachers who understand that he's not trying to ignore. He is an A student and performs at a high level academically. He's very challenged in settings without a lot of structure & is reallllly challenged by transition and social skills.


Anyone have success with Feingold? My DH really doesn't want to give meds. We have him on zinc & fish oil so far.

[gret the great]

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.

Yes, when we had my DS evaluated his processing speed was very low.

[heatherdeg]

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. Turned 6 in January. Flagged for ADHD (heavy on the "H" ). They said dxing happens at age 7 but one of the dxing criteria is that it appears BEFORE the age of 7.

2. No meds. We're going to try Feingold (but we're in the midst of a chaotic relocation that is making it hard to eat healthy, let alone restrictively )

3. We haven't had him tested by the district to determine IEP/504 eligibility because he's homeschooled. Last May, he tested out of his other therapies (OT & ST) that were unrelated to ADHD.

4. Homeschooled.

5. Wish I had some!!!

[momtoTnT]

We haven't gotten an "official" diagnosis yet - just testing through the school. The Connor's that they had us (and his teacher) fill out came back indicating that he most likely has it (90%+ for one parent and the teacher, 77% for the other parent). We meet with our doc tomorrow to hopefully get a referral to a neuro-psych. I'm still reeling from it all honestly, and having a hard time believing that my DS could have anything "wrong" with him - but at the same time, I have a sense of relief that we'll have some answers to some of his more challenging/puzzling behaviors.

1. your child's age: 6 years, 2 months

2 if you use any medication and if so, what meds do you use
None yet, DH and I are really unsure what to do regarding this - on one hand, if it helps him have an easier time in school and life we'd do anything. On the other hand, we both feel really strongly about young kids and these types of meds.

3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
Not yet, but the psych at school said that if we get an official diagnosis we can get him "the services he needs"

4. how your child does in school
Off the charts great - we've also done some evaluating for giftedness. His problems are mostly in listening/following multi-step directions, some behavior stuff, and getting his work done on time. He's very chatty - the boy talks ALL the time and has a really hard time waiting his turn to speak. He also has a slower processing speed (but still w/in the normal range, just significantly lower than any of his other scores).

5. great ADHD resources
still figuring it out...which is why I'm here!

[Guinevere]

1. your child's age:

DS, 11 1/2 years

(I also highly suspect my 7 yo DS and 4 yo DD, who has Down Syndrome, have ADHD, but right now their behavior is not disruptive enough to warrant seeking out treatment.)

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

DS was just officially diagnosed last week and has his first psychiatric appt tomorrow to start meds. However, the diagnosis comes as no surprise -- he's exhibited these behaviors since he was 3, but it wasn't until this past school year (5th grade) that his school performance took a HUGE nosedive, which is what prompted me to seek out outside help.

In addition, DH also has ADD, inattentive-type, and just started on meds for the first time in Jan at the age of 43 (started on Adderall, and is currently trying out Vyvanse.) The difference for DH has been SO profound and positive that it's making me feel better about trying meds for DS. We've already gone the diet change/fish oil route, unfortunately with limited success, and the waitlist here for cognitive behavioral therapy is 6-8 mos. long. So in the meantime we're going to give meds a try.

I am somewhat concerned about the weight loss part, though -- DH has lost 20 lbs. since he began meds, which has actually been a benefit for him, but DS isn't at all overweight and is already highly active, so I need to make sure to up his calories to compensate for the appetite suppressant aspects of the meds. I am also concerned how it may affect his sleep patterns, as DH has experienced bouts of insomnia if he forgets and takes his meds too late in the morning. Meds are not without consequences, that's for sure.

3. if your child has an IEP or 504 plan
No, but I plan to ask for an eval when school starts again in the fall, because DS may really benefit from some testing accomodations.

4. how your child does in school
DS is super bright, extremely verbal and way too talkative, creative, curious, very social, and an eternal optimist. Despite not putting forth much effort, not paying attention to directions, constantly losing and forgetting things, and only spending time on subjects that he finds interesting, he has always done extremely well in school. However, this past school year was a disaster -- he goes to an alternative school that has multi-age classrooms and was in an upper-grade class for the first time (grades 4-8.) The amount of schoolwork and complexity was much harder than before, and with no organizational skills, combined with all the inattention issues, he fell flat on his face. Not wanting this to become a trend and undermine his academics for the rest of his school career (as it did DH's), I decided it was time to intervene via getting him the diagnosis/meds, because all his compensatory efforts were no longer enough to hold it together.

5. great ADHD resources

Wish I knew, especially since I know well that meds are only part of the solution -- he also really needs to implement strategies to help keep him more organized and on track, and all my suggestions don't seem to appeal to him, sigh...

Guin

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by Guinevere

I am somewhat concerned about the weight loss part, though -- DH has lost 20 lbs. since he began meds, which has actually been a benefit for him, but DS isn't at all overweight and is already highly active, so I need to make sure to up his calories to compensate for the appetite suppressant aspects of the meds. I am also concerned how it may affect his sleep patterns, as DH has experienced bouts of insomnia if he forgets and takes his meds too late in the morning. Meds are not without consequences, that's for sure.

My 7 YO takes Vyvanse. While every child is different, of course, we haven't had any sleep issues at all, if that gives you any comfort. She does take the min. dose (but then, she's 7 and 40- pounds) and we are careful about giving it around the same time each day (7 on school days, 8 on weekends). She goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9 without any problem at all.

We have had appetite and weight issues -- she was underweight to start with and is losing weight with this medication. We've been really struggling to make each bite count and figure out how to get more calories into her. Which is especially hard given that the rest of us are overweight/obese and are always trying to minimize calorie content.