Oh boy, did he before the Focalin! Before I found myself facing the decision, I was so against medicating children that young. We tried every combo of diet change, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, bribery, etc.. with little to no result. Luckily, this occurred over the course of his preK year when he was five and way ahead of the game academically. But I knew time was running out and eventually he would miss out if he wasn't able to focus in the classroom. One of his biggest problems has been impulse control. This kid is addicted to making loud, repetitive (very annoying) noises. Take naps? Ha! In my dreams. He had terrible sleep habits as an infant as well. He hated getting in trouble at school, he really wanted to follow all the rules. He just had no control over his impulses and an over abundance of energy. I hated seeing so much focus put on what he did wrong that day and realizing that they weren't seeing what a special kid is.
He's on the lowest dose of Focalin and is now one of the best behaved kids at his school (a very small Montessori preschool). The school is now singing a different tune and pretty much use him as a shining example of the fruits of their labor. I haven't shared his WISC scores with them or they would probably try to take credit for that too!
I am very curious how his scores would change if he was tested au naturale. Do you know if working memory is affected more by the inattentive or hyper/impulsive subtypes?
