ADHD/Ritalin from parent pov (long)

I have literature at home which I will try to remember tomorrow. It
includes a list of about 14-15 items; if you check off about 8-9,
consider the possibility of ADD/ADHD. For those who aren't familiar
with the acronym, it stands for Attention Deficit Disorder /
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Some people, including
professionals, use ADD and ADHD exclusively or interchangeably.
However, there IS a difference. I have two sons, one ADD and one
ADHD and the difference is remarkable.

History in my family: in late winter of kindergarten, John's teacher
told us he was not finishing his classwork in a reasonable time. We
first had his eyes and ears checked to be sure that they were not
causing the problem. He got glasses, but the doctor said John was a
borderline case and would not normally need them. They were
prescribed only to see if they would help in school. Ears were OK.
By the time we had that taken care of, the school year was almost
over, so we let it go. In first grade, it took until Christmas for
the teacher to complain about John's daydreaming and fidgeting. The
school videotaped him in the classroom to show us what they were
talking about. To us, it looked like a bored child amusing himself
while his classmates finished their tasks, but we agreed to a
psychological evaluation. That would take several months, since the
psychologist was swamped. Meanwhile, we scheduled John's annual
checkup with the pediatrician. Around the end of January, the school
nurse sent us a copy of a textbook article on ADD, suggesting that we
show it to the pediatrician. By the time we finished explaining why
we were there and offered the article, the pediatrician brushed it
aside. She was familiar with ADD/ADHD and was about to suggest the
possibility. She explained that normally the psych. evaluation
preceeds the diagnosis, but under the circumstances, she would
prescribe Ritalin and wait for the evaluation. If ADD was not the
problem, Ritalin would have opposite the desired effect and we would
discontinue it.

My husband and I were still unhappy. We truly believed that John was
bored, but we agreed that if medication helped, we would go along
with it. This was indeed the case: he paid attention in class, the
teachers were happy, grades improved, and there seemed to be no side
effects. Evaluations proceeded: teachers, parents and psychologists
filled out forms and the final diagnosis was ADD, no hyperactivity.
BTW, part of the testing included some IQ tests; he averages around
130 depending on which test results you read. Higher than normal IQ
is common with ADD/ADHD.

John is now in eighth grade. He has reasonable grades; he's capable
of straight A's but we spend so much time with Brendan that John
doesn't get as much attention from us as he deserves.

Which brings us to Brendan who is now 10 years old in fifth grade.
When he was in pre-school, the teachers had to keep track of him: he
has a knack for disappearing from right in front of you. I don't
know how he does it. Brendan has always been full of energy, a
non-stop talker and is inclined to get into anything he can think of.
Since he's three years younger than John, we were prepared for the
request for evaluation. Brendan began Ritalin at age 5 in
kindergarten, younger than the doctors prefer. He is definitely
hyperactive and will drive you nuts when he's off the medication. We
think a reasonable course of action would be to prescribe
tranquilizers for parents during periods when kids like him are not
taking anything! :-) Brendan is not destructive or verbally
abusive. He does have trouble relating to his classmates. Some of
the problem is due to teasing about needing medication. Some is
simply that he doesn't understand that girls at his age aren't
interested in boys, even as playground playmates. And some is
because he doesn't know when to stop talking/teasing/whatever. On
the positive side, we've been told by parent volunteers at school
that he's really polite and helpful, holding doors, carrying things,
and comforting younger kids when they're upset.

In general, life with Ritalin is of higher quality than life without
it. I still don't like it and wish we could improve behavior without
medication. Unfortunately, we've tried a number of things with
Brendan; even WITH Ritalin he almost failed 4th grade and is having
trouble in 5th. The catch is, his IQ is also above normal and
holding him back would probably make things worse. It's just that he
doesn't turn in his classwork and doesn't pay attention, so he gets
poor grades.

As far as timing goes, the boys take 8-hour doses with breakfast. It
wears off shortly after classes end and they don't get more until the
next school day. This means that homework will take hours, if it
gets completed at all. Mostly, it doesn't. We have doctor's
permission to give Brendan medication as needed, but rarely do this.
(Examples: attending a wedding, participating in school concert
during the evening)

In 15 weeks of Cub Scout day camp, he took medication for one week.
The staff knew what was going on. Some of them were super, some were
more of a pain than Brendan! (But I guess that's normal.) Having
been to Boy Scout camp myself for the last two years, I'll probably
see that a one-week supply of Ritalin goes with him this summer. The
rest of the time, he'll be "natural".

Side affect: loss of appetite during periods of medication. However,
both my boys make up for that by eating like pigs when not medicated!
Possible side effects: depression, loss of sleep, inhibited growth.
The jury is still out on depression in Brendan - he's in for another
bout of testing. We see no problems with sleep patterns and the boys
are slightly above average height.

I'm still learning about ADD/ADHD, but if you have any questions,
I'll answer those I can immediately and check my home references for
the others.

Mary Lee Foley mfoley@utnet.utoledo.edu
Software Specialist sysmlf@uoft01.bitnet
University of Toledo Webelos Den Leader, Den Leader Coach
Troop Committee Member
District Membership Chairman

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