Did you see improvement in coordination and/or speech with ADHD meds?

[OutsidetheboxMama]

My son is ADHD combined. He is 7 and does not have behavior challenges at school or home. He does have a hard time focusing and being present. His speech can be unclear and spitty and he stays away from sports because he’s self-conscious of his coordination. This is affecting his ability to make friendships. I’m on the fence about meds because his behavior is actually quite nice. But if it might improve his speech and coordination in addition to his focus then I would be much more open to trying medication.

[Onthemove1971]

Welcome to the group. This is a journey that we share and enjoy learning from each other.

I would encourage you to do a full educational ( if you have not done this so far) assessment including Occupational Therapy and speech so they can give you advice on the coordination issues (he may not qualify for services to help him, but it would help you know what is going on with him and how to help him) he is having.

It is not common for ADHD to cause speech issues ( unless he is talking to quick because of the impulse behavior) or coordination issues. A child might be walking and become unfocused and therefore become uncoordinated.

I will say that medication for helping to focus in school has really helped our son. The teachers know when he has missed a single dose. He must have his focus medication to help him in school or he could not achieve in school, please consider a "trial" of medication to see what it can do for him. Since you say he is not having issues with behavior I assume that means he is not impulsive?

I hope this advice helps. Take care

[OutsidetheboxMama in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you for the nice welcome and reply! I am so happy to find this group

My son is impulsive and has difficulty listening and following through but we work on slowing down, waiting turns and having routines. He isn’t hyper (wrecking the house), aggressive or defiant, so I enjoy him most of the time even if he can be frustrating; that’s why I’m not overly excited about medicating him. Where I worry is when he is at school, I’m not sure if he is learning as well as he could and he is definitely struggling making the friendship connections he wants so much. Part of me would just like to homeschool and protect him but I don’t think that is the right choice at this time. I think meds might help him socially, especially if they have any positive effect on his speech and recess play. His speech is both rushed and unclear so it’s a double whammy. He has had evals done and he has weak oral muscles and overall developmental coordination delay and then the inattention magnifies everything.

[Pennywink]

Hi & Welcome!

I will say, starting stimulant medication this February has made WORLD of difference for my 7 year old son. Though he doesn't have speech issues, his has been behind in gross motor / physical coordination since preschool. Medication wasn't an instant "cure" for these issues - he still had to learn to do everything. But now he can focus enough to learn & mature. He still had to do the work - the medication is just a tool to help him be able to do it.

Suddenly this spring, he figured out how to swing on his own. This past weekend he was actually swimming! (I still barely believe this.) His ability to throw a ball increased dramatically. We're hoping to teach him to ride a two wheeled bike soon.

He's still not the fastest kid on the playground or asking to join sports, but he can keep up enough to join in a game of tag or "cops and robbers", which the social aspect is really all I was concerned about.

Hope our experience is helpful to you!

[OutsidetheboxMama in reply to Pennywink]

Reading your post made me so happy! I feel like if my son would slow down to learn the rules of games he would be much more successful on the playground. Can I ask what med you are using, I’m curios since our boys are the same age. I’m trying to get to know all the options before meeting with the doctor.

[Pennywink in reply to OutsidetheboxMama]

Sure!

My son is currently taking 20mg of Metadate CD (a long acting methylphenidate stimulant.) We previously tried non-stimulants, but they were not a good fit, at least not on their own (though I wouldn’t be surprised if we combine one with a stimulant someday.)

It took a few months of maturing with the medication to get here. he’s still the slowest kid on the playground and doesn’t enjoy sports leagues, but he’s good enough now to at least keep up at recess & not feel self conscious / not hate PE. He loves Cub Scouts and non-competitive physical activities like hiking, so we encourage that.

Hoping you find something that works for your son! 😊

[Pennywink in reply to OutsidetheboxMama]

I will add - 7 year old boys in general aren’t great about learning the rules! Lol! My son is very much a rule-follower, so some of his frustration is many other boys his age don’t get the rules / break them. On the plus side, boys this age are VERY forgiving and tolerant of each other’s behavior. 😊

[Cjkchamp]

You may want to look at a supplement called L-theanine. This is supposed to provide a calming focus. It was recommended by our psychiatrist who said it has been pretty successful. It didn’t work for my son, but always worth a try. She recommended Suntheanine which you can buy on Amazon.

[anirush]

My younger grandson started speech therapy at age 3 because his speech was almost impossible to understand. He also had major coordination problems but also defiant and out of control.

