dyslexia and behaviour problems

[walton38]

My 11 year old son was diagnosed as dyslexic 2 years ago. Since being diagnosed he has recieved both outside help and help from his school to over come his learning difficulty. At the time of diagnosis he was also prescribed Harris Filter Glasses and his grades have improved immensely. In 2 years he gone from being bottom of the class to one of the top, an incredible achievement in such a short time.

However Sam has never been an 'easy child' and for a long time i have been concerned that he may have adhd but this has always been dismissed by the school. Recently it has become more apparent in his inabilility to deal with change, minor disappointments etc resulting in servere frustration and major tantrums. He becomes unreasonable extremely upset and total focus on the 'problem' and is totally unrelenting. It is impossible at this point to reason with him or to talk him round. Clearly not behaviour demonstrated by most 11 year olds.

After he has calmed down and we have talked about the problem and his behaviour Sam is always full of remorse. But having discussed the behaviour he has just displayed Sam is unable to retain the thought and the behaviour is displayed again a few days later. He seems unable to grasp what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in certain circumstances or situations.

i am concerned that his behaviour and inability to deal with everyday situations will get worse as he goes through adolesence. Is Sam simply a challenging child or is he demonstrating one of the behaviour problems that is so often displayed along with dyslexia?

Please can you advise me on where to seek professional help, could this type of behaviour be controlled by medication.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Medication might prove to be helpful, but let's not put the cart before the horse. It is necessary to determine first if he is displaying an emotional disorder, and in order to determine this an appointment with a child psychologist or other pediatric mental health clinician will need to occur. Then, depending on the outcome of the evaluation, a plan for treatment can ensue. At that point, medication might be one of the options to consider.