ADHD I'm Back

[jlo]

Hi
Thanks for all of your responses. Why does the ADHD and DS dual DX seem so unheard of ? My name is Jenn and we live in Rhode Island. I belong to The Down Syndrome Society of RI.
I also take part in some of the Mass. Down Syndrome Congress's events since I live on the border. As Ive said I have a son
Colby with DS hes 6. also have a daughter who is ten going on
16 with nothing but an attitude at times! I used this web site an aweful lot whn Colby was born,it was a big help! So now I'm back
looking for someone in the same boat. Colby has an amazing amount of energy, and although I think it'll benefit
him in special olympics,right now he somtimes uses it in dangerous ways.
Hope to hear back fr you all
Jenn

[Connie]

Jenn,

I am so in the same boat with you !!!

Collin who is 6 (turns 7 in February) was diagnosed in October with ADHD. He is in Kindergarten, goes all day and is fully included except for about 1.5 hours he is pulled out w/ the special ed teacher.

From August 15 to September 30th we had two IEP's and rewrote them. By October 13th they were ready to KICK him OUT. This child figuratively and litterally ran the school. I put them off by telling them we were going to try some thing new. We were starting him on Ritalin.

While I wanted this ALL to be the teachers/schools problem since I did not have any of the behaviours at home or with me it was not. From the day we started him on the Ritalin 5 mg's it made the biggest difference for him. I had aids and teachers that did not know I started him on anything walk up to me (the very 1st day I gave it to him) and asked what I did that was different because he was such a different child. His speach even changed the day we started the med's.

Out of the 10 weeks he has been on this medicine he has went from almost being kicked out to ony having maybe 2 so so days and 3 bad day's. They have also went back to using the regular behaviour chart on him. So, they are now looking at him more like a typical child.

I am not a parent who gives medicine freely. I don't run my kids to the doctor for every ear ache or sore throat. I make them tough it out. But, I cannot sing enough praises for the medicine he is on. It has made the biggest change in my boy and given him the chance to succed in an inclusion setting.

Looking forward to getting to know more about you and Colby.

Connie

[ALLISA]

Hey jlo.....my daughter is the same age as your son....Erin will be 7 in February.....she has a dual dx of Ds & PDD NOD (autism spectrum).....she doesn't have an ADD dx.....but there are some days when she is impossible to wind down....

I'm in Mass....not too far from RI......

I think that dual dx's are harder to nail down in kids with ds.....most of the "symptoms" of the 2nd dx just get lumped in with the first and no one thinks to look closer......

Uno Mas is the ONLY reason Erin got her dx......thanks to the wonderful moms who post here.....I recongnized Erin in all of their posts amd got Erin an appt for an evaluation.....wish I had done it sooner.....they told me that her PDD NOS is a more severe hinderance to her than the DS.....must deal with those sensory needs first and when writing her IEP's etc......DS should NOT be listed as her disabilty ! Rather, she is an autistic child who happens to have DS.....

Labels really don't mean much to me.....but the point I was trying to make is that it is intersesting to see how so many things can be a factor in our children's abilites to learn and develop.

Welcome back to the site !

[wrblack]

There's an interesting article at
www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/adhd.html
What the article doesn't say but believe I've seen something to the effect elsewhere, when you do exclude all the other possibilities and do make the dx of ADHD and put the kid on appropriate medication, Ritalin, Concerta (the timed-released version), and see dramatic improvement, then this confirms that your diagnosis of exclusion was the correct diagnosis.
Just my $.02, Bob

[justinsmom]

I responed to your original post. We did try another med with Justin first with absolutely NO change until the Dexedrine so far so good knock on wood. The teacher from last year can't believe the difference and us either . His impulses have been alot better as well, no escape attempts the new med wheeew.