testing and teens

[Helicoptermom]

my 16 year old son who has been taking Adderall since he was 7, wants to stop taking it. He has ADHD (inattentive ). He feels it makes him too subdued at school and is affecting him socially. He has never had any issues with hyperactivity or discipline. He is very intelligent and has worked hard all year in school. He got decent grades but did poorly on most of his finals. He is allowed extra time and uses it. We are both frustrated with the amount of time and effort put into studying to end up with bad grades and are nervous about college admission. Any advice for long test taking would be appreciated.

[Onthemove1971]

We are in the same boat..

You could look into online tutoring services. I will admit they are a bit pricey, but it was the only thing that really helped our son. I feel like our son needs to review the material again with someone and you could also look into tutoring around finals time so he can "study" with someone other than you.

I have not found any support in our son's high school at all. They talk about how important it was to get good grades but there is no one to help with kids getting good grades.

Not sure if he is going to take the SAT but we used a service to help study with the materials. If he is I have a few things suggestions, just send me a message.

I am not sure if your son has a 504 plan, but you could ask for something around finals time. I have been unable to even get the teachers notes for him, even when it was written into his plan. I have tried to get hard academic classes in the AM because his medication will wear off by the afternoon.

I feel your pain..

Good luck on college applications

[Knitting20projects]

1) child/adolescent psychiatrist for medication management consultation to see if they can optimize his medication and improve his feeling subdued. I wouldn’t send a young adult with ADHD away to college off medication. I think there are too many risks (driving, substance use, sexual behavior, studying & time management, I’m sure you know all of these).

2) I’d consider psychological evaluation for areas of weakness and some coaching. I would want to see him succeeding with less scaffolding from me & more internal drive before I allowed him to apply for college. Otherwise I would have him do a gap year and live at home to strengthen his EF skills & optimize his medication. I hate to sound negative. However, if you are doing a lot now to bolster his performance, he’s on medication, and this is his current situation—-he is going to flounder in college when that scaffolding disappears unless he has the skills to replace it, regardless of IQ. See Russell Barkley’s webinars on YouTube about maturity in ADHD, college performance, etc. It’s pretty eye opening. He believes teenagers with ADHD shouldn’t even drive unmedicated.

[Knitting20projects]

PS My other question is: do you think diagnosis is accurate? If he hasn’t had formal LD testing that could be useful (see my post above) Sorry if I sound negative. I don’t mean to. I just think ADHD has significant ramifications outside the classroom that we as parents need to remember 💕 I am getting gray hair worrying about my son too

[Redpanda5]

Hello there, I have a son in college who is on adhd medicine. Maybe I can help you see ahead a little.

A few things:

1. Stopping meds

This isn’t a good idea. If he wants to take a few days off to see what it feels like then fine but it may just be time to find a different stimulant. My son much prefers how Vyvanse makes him feel (less of a jolt than Adderall). He has had the same complaint about both meds making him feel more “flat” but it’s either that or flounder in school and he already flounders even with meds.

2. Taking tests

A tutor can help to an extent. Mine wouldn’t accept help in high school and he got by but in college the train came to a stop. He had trouble passing some classes in his chosen major and now is considering changing majors. They simply MUST choose a major that interests them. Also, he must buy in that a tutor will help and put in the effort. It’s not magic and they’re expensive.

3. Diagnosis confirmation

Has your son had formal neuropsychological testing? It’s several hours long. I’ve noticed that some people get meds from a doctors personal opinion rather than testing. If he wants accommodations in college he will have to have this formal testing performed if he hasn’t already.

4. School isn’t everyone’s jam

What I mean is that some kids just aren’t great students. The strict method of school just doesn’t fit everyone even though everyone is expected to go through it. For my son, he thrives in active summer jobs but not in school. For many, school is just something to get through.

Trust your gut and know that the path doesn’t look the same for everyone and it gets bumpy. Don’t try to smooth out all the wrinkles, just ride the wave with him. If you’re overwhelmed, just concentrate on doing the next right thing. 😊

[Helicoptermom in reply to Redpanda5]

Thank you for your input. He has tutors for Math and Spanish. Yes, he’s been formerly evaluated and tested by a neuropsychologist at age 7 , 11 and will have repeat testing this summer at age 16 prior to the SAT.

[Redpanda5 in reply to Helicoptermom]

Just keep going. You've got this.

We didn’t test our son a second time. The university took the neuropsych test he had done in middle school with no problem (a large public university in the US). That saved us about $3,000! Just thought I would share! 👍🏻

[Knitting20projects in reply to Helicoptermom]

Sounds like you’ve done such a fantastic job trying to understand his needs and optimize his functioning! Seriously, it’s something to be very proud of. He will understand his own strengths and have a path to bolster his weaknesses (which we all have—-and few of us understand on the level you have given him). Maybe also having a gap year would let him explore additional interests he hasn’t had time to explore in high school. And I don’t mean eating Taco Bell and gaming LOL. Then he might enter college more goal oriented and motivated by those interests. I had zero clue of the incredible variety of jobs, study options in college, my own strengths, etc, as a senior in hs or freshman in college. Even at 50 I realize how many careers I might have enjoyed had I not locked myself into the field I chose very young.

[Hidden]

Maybe if he insists on having a break from medication then encourage him to do a gap year for travelling. He doesn’t have to go any exotic places, going to New Zealand, Australia and bits of Europe is totally safe and will give him a sense that he’s doing something fun, meeting people etc. You know, it’s been like this for ever, young men mature by ‘travelling’ 😄

Definitely having a gap year to stay at home with mum and dad is the worst you can do for his sense of worth and independence and everything else…

I agree with other reply that going to uni without any meds, considering that all his life he has been on meds- that’s not a good idea.

And yes, online or in person tuition is a very good idea.

Just bare in mind that even if his ADHD is only ‘inattentive’- still his executive function is severely delayed in comparison to his peers who are the same age.

[Knitting20projects]

I know he would be miserable living at home. I guess I mean optimize his med management, have him find a gap year location or activity/job/volunteer experience he is passionate about to ensure he is really motivated to make the right choices to stay at it. I mean if he moves far from home. If he does a gap year at 18, he has the social/emotional maturity of 15 because of ADHD. There are plenty of temptations far from home that an ADHD brain is more prone to seek out or develop an addiction to—-that’s all I’m cautioning here.

[Imakecutebabies]

Are his troubles with the exams due to the length of the exams, or due to comfort with the material? If the former, I wonder if it would help to seek an accommodation wherein he could test over several days. Even being allowed "extra time" only goes so far if his attention span for the day is just all used up.

[Redpanda5 in reply to Imakecutebabies]

First of all, I love your username! Lol. Adorable.

This is an excellent point. This is actually a method taught by educational consultants. It is called “going cold” and is a method used for long assignments.

In middle school, for my daughters IEP, they didn’t have test taking over several days but they did have her turn it in and the teacher would find wrong answers and then guide her a little and give the test back to her to redo the wrong answers. She also had extra time. This was in a classroom that had a special education teacher as the “side” teacher.

Maybe you can approach the school with a combination of these two things to develop an effective plan for your son.