Wholey cow! That is a terribly young age to be put on a med, especially Adderall. My son was diagnosed in the early stages, around 6 with ADHD and and he was on Adderall and Imiprimine when he was 7. He had a horrible reaction to Adderall. His violent tantrums became extreme and so frequent, I didn't even know who my son was any more. We lost our psychiatrist, good thing, and ended up weening him off and had a miraculous turn of events. We put him on vitamin therapy to support him. He grew, I swear, 2 inches in a month and maturing and his personality came out and he had a sense of humor, oh my God. Then because we had problems getting assistance through the school took him to UCLA and they gave him a battery of test and what do you know, high-functioning AUTISM which we've narrowed down to ASPERGERS. Risperdol did help for a while, he was coming out more socially but, after having him off for a couple years I didn't notice any difference. He does really well in the right environment (small groups) and Applied Behavior techniques. Be proactive make sure he gets in a social group and small classroom size if not an aide on the play ground to help with socialization. Put him in the front row on the end in classroom, least distractive setting. Make sure he gets a teacher that understands his disability and willing to spend a few extra minutes to give him a little one on one, if not ask the school to move him to another teacher that is more compassionate and willing to work with him. Listen to him about his day and always followup on his cues. Best wishes, MBOh, one more thing, the sleep thing. Try Melatonin 3mg an hour before bedtime, I think you'll be pleased with the result. Follow your motherly instincts, it is Aspergers, OT & Speech are great but will really need help with social cues and interaction on the play ground. He sounds so much like my son, they are a gift and a lot of work.I don't know if you remember me but I came here last month after my initial visit with Nick's speacialist (behavioral and other doctors) So we got a diagnosis for Nick of Aspergers and we are changing his Meds to Respidal and Focolun (sp).I'm not the least bit upset b/c Nick has been on Adderall with a Diagnosis of ADHD since he was 13 months old (no not a misprint that was the age he was first put on meds).Today the test that we did he scored a 95 out of a possible 125 which landed him in the High range.So they are 100% sure now that they are correct that its Aspergers.Well as you can imagine I said something to his teachers late this afternoon and they were NOT receptive of the idea b/c I have been wanting to change his IEP to meet his needs for the longest time but could not b/c of not having something solid to diagnos him with.From the age of 13 months Nick has been getting Speech therapy ,Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy and pulled out for two 40 min sessions during the day.His teacher doesn't feel this is the right diagnosis on the IQ Nick scores 78 level in education but I think how well would he do in the right enviroment .I am certain that he is high functioning as they are but how much better could he do if he was able to express himself the way normal children do and I dont' consider him abnormal I just consider him my little gift from god and I'm blessed that he's in my life .I feel like the school is going to fight me all the way to change anything b/c of what they see in a sedated child ...they see my Nick on 40 mg of Adderall XR a day they don't see the Nick that was a baby or the Nick that I deal with every night b/c he's having a meltdown or getting into everything.If I could give them the oppt to see the TRUE Nick I'm sure they would see it my way.I called the Doctor back in almost tears today b/c the teacher had commented things about they don't want to change his IEP and she said she would personally be involved in getting him the help he needs so I feel blessed.How can I help him with the school system on my own ? I'll be reading everything I can find to help educate myself to this but I can tell you so far what I've read the signs were there the milestones that we met and lost or met and then some that went like a skipping stone .he never went from crawling to standing to walking he went from crawling one week to walking very well all in about two wks .The staring at lights and the noises that bothered him , the times that giving him a bath was like I was committing some unspeakable act on him ...its all there .Okay I'm sorry to have babbled on my true question was how do I get the school system that doesn't know my real child the unmedicated one to get on board of moving forward .I can't change the past 6 yrs where he went misdiagnosed and btw i'm not even upset at it anymore (doesn't do me any good to be angry at the past mistakes)I'm blessed and excited to see what Nick will do with the right tools in front of him even though I'm sure it will be a slow process I still feel like Gosh at least I know what I'm dealing with now.
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