College Confidential - View Single Post - 13 yr old Son ADD?/ what about tesitng accomodations?

calmom · 12-14-2004, 03:02 AM

SBMom - ADD has many manifestations, and there is no one answer that applies to all kids. Also, because it is diagnosed based on behavioral traits, ADD can easily be a misdiagnosis -- for example, kids with varied conditions like dyslexia, a variety of physical conditions or ailments, or bipolar disorder can be mistakenly seen as having ADD - so it is important to consider the full range of physical, emotional, and academic issues that contribute to the diagnosis.

Many kids do not need any accommodations with ADD; others need support like extra time on tests or the ability to test in a distraction-free environment. Many kids with ADD are helped by behavioral or counseling based therapies; others do well with non-pharmaceutical nutritional supplementation such as compounds containing Omega-3 fatty acids; for many changes in diet can work well; and other families choose medication. There are a variety of issues to consider with medication, including possible long term effects, and also social and psychological issues involved with medicating a teen -- a 13 year old will be aware, for example, that Ritalin and Adderol are also drugs of abuse, freely traded among teenagers and even college students; a history of medication can also have long-term social consequences -- for example, in most cases it will disqualify a kid from being accepted for military service (which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your politics and your kid's aspirations).

So my next post will contain a list of some suggested reading. For a 13 year old, I also would strongly encourage you to put your son in charge of making the decisions about whether to seek accommodations and what therapeutic approaches to try. I say that because it will really be impossible to enforce compliance or get effective results with a teenager who is resistant to whatever plan is being implemented -- and the last thing you need is an angry teen with ADD. So basically, that means finding out as much as you can, then sitting down with your son and a medical professional or counselor and honestly and directly exploring the issues and options. Your son should understand that ADD is not an illness, but rather a pattern of thinking and functioning that probably is biologically or neurologically based -- that is, something about himself that he needs to understand better in order to manage and to function effectively.

12-14-2004, 03:02 AM	#12
calmom Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,437	SBMom - ADD has many manifestations, and there is no one answer that applies to all kids. Also, because it is diagnosed based on behavioral traits, ADD can easily be a misdiagnosis -- for example, kids with varied conditions like dyslexia, a variety of physical conditions or ailments, or bipolar disorder can be mistakenly seen as having ADD - so it is important to consider the full range of physical, emotional, and academic issues that contribute to the diagnosis. Many kids do not need any accommodations with ADD; others need support like extra time on tests or the ability to test in a distraction-free environment. Many kids with ADD are helped by behavioral or counseling based therapies; others do well with non-pharmaceutical nutritional supplementation such as compounds containing Omega-3 fatty acids; for many changes in diet can work well; and other families choose medication. There are a variety of issues to consider with medication, including possible long term effects, and also social and psychological issues involved with medicating a teen -- a 13 year old will be aware, for example, that Ritalin and Adderol are also drugs of abuse, freely traded among teenagers and even college students; a history of medication can also have long-term social consequences -- for example, in most cases it will disqualify a kid from being accepted for military service (which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your politics and your kid's aspirations). So my next post will contain a list of some suggested reading. For a 13 year old, I also would strongly encourage you to put your son in charge of making the decisions about whether to seek accommodations and what therapeutic approaches to try. I say that because it will really be impossible to enforce compliance or get effective results with a teenager who is resistant to whatever plan is being implemented -- and the last thing you need is an angry teen with ADD. So basically, that means finding out as much as you can, then sitting down with your son and a medical professional or counselor and honestly and directly exploring the issues and options. Your son should understand that ADD is not an illness, but rather a pattern of thinking and functioning that probably is biologically or neurologically based -- that is, something about himself that he needs to understand better in order to manage and to function effectively.
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