Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 8/15/2008

Question
Dr. Levin

My son who is 13 was diagnosed by a child psychologist a few years ago with developmental dyslexia. For the past couple of years we have had him participating in therapy using Orton-Gillingham method.  Also at an early age 7-8 we noted stuttering and he was receiving some minimal treatment from a school speech pathologist.  The stuttering has improved very little and is causing him the obvious esteem issues.  Lastly when he was being tested for the dyslexia there was an elememt of ADHD testing.  The majority of which was observations noted by his teachers.  The testing indicated border lind ADHD, however the comments written by his teacher appeared to minimize what we actually see.
Two questions, based on the above is ADHD a consideration we should reexplore and any other comments you can make regarding that.
Second, my wife and I have real concerns about medications for ADHD.  Ancedotal observations by us seem to show a strong link to subsequent drug abuse.  This may be a stretch but scares the hell out of us.

Thank You

Robin

Answer
In my opinion you have been  misinformed. Dyslexia and often stuttering are part of ADD/ADHD. You have also been given incorrect information about the medical treatment for ADHD. Stimulants are usually used to make the child more teachable. Thereafter he will benefit more  from remedial therapy. If correctly used there are no long term side effects and certainly never lead to drug abuse! You are strongly advised to see a medical doctor who has experience with ADHD treatment.