Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Adderall working great.....at first.......

Hello to all...Well about a month ago, started ds10 on 5mg (ADD) of adderall...Was working great. We were all so happy! Received numerous e-mails from teachers praising son's wonderful behavior etc...etc...Well, now the e-mails are coming in stating that ds is returning to his old habits and behavior. Teachers are not happy. Last week we tried 10mg. We saw no improvement and either did son. Grades are dropping and he is disengaging. Teachers say all he wants to do is draw. How could the adderall be working so well at first but now zilch? Is the adderall contributing to his disengagement and poor attitude?I realize his educational fit isn't ideal, but he does get taken out of class twice a week for gifted services. At the end of the month, mentors will be coming (thank goodness!)to work one on one with him on higher literature and science. We are all so FRUSTRATED... and sad

Well, now I just don't know what to think! Just received a glowing e-mail from teacher saying ds was absolutely wonderful today...participated enthusiastically, was respectful, remembered all of his materials, raised his hand without blurting, and on and on and on......sigh.

Stimulant meds increase the capacity to focus on boring and repetitive tasks, but they aren't a substitute for a good educational fit, and they don't necessarily make you less impulsive - they sometimes make impulsive behavior worse.

It may be that he'd rather work on something engaging, like drawing, than attend to work that he doesn't see the point of and that is far below his level, even though he knows that he is going to get in trouble for it. The reward of doing something that is actually interesting might be worth it. I feel for him.

It may be that ADD is not the appropriate diagnosis. There are over 50 conditions that mimic ADD and many of them are not treatable with Adderall.

Mamabear - excellent point.

Was there a recent WISC test at school? Have the results come back? Are all these emails a 'good reason' for them to hurry up with the scoring?

It may be that a different medication would work better at this point. Of maybe give it a few more days to see if the 10 mg dose works better. DS14 has a friend who take stimulents and 'draw all day' whenever the dose is bumped up - but I can't say why this is. The kid describes it as 'getting used to his amped up brain' - reminded me of how the first day I had glasses about all I could do was examing the world in detail.

Also - I love that book 'Transforming the Difficult Child Workbook' by Howard Glasser and Lisa Bravo. I don't like the 'anti-medication tone' but everything else in there has been very helpful for both the ADHD problems and the giftedness problems. They say it's for 'Intense' kid. LOL - I know a few of those!

Glad to hear about the nice email. Classroom fit might be an essential ingredient.
Good luck
Grinity

Good morning and thanks for the replies! I believe this all comes down to just not a great educational fit...sigh...homeschooling is looking more and more attractive. Aculady, yes he has always used drawing as an escape. I don't blame him...I've been subbing in our school district and I come home depressed. I know what I should do, but I'm waiting to see if accommodations at the end of the month work out. Grinity, last month he did take the WISC. The school psychologist said it shows him as highly gifted (like the previous SB5 test did...given by a private psychologist a few years ago...) Nothing alarming about the scores other than lower processing and working memory. I still haven't received the full report. Because of his score, the school has been working hard to get something more for ds. We had a meeting about subject accelerating him. We eventually all agreed that if the school could provide one on one mentoring and tutoring during the school day, that would be even more ideal. That decision was made over a month ago and we are STILL waiting. In the meantime, he gets out of regular classes a few times a week for g/t. The principal is trying...The tutor he had set up ended up on an extended vacation. Supposingly, a couple of high-ability highschool seniors are going to be coming to pull him out. I'm waiting to see how this all pans out. Mamabear, thanks for mentioning the possibility of other conditions. We have ruled everything else out. In the meantime, I'm trying ot stay positive and giving my little guy a lot of extra love, hugs, and understanding

This is why full skip (if possible) is better than single subject is better than tutoring/mentoring/in class differentiation. Even if the single subject skip is less individually taylored, it's also much less likely to actually happen on a consistient enough basis. What about subject acceleration PLUS tutoring/mentoring/in-class differentiation?
I think it's time to call the school and say "While I agree that one-to-one solutions might be ideal, we need the immediacy and consistience of single subject accleration." If you can get to the principle directly by phone, she might agree to a trial subject accleration 'for now' with the other parts of the puzzle to be added as they become availible. This is one of those situations where the school 'needs to know how much you care' more than how much you know, so if you feel tears coming (and I do) then let them flow in front of the decision makers, ok?

Love and More Love,
Grinity