Post from new member Jamie

[smallworld]

(Jamie, I've copied your post here as a separate thread so posters can respond directly to you -- smallworld)

"Hi am ne here to and at the end of my rope my difficult child is 6 (m) had full neuro psychiatric done in July ADHD,ODD,Aspergers,anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. Started therepy in august with no results, I am not even sure I know what kind of therpy it was.
Presently takeing AdderallXR for ADHD, the behavior seems to be getting worse,however the priciple at shcool says he sees no problem he is doing great. Teacher is struggeling to keep him on task and at grade level. First evaluation done by school at the end of kindergarden placed him at grade level, the Independant evaluation showed a much different story, I am not clear on how that is possible, New therapist suggest that sleeping problem may be a result of halucenations and wants to refer to psychatrist.(says he sees all kinds of things at nite that are not there in the daytime, bugs, snakes, squirrls etc...)He has an IEP but the only way of measuring goals that I can see is standardized testing what ever that means. If is similar to the tests in kindergarden I have some concerns. Any help anyone has would be most appreciated. Oh yea the principle and the school psychologist suggested I get therapy because I am too "Intese" I took their advicec and my therapist disagrees with them both."

 

[smallworld]

Jamie, welcome. I'm glad you found us.

Since Adderall XR is making your difficult child's behavior worse, I'm guessing it's the wrong medication for him. medications are a trial and error process so the first one you try might not be the one that works. In addition, stimulants like Adderall can cause hallucinations so this is a symptom you definitely should talk to his doctor about. Furthermore, stimulants can exacerbate anxiety and cause depression so you may need to look at the mood piece first before you go after the ADHD symptoms. Is he seeing a child psychiatrist for medication management? If not, I'd strongly encourage you to make an appointment with one ASAP.

You say your difficult child has an IEP. What specific services and accommodations are provided in it? If you don't think the IEP is working as written, you might want to post over in Special Education 101 with more specifics. The moderators Martie and Sheila really know their stuff so I'm sure they will be helpful to you.

Again, welcome. Because of the holiday, it may be slow on the board in the next few days. But others will be along to welcome you and offer their support.

 

[Jamie]

Thanks for the info I thought the same thing about the medications and the halucenations so I took him off for a week no change in the haluceations but I thought the school was going to lose it!!! I got called most every day that they were haveing a hard time keeping him on task.(I just kinda laughed) I finally put him back on his medications. He was better in the classroom, it seems to be worse in places we do not spend a lot of time in like church, grocery store etc... He also has Hep C so the Dr. says we have to careful of what kind of medication he is on.

 

[happymomof2]

Welcome, you found a great site and a soft place to land. There are many here with great information and advice.

I also agree that the adderall probably isn't the medication for you son. Mine was on Ritalin, went to adderall (can't remember why we switched from Ritalin) and the adderall was horrible!! He took it during the day then had to take something to make him go to sleep at night and his behavior was off the wall. The last drug he was on was the best and that was Concerta. He's been off medications for 4 or 5 years now. I currently have him on "attend" it is an all natural medication. Granted it doesn't work as well as the scripts but is helping some.

Hope you find something for him soon that works well.

 

[BusynMember]

My son is on the autism spectrum. ADHD symptoms are part and parcel of autism and stimulants don't always help our children. My son got aggressive and mean on all stims, and that's not like him, so we got him involved in school interventions to help him learn better how to attend in school. Can't tell you how great it worked out. Aspergers kids really need Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) accomodations--medications don't always work with all Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids. My son takes no medications, and he can really pay attention in school now. I thank his 1:1 aide who taught him how to hone into the big picture, take notes, and organize (which all Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids tend to have trouble with). I would focus more on the Aspergers than the other diagnosis. Depression is common with Aspergers because the kids have social deficits and also because they have neurological differences. I highly recommend a neuropsychologist over a Psychiatrist or therapist for a child who is on the autism spectrum. They do intensive tests and evaluations and tend to nail what our kids need the most. Therapy isn't always helpful with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids as they often just don't relate to the therapists--it's not their nature. Just some suggestions from a mom of an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) son. Good luck :smile:

