Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional ADHD meds stopped working?

You probably sounded like you would be more hassle than you were worth.

If they are high demand, there's no reason for them to deal with non-passive clients.

I don't know. A friend had a similar event happen to him with his pain doctor, and it turns out the office thought he was shopping for drugs with different doctors. Just FYI.

Most ADHD meds are considered controlled substances, and there is a large effort on to fight misuse. This seems a likely scenario.

DeeDee

Doctors are really getting pounded by the feds (or somebody) for the pain meds, so they are either cleaning things up or getting out of the pain med business.

One of the docs who lives down the street from my MIL just got nailed. I'm pretty sure he's in jail now.

heh, the sad thing is we are looking for someone who will do more than write a scrip for drugs, our regular doctor has no problem in that area... We want someone who will treat the whole problem not lap a band-aid on part of it.

We finally have an appointment for early June (YAY!) with a therapist who does CBT, Biofeedback, Neurofeedback and specializes in anxiety and ADD. No mention of Aspergers experience though, none of the docs on our plan seem to have ASD specialties. I really think working on the anxiety will have the biggest impact/benefit so I am very hopeful.

I can't really speak to the doctor issues here, but as a college professor I wanted to comment on the accommodations issue. Most universities have a Disability Resource Center (might be called something different). These units work with the students and write up an accommodations letter based on their diagnoses that the student can present to their professors at the beginning of the semester. The letter does NOT reveal the diagnoses, it only specifies the accommodations. The professors are required to provide these accommodations, therefore you do not have to worry from semester to semester whether her professors will be kind and show mercy. In addition, it means that she does not have to discuss the situation with each teacher. She just gives them the letter and they provide the specified accommodations. She does not have to explain why and the instructors are not allowed to ask. For example this past semester I had a student with an accommodations letter that allowed for missed classes and extra time for exams and papers. He only came to class a handful of times (he was actually quite ill) but I could not take that into account when grading (of course, I would not have anyways, but the point is that even if the instructor wanted to they couldn't).

I highly recommend that your daughter seek assistance from the unit at her university. They may not all run the same way, but most if not all American Universities have something along these lines (it may be required by the ADA, I'm not sure). Anyways, the ADHD alone would qualify her for some accommodations plus it definitely sounds like something else is going on with the writing. She might be able to get more time for assignments or be allowed to turn in shorter assignments. I think that having these accommodations set up may reduce her anxiety because she knows that they are guaranteed and that she doesn't have to spill her life story to every professor she takes a class from.

Thanks for explaining this, I will keep it in mind if she decides to try a different college. Because this particular college is so small, the ADA issues are handled by the Assistant Dean, I don't know if they get special training in ADA issues or just wing it, I suspect the latter. I had contacted this person last summer and I sent my DDs whole Eval and a copy of the thread about what happened last year when my DD derailed at the local university. I explained that the diagnosis was new and I didn't know what accommodations to ask for. I was told that the college really didn't have the issues most people request accommodations to alleviate (no timed tests etc). I was also told that some students do weekly checks with the counselor to make sure they are staying on track and I was giving a contact who for a fee would do telephone checks with my DD. My DD has way too much anxiety to talk to a stranger on the phone about her schoolwork. The weekly counselor checks might have worked if we could have spent some time getting a comfort level with the counselor and setting up the expectations ahead of time but their office was closed when we got to the school and since the add meds were working well at that time we thought it would all be okay. So we just went ahead and took a chance. If DD goes back to this college I will see if we can get an accommodation paper that allows her to write shorter papers and maybe supplement them with one-on one oral dissertations which is where she really shines.

UPDATE: DD has been selected to participate in a national research study on social anxiety, she will receive top notch Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the next couple of months free - Woo Hoo!!!

That's awesome. I hope it's effective for her.

DeeDee

Wow! That's great news! Good for her/you for getting her into it.