At my doctor's appointment with my son the doc said I did not have to tell the school he was on meds since they did not have to dispense them to him there. That was when we were going to use Concerta. Now that we have switched to Adderall - the doc did not mention anything about the school so I am just going on the pretense of not telling the school. I feel more comfortable initially dealing with it this way. I'm sure that most people tell the school because they want support from them.

Guess I just wonder if not telling them is a major concern.

No, you do not have to disclose it to the school.

At my doctor's appointment with my son the doc said I did not have to tell the school he was on meds since they did not have to dispense them to him there. That was when we were going to use Concerta. Now that we have switched to Adderall - the doc did not mention anything about the school so I am just going on the pretense of not telling the school. I feel more comfortable initially dealing with it this way. I'm sure that most people tell the school because they want support from them.

Guess I just wonder if not telling them is a major concern.

The only time you have to share with the school any medications your child is on is if he/she has to take a dosage during the school day. If your child has an IEP at school, I still don't think the school counselors are supposed to come right out and ask you--I'll have to check on the procedure/legality of that though.

you dont have to tell the school, however I did because of the 504 plan which will allow me more time on test and possibly more time on the SAT's and ACT's. I advise telling the school if high school. It's completely confidential and not embarassing like it was in elementary school.

My only real concern about not telling the school is in case of medical emergency. It'd be bad if something happened and no-one knew that the child was on medication. Of course, the likelihood of that happening is extremely small.

My son is considered "special ed" due to the accomodations he receives. They specifically ask during IEP meetings if he is on any medications. So, you might get asked, but, of course, it is up to you whether or not you want to tell the truth!

My only real concern about not telling the school is in case of medical emergency. It'd be bad if something happened and no-one knew that the child was on medication. Of course, the likelihood of that happening is extremely small.

My son is considered "special ed" due to the accomodations he receives. They specifically ask during IEP meetings if he is on any medications. So, you might get asked, but, of course, it is up to you whether or not you want to tell the truth!

And, anything covered in those IEP meetings is supposed to remain confidential. Information, however, does go into your child's file. In the upper grade levels, I'd suggest getting your child an IEP if there's any academic struggle.

I'm a teacher, and it helps me to know if a particular student has a condition such as ADD. If you don't want the school to know he is on medication, that's fine, but I would communicate his ADD with his teacher(s).

No, it is entirely up to you to decide if you want to tell the school... however I did not because personally, I did not want anyone to know about me taking meds and all.... I had enough problems as it is with a stupid IEP and psychological exams... and with me documentation those meds into my IEP report was good enough.... I just stated what kinds of meds I was taking not the dosage or anything... and it is true that stating what meds you take and what-not is part of the 504 Plan.... it is required, but not recommended. In fact my case load teacher asked if they wanted me to document my medications and what-not into my IEP. anyways, I hope I helped in someway :confused: . Good Luck~

The only time you have to share with the school any medications your child is on is if he/she has to take a dosage during the school day. If your child has an IEP at school, I still don't think the school counselors are supposed to come right out and ask you--I'll have to check on the procedure/legality of that though.

My son actually asked me what he should say if his counselor asked him if he took any medications. I told him he should say no. I further explained that it is none of their business and they shouldn't be asking him that anyway.

I do not want to tell the teachers that to me is the same as telling the school. I appreciate your concern JT95 as a teacher but I've had enough experience with this situation to be cautious. If my son's behavior warrants a phone call home, which I haven't had any calls, then I will deal with it as a student - not with their impression of an ADD child because in all reality, that does skew their perception of the situation. I am my son's advocate and I take that job very seriously. Last year I had to actually call the band teacher and complain to him of my son's grade and that if there were so many problems that he seemed to pour out to me during that conversation, that he should have called me to fix the situation. He said 'well, your son missed a few lessons and we tried to work it out together but when that didn't work , I know I should have called you but to be quite honest I was so busy and I know that's not a good excuse.' !!! I'll take my chances this way thank you.

I respect your decision totally in that.

I've had to sit in a lot of those IEP meetings, and I can see why people don't want to deal with that whole process. And, if the truth be told, there are several teachers who don't care if your child is ADD or not because a lot of people see an ADHD condition as an undisciplined kid whose parents want excuses made for him/her. Teachers are taught very little about ADD, dyslexia, and the like, so often they don't have a good understanding, but the IEPs are supposed to be designed by people in the know to give teachers a guide.

Here's what I would do if I were you. Don't tell the school/teacher that your son is ADHD and on meds. However, you may want to go and conference with any particular teachers your son if having struggles with. I'm very open to doing whatever will help my students be successful. Most teachers are--some aren't, though, in reality, so you're probably better off not even fooling with those. The "good" teachers, however, it may be beneficial to your son--if he's struggling--to talk to the teacher alone and see if there are one or two things that might be done to help your son. Don't say "my son has ADD" or anything like that. Just say "I'm trying to work on Matt's organizational skills because that's a struggle for him right now. Is there any way you can pass along any printed syllibi you give students or give me a quick e-mail each week that lets me know of any assignments/projects?" I've actually had parents require their kids to show me a planner-organizer at the end of class every day in which the kid has written down any assignments and I initial it for the parent. Now, the drawback to that is that he might have friends ask what he was doing, but there are little things you can possibly get help with from a few teachers (if help is needed) and never have to hint at an ADHD or whatever condition.

