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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
ADHD § Learning Problems
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
ADHD § Learning Problems
by whelans5, Dec 31, 2004 12:00AM
My 13 year old son has ADHD, tested and told he is math challenged and his other skills are average or low average. He has a short term memory problem that keeps him from retaining a lot of what he learns in school. He also tends to be anxious, things scare him easily and scared of illness and has complained of palpitations, although not often or lately. He also shows some signs of OCD, but not severe(my brother has OCD). He also lies a lot and still wets the bed everynight. Always has and will sleep all night in a wet bed and doesn't wake up.
I was reading that seratonin is necessary for short term memory. I also read that low seratonin levels are linked to bipolar(my aunt has it)& anxiety. His teachers have said that he is very immature for his age. He gets along well and plays with a 6 year old neighbour and is excellent with smaller kids. He does have friends his own age, but doesn't initiate contact with them very often. Weeks could go by before he will call someone to go out to play. He will; however, go out if they call him.
Is it possible that he could be given seratonin pills and this might help a lot of his problems?
My son is a very loving child and is very considerate of others and truly cares about other's feelings, but has very low self esteem. He's even called himself stupid because his tests at school are modified and says he will never have a good job and afford a nice car, etc. He is seeing a psychologist and I am hoping she will be able to help. I also have an appt for a psychiatrist to talk about meds. I really don't want to put him on meds. He was on Ritalin, but was a zombie while on them. He has taken Dexedrine and did fine with them, not a drastic improvement, but enough to notice. I really hate to put him on drugs of that sort as I have heard they lead to addiction and have long term effects. I also worry that if he decides some time to try drinking, God forbide, but teenagers will experiment and if the two mix!
I wonder if his learning problems are just low seratonin levels, hence the bad short term memory and his ADHD affecting his attention span and unable to complete anything that requires a lot of thought or time to complete. (except Gameboy and video games).
Also, when he was tested, I was told he is of low average intelligence. I cannot believe this as his sisters are extremely bright and both my husband and I have IQ's of 130 and 128, respectively. My husbands brother has a PHD in medical laser physics and both my husband's and my relatives are all doctors, surgeons, teachers, and former Deans of universities. We are not a slow family. I hope I am not coming off wrong here. Intelligence is not what makes a person, it's what's inside. I tell my children this often. I love my son no matter what his intellect. I would never turn back the clock for a second, but I desperately would like to help him.
Any thoughts, suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Connie
I was reading that seratonin is necessary for short term memory. I also read that low seratonin levels are linked to bipolar(my aunt has it)& anxiety. His teachers have said that he is very immature for his age. He gets along well and plays with a 6 year old neighbour and is excellent with smaller kids. He does have friends his own age, but doesn't initiate contact with them very often. Weeks could go by before he will call someone to go out to play. He will; however, go out if they call him.
Is it possible that he could be given seratonin pills and this might help a lot of his problems?
My son is a very loving child and is very considerate of others and truly cares about other's feelings, but has very low self esteem. He's even called himself stupid because his tests at school are modified and says he will never have a good job and afford a nice car, etc. He is seeing a psychologist and I am hoping she will be able to help. I also have an appt for a psychiatrist to talk about meds. I really don't want to put him on meds. He was on Ritalin, but was a zombie while on them. He has taken Dexedrine and did fine with them, not a drastic improvement, but enough to notice. I really hate to put him on drugs of that sort as I have heard they lead to addiction and have long term effects. I also worry that if he decides some time to try drinking, God forbide, but teenagers will experiment and if the two mix!
I wonder if his learning problems are just low seratonin levels, hence the bad short term memory and his ADHD affecting his attention span and unable to complete anything that requires a lot of thought or time to complete. (except Gameboy and video games).
Also, when he was tested, I was told he is of low average intelligence. I cannot believe this as his sisters are extremely bright and both my husband and I have IQ's of 130 and 128, respectively. My husbands brother has a PHD in medical laser physics and both my husband's and my relatives are all doctors, surgeons, teachers, and former Deans of universities. We are not a slow family. I hope I am not coming off wrong here. Intelligence is not what makes a person, it's what's inside. I tell my children this often. I love my son no matter what his intellect. I would never turn back the clock for a second, but I desperately would like to help him.
Any thoughts, suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Connie
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Jan 01, 2005 12:00AM
, Jan 01, 2005 12:00AM
The combination of learning disability (even with average intelligence), ADHD and Anxiety Disorder, in addition to social/emotional immaturity, can be a challenge to address. You are doing the sensible thing to have an appointment with a child psychiatrist. In addition to psychostimulant, a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (e.g., Prozac) might be very useful for your son. When used correctly, these medicines will not result in any addictions or other problems. Be sure to continue his therapy (you might consider a social skills group), and also be sure he's receiving adequate supports at school to address the learning disability.
Have him tested again if you really want to know a "number" but I don't set any stock by them.
My extremely bright (IQ 138) first son was a high school drop out and can barely squeek out a living delivering pizzas. My "average" second child who couldn't read well until the 3rd grade, graduates summa *** laude this month with an almost perfect GPA in engineering.
Its what you do with what you have that counts.