Teenage ADHD - what has helped?

[Equimum]

My 13 year old son is really struggling due to his ADHd right now. All the way through primary school, he did amazingly well academically and was a star kid. At the time, teachers said they could not see traits of ADHD.

When he started secondary, things started to unravel. He struggled with the organisation and his grades started to drop.

We are now nearing the end of year 8 and things have gone from bad to worse. He cannot focus at all, and seems to not be able to get anything onto paper. His confidence is dropping, he's getting into trouble for 'not trying' at school and he is so unhappy.

Has anyone had a child like this, and if so, has anything helped?

Is DS on ADHD medication? When was it last reviewed?

What support is DS receiving? Have you met with the SENCO? What have you and the school already tried?

Has DS tried a laptop and assistive tech if getting things down on paper is proving difficult? Is the school providing handouts/power points rather than expecting DS to copy large amounts from the board? Has placement within the classroom been considered? Does he use noise cancelling headphones/earphones or ear defenders? Does he have movement breaks? Can the school provide a key worker/mentor to support organisation/study skills? Do they break instructions down and check DS has processed and understood instructions? Does the school use visuals/checklists? Does DS have exam access arrangements?

How does DS manage homework?

With your help if necessary, does DS pack his bag the night before? Do you/he have a system at home for organising books, notes, etc?

What are DS’s eating and sleeping like? How much exercise does he get?

scoopofmintchocchipicecream thanks for your suggestions.

No, he is not on medication, although i think that may be our next step.

His SENCO is useless, but we have spoken with his head of key stage. He already uses his laptop, and has movement breaks etc in place. Work is provided as sheets and he has access arrangement (breaks, laptop and additional time) for exams. His sleep is not great, but it never has been. It takes him a longtime to settle (we have a routine). His diet is good, and he walks to/from school, swims does PEx2 weekly and kickboxing classes three times per week.

Homework is an eternal challenge! He comes home and willingly gets on with it, but needs an adult sat beside him, with lots of prompting to get it done. The less specific, long-term projects are difficult to motivate him with.

He does pack his bag the night (with help), and he has no paper notes/ books - it's all digital. We print notes ahead of exams and sit with him to make revisions notes.

He does not have a mentor as the only person offering it at his school has broken his trust in the past and he will no longer engage. He has met several times with the head of KS.

Despite all of this, he just cannot keep his mind on task or think of what to say/ write.

Are we at the point where medication is the only option? It'll have to be private as wait times are so long, but we are open to the possibility at this stage.

I would look at ADHD medication and also something to help with sleep. Not for all, but ADHD medication can be life changing for some.

For the longer term homework projects, can you help DS break it down into shorter term specific tasks? Does the school have a homework club DS could attend? Failing other support, how necessary are those homeworks? Some DC only do certain homework task or none at all.

The same applies with digital notes, etc. Does anyone help DS with a system to organise those that works for him?

If you aren’t getting anywhere with the SENCO, speak to the member of the senior leadership team with responsibility for SEN. If you have the email addresses of DS’ teachers, I would email them directly too.

Has DS had an ed psych assessment?

Thanks again!

Organising digital notes wasn't my an issue, because DS kept forgetting to save everything! He's now using OneNote, and we print note and arrange as needed for exams.

Homework-wise, we've been told to help him get as much done as we can. There is no homework club.

We asked for support with breaking down the longer projects. They tend to involve learning new computer programmes (eg art - the project is to create an advert using Blender). We hadn't understood the amount of work needed in the early stages so he ended up sup 'behind' and lost confidence and focus! We've done a better job with English, where there is a termly booklet to work through - that's easier for us to help him break down.

He's not seen educational psychologist, no.

Thanks again for your input.