Yeshiva wants DS to take medication for ADD

amother

Aqua

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 11:39 am

amother [ Pink ] wrote:

Maybe. I've had the opposite experience though. Teachers who understand that parents are making a real effort are more willing to go the extra mile for that family. There's a certain frustration in working with parents who aren't forthcoming about the information they have and the strategies they're trying. Including the teachers creates a team effort.

So tell them "I'm working with a specialist and it's a work in progress. Please keep me updated on how things are going"

No need to specify anything in real time. I can't tell you how many children are sent for evaluation who come back with no diagnosis.

Unless the teacher is extremely involved and responsive you're not going to get much out of them anyway.

I had a running google doc for each student who I had concerns for. I would share it with the parent. It described the accomplishments and behaviors and noted the time of day, as well as any interventions in my part. I asked them to wait before they told me they were medicating so that I could be objective.

If your teacher is doing things like that then they are a team member.

If they're telling you to medicate your child so their day will be easier. They don't need to know what you're doing so fast. You need to know what THEY'RE doing. I say this as a parent and teacher in the yeshiva system.

amother

Dodgerblue

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 11:57 am

My son is a little spacy and his rebbi and school were advising us to put him on meds. We did decide to try and his pediatrician prescribed a low dose and then upped the dose when we didn't see any difference. Here's the kicker though. We did not tell anyone in the school that we put him on meds bec we wanted to see if they noticed a diff in him objectively. The rebbi continued to hint toward putting him on medication bec he assumed we had not. We took him off after a few moths and the rebbi had noticed no change. I'm positive that had he known, he would've miraculously seen improvement. Overall, was very unimpressed with how the school approached the whole thing from the beginning.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 11:58 am

amother [ Aqua ] wrote:

Aqua, this post is amazing, and SO wise! I wish there were more teachers like you out there. You sound very dedicated and involved with each student. That makes you a rare gem.

amother

Pink

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 12:37 pm

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

It's out of place for a rebbi to push for this and out of place for a pediatrician to take it on as well. Would the pediatrician prescribe anti seizure medication without a neurologist thoroughly evaluating for seizures? This should be treated no differently.

amother

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 2:17 pm

Thanks for everyones advice.

We just put him on meds but we are not saying anything yet to the school.I want to see what happens. The doctor even told me not to disclose he is on meds so I am taking his advice.

The rebbe happens to be somewhat an expert in this and there are doctors that call him for advice because he has researched all different types of meds and the side affects.

I hope we are doing the correct thing.