I'm not for sure how old your son is, though.

IMHO, from my experiences as a teacher, IEPs take the wrong approach for a lot of kids. Rather than helping kids learn how to modify their behavior to meet academic success, too often the IEP calls for the curriculum and/or the teacher to bend down and meet the shortcoming of the student. I had the parents of an ADHD student last year who were very angry with me. I refused to write down and give their son a copy of my classroom notes every day. (We didn't have an excess of notes anyway.) They said "Well, his middle school teacherrs always did that" and they wanted his IEP changed to include that as an accomodation. This kid had been trained that he could get out of things--totally the wrong message. Still, I can honestly say that the IEP really does serve some students very well. It lets me as a teacher have a heads up on circumstances I need to be awatre of. If you don't want one, that's totally fine, but if your son gets to the point where that might help him, I'd consider reconsidering. There might be some parents here who can give some experiences with schools and IEPs, so that might be a thread worth starting...

JT95 I really appreciate the time you're taking responding with such good information. My son is 12 and was an A and B student until 6 and 7th grade which is why I started him just this week on meds. I am still in the 'watching' phase to see if it will benefit him. He was on meds for Kindergarten then we stopped. I dealt with the classroom issues of his behavior because I thought he'd manage since he was still getting good grades. When those started to fall and the report cards kept saying, 'needs improvement, does not participate, talks too much' I decided to try meds again.

While I totally respect your decision regarding not telling the school about your sons ADD,I do have a problem from an emergency medical standpoint.at the beginning of every school year, you have to fill out those emergency cards?They have you do that for a very good reason.I have worked in the ems field for many many years and also have a son with major medical problems that require numerous meds.In an emergent situation the medics need to know just what medications your son is taking because if he is given certain meds during the course of treatment, any meds that he is given can interact with other meds.This could spell disaster and possible life threatening problems for your son.Breathing is a biggie here.espescially when taking drugs that are stimulants.You stated that you are your sons advocate, which is very true.He is counting on you to take the best care possible here,and telling him to lie about taking medications is not in his best interest.i can understand where you are coming from here as your son IS entitled to his privacy but there are limits, you know?can you honestly say that this is in his best interest?Just let me ask you this question,K? How would you feel if something happened to your son because he was in some kind of accident or some other problem developed with him and he required certain treatments but because you told him to lie about his meds, he was given a certain drug that interacted with his current medications and he developed major complications? i know you are trying to do the best possible thing for your son here, i really do.You honestly sound like an extremely caring mother, but I think you really need to sit down and think of the possible ramifications of not devulging his med status.Is not telling more important than your sons overall health?What kind of example is this setting for him?i really do hope that you decide to reveal this ,at the very least, post it on his emergency card but not tell his teachers about it unless you have to.That emergency info could possibly stop any mistakes from happening in the future.no one really looks at the emergency cards unless there is good reason.you will have fullfilled your duty by giving it without actually having to TELL anyone about it.You also need to tell your son that if he is ever asked about his medication status, by the school nurse or medics or anyone else in an emergency situation,that he needs to be totally honest about it.Believe me here when I say that I am not trying to slam you or tell you that you are some kind of bad mother,really, I think that you are trying to do what you think is best for your son.i just don't think that you have given this decision some really deep thought about what the consequences could possibly be.just my thoughts.Marcia

Why would my doctor tell me that I didn't have to tell the school then? And, please don't start on my doctor saying he is being irresponsible. I fully understand the ramifications of not devulging information that may inhibit treatment of my son should he need it. I've outweighed the possibilities of anything happening to him, the speed at which I could reach him or the school could reach me in an emergency, and that I am basically telling him to 'lie.' I don't consider it lying when the question will never be asked of him. There are many parents who do not tell the school when their child's case isn't severe and they are not on multiple meds. If the schools could have proven to me that they are capable of handling such information without it being detrimental to the child, then I would think differently. My son is minutes away from me and I am always reachable by phone. There may come a time that I feel confident in how things are going to tell them. thanks for your post and keeping your cool while telling me information that could ruffle feathers!

I too would be concerned in a medical emergency if the school/EMT's didn't know my son was taking medication. It can delay treatment or even cause problems with treatment if they don't know he is taking meds. Also if they teachers don't know he on medication how can they help you monitor if it is effective or not. I would assume you have him on medication to help with school and not telling the teachers doesn't let them effectively monitor whethere the drug is working or not and also doesn't let them know that they should watch for any side effects from the meds.