 

[Jamie]

Thanks for the insight,I am not likeing the medication at this point, he did really well on it in the beginning, but it seems to have lost its appeal. I am curious as to what kind of school interventions you used, he has a 1:1 aide for this year but I have already been told that he will not be allowed to keep the aid past this year. They even told me that he did not qualify for Special Education. I was blown away by that one.At any rate he also has Hep C so I am trying to stay away from medications all together and we seem to be floundering, he argues about everything, the one that puzzles me the most that I can't seem to get an answer to is for example today he asked me for a Bananna, I said sure, as he was still chewing the last bite he wanted to know when he could have a Bananna? I told him that he had just ate one and he went into a crying melt down about how mean I was because I would not let him eat! And he was starving. It seemed like the more I tried to explain that he had just eaten the worse it got, this is beginning to happen on a more frequent basis, there is no telling what will set him off so I stay afraid to take him anywhere. Any ideas would be much appreciated

 

[BusynMember]

Jamie, fight that "he can only have an aide for one year and he doesn't qualify" garbage. Post THAT on Spec. Ed 101. My son would never be at the level he's at without his aide, who taught him tons about how to focus, take notes, hone in on the Big Picture, etc. She was also in all his academic classes with him in case he needed to ask any questions, but she was actually a 1:3 aide. None of the other kids thought the aide was for him because he can pretty much "pass" for typical. When he was VERY young, he had Occupational Therapist (OT), PT and Social Skills and was placed in Special Education for certain classes because lots of stimulation, noise, distraction etc. made it hard for him to concentrate. This could have been misconstrued as ADHD, however the neuropsychologist we had (and I trust him--he was very thorough, and had worked at Mayo for ten years) told us that ADHD is just part and parcel of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The kids are very aware of their senses and it distracts them; even a smell can distract them. My son slowly worked up to almost mainstream status. He loves his Special Education teacher whom he only sees for one period now, and is doing well in all the other classes too. Jamie, my son used to tantrum with the best of them, complete with headbanging and scratching his face. His room had nothing in it except soft toys and a bed because he'd whack his head on the dresser. He hasn't had one tantrum in almost nine years. The worst that happens now is he will slam a door or stamp his foot, but that's rare and he can be talked down by saying, "Ah, Lucas, please don't do that. I can't afford another door." He'll say "Sorry" even if he has tears in his eyes--he is such a good soul, probably the sweetest child in the universe. He did NOT start out that way. He was so frustrated by not being able to communicate well and by his lack of understanding of social skills and life skills that he lashed out. As soon as his communication skills improved, he stopped tantruming. It sounds like your son can speak, but has communication problems. My guess is that when he said, "When can I have a banana" he meant "when can I have another banana?" or "Can I have another banana?" and he just didn't know how to express it, which can drive our kids nutso. Speech alone does not equal competent communication skills.He may still need Speech to learn how to converse. Until he is tested, and you are told he DOES comprehend, I'd just treat his questions, that seem off-the-wall, as an inability to communicate what he REALLY wants to say to you and maybe help him along like, "Do you mean when can you have another banana?" I also wouldn't make straight "no" answers. I'd say, "In two hours." Some Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children are extremely literal. My son wants to know EXACTLY how many hours until (fill in the blanks).
As our son gets older, he gets better, but he's been a steady work in progress. medications did not help him. In fact, stimulants made him more hyper and mean, and bipolar medications (he had a misdx.) made him cognitively dulled so that he couldn't learn as much. I think some psychiatrists are way too quick to medicate away every symptom a child has. Some kids need medications, but not all do. Some can be helped without them, like my son. Good luck :smile: Merry Christmas.

 

[Wiped Out]

Jamie,
Just popping in to add my welcome. Glad you found us!