Does ADHD medication help with impulse/emotional control? Other ideas?

[minipie]

I’m slightly at my wits’ end.

DD age 9 has cerebral palsy (very mild physically but also has sleep, sensory and behaviour issues). She’s always had problems with emotional self regulation and in particular gets angry very quickly and lashes out - shouting, door slamming and occasionally physical aggression. Naturally this is getting her into increasing amounts of trouble at school.

We have been working with her for years on trying to get her to recognise when she’s getting cross and walking away or taking a deep breath etc. But she’s not really learned to do this, at least not enough, and it is still a big issue.

I increasingly feel she may have ADHD or another way of putting it, the effects of CP for her are akin to the effects of ADHD.

I was discouraged from pursuing ADHD diagnosis by a psychologist on the basis that it wouldn’t add anything to the existing CP diagnosis, as the medication only helps with focus and not impulse control.

However I read on another thread a poster saying their ADHD had given them a “pause” button so they were more able to filter their responses to others. This is exactly what DD needs!

So now I am trying to find out - does ADHD medication help with reactions and emotional and behavioural control? Or only with focus?

Thank you

Hey Minipie. My son has ADHD - diagnosed earlier this year but he’s not on medication yet. However the emotional outbursts are a daily issue here. He’s 9 too. He’s been for counselling and they advise lots of calming strategies but the problem is he goes from 0-60 immediately and doesn’t have any time to recognise it’s coming.

So I can’t help with the meds, but for DS I think the impulse control and focus are linked so I’m sure meds would help. Even if they just allow him to focus on his emotions, that would enable him to put strategies into place.

It’s hard isn’t it. I love DS so much but the outbursts are hard to deal with.

Thanks for replying BringBackDoves! Sorry you’re having the same issues. DD does 0-60 too.

You may be right about the association with focus. DD doesn’t have problems academically but she has issues with organisation and fidgeting in lessons, and she also gets wound up by noise around her (despite being very noisy herself!) so I do wonder if focus is an issue for her.

It is tough. It’s beginning to affect DD’s friendships too so I worry that’s just going to cause more outbursts as she will be feeling unhappy and rejected. It’s a bit of a vicious circle.

Good luck - I hope you find something that helps.

It can. It probably depends on how the ADHD is manifesting. I think it's worth a try for sure. The problem is they don't really know what causes impulsive behaviour in ADHD so they don't really know how medication helps. The theory is that it's understimulation (because an ADHD brain has a higher need for stimulation than others) so the stimulant medication takes the place of that impulsive activity.

It doesn't cause long term issues and you'd know very quickly if it was worth it or not, so I don't see why they would discourage trying it out.

There is a good book called Smart But Scattered which outlines all the executive functions which are what is impaired with ADHD. Impulse control is one of them. There are ideas in there for ways to strengthen each skill and scaffold it in the meantime.

Thanks Bertie. The psychologist wasn’t discouraging trying medication, she was more discouraging pursuing an ADHD diagnosis at all - on the basis that she can already access all the same support and treatment due to her CP diagnosis (except for medication).

It’s a good point that we would know quickly if it helps or not. Unfortunately getting an ADHD diagnosis first would take a long time.

I wonder if the ADHD medication can sometimes be prescribed without an ADHD diagnosis - eg to children like my DD who have a different diagnosis but have similar issues to ADHD. I will ask her consultant.

Thanks for the book recommendation! Will have a look

Sometimes I think so - a friend of mine has a child with a seizure disorder and they were talking about trialling ADHD meds for some behavioural issues.

I wanted to update and say I think I have found something that really helps. Happy to share via PM if anyone is having similar anger management issues.

Hi mini pie I can’t work out how to message you but would be interested to know what’s helping you, would you mind messaging me? Thank you

If you've found something that helps with impulse control, I'd love to know as well!

Reading this thread with interest. My DS has Dyspraxia (diagnosed privately)
and ASD (NHS diagnosis). He has been asked to leave 2 schools at aged 5! How do we go about getting meds? GP referred us to local Child Development Centre, who absolved themselves of all responsibilities, claiming they’re a diagnostic centre only. Do we need an ADHD assessment to get meds privately if need be? Thanks

Minipie - some good responses here. Hopefully someone can help with my similar query above please? Ta x

Fulltank To get ADHD medication, either via the NHS or privately, you would need an ADHD diagnosis. Have you asked for a referral for an ADHD assessment? If it isn’t CAMHS that do ADHD assessments locally have you asked for a referral to CAMHS?

When you say “asked to leave 2 schools” do you mean permanently excluded? Were the correct procedures followed? (I imagine not.) Does DS have an EHCP? Is he receiving an education now, either at school or otherwise?

ImitatingDory - thanks for your reply. After diagnoses, we went to GP, who referred us to local Child Development Centre. They basically said they diagnose only but can offer no more help. Brilliant ! I assume I need to ask Gp for referral to CAHMs? When I Googled our local CAHMs, it says you can only be seen if referred by Social Worker. We don’t have one! It’s frustrating and exasperating fighting for our children 😞

My son attended two fee paying schools. Sadly they’re happy to take your money but despite their admissions policy stating they take children with SEN, I suspect any child that doesn’t help them reach ideal positions on league tables is ‘quietly’ asked to leave. We’re awaiting to hear about admission to local, lovely, state infant school for next term but don’t want my son going through same issues and having the same situation play out for third time. I have independently just applied for a LA needs assessment to be done, with view to an EHCP. Neither school would take on the responsibility sadly.

Yes, ask your GP for a referral to CAMHS, it is not only children’s services that can refer to CAMHS. In most areas the CDC don’t usually diagnose ADHD, it is often CAMHS, and sadly in many DC are discharged after an ASD diagnosis.

You can ask for social care assessments - an assessment for DS via the disabled children’s team and a carer’s assessment for you.

Many independent schools are not accommodating of DC with SEN, and when they are they often charge. Make sure the LA stick to the EHCNA timescales and all the required assessments are carried out. Appeal if you are refused.

ImitatingDory- that’s a great help, thanks. Didn’t know about any of this. Feel like we’ve been badly let down by the system. Thank goodness for amazing online communities like this!

@minipie

I wanted to update and say I think I have found something that really helps. Happy to share via PM if anyone is having similar anger management issues.

Please I would be happy if you could share .we do not have anger problems but problems around impulse control . We have trialled a few but nothing seems to help . Would be glad if you can share via pm. Thank you

Hi lady, unfortunately I’m not sure it’s the miracle I thought, but will PM you.