My Son (12) is ADHD and is on 54mg Concerta, 1 tablet daily (after breakfast) , 7 days a week. In the past, i would allow him to skip his Meds on school holidays (longer than 5 days) However, I have struggled with him recently and have opted to rather keep him on his meds over the holidays. His ability to concentrate (as expected) without his meds is horrific, although we most enjoy his vociferous appetite for food and life in general. The meds do inhibit his true personality for natural expression and wit, but when medicated, he is able to focus and apply himself much better.
My question to all parents of ADHD children is this. Even though your child (children) is/are taking the correct medication with the right dosage, do you still find them impossible to follow daily routines??
I have to DAILY remind my son to clean his bedroom, take his dirty laundry out of his bag , remove his lunch-box....etc....it go's on and on.
He is extremely frustrating first thing in the morning as he only seems to react when i am physically checking up on him.
I have now resorted to writing ALL his routine's on a massive white board, mounted in his room. In feel that this is a far more of a passive approach than i have ever taken. The ongoing frustration of repeating myself is causing massive anxiety issues in my family and I find myself losing my temper DAILY.
It is stressing all of us out and I feel for my son as I know that he is not doing this deliberately.
To add to this, my sons biological mother lives in a different province and pays very little attention to him. I am engaged to be married, and my Fiancee tries her best to provide Maternal support (she does not have children of her own)
Any advice would be welcome as we would rather have peace & quiet in our house.
I love my Son uncondionally and welcome any advice.
My sons who are 9 and 11 and not on any medications, do the same thing. I am thinking that being a boy at this age has a lot to do with it! My daughter is 13 and I have never had as many issues with her as I have the boys, right down to cleaning their room and taking laundry downstairs!
The following user gives a hug of support to Steph743: Getritalin (10-29-2012)
My 15 year old usually forgets to take his lunch out of his backpack after school and he never cleans his room.
I heard a parent with a good idea. Chores are tied to an allowance. If the child does the chore without being reminded, they are paid one price, if they have to be reminded, they receive a lower amount for the same chore. No yelling or getting mad, you just pay a different amount.
What if your son got a dollar everyday he didn't have to be reminded and a quarter if he did?
My 15 year old usually forgets to take his lunch out of his backpack after school and he never cleans his room.
I heard a parent with a good idea. Chores are tied to an allowance. If the child does the chore without being reminded, they are paid one price, if they have to be reminded, they receive a lower amount for the same chore. No yelling or getting mad, you just pay a different amount.
What if your son got a dollar everyday he didn't have to be reminded and a quarter if he did?
I like that advice. Very constructive indeed. Personally, I believe that if we get a little scientific in our approach and emotion, then the desired result should come along nicely.
Personally, I have not taken concerta, so i can speak for how it has affected me, but what you need to do is use the medication as a tool to drill into him a routine. Also, I am speaking from experience, but it is hard to remember things when you have others to remind you... because then you RELY on them to remind you. make him also write down the chores (as writing as well as reading has been scientifically proven to help in memorization, not just in ppl with ADD).
Reading (outloud), writing, and seeing allows for him to remember using different methods of the 5 senses, thus providing more ways to remember by. Treat this as a child with a difficulty remembering... you need to give more ways and repeat it more times before they remember.
