Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where does he go? We couldn't get into one school because of the issues.

OP, if your kid needed glasses to see the blackboard, would you deny him this?

If your kid needs medication so that he can participate in school, why would you deny him this?

This is an exhaustingly specious analogy. Meds at 4 is a very legitimate concern and in no way can we compared to a pair of glasses. I eventually resorted to medication when my DS turned 9 because years of various behavioral therapies were not sufficient and the benefit of medication outweighed the risk. I'm not suggesting that OP shouldn't medicate at this stage (the immediate needs of each child are different), but OP's prudence should not be minimized with oversimplified comparisons.

Regarding why meds sooner than later - to avoid lost academic years. High iq no longer sufficient to overcome attention issues/hyperactivity/impulse control. It seems that the younger you get a diagnosis, get cognitive and behaviorial therapy, and start meds early - the interventions become a none issues. My 9 year old is open with his diagnosis and interested in how his brain works. It seems like those who don't get interventions until older feel like many academic and social opportunities are lost.

Anonymous wrote:Suspected for awhile but always told no. Finally got diagnosis at 8, trying meds at 9. Wish we had tried meds in first or second grade. Third grade is not the time to be working this out. Very glad however that we are figuring the meds out before the teen years. I'm sure there will be much tinkering over time but teens are hard enough. Good to have meds and therapy normal activities before kid is a teen.

Why exactly are these medications better sooner rather than later?

Suspected for awhile but always told no. Finally got diagnosis at 8, trying meds at 9. Wish we had tried meds in first or second grade. Third grade is not the time to be working this out. Very glad however that we are figuring the meds out before the teen years. I'm sure there will be much tinkering over time but teens are hard enough. Good to have meds and therapy normal activities before kid is a teen.

At 4, we suspected. At 6, we knew and got an IEP and accommodations and services through the school. At 9, he failed despite the school's excellent efforts. At 10, we medicated.

Obviously, this was much too long to wait. But DH could not be persuaded earlier.

On the plus side, all these years of teaching him study skills and responsibility for himself turned him into a stellar student as soon as his meds kicked in. We had been warned that medication would address the attention and speed, but not necessarily the target of his attention, and that he would need to learn how to use his new-found attention. Not so - he was good to go from day 1.

Anonymous wrote:Where does he go? We couldn't get into one school because of the issues.

OP, if your kid needed glasses to see the blackboard, would you deny him this?

If your kid needs medication so that he can participate in school, why would you deny him this?

At 4, but it wasn't all that manageable at home either - in fact it was probably slightly more manageable at school. But caused significant safety and developmental issues (interfering with participation, ability to interact with/play with peers, etc). So it was a matter of severity/degree, and the fact that we'd been doing interventions etc for quite some time (both home and daycare/school side) and still weren't getting where we need to be. It's been a good result. Not complete magic, but definitely helpful in a way that nothing else has been.

At age 6, after official diagnosis. Lots of trial and error. More consistent results around age 8.

I'm curious about the school, too.

Where does he go? We couldn't get into one school because of the issues.

DS is 9 we're still not medicating. He goes to a private school with lots of recess and PE and hands-on activities. I doubt he'd be able to manage in a public school environment with 1 recess and a large class.

If you're uneasy about medication, try behavioral approaches first. Since your kid is 4, you'll have some time to see if that helps.

You can try medicating at a very low dose when your kid starts K. They wear off quite quickly.

We know we have ADHD but it's fairly manageable at home. It's not at school. When did you medicate if you had an early diagnosis?