Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Parent Support Forums
Special Ed 101
Falling IQ scores
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Martie" data-source="post: 8730" data-attributes="member: 284"><p>Smallworld,</p><p></p><p>I would not trust any psychoactive medication to not have cognitive effects. What is strange about what you report is the increase in perceptual reasoning with other areas dropping.</p><p></p><p>I would be most worried about a drop of 18 points in verbal. This is the strongest evidence of cognitive dulling and is the subtest most closely associated with academic performance.</p><p></p><p>I had ex-difficult child evaluated on mainline ADs (no effect) but (the areas are not comparable bec. it was the WISC III) he lost a lot in processing speed and memory tasks on ANY mood stabilizer. His verbal performance on Topomax didn't need to be assessed: his word firding difficulty was so obvious that he stopped talking. Of the two I had assessed (Lamictal and lithium) lithium had more effect on processing speed and memory than Lamictal but the effects were present for both.</p><p></p><p>Just because it happens to one child, it does not mean it happens to another. However, I will restate that I believe there is a chance that any psychoactive drug has measurable cognitive effects.</p><p></p><p>Also, motivation is a huge factor and scores can be affected by mood as well.</p><p></p><p>I checked the "Matthew Effect" on Wrightslaw--I knew it was there but forgot the name--LOL--that's middle age not medications-- It seems to me that the Matthew Effect is least likely as a cause for these decreasing scores unless something has been going on with your difficult child that I do not know about. Are there major educational problems I have forgotten?</p><p></p><p>Ex-difficult child had plenty of processing speed to "give" and still be in the superior range but he could not afford to lose verbal or memory abilities--the mood stabilizers put him about 15 points lower on each--that's a full standard deviation, and is not likely to be due to random error alone. You have effects as large or larger in some areas.</p><p></p><p>However, (there is always a however in this line of work), if the medications are helping with mood and her motivation is OK, then maybe the loss is better than the alternatives. It is difficult to know what to do and I at least, had nagging worries that these changes might not be reversible as with tardive dyskensia. Ex-difficult child stopped all medications over 18 months ago and is no longer evaluated by professionals of my choice. However, his speed when playing organ or piano is extremely fast so I think he "recovered" there. His memory still seems to be totally related to motivation and his vocab is growing (it's obvious without being assessed.) This gives me hope that the medications that are necessary for so many adolescents are not causing irreversible changes in their cognitive abilities.</p><p></p><p>Martie</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Martie, post: 8730, member: 284"] Smallworld, I would not trust any psychoactive medication to not have cognitive effects. What is strange about what you report is the increase in perceptual reasoning with other areas dropping. I would be most worried about a drop of 18 points in verbal. This is the strongest evidence of cognitive dulling and is the subtest most closely associated with academic performance. I had ex-difficult child evaluated on mainline ADs (no effect) but (the areas are not comparable bec. it was the WISC III) he lost a lot in processing speed and memory tasks on ANY mood stabilizer. His verbal performance on Topomax didn't need to be assessed: his word firding difficulty was so obvious that he stopped talking. Of the two I had assessed (Lamictal and lithium) lithium had more effect on processing speed and memory than Lamictal but the effects were present for both. Just because it happens to one child, it does not mean it happens to another. However, I will restate that I believe there is a chance that any psychoactive drug has measurable cognitive effects. Also, motivation is a huge factor and scores can be affected by mood as well. I checked the "Matthew Effect" on Wrightslaw--I knew it was there but forgot the name--LOL--that's middle age not medications-- It seems to me that the Matthew Effect is least likely as a cause for these decreasing scores unless something has been going on with your difficult child that I do not know about. Are there major educational problems I have forgotten? Ex-difficult child had plenty of processing speed to "give" and still be in the superior range but he could not afford to lose verbal or memory abilities--the mood stabilizers put him about 15 points lower on each--that's a full standard deviation, and is not likely to be due to random error alone. You have effects as large or larger in some areas. However, (there is always a however in this line of work), if the medications are helping with mood and her motivation is OK, then maybe the loss is better than the alternatives. It is difficult to know what to do and I at least, had nagging worries that these changes might not be reversible as with tardive dyskensia. Ex-difficult child stopped all medications over 18 months ago and is no longer evaluated by professionals of my choice. However, his speed when playing organ or piano is extremely fast so I think he "recovered" there. His memory still seems to be totally related to motivation and his vocab is growing (it's obvious without being assessed.) This gives me hope that the medications that are necessary for so many adolescents are not causing irreversible changes in their cognitive abilities. Martie [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Parent Support Forums
Special Ed 101
Falling IQ scores
Top