Off Task 50% of the Day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, she takes an SSRI to tackle the severe anxiety. We have spoken about medication for ADHD but she is so young for even one medication, and that would be two. Right now we are looking for ways to handle the ADHD without medication though we are not completely against it if that is what it comes down to.

She's off task 50% of the day. What are you waiting for? Her to be off task 75% of the day?

It's not a matter of number of medications, it's treating medical issues your child has.

If she needed glasses to see would you try to accommodate around that vs. cutting to the chase and getting her glasses?

Given that ADHD medications can cause or exacerbate anxiety in kids with diagnosed anxiety disorders, the OP has good reason to be cautious. Hopefully she's working with a skilled doctor who will guide her through this process, as making decisions about medication for kids with multiple diagnoses is complex.

Also, what was the off task percentage of her matched peer? Data should have been taken on a randomly selected peer, under the same conditions. 50% sounds really awful, until you realize that most second graders are off task a high percentage of the time.

-- a parent of a child who does not take ADHD medication because of a co-occurring anxiety disorder.

--from a parent of a child who has ADHD and meds and anxiety and takes medication for both

Yes, it is complex, but OP's argument against ADHD meds is that that would be "two" medications. And Spinal Tap's amp goes up to 11.

Treat the symptoms and find someone who is qualified to do it. It takes trial and error and can change over time. Time to bite the bullet.

NP here. Totally agree as a mom of a DC with GAD, Asperger's and ADHD who is currently on a low dose SSRI and a stimulant for the ADHD--who is doing well on both meds.

I'm the "parent of a child who does not take ADHD medication . . . "

I'm glad you've found a solution that works for your kid. I'm thrilled that I've found one for mine. Every child is different, which is why meds need to be prescribed by medical specialists, and not by anonymous posters on DCUM. My child's psychiatrist, a specialist in pediatric anxiety, and his neurologist both feel that he should not take an ADHD medication, because of the possibility of increased anxiety. I could speculate about ways that my kid might be different from yours that would lead them to a different decision, but I won't. Instead, I'll trust that the professionals working with your child, the professionals working with my child, and the professionals working with OP's child all know what they're doing.

I will also repeat, that in my experienced when matched observations are being done. Matched observations are when a trained observer comes into a classroom and takes data on the target child, and on a peer who does not have a disability in the same activities with the same methods, it's not surprising to find that peers are also off task a high percentage of time. 50% sounds really bad, but the reality is that in many classrooms for young children, a significant number of kids are off task at any given moment. Producing age appropriate work, and then reading a book, rather than taking the time to "work to potential", which is what OP has described, is not a crisis. It's very common behavior in bright children. Given that the OP's child has been in crisis in the past, I can understand her reluctance to risk returning to crisis mode to solve something that may not even be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Does your school have a mini-trampoline? When DC was in ES, your school had one in one of the special ed rooms and when a student needed a break and needed to blow off some energy, they went there and jumped for ten minutes and were able to return to class and concentrate again. DC and I also walked to school in the morning instead of having him take the bus. Getting 20-30 minutes of light exercise before school was also helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, she takes an SSRI to tackle the severe anxiety. We have spoken about medication for ADHD but she is so young for even one medication, and that would be two. Right now we are looking for ways to handle the ADHD without medication though we are not completely against it if that is what it comes down to.

OP she sounds so much like my DS, who is now in 7th. Not sure about your comment that she's too young for medication, as she is not! If you mean that YOU as her parent don't want to give her medication at her age that is one thing....but medically she is not too young.

With being off task 50% of the time, no amount of behavioral therapy will diminish that enough to make a difference for her at school. You need the added component of medication. And please don't go down the "natural remedies" route, its all bull shit. No amount of supplements or change in diet will make much of a difference if at all! Trust me, we didn't want to put DS on meds when he was only in 1st grade - so we tried it all before starting meds - and eventually realized that we really had no option. And we saw it as cruel and unfair to him to not give him the help he needed just so he could survive in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, she takes an SSRI to tackle the severe anxiety. We have spoken about medication for ADHD but she is so young for even one medication, and that would be two. Right now we are looking for ways to handle the ADHD without medication though we are not completely against it if that is what it comes down to.

OP she sounds so much like my DS, who is now in 7th. Not sure about your comment that she's too young for medication, as she is not! If you mean that YOU as her parent don't want to give her medication at her age that is one thing....but medically she is not too young.

With being off task 50% of the time, no amount of behavioral therapy will diminish that enough to make a difference for her at school. You need the added component of medication. And please don't go down the "natural remedies" route, its all bull shit. No amount of supplements or change in diet will make much of a difference if at all! Trust me, we didn't want to put DS on meds when he was only in 1st grade - so we tried it all before starting meds - and eventually realized that we really had no option. And we saw it as cruel and unfair to him to not give him the help he needed just so he could survive in school.

Did your child respond the way OP described her child responding to ADHD meds when they tried them?

How is it cruel to withhold a medication that made her kid miserable?

[Anonymous]

OP, you sound like you are on the right track with everything (I'm a mom that does medicate for ADHD, FWIW.)

I think you're lucky you've got the IEP to begin with. My child is off task about 90% of the time, according to the teacher, and yet the school refuses to give us an IEP because his academic performance on the things he does complete are within grade expectations, and therefore when he does not complete assignments or completes them poorly , it is because he "isn't trying."

And for the prior poster that asked about a trampoline -- I asked about then when he first started at the school, and they laughed out loud about what a ridiculous idea that was. Their idea of a "movement break" is getting up to sharpen your pencil or get a book from the classroom reading corner.

Honestly, off task 50% off time sounds fabulous to me -- especially if a lot of that "off task" time is independent reading. That means that she's with the classroom program about half of the time! And reading the rest of the time! Do you feel like she's struggling to learn the material? Or that there are social repercussions to her not being on task? If not, I guess I wouldn't worry that much if she needs to do her own thing for part of the day.