I ran across a story about the dangers of Adderall that ABC's Good Morning America ran earlier this Week. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7829005&page=1 We gave Jordan Adderall XR every morning for about 18 months. The doseage went up and down, the least was 15 mg and the most was 30. We settled on 20 mg the last 6 mo. he was on it. When Jordan began kindergarten in public school, by October he was taking meds to "control" his ADHD. He began with Concerta (with minimal results) and then switched to Adderall XR. I never saw any significant results or changes in behavior. He did seem calmer at times but would become sad and weepy at the drop of a hat. We felt frustrated that even though Jordan was taking these meds, he would still get into trouble multiple times a day, on a daily basis. Because of his ADHD diagnosis, we were railroaded into agreeing to extended special ed testing to see if Jordan would benefit by moving into a moderate needs classroom during his first grade year. He scored very well on all of his intelligence tests, but it showed he would do better in a small classroom with minimal distraction. It definitely made him more accountable, but he learned very little in the way of academics. He missed out on most of the fun and special things that his class did because his teacher would often send him back to the moderate needs room because of his 'behavior'. By spring I was ready to pull my hair out - Jordan had missed so much but was gaining in other areas. Like all of the neat 'socializing' he was doing with the other kids in the moderate needs classroom. Kids that had some serious issues like oppositional/defiance and emotional/behavioral disorder. To all those naysayers out there that say that kids NEED socializing in public school, I say - REALLY? Does Jordan REALLY need to learn all of those 'neat' words? Does Jordan REALLY need to have classmates give him graphic pencil drawings of death and destruction? Does Jordan REALLY need to witness another student being openly defiant with a grown-up? REALLY? (Where is Seth and Amy when I need them...)
The tide turned for us that summer after the decision was made to leave public school behind. I read a book, Please Don't Label My Child, by Scott M. Shannon, MD. He stressed that there are other methods to working with kids with behavioral issues than using drugs. He stressed addressing vitamin deficiencies and altering their diet. That led me to The Feingold Program, http://www.feingold.org/. We tweaked Jordan's diet a bit and there was some change. For it to really work, you need to go all or none - preferably as a family. I know that Jordan is sensitive to artificial colors and preservatives, and MSG is also a trigger. Which is frustrating because it is in practically everything... Another great read is Fed Up, by Sue Dengate. http://www.fedup.com.au/ She is an Australian mom who has really worked to figure out the dietary connection to kids and their behavior. I found it very informative, albeit a little overwhelming trying to keep all of the different dietary restrictions straight.
I think that by removing Jordan from school, controlling the amount of chaos in his life by keeping his days loosely scheduled and predictable, taking stock of his dietary needs and addressing them, we have come a long way in helping him cope with his behavioral issues. Drugs are not the only answer out there and the inherit dangers of mixing kids with psychostimulants makes it an easy decision to try other methods.
