Expert: Christine D. DeLoatch, MA CCC-SLP - 12/4/2008

Question
Hello, My son is 8 years old he was recently diagnose with processig disorder in reading. He has also had speech delays in the past as well. My son does not focus in class and although he is very well behaved. His teachers are all on the same page on how he can't focus and finish his work on time. I asked why he can't pay attention and he tells me his brain is always thinking of other things. I wanted to know if he does have some form of ADD will the medicine change my son personality or is there some kind of home meds I can do.

Answer
Dear Judy,

Thanks for asking me your question.

I cannot diagnose your son, but I can give you some suggestions.  

I would have him evaluation for ADHD, but then I would have him evaluated by an audiologist and speech therapist for central auditory processing disorder - especially if he is no longer receiving speech therapy.  

If your son has problems hearing in noisy backgrounds, or processes sound slowly then these could be causing him some problems with focusing also.  If he is not hearing the sounds correctly - for instance the f and th sounds may sound the same to him, then he is going to have problems with spelling and reading.

These things need to be investigated because it is not uncommon to have both ADHD and auditory processing disorder.

Once you have a correct diagnosis, then you can decide if you need to go ahead and see about medication or see if some accommodations like giving him shortened assignments and extended time to complete assignments is all he needs.  You'll have more information before making the next decision.


In response to your questions about medication,
some people think that medication does change people's personality, because the person seems less silly and immature.  They tend to be more serious and instead of talking out loud, they think to themselves.  I think that it just seems more dramatic in people with ADHD, because they don't really go about the change gradually like typical children do.  

There are some herbal and vitamin supplements on the market that some families are using, including omega-3 fatty-acids.  No clinical trials have to be done on these products to be sure they work nor is there any strict regulations on purity or standard dosages. Stimulant medication has been given for more than 50 years for both ADHD and sleeping disorders.  There are usually side effects of decreased appetite and up to about 3 pounds of weight loss sense they don't eat as much. There is another medication Straterra that is not a stimulant - so they don't think that kids on that medication would have any risk of increase heart rate, high blood pressure or slightly decrease growth as with the stimulant.  

People really don't know what the supplements risks and side-effects are because they are natural and are not required to be tracked like man-made medications.

I hope this information has been helpful.  Many Blessings to you and your son.

Christine