ADHD Community Group

Would love to meet other parents with children who have adhd or add! I would love to have others to talk to, who understand what we go through on daily basis!

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Mritch 12/06/2017

My son was diagnosed many years ago with ADHD. For the last couple of years we've gone to the same doctor and everything has been fine. October my son's Dr. quit and we were transfered to another doctor. November my son started having problems in school. Acting like his meds were not even in his system. He was off the walls. I started getting phone calls and emails from his 2nd grade teacher. Then it progressed to phone calls from the Dean. He is in the office CONSTANTLY because his work is "too hard" or so he says. However, he is brilliant. He is one of the top of his class and reads at a 4th grade level. He just doesn't like to write. Now every day when he gets into class it's a problem. This new doctor questioned his sleep routine and once I assured her that was not the case she upped his meds. Things got better but were still bad in the mornings. She upped it again. He has been great at home and I thought we were in the clear. However, I still get a call once or twice a week about how he is having meltdowns in class and is asked to leave. I ask him wahts wrong. He says he misses me. I don't know how to help him. He says school is too hard. Honestly I feel he doesn't want to try. We've tried grounding him for misbehaving in school but that doesn't seem to help. Has anybody else gone through this? I don't know how else to help him. His grades were always at O for outstanding and now they're the worst they've ever been because he isn't completing any of his work. I just don't know what else to do.

Alex265 12/08/2017

Im sorry for what you're going through it can be tough. Is he being treated by your family doctor or an actual pycharitrist? I would only see someone who specializes in mental disorders...hereis what I would suggest doing before upping his medication even more. For starters make sure he is not deficit in anything so he should be taking a daily multivitamin..ones that are focus more on the brain like smarty pants brand or I use Natural Vitality Multi calm(its in a liquid form). If his body is lacking anything that can cause problems even with medication. What medication is he taking? Depending on what he is taking but if its a stimulant believe it or not but generic versions of some stimulants has been causing problems with some patient effectiveness so I would ask the doctor to writr brand only on his next prescription. Is he receiving any outside help with his behavior like therapy? If not he should. And grounding him for something done at school isnt the way to go. He has already been held accountable at school so there's no need to hold him accountable again at home for the same thing. People with adhd that suffer with impulse control often know right from wrong but the part on our brains that tell us not to act inappropriately is delayed so you have to understand sometimes he's acting out due his disability not because he wants to be a troublemaker so grounding wouldnt be effective unless he was acting out due to just wanting to be a troublemaker which is probably unlikly the reason. Ask the teacher what seems to be his triggers at school and practice those at home...any subject in school my son doesnt like or act out to avoid doing what i do is have him practice at home. So maybe you can practice with his writing at home so he can feel more comfortable with writing and possible develop a desire to do it.

bluesprite72 12/08/2017

I would also suggest talking with the school about and independent education plan, if your school offers it. He needs to be able to go to a safe place for a bit, to reset his brain. Take into account also, the possibility that there may be sensory issues involved. He could be overwhelmed by too much sensory input from being in the classroom all day, with the lights, sounds of all that goes on in a classroom, maybe smells. My son was sensitive to all of this and it had a negative affect on his ability to focus and learn with all the distractions his brain picks up on from moment to moment. Look into sensory processing issues and see if he fits into those catagories, then you can possibly get help from a specialist in those areas and get him on an IEP if possible through the school.

Mritch 12/08/2017

Thank you both. I'm going to look into the vitamins and he just started weekly counseling so I hope that helps. We will take your advice and work with him. The problems always arise when it's ELA time at school. It's the writing. He has always hated writing.

He does have sensory issues and we went to occupational therapy for a year and a half. He actually fished earlier this year. It helped A LOT. However, there are still things we work on at home so maybe that plays into it as well. He is eligible for a 504 plan but i'm not sure what an IEP is. I will look into that. The school is getting a behavioral counselor from school involved and they're working on a plan for him.

Again, thank you both for your comments. I want to give him every opportunity to exceed and be proud of himself.

Alex265 12/09/2017

Yea I assumed he had an IEP. I would definitely get an IEP its pretty much a education contract thats specific for your child so he can meet his educational goals. It will be individualized to accommodate him with whatever he needs accommodation for like taking breaks or going to a special classroom to complete a assignment. Its also good to have a IEP to protect your childs rights at school. To get started request for the school to do a school evaulation or also known as a FBA they will have someone evaluate your child at the school for several days and that will determine what are some of his triggers for meltdowns and and make suggestions on how to help be more successful in school and that will be included in his IEP.

Zizith 01/22/2018

I have gone through this I was diagnosed ADHD at 6 and even before then my life was in and out of hospitals and doctors, but a big part of it is finding a doctor that works for you and really understands, as for the school thing I had a couple really bad years where I was in trouble almost everyday and I know personally how really hard school can be, and about the sleep people with the Hyperactive part off ADHD it can really affect there sleep and everyone needs enough sleep so that could be part of it because even if he's sleeping for 7-8 hours doesn't mean he slept good. And as for discipline it probably is helping even just a little bit but from my expirence in the heat of the moment of thinking you should do something (in this case something you shouldn't be doping it) its like your body's moving to do it before the thought is finished and you can stop yourself. And I know its tough I saw how my parents struggled with me but you should know 2 things 1: However much your struggling he's struggling even more because your seeing the outside effects which is hard but he has to live with it in his mind, and 2: His ADHD is as natural to him as his eye color so he may be struggling because he just doesn't get it, he doesn't get how people can just sit there quietly or do any of these things he can't and it can be hard, but don't give up it can get better. I got better it just took me many years of practicing to be like everyone else. And also he may be better at home because that's where he's more comfortable and he can let loose a little but in public, or school he's supposed to keep it all in for hours and its like a a thought tornado going through your mind and an seemingly endless energy and he's supposed to sit there it can be hard.

I didn't mean this to be rude if it came off that way just letting you know my personal expirence with ADHD.
And also I think your doing great your trying and it may not help but it shows you really do care.

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