Anonymous
Post 06/23/2018 10:47     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.


A lot of kids have both ADHD and anxiety. Commonly this is treated with stimulants plus an antidepressant. That is what my kid takes, plus clonidine, which reduces hyperactivity. She has severe combine type ADHD, so we have no choice but to medicate. Main side effects of the stimulants is loss of appetite, but she has normal height and weight, so she is eating enough ov9erall. No side effects from the antidepressant.

Sometimes doctors use Strattera, which works for both ADHD and anxiety.


Thank you! Medication wasn’t recommended as a first course of treatment. How do we know what severity her adhd is?


For my severe kid ots of behavioral clues - bouncing off walls, highly impulsive, very irritable and took forever to do homework, no matter how easy. Also many complaints from school. The neuropsych scores will also give you information. Her scores were below tenth percentile on tasks requiring attention or planning.

If medication wasn't recommended for you, you are probably on the mild end.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2018 10:43     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.


A lot of kids have both ADHD and anxiety. Commonly this is treated with stimulants plus an antidepressant. That is what my kid takes, plus clonidine, which reduces hyperactivity. She has severe combine type ADHD, so we have no choice but to medicate. Main side effects of the stimulants is loss of appetite, but she has normal height and weight, so she is eating enough overall. No side effects from the antidepressant.

Sometimes doctors use Strattera, which works for both ADHD and anxiety.


Thank you! Medication wasn’t recommended as a first course of treatment. How do we know what severity her adhd is?


My DS is considered “moderate” primarily inattentive with some EF and impulsivity issues. I can see the issues in a glaring way as soon as he’s expected to operate independently on a loose schedule- summer isn’t a lot of fun for instance because he has significant difficulty starting tasks, figuring out what he should (or should not) be doing in a particular moment, and reading social cues efficiently. In practical terms- I can’t say “go read a book” and have that happen without drilling down on it- and he prefers/badgers when he’s at loose ends even when it’s obvious that he’s upsetting me, etc. he’s eleven and having him at loose ends is almost like having a seven or eight year old.

Watch how your daughter handles loose schedules, take away some scaffolding and see what occurs- this will tell you how truly resourceful and self directed she is.


Should say “pesters.”
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2018 10:41     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.


A lot of kids have both ADHD and anxiety. Commonly this is treated with stimulants plus an antidepressant. That is what my kid takes, plus clonidine, which reduces hyperactivity. She has severe combine type ADHD, so we have no choice but to medicate. Main side effects of the stimulants is loss of appetite, but she has normal height and weight, so she is eating enough overall. No side effects from the antidepressant.

Sometimes doctors use Strattera, which works for both ADHD and anxiety.


Thank you! Medication wasn’t recommended as a first course of treatment. How do we know what severity her adhd is?


My DS is considered “moderate” primarily inattentive with some EF and impulsivity issues. I can see the issues in a glaring way as soon as he’s expected to operate independently on a loose schedule- summer isn’t a lot of fun for instance because he has significant difficulty starting tasks, figuring out what he should (or should not) be doing in a particular moment, and reading social cues efficiently. In practical terms- I can’t say “go read a book” and have that happen without drilling down on it- and he prefers/badgers when he’s at loose ends even when it’s obvious that he’s upsetting me, etc. he’s eleven and having him at loose ends is almost like having a seven or eight year old.

Watch how your daughter handles loose schedules, take away some scaffolding and see what occurs- this will tell you how truly resourceful and self directed she is.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2018 10:31     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.


A lot of kids have both ADHD and anxiety. Commonly this is treated with stimulants plus an antidepressant. That is what my kid takes, plus clonidine, which reduces hyperactivity. She has severe combine type ADHD, so we have no choice but to medicate. Main side effects of the stimulants is loss of appetite, but she has normal height and weight, so she is eating enough overall. No side effects from the antidepressant.

Sometimes doctors use Strattera, which works for both ADHD and anxiety.


Thank you! Medication wasn’t recommended as a first course of treatment. How do we know what severity her adhd is?
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 18:59     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.


A lot of kids have both ADHD and anxiety. Commonly this is treated with stimulants plus an antidepressant. That is what my kid takes, plus clonidine, which reduces hyperactivity. She has severe combine type ADHD, so we have no choice but to medicate. Main side effects of the stimulants is loss of appetite, but she has normal height and weight, so she is eating enough overall. No side effects from the antidepressant.

