medicate or not? | Imamother

amother

Fri, Feb 07 2014, 11:04 am

My child (12)was recently evaluated in school and they are recommending that he take pills for inattentiveness. Basically, he's been slipping the past couple of years and does not concentrate in class. He daydreams and doesnt pay attention to the lessons.he also became disorganized with his stuff (he used to be extremely neat) and cannot manage his timing well.
my question is he wasn't like this when he was younger.he was an excellent student.very bright.he used to take a lot of notes.
im hesitating to put him on medication because maybe there is a different reason for it. I feel very lost and dont know how to help my son.

seeker

Fri, Feb 07 2014, 12:25 pm

When you say "evaluated in school," who is doing that evaluation? I don't know of any mainstream schools with highly qualified evaluators in-house. Medication can be a godsend for certain people, and it does sound like your child MIGHT be a candidate for that, but I would not make a move without thorough evaluation by an expert.

You should definitely rule out other causes that could have made this come up more recently, but it isn't unheard of for symptoms to become problematic around this age when a child was doing well previously. As school gets more demanding, difficulties become more apparent.

amother

Fri, Feb 07 2014, 1:03 pm

Thank you. The school sent us to someone to have him evaluated. It was not a doctor. I would for sure not medicate before he's seen by a dr. Im just wondering if its even relevant or if anyone has had a similar experience and how it turned out.

shoshana11

Sat, Feb 08 2014, 8:52 am

it's very uncommon to develop ADD at 12... usually many kids don't need meds by then. I would rule out depression, G-d forbid molestation and other social issues in school and or shul/home.. Sorry to bring this up but kids don't all of a sudden develop ADD, usually you'd know about it for years.. Good luck!!

5*Mom

Sat, Feb 08 2014, 11:25 am

amother wrote:

Thank you. The school sent us to someone to have him evaluated. It was not a doctor.

What kind of professional was this? Were they looking specifically and exclusively for ADD? Are they qualified to evaluate for other issues or just this one?

amother

Sat, Feb 08 2014, 4:12 pm

I would definitely reevaluate by a competent reputable psychiatrist. I'm talking from personal experience. My daughter was also "evaluated" by some sort of school professional and thus started our confusing journey. I was bumped from specialist to specialist, till we landed at the, eye doctor! She was got a very high perscrition. She didn't realize that her vision is getting weak. I would also do a hearing test to make sure he hears well.

bubbebia

Sat, Feb 08 2014, 7:30 pm

Unless your child was evaluated by a qualified psychologist, I would take it all with a lot of salt. I think you need to have him evaluated for things like hearing and vision as well as other potential issues. ADD doesn't show up suddenly at age 12. Sounds to me like there is something else going on. While I am not averse to medicating a kid who REALLY needs it, schools are quick to recommend such things without proper diagnosis just to either cover their tucheses or to get the kid off their back.

amother

Sat, Feb 08 2014, 11:54 pm

I have extensive background in the field of special ed, and I have two children with ADHD who are both currently on medication.

Seeker is exactly on target. It is possible for a child to do ok earlier on and then suddenly really have trouble as work becomes more complex and teachers are expecting children to be more independent. This is especially true with kids who have the more inattentive symptoms of ADD rather than the hyperactivity component (which would likely have gotten the teachers clamoring for intervention earlier!)

BUT there can be many other factors/ reasons as well. I don't know what type of professional you went to for this evaluation, but before you consider medication you must get your child evaluated by a doctor who specializes in this -- a pediatric psychiatrist or neurologist, or at the very least a developmental pediatrician. Medication can be a great tool in helping your child -- but I would definitely proceed with caution when dealing with someone who is making recommendations that they are not trained to make.