I'm posing this question on behalf of my sister whose son is nearly 16 and a Freshman in high school. He has ADHD and was borderline for ADD back in Elementary and since then has taken Ridalin and now Adderall which has helped him focus although my sister was not a proponent of it prior to that time.
He has average intelligence but struggles at school. Homework is a challenge every day and he's started lying about it to his parents which turns into a bigger problem that he can't catch up and has failed a class. My sister is a teacher in the district and her husband is in administration so they have the access and tools to try to work with teachers.
Now, he is struggling socially--hardly a friend has not done anything socially in the last month and is getting picked on and eats lunch alone. He was quite small but has grown so he isn't the smallest kid in class anymore but is very immature for his age. He is a chatterbox which does get annoying but I wonder if it is ADHD related still. His Dr. upped his medication 3 months ago and no behavioral improvement occurred.
My sister is worried that his lying is his personality and what will become of him through high school and afterward. A vocational school had been the goal.
They offered to send him to another local school but he doesn't want to. Could he have a different condition or be on different medication? Anyone experienced this and had a positive outcome?
He is also in a special program at school called Reach that is recent and focuses on helping kids with homework and providing a counselor but this won't occur over the summer.
I suggested a psychologist or perhaps paying a mentor (college age kid) to hang out with him and give him some better social skills and feel like he can confide in someone else...he has teenage angst and doesn't like to cooperate with or be seen with his parents.
Other ideas? I worry he'll be bullied or hang out with the wrong crowd. My sister is so in the midst of it she can't see beyond her anger sometimes.
He will be going to at least 6 wks of summer school. They have taken away nearly all his privileges (phone, video, track team) because of the lying and not keeping up with school. I worry that it is so strict he will rebel more.
Any ideas are appreciated--he is a hard worker at his grandparents and is very mechanically inclined.
I'm confused...both of his parents are in the education field? They should be aware of IEP's and have one in place for their son. My daughter is ADD and has an IEP in place where she gets extra help during class and modified work and homework. And being a teacher she should be aware of kids that have these in place because a lot of times they have to leave class to go to another class to get the extra help they need. I hope this helps. Good luck.
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J.G.
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St. Louis
on
I have never taken Ritalin for my ADD but my older kids did when they were younger. They said they felt like zombies, had no personalities, when they were on it. They hated it and talked me into taking them off of it in fifth grade. When they got into high school the needed meds again but this time they were offered Adderall. Apparently Adderall is the stuff. They love it, I love it.
If your nephew hates being on Ritalin he could be skipping his meds or worse selling them. That would explain some of his issues.
Yes!!! talking is an ADD thing! So is blurting things out and a fair few other antisocial things. Even as an adult I have trouble with people, thankfully I have enough really good friends that it just doesn't bother me that some just can't stand me. It is much harder as a teen.
Look into changing his meds, keep supporting him. The worst thing about being a kid with ADD is everyone thinks it is acceptable to take swipes at you because they do not believe it is a real disorder.
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B.C.
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Los Angeles
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The dutch just finished a multi year study of AQDHD and found that 64% of those with ADHD could be taken off meduication with a change of diet.
