son (13) diagnosed with add i am confused

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Posted by: nicolette | 2012/06/20

Q. son (13) diagnosed with add i am confused

hi

my son is turning 13 in dec ,went to school when he just turned 6, he seemed to be doing good in school and during the past few years he gained weight etc and changed from being a well balanced boy into a boy which is being bullied and his marks going down a bit, especially maths. after the last incident of being bullied quite bad at school i consulted a psigiatrist, which diagnosed him as add and having had trauma from a while back(my mom past away and my dad which he had a tight bond) the dr prescribed concerta 36mg and paxil 10mg 1x daily, the therapist he went to made a mistake by seeing him for the 1st session with another boy bit younger than he is and said to my son that that boy can read better than him and he was flabbergasted and refusing to go back,

my question is :the add i know is a problem because he cant seem to concentrate and is starting something without finishing he is saying with the concerta it feels like all the files in his mind is falling in place, what can i do from my side to help my son?he is to old to go to an occupational therapist, will he be able to catch up with extra effort from our side with out therapists? what more can i do to help him?

Expert's Reply

A.

CyberShrink

At least the diagnosis was made by a psychiatrist, presumably after a proper expert assessment, and not by a quack teacher !
It sounds as though the psychotherapist made a major error in seeing him together with another child, which, especially in early sessions, sounds a weird practice.
Again, I must emphasize - OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS HAVE NO ROUTINE PLACE IN TREATING CHILDREN WITH ADHD ! Teachers persist in recommending this far too often, almost as though they received kickbacks for each referral achieved. Maybe an educational psychologist can re-assess the boy, and maybe make further tests on his educational problems and recommend how to help here. Similarly, the psychiatrist may want to reconsider the specific treatment drugs and their dosages.

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