Anonymous wrote:OP here again - meant to say that my son is on medication. I wonder if the dosage is just not high enough anymore? We had him on Focalin XR 15 mg for a few months, but had to scale back to 10 mg because it was making him very anxious and a bit lethargic. We've always thought that what he really needs is a dose of 12.5 mg because while the 15 is too much, I think the 10 is not quite enough to make up for all of the impulse control. Sorry, I should have included this before.

OP, not to get off topic, but have you talked to your Dr. about adding Guanfacine or intunive to your son's medication? It helps with impulsivity (not so much focus) but may let you reduce the focalin and smooth out the day. that's what we did. the focalin was working for our DS, but he was metabolizing it too quickly, so the Dr. added guanfacine, which let us reduce - or actually for us, keep the focalin levels the same without increasing it. It has helped with his impulsivity quite a bit.

But you DO have control over what is in your child's backpack and pockets. It only takes a couple seconds to look.

Does your kid build legos? Know how many little swords and other "weapons" are in those boxes? Do you account for each and every single piece each day? Monitoring every single thing in one's home not entirely possible.

You're missing my point. She didn't know he had the scalpel in the first place. That's the need for monitoring I was talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One suggestion I haven't seen here: Maybe monitor things a bit more closely so that, in the future, you are aware has a scalpel and can make sure he doesn't take it to school.

What a horrible post. Of all things, blaming the mother for failure to monitor her son with a snide "suggestion." Perhaps you know what is in your children's pockets 24/7 at all times. I sure don't.

Huh? I don't know what's in DC's pockets all the time, but I would know if my 2nd grader had a science kit with a scalpel in it, yes. Would you not?

Would I know that my 2nd grader was taking said scalpel to school? How would I know that?

My guess is that OP will monitor but she had no reason to in the first instance.

Op...I don't think your son was trying to hurt the other boy. He probably didn't realize that the scalpel is a "weapon". It sounds like he was being a typical boy doing a naughty behavior. Boys do this a lot. Have a serious conversation with him about the incident. However, the school had to send him home for the day. We live in an area where everyone has lawyers and advocates ready to pounce at anything that happens. Give your son a hug, let him know that you love him, he made a mistake, and he can start start fresh when he gets back to school. I would also email the teacher to let her know what you are doing at home to help correct the behaviors (behavior plan, incentive chart,etc.). Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One suggestion I haven't seen here: Maybe monitor things a bit more closely so that, in the future, you are aware has a scalpel and can make sure he doesn't take it to school.

What a horrible post. Of all things, blaming the mother for failure to monitor her son with a snide "suggestion." Perhaps you know what is in your children's pockets 24/7 at all times. I sure don't.

Huh? I don't know what's in DC's pockets all the time, but I would know if my 2nd grader had a science kit with a scalpel in it, yes. Would you not?

Anonymous wrote:One suggestion I haven't seen here: Maybe monitor things a bit more closely so that, in the future, you are aware has a scalpel and can make sure he doesn't take it to school.

What a horrible post. Of all things, blaming the mother for failure to monitor her son with a snide "suggestion." Perhaps you know what is in your children's pockets 24/7 at all times. I sure don't.

Anonymous wrote:^you are just smothering your kid. He will always be SN if you dont let him learn right from wrong.

My 1st grade son has other special needs, and yes, he will always have special needs. Although it would be swell to say that if I just let him make his own choices he wouldn't be special needs anymore. He was suspended for 45 days for his last big failed attempt at figuring out right from wrong. Smothered or not, if it is in our power to avoid, we will never go there again.

And you are an ass.

Anonymous wrote:^you are just smothering your kid. He will always be SN if you dont let him learn right from wrong.

You are an a-hole. Please crawl back into your hole.

does you child gave an iep? or similar plan?

OP,

I would talk to my child. That's it. He has been punished by the school.

If it happens again, I would see a counselor. If it doesn't, I would consider it a lesson learned and go about my business.

Wait and see.

^you are just smothering your kid. He will always be SN if you dont let him learn right from wrong.

After one particularly bad incident with my son (think: worse than a scalpel) we need to check his pockets and don't let him carry a backpack. That means he eats school lunch and carries all of his things in one folder that he holds in his hands. This has made it so much easier for him and for us. We know he isn't smuggling toys (or things he THINKS are toys) and he doesn't have to choose and manage extra "stuff".

Anonymous wrote:OP here again - meant to say that my son is on medication. I wonder if the dosage is just not high enough anymore? We had him on Focalin XR 15 mg for a few months, but had to scale back to 10 mg because it was making him very anxious and a bit lethargic. We've always thought that what he really needs is a dose of 12.5 mg because while the 15 is too much, I think the 10 is not quite enough to make up for all of the impulse control. Sorry, I should have included this before.

I think this is a routine/checklist issue, not a medication one. I don't think you can medicate common sense into kids. And I say that as a parent of an ADD child. The ADD means that my kid is just not aware of some of the kinds of common sense social rules things that other kids are. If you are the parent of an ADD kid, you likely already have some kind of morning routine/checklist to ensure that your kid walks out the door properly prepared to the school day. (Homework? Check. Lunch Box? check. Key? check., etc.) My child packs his bag, but I make sure that all the things he said "check" to are really in there and nothing else is. Your routine needs an additional step -- bringing anything not on the list to school today? Yes? I need to see it.

Eventually, after going thru the checklist many many times, it will sink in with the ADD child that very few items not on the list actually make it out the door. And, it will take even longer to sink in which kinds of non-listed items are likely to pass muster and go to school and which not.