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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
You need to have your son evaluated.

My son was like this in 4th grade, got marked down until he was failing and it was a horrible year for his self-esteem. 
At the same time he won the Young Author's Contest for his school.
That summer he was diagnosed with severe inattentive ADHD, and the IQ test included in the assessment showed he has abysmal processing speed, which explained why he could not finish anything on time. Not everyone with ADHD has slow processing speed, but it is common for the inattentive daydreamer-kind of ADHD.

The school gave him accommodations (extra time etc) with an IEP. Now he is doing much better in 5th. The IQ test also showed he was gifted and under medication, his grades have shot up.

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Np: sorry to hijack, but my son sounds very similar to yours - did the meds really improve things for him?  We're hesitant to start them because of side effects and the thought that they don't work as well on Inattentive Type ADHD.  [/quote]

I can tell you frankly, the stimulant he takes is nothing short of a miracle.

Before, we tried social skills groups and I coached him on study skills, and sat with him to help him with his work, which would last all afternoon and into the evening... all to no avail, since his brain wasn't available to benefit from any of it, poor guy. He couldn't follow his friends' chatter and thus couldn't keep friends. He grew quite despondent in 4th grade as he began to fail grade-wise. He was so slow and scatter-brained, I yelled at him nearly every day, which killed me because he is actually a very sweet and compliant child - albeit one who takes 15 minutes to put on his socks because he stares into space holding the socks in his hand for 12 of those 15 minutes. And everything is like that: he can take an hour to eat his favorite breakfast, which is toast and a soft-boiled egg, he can never find anything he needs, even though he used whatever it was 5 minutes before, he has no idea of elapsed time... Since reading is his hyperfocus, he is not allowed to read or even glance at a book cover in the morning, because if he does, he loses track of time.
Then my husband FINALLY agreed to evaluated him and medicate him, and he smiled more right on that first day of his pill. Since then he has made and kept friends, he participates in class, his conversation is more rapid and to the point, his movements are quicker and more assured (he has a coordination disorder), his grades are excellent. He is just more "with it" and organized, checks his watch and plans his day, which is a 180 from what he used to be. The morning routine is still problematic because that's his low, un-medicated point. He can STILL take an hour to eat his breakfast and the no-book rule is still very much in effect!

Now for the side-effect: Focalin XR, like many stimulants, suppresses his appetite, and he's at the 10th percentile for height and weight, so we are vigilant about him eating a hearty breakfast before his pill, and as much dinner as he can. It's also a struggle to get him to eat a bit of lunch, because he's not hungry and wants to socialize with his friends (he didn't have friends before!), but it's critical because his medication is an extended release one that gets metabolized too quickly by digestive enzymes unless he can get something into his stomach. One pill is therefore supposed to last the whole day, until mid afternoon, when it begins to slowly taper off. It's better than taking a booster in the afternoon, since it avoids ebb and flow symptoms, *unless* he forgets to eat at mid-day.
We have not observed any other side-effect.

I hope this helps.
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