Ok, let's not get too excited here. The possibility of him getting hurt to the point of needing that severe of medical attention is very small. I can tell how he's doing in school by his report cards. I have not gotten any phone calls or emails regarding anything so that is another way of me knowing how he is doing. I also send his teachers emails asking how he's doing - just as a normal, interested parent - not the parent of an ADDer whom they get too excited about and at times read into the situation in an overlyfocused manner. He is 12 and able to speak to me about how he's doing. He is not an extreme case and does not take any other med so we can monitor him on the Adderall quite effectively. Thank you for your responses - looks like the answer is 50-50.

Sorry for being so "harsh" per say in my response but the nursing instinct in me tends to take over in situations like this. I for one know that it is very easy for you child to be in a medical situation where they would want to know if you child was on medication or not. My daughter has had a head injury at school twice in the last year and 1/2 and it could be dangerous if they didn't know whether she did or didn't take meds. She by the way is NOT my ADD child. Our schools now have a very strict policy about things like injuries and especially head injuries and as a nurse I can relate to the fact that you want to know all medications a person/child is taking so that you can properly evaluate each situation. Also I do let the schools know when my son is on ADD meds so that they can watch for side effects both good and bad as he takes his meds in the morning before he goes to school and I don't see him until he comes home so monitoring whether it is effective at school is something the teachers need to be aware of. No these are of course only my opinions but I do feel they are valid ones based on my 29 years of nursing experience. Good luck with your son. I am now at the high school level with my son and things finally seem to be going much better.

From the stand point of an adult with adhd and lets just say I work with children, I would advise telling your child's teacher. Adhd does not only affect your child at home, but also at school. Your child's teachers imput is crucial in determining if the medication your child is taking is really working. Most teachers have a child every year with adhd, and whether you tell her or not , she or he can probably pick up on the symptoms. I believe it is in your child's best intrest to be open with his teacher and work together as a team to get results. A true professional will be understanding and willing to give him the extra time and attention he needs to be a good student. There are also different approaches to teaching that work well for the adhd student, but how can his teacher use this if she doesn't know about his diagnosis. If he had a heart condition or Diabetes you wouldn't hesitate to tell the school about it. My mom was always hush hush about me and my brother having adhd, and the only thing it taught me was to be ashamed and embarrased about myself. There are plenty of other kids with the same problems as yours, and many other parents with the same concerns.

I am also curious as to whether of not your child's teacher was asked to fill out an evaluation regarding his behavior at school (which would be a flag to her that there may be a problem). Symptoms of adhd must be present in more than one environment for a diagnosis to be made.

Have faith that most eduacators want to help children, not hinder them, and the best thing you can do is have good communication with the school. Don't let his adhd be seen as a learning disability. I barely scraped through high school but graduated from college with a 3.8 thanks to Adderall xr!

draber, did the college know you were taking adderall xr?

My son has had all the correct evaluations done since he was 6. We tried meds for a short time at that age and decided to try behavior modification. We were able to get away with that up to now. He always had good grades until the 6th and 7th grade. His at school behavior is more of being the class clown but he will straigthen up when told to. He is doing well now but this is only his second week and we are not at full dosage yet. We will be next week when it will be 20mg of regular Adderall taken at 7am. I have been trying to understand how long it is lasting. I've seen that even though the dosage increases it doesn't last longer - it's just that it's stronger for the same amount of time. I've been seeing 6 hours in my research. Initially we were supposed to use time-release Concerta but my son absolutely could not swallow it. We tried for a week - practicing with at first the pill but stopped because I didn't want him to keep ruining them and throwing the rest away (after the initial dose surrounding the capsule dissolved in his mouth). We practiced with mini m&ms and tic tacs. Even when the tic tacs were at their smallest he couldn't do it! Boy was he frustrated with himself. So needless to say after a few phone calls to the doctor I picked up the adderall script. I did not talk with the doctor at length but I am very familiar with it and I also realize that the effectiveness varies among everyone.

Thanks for your support.

Regular Adderall will not last your son all day. It only lasts 3 hours on me. And upping the dosage will just make it stronger for that 3 hour period (or however long it lasts in your son) not make it last any longer. If adderal is effective for him why not use Addearll XR it is the long acting version of the medication. Plus The time released Adderall comes in a capsule so you can open it and sprinkle it on food for kids who can't swallow pills yet.

Oh and just for a reference number the Adderall XR lasts 7-8 hours for me. Like you said times vary but I've never heard of one dose of regular adderall in the morning lasting a child all the way through school. Kids on the short acting form usually take a second pill at lunch to get through the whole school day.

mafiakiddo, do you experience any rebound using xr? I've read a lot about that it's more of a problem with xr than the regular.

I posted this somewhere else but will add it here as well.

I like that XR better then the regular but it is so true that it works differently for everyone. I've heard some say the reg Adderall makes the moody and angry and others say XR does it so it really is a trial and error thing unfortunately. In my case the XR works for about 7-8 hours so I take an additional regular Adderall after that (which lasts about 3-4 hours) to make it through the day.

I am a bit cranky and angry at night when it wears off but don't think this is an effect from the pill. If I don't take a pill one day (usually because I forget to refill the prescription) I am cranky and angry all day long. I think people see the difference because while on the pill your body finally relaxes and you can focus, of course when it wears off you're back to your out of control adhd self.