New to the community!

[Aimee1422]

Hello,

I am so happy to have found all of you! My 7-year old son has ADHD. I also have a 22-year old with Borderline Intellectual Functioning and Autism.

So many of your experiences completely resonate. I am currently trying to get some behavioral therapy for my youngest son due to his outburst, defiance, impulsiveness, and aggression. He also has anxiety, so I am hesitant about giving him the meds he was recently prescribed.

This has been quite a journey thus far and I know it has only just begun. I look forward to sharing and learning from each other!

[Onthemove1971]

Welcome..Medication doesn't change his core personality if it is the correct dose, the correct type and the best timing. Speaking in general terms.

But what is does do is: decrease his outburst, help with defiance, decrease the impulsiveness, and help him deal with aggression.

Medication trial can take a while to get correct, I recommend you try it and you should see a difference quickly since the medication doesn't stay/build up in his system. When it wears off it is out of their system. Just communicate with his doctor about any concerns you have.

Just like we give glasses to a child that has vision issues, children with ADHD are helped a lot by medication.

We are always here if/when you need us.

Take care.

[Aimee1422 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you so much! I will be trying the medcation starting tomorrow.

[Delphine_Hats]

Hello and welcome to the Community!My 14 y/o son has ADHD and is ODD. He was diagnosed at the age of 6 and has been on medication for the last 5 years. We've made plenty of trips to the hospital and called the police several times for violence-related issues at home. We started medication and therapy at the same time. This is because his impulsivity, aggressivity, defiance, anxiety, rigidity, negativity needed to be lowered by the medication for the therapy to work better. It's a long road with the medication too, it's trial and error. The therapy worked very well, he saw a specialised ADHD psychologist every week for 1 year then twice/three times a week for 2 years.

We've started to reduce the medication for impulsivity and aggressivity and are moving to a medication to improve his focus. I am also being coached by a video games addiction specialist (he's not involved as he no longer wants to see therapists) and I participated in a gaming addiction group for parents. This is working very well. I didn't think it would. This week, for the first time in 3 years, he stopped playing video games and went to the park alone to play football ... We've still got a long way to go but thanks to medication, therapy and parental groups, we're starting to see the lights.

I've never been against medication. You need to sort today to have a better future. Go for it!

[Aimee1422 in reply to Delphine_Hats]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your support. I have only worked with his pediatrician and school guidance counselor so far. I will be trying the medication tomorrow and hope to get him in therapy soon.

[Delphine_Hats in reply to Aimee1422]

Perfect! Get all the help you can get. As parents, we're not prepared for this, we need personal help. All the best. You'll get there.

[Delphine_Hats in reply to Delphine_Hats]

I meant professional help 🙂

[Aimee1422 in reply to Delphine_Hats]

Thank you