With time and stability under medication he earned a black belt in taekwondo although he was always the slowest in the class to learn his form.

[OutsidetheboxMama in reply to anirush]

Wow! That is tremendous progress. I first noticed my son’s coordination issues when I enrolled him in Tiny Tigers at 4. He could not jump and balance like the other kids. He is very tall (he’s in first but his height is like an average 4th grader) so at first I thought it was his height but now I know it is much than that.

How old was your grandson when he earned his black belt?

[Pennywink in reply to OutsidetheboxMama]

My son also took awhile to learn those things. He even noticed he was the only kid in his preschool class that couldn’t jump. He asked if he was still a baby, since babies can’t jump.

[MD74]

Welcome! I recently found my way here and it's been such a wonderful place for information. As most have said—you may want to try the medication route....as hard of a decision it is to start them on one, it tends to be such a game changer. It's difficult watching our children struggle, but to me once you see the difference medication can make—nothing else matters after that. It's almost a snowball effect: it will help with the focus/calming, then in turn having that aspect under more control just naturally helps other things. My son went through speech therapy and occupational therapy and they helped out tremendously (he had some GMS struggles). I would look into those areas, as well as meds. Keep in mind—not all ADHD children necessarily need a stimulant. There are a number of meds that are non-stimulants and have helped out (obviously with less side effects). You can always start there and see before just jumping into a stimulant. There's also a company called GeneSight that offers an ADHD genetic test. The results you get are the type of ADHD your child has, and whether or not they need a stimulant or non-stimulant—and even tell you which medication will work best and which won't. It takes a lot of the guesswork out. Some insurance companies cover it—and they do work with you. Good luck!

[Elijah1]

Coordination problems are quite common in children with ADHD (up to 50%) but don't really change with ADHD treatment. Similarly, speech and language problems co-occur with ADHD but are not affected by ADHD treatment.

[mvang03]

"My son is ADHD combined. He is 7 and does not have behavior challenges at school or home. He does have a hard time focusing and being present. His speech can be unclear and spitty and he stays away from sports because he’s self-conscious of his coordination"

THIS SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE MY SON

My son has speech issues which I did not realize until 1st/2nd grade that he needed help. *He was very uncoordinated, did not like to jump or play on the jungle gym,

*was scared when in the car as I drove,

*has very few friends.

His psychiatrist doctor said he had a very weak core and to just get more exercise but I knew that there was more to it. All this changed when I decided to get him 'brain training' at a chiropractic office. After about 22 sessions he was able to act/ be a little kid again. Now he can jump around the jungle gym and at age 7 he was able to finally ride his bike without training wheels! I was so happy and overwhelmed with relief. Now for the diet, that has been challenging since he has sensory issues. I held off of meds as long as I could because I was scared and unsure but we started this year, he is 8 now and was diagnosed at 6yrs. It has helped at a school for him to slow his mind down and focus on his work. He is a smart boy. Speech therapy at a school is ongoing. I have done OT for 2 months and it has not helped him, I saw no improvement...maybe later I shall try again. We are on to seeking more braining training treatment like* Learningrx*.

My son has issues with-

speech, focus, sensory issues but now better coordination. ADHD effects on these kids brain is a lot. Learn all you can because you are the best advocate for your son and help him be an advocate for himself too!

[OutsidetheboxMama in reply to mvang03]

Thanks for response. There is comfort in knowing we are not alone. I’ve never heard of a chiropractor helping with coordination. Is there a key word or term I can search to find a chiro near me that offers what you did for your child. Also, what med(s) are you using that you are finding helpful? So glad to hear your son is making good progress!

[mvang03]

Yes the chiro doc was using a program called Clear Mind however this method is

Neurofeedback .

My sons first med is Adderall 10mg which I only gave half to him... I know I’m not following rules but it has helped after 2weeks -noticed a change in focus & calmness is what the teacher told us. Summer is here so next thing for him is speech therapy & essential oils.

Hope that helps!

[Janice_H]

Hello, you may want to consider speech-language and occupational therapy before medications. You will want to try medication for focus in school after that.

[OutsidetheboxMama in reply to Janice_H]

We did a lot of speech, physical and occupational therapy as well as swimming and martial arts from about 4-7 years of age. I wouldn’t just go straight to medication. He was getting burned out on the appointments after awhile and I’m not sure all the time and money on therapists was helping him very much.