Teenage ADHD

[gbmomofboys]

Does anyone have experience with a child who wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until they were a teenager? My son is 16, and long story short, his counsellor is suspicious that he may have undiagnosed ADHD, the inattentive type. And this has been discovered because I took him to talk to someone about possibly being depressed. So I am just starting my learning journey, and we are waiting for a referral to a psychiatrist. But I am finding it a bit overwhelming, and just looking for some other people that may have experience with this. Thank you

[willandgrace]

yes! My daughter was 18 or 19 when we realized she has inattentive ADHD. She was already in college. I had a psycho-educational evaluation done by a psychologist and learning specialist. I think psychiatrists are a huge waste of time unless you find a REALLY good one. My daughter takes vyvanse daily and it really really helped. She is now able to actually read a book! She loves math and always has so at least she had that subject that didn't bore her to tears. Now she is able to do well in the other subjects too. And as for your son's possible depression, my daughter also struggles with anxiety and possibly depression. I am just now trying to address that. Very often there is a co-existing condition with ADHD so your son MAY have some depression along with inattentive ADHD. Inattentive type is very easy to miss. I still can't believe it took me until she was 18 or 19 to realize it. We wasted a lot of time. Just make sure you have the right person/people evaluate your son because there are a lot of quacks out there. Im sure you're on the track to helping your son feel a lot better. Good luck! Are you in NJ by any chance? I could possibly recommend someone for you.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to willandgrace]

I know everyone's story is different and I am sorry you did not have a good experience with the psychiatrist.

But we have had the opposite experience, it was not until we started seeing a psychiatrists that we found the balance we needed. She really interviewed and learned about out son and knew what medications worked best for him.

She also is a great communicator and calls me to check in, does not use e-mail. We know ours has really made a difference.

Good luck!

[gbmomofboys in reply to Onthemove1971]

in ontario, we have to follow sort of a "hierarchy" of referrals. First we are waiting to talk to a family doctor, who will then refer us to someone.... I imagine it will be a psychiatrist because that's usually how it goes here, that's who is covered by our national health system. But because I took my soon to talk to a counsellor at a local organization for mental health supports for youth, they also can refer us to different types of help.

[gbmomofboys in reply to willandgrace]

thank you for your reply! We are in Ontario, Canada. I am doing a lot of reading and research on inattentive ADHD, I still just can't believe that this is something that we could have missed. But he has always been my "easy" kid, my quiet one, the teachers/schools always said he was borderline gifted.... always did so well in school without even trying. But it has been high school that he has struggled with organization, motivation, effort, mood.... he does so well in the computers and math because he likes them, but with Covid and online learning, he could not stay focused/organized/motivated. And looking back, Ontario students write these tests in certain grades that rank them on certain "skills"/abilities, and he always scored WAY above average on everything except working memory, which he scored below average. At the time, I just thought it was a fluke, these tests are highly criticized.... and no one at the school paid any attention to his results or said anything to me, and inattentive ADHD wasn't something I really knew about.... but now looking back, maybe that was the first sign....... We have a family doctor appointment in 2 weeks, hopefully she will direct us in the right direction.....

[ADHD_DAD in reply to gbmomofboys]

Look up articles on the topic "twice exceptional" ADHD. Bet you'll recognize your son. Good luck.

[wendyks]

It will be good to check it out. I will day there are symptoms that may look like lack of attention due to depression. Glad he wants to talk to someone about that.

[gbmomofboys in reply to wendyks]

that's what I initially chalked his lack of effort and motivation up to. Depression does run in our family. I am very glad he has agree to talk to someone, and we will see where it goes....

[happydad]

My son was diagnosed with ADHD on the day he turned 17 last year. We wish we had done the diagnosis earlier. It's been quite a journey. Recently we watched the video "ADHD: Essential Ideas for Parents" by Dr. Russell Barkely: youtube.com/watch?v=YSfCdBB...(Not working as expected?) . It's very eye opening and educational to us. I would highly recommend it.

[gbmomofboys in reply to happydad]

thank you for your reply. May I ask what made him finally be diagnosed? Had he struggled for awhile or was this sort of a surprise for you?

[happydad in reply to gbmomofboys]

My son had struggled for a long time: poor organizational skills, non-compliance, bad time management, oppositional behaviors, difficulties going to school, and lack of motivation. Turns out they are typical symptoms of ADHD.

[kaf2022]

Sorry I’m late responding. My son was diagnosed with Inattentive in 9th grade. He’s starting 11th now. He was diagnosed with Anxiety in 3rd grade and we had been addressing that for years. He was nearly a straight A, never in trouble student, pretty high test scores. However, late 8th grade and in 9th his lack of executive functioning skills became apparent and his grades were dropping. One teacher mentioned “focus” so we had him evaluated. He still struggles with being organized, forgetting materials and test dates, time management, motivation. He struggles with social anxiety - always worried about what his few friends think or are doing, used to be so nervous at school he would stutter a little, be sweaty.

So we finally tried anti-anxiety meds halfway through 9th grade and he said it really helped. But the attention issue was still there. So he went on Vyvanse at the beginning of 10th. A year later he says it helps some but I’m not sure. I’m fearful for him over these next 2 years and beyond really. I hope he can keep up. We take it day by day.

[gbmomofboys in reply to kaf2022]

interesting. Some aspects sound a lot like my son. Best of luck! It's funny how "stereotypes" of ADHD and other diseases can prevent you from recognizing certain things.... at least that's what I'm thinking in our case.