Sometimes doctors use Strattera, which works for both ADHD and anxiety.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 18:33     Subject: Twice Exceptional
As the student gets older watch to make sure her overall schedule is not too demanding. Example: too often parents push for advanced classes across the board because, in a perfect world, the student should be capable. In each advanced class, the student could be successful - but in it's entirety, the schedule is too demanding.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 17:27     Subject: Twice Exceptional
We are concerned about meds because of her history of anxiety. She has been managing fine at school - she can focus with no issues when she is interested and with little prompting when not. At this point we will definitely not take anything off the table but I have some serious reservations about medication. It’s good to hear stories about how it has been helpful, though hard to know if the kids are similar to her and I’d also be curious what meds and what the side effects are.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 15:18     Subject: Twice Exceptional
13:04 here. We started meds in 6th grade but should have done it several years sooner. We just didn’t understand how difficult it was for him to hold it together at school every day to stay in control, even though we were seeing meltdowns after school and school resistance. It wasn’t until 5th grade that he was mature enough to start to articulate how his brain worked and, after we started meds, what school was like on and off the medication. That made it a lot easier to understand that medication was the right thing, but we feel terrible that we didn’t realize it sooner.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 14:34     Subject: Re:Twice Exceptional
+1 on meds. My DS with similar profile is on vyvannse. He is in middle school and really needs the medicine - helps him organize and focus and as a result, he is able to use his brain better. You wouldn't know he was smart before the meds because despite his high IQ, he couldn't focus on the task enough to respond to what was being asked.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 14:29     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Past PP, with an ADDH combined 2Eer. Should add that adding meds was the most helpful. There still needs to be a lot of support and understanding at school, but the meds really helped.


What meds worked for your child and what age did you start them? We are pretty reluctant to start down that road at this point and hope that additional scaffolding will be helpful.


Not PP, but we have been medicating since age 7 when we got the diagnosis and it made a huge difference in terms of behavior and availability for learning. ADHD is very difficult to manage without meds unless it is relatively mild. Scaffolding and other interventions don't work if your kid can't focus long enough to get to step 1. We use stimulants, which is what most doctors start with Only you can decide what is best for situation, but don't be reluctant to try meds because of negative things you may have heard. For most kids, it's safe and effective when used as directed.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2018 13:52     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Past PP, with an ADDH combined 2Eer. Should add that adding meds was the most helpful. There still needs to be a lot of support and understanding at school, but the meds really helped.


What meds worked for your child and what age did you start them? We are pretty reluctant to start down that road at this point and hope that additional scaffolding will be helpful.


I'm another pp (writing about my DS11). Meds are a hard decision- we haven't started them yet, but are considering starting in August before school. Middle school seems to be the worst time to have ADHD without a medication regimen. It's a perfect storm of social dynamics, executive functioning demands, and hormones. Not encouraging meds, but encouraging an open mind.
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2018 13:04     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Anonymous wrote:Past PP, with an ADDH combined 2Eer. Should add that adding meds was the most helpful. There still needs to be a lot of support and understanding at school, but the meds really helped.


What meds worked for your child and what age did you start them? We are pretty reluctant to start down that road at this point and hope that additional scaffolding will be helpful.
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2018 11:28     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Past PP, with an ADDH combined 2Eer. Should add that adding meds was the most helpful. There still needs to be a lot of support and understanding at school, but the meds really helped.
Anonymous
Post 06/20/2018 19:18     Subject: Twice Exceptional
Thank you for all the replies and anecdotes. Her report came back with full IQ at 129 and verbal in mid-140s. ADHD combined type (she’s impulsive but not hyperactive) so we are just starting on our journey of figuring out the best ways to help her.
Anonymous
Post 06/19/2018 16:43     Subject: Twice Exceptional
“It really depends on the child, but what I noticed was mine is that school--instead of being a source of pride and self-esteem, as we naively expected it to be--was incredibly frustrating for him. The disparity between what was in his head and what he produced on paper was enormous and he was frustrated and annoyed.”

This

And, the “don’t discount the gifted.”

As different as these kids are in their gifts and issues, you can could on them being very complex. Oh, and the asynchronous development!