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Post by mom23boyz on Apr 4, 2008 9:00:24 GMT -5
This is my first post so I will try to make it to the point. I have a 7 year old boy diagnosed with ADHD and slight ODD last year at age 6. We started out on Ritalin and worked our way up to Concerta. We now take 54 mg Concerta in the morning and .1 mg clonidine at night. It seemed to be working fine until a call from his teacher a few weeks ago. She has started sending home daily reports so I can track behavior and take it to his psychiatrist. He metabolizes the Concerta extremely fast, seems like by noon it is gone, we sometimes add a short acting Ritalin at night for activities. The point is I am looking at asking his doctor about switching to Ritalin LA or Focalin XR, and was wondering about any experiences with either. It seems the Concerta works for about 3-4 months and then declines in its effectiveness. Also he is not getting his work done in a timely manner or at all. Sometimes due to ADHD and sometimes due to stubbornness. I have asked for him not to miss recess to finish this, and most of the time the teacher will send it home. But I have noticed several times she sends him to the in-school suspension room to finish work? Is that right? This school is K-12 and there are older kids that are actually suspended in there! She says he finishes quickly in there, due to the quietness. Any ideas for school or meds would be GREAT help!! Thanks again
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Post by bugsmom on Apr 4, 2008 9:42:23 GMT -5
Mom23...  We're so glad that you've found us! I have a almost 12 year old son with ADHD and anxiety. We've experienced the same problem you are having now. As a parent with a child that is a fast metabolizer, I can totally relate. Just when you think you've got things under control, the meds stop working. It can be totally overwelming figuring out what meds are best for our kids. Every kid is going to react differently to each medication. If you find that your son's meds are losing their effect, I would definately talk to your doc about a change. We have tried almost every ADHD med out there. My son metabolized each one differently. We had the same problem in which the meds were only lasting 3 to 4 hours at school. I know how hard this can be. I would just write down how long the meds are working for your son and present it to the doctor. It may take a while to find the right medication for your son, but you'll get there. We had to go through many changes over the years, but we seem to be on the right track now. Once again, welcome. We're looking forward to getting to know you and your wonderful son! |
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Post by mom23boyz on Apr 4, 2008 10:55:58 GMT -5
Thanks. His doctor had made the statement before that if the 54 mg didnt work we would need to go back to short acting Ritalin multiple times a day. I do not want to do this due to his metabolism those only last like 2-2.5 hours. He would be dosing all the time!! I also am trying a positive reinforcement chart with him for schoolwork, it worked last week, but not this week. It seems to always be something!! I am glad I found this board though, so I can bounce ideas off of parents who are going through the same things I am!! Thanks again!
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Post by jj on Apr 4, 2008 11:28:02 GMT -5
Wonderful to have you here Mom23boyz! I can't help you with the medication question because, as Bugsmom said, each child reacts differently to meds. I'm afraid it ends up being trial and error thing but hopefully some other members will give you their take on it.
I did want to comment about the suspension to get work done. I never have liked kids missing recess for any reason, unless of course they are in really BIG trouble. Especially kids with ADHD. They need that time to run off energy and they just need that break. I'm glad they don't do this too often.
You mentioned how he quickly gets his work done (in detention) because it is quiet. I don't know if your son has an IEP but you may want to see if they would allow him to wear headphones in the classroom. Like those kind people wear on airplanes or in work cubicles to block out noise. Just a thought.
Again, welcome to our group and sorry I have no advise on the medication issue.
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Post by charliegirl on Apr 4, 2008 12:33:11 GMT -5
Welcome to our site. I'm also glad you found us.
Unfortunately, its rare for anyone to find the right med for their child at the first or second attempt. Its trial and error.
Vyvance is metabolized in the intestine rather than in the liver. It may be worth asking your dr if that could make a difference. Other than that, all I can think of is to give him multiple doses to get him through the school day.
