Visited pediatrician today. He felt the unspecified ADHD diagnostic was correct, but the IQ scores were too low and werent even close. Dr is prescribing Quilivant.
My husband is very upset. I told him we are out of options, that there are no alternative schools and this is what happens to kids like ds when thrown into a class of 24 with one overworked teacher and unrealistic expectations coming down from the hierarchy.
Questions:
--Is this a regular pediatrician? We use a developmental pediatrician who specializes in the medications and issues relevant to our child; we find that her expertise is reassuring. I would be reluctant (as you and your DH clearly are) to let a regular pediatrician, no matter how fine, prescribe meds of this kind to my child. This is a personal preference on my part, not necessarily what most people do.
--You seem to feel that class size/ school is at fault here. My perspective is that for a child with a disability (like ADHD), whether or not the child is medicated, environment and teaching should be optimized through a 504 plan or IEP at school. At the same time, a child with ADHD may not thrive without medication, even in a smaller class-- neither meds nor behavior strategies are usually the whole answer. Feeling driven to medicate by a poor school situation is a hard place for you to start this journey (though not atypical). I would encourage you to begin working on making school better.
If anything his behaviors are worse in his new classroom,
You can request a Functional Behavior Analysis from the school as part of a complete educational evaluation (which is necessary to get a 504 or IEP). That will provide information about how to make school better. You can also offer private diagnostic information to the school team during their eval process.
And I wonder what happens if he can't tolerate the meds? He already leans to the anxious side of things already.
Stimulant ADHD meds are short-acting and typically out of the system quickly. A developmental pediatrician can help you sort out whether the anxiety is severe enough to warrant treating with a non-stimulant like Strattera instead, or prescribing an SSRI along with the stimulant. It *can* be a hard process to get meds right. But done well, it can make a huge difference for a child.