Has the teacher arranged his seating so he is at the front and has quiet neighbors who would be less distracting? Anything she can do to lessen his distractions in school will help him.
It also helps to arrange a signal she can use to remind him whenever she sees him starting to get distracted. Ideally it would be something like a light touch on the shoulder or a head nod that wouldn't be obvious to the other kids.
If she sees him getting antsy, it might help to have him deliver a note (even if its not important) to someone else or sharpen pencils or something to give him the chance to walk away from whatever he is supposed to be paying attention to. That short break can make a huge difference.
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Post by misty on Apr 4, 2008 12:38:19 GMT -5
Hi!  If your son has an IEP, maybe you can get it written in that he can go outside the classroom when he's having trouble concentrating on his work. My daughter goes to learning support for math (she has a math LD) but otherwise shes mainstreamed. However, she has the option of going to the learning support room any time she needs to. She does go there occasionally to take tests when the classroom is too loud for her to concentrate properly. It works out quite well. |
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Post by mom23boyz on Apr 4, 2008 22:16:36 GMT -5
Thank you all for all of the information. I had never heard of Vyvance, I will check that out! As for his classroom setting, he is seated at the front of the room, but still gets distracted. I will talk with his teacher about the signal and maybe sending him on an errand. As for the IEP we dont want him put into any special education type settings, because he is very smart and makes all A's he just has trouble focusing, especially during the afternoon. We want him to be treated as much as possible like all the other children, but I do know he isnt just like all the other children. It is such a fine line trying to make it so the other children dont notice that he gets treated differently, since he has trouble keeping friends due to his hyperactivity. Again thank you all for the help!!
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Post by charliegirl on Apr 4, 2008 23:08:18 GMT -5
As for the IEP we dont want him put into any special education type settings, because he is very smart and makes all A's he just has trouble focusing, especially during the afternoon. We want him to be treated as much as possible like all the other children, but I do know he isnt just like all the other children. It is such a fine line trying to make it so the other children dont notice that he gets treated differently, since he has trouble keeping friends due to his hyperactivity. Again thank you all for the help!! IDEA requires that a child be educated in the least restrictive environment so its not likely that he would be put in another room. Since he is getting good grades, its likely that he would be given a 504 at this point. It would allow for accomodations. Have you considered asking that he be allowed to work on important assignments or taking tests in a quieter room so he didn't have the distractions? |
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Post by rakuflames on Apr 5, 2008 6:18:28 GMT -5
As for the IEP we dont want him put into any special education type settings, because he is very smart and makes all A's he just has trouble focusing, especially during the afternoon. We want him to be treated as much as possible like all the other children, but I do know he isnt just like all the other children. It is such a fine line trying to make it so the other children dont notice that he gets treated differently, since he has trouble keeping friends due to his hyperactivity. Again thank you all for the help!! IDEA requires that a child be educated in the least restrictive environment so its not likely that he would be put in another room. Since he is getting good grades, its likely that he would be given a 504 at this point. It would allow for accomodations. Have you considered asking that he be allowed to work on important assignments or taking tests in a quieter room so he didn't have the distractions? When I was a resource teacher I often had students come to my room if they needed a quieter place to work. It had the added advantage that if they were struggling I could do some quick diagnostic analysis. Sometimes the student was having trouble with the work and needed help. Didn't mean that help had to come from special education, but unfortunately these kids don't always notice when they need help -- they just lose focus because of the difficulties they're having and get noticed for being off-task -- not for needing the teacher's help with the work. |
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Post by jill on Apr 5, 2008 11:21:02 GMT -5
Welcome and I am sorry but glad someone else deals with ODD besides me. To me it sounds like maybe doing work in the classroom is too distracting to him why he does better where they send him therefore they may have to come up with a plan for your son for getting work done in quiet not the detention room. The detention room would bother me for it has a negative tone to it we do not want your son to feel he is "bad".
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I was about to conquer the world but then I got distracted by something shiny.
