Randy Rae On (22 Nov 96) was overheard to say to Bob Moylan
 Hi Randy....
 RR> Hi there are your kids on Ritalin my 7&9 year old is on the slow
 RR> release pill 20mg morning and 10mg at night they have been on the
 RR> Med's for about 3 weeks.
 Our 9 1/2 year old takes Ritalin 20mg at 8:45AM, 10mg at noon and
 another 10mg at 3:00PM.  This 20-10-10 dosing schedule was arrived at
 after many trials and readjustments in amount and time.  For _right
 now_ it's helping him to do what he is supposed to be doing in
 school..that is.. LEARN.  We're avoiding the rebound effect that can
 be seen by going 4 hours or longer between doses.  We have frequent
 personal contact with his teachers and a daily written check list
 that travels from home to school so we can pick up on any potential
 problem areas before they get out of hand.  His classroom teacher
 this year is another rare gem...she is very capable and willing to
 learn more about ADD/ADHD.  I primed that pump early on in the school
 year ... like the 2nd week of school (-8 ... I know she's a busy
 person so I feed info to her in bite sized chunks that can easily be
 read and digested; she has said she is beginning to apply some of the
 information to how she teaches all her students....  his LD teacher
 is already pretty knowledgeable and there is good communication
 between the two of them on a "professional" level.  Progress in
 school is slow but acceptable.  He goes to an after school activity
 program (held at the school) run by the city parks and rec
 department.  He's doing very well in that also...the woman who runs
 the program has told my wife that she'd like to have a few more like
 him in the program because he's such a good role model for the
 others.  THAT'S something we thought at one time we'd never hear!!
 His 3PM dose carries over long enough to get through any homework that
 needs to be done...and there is ALWAYS some.  After that dose has
 worn off he can, and does sometimes, become loud, demanding, and
 pluck that last nerve ... BUT not as much as before, he and WE are
 learning how to deal better with some of his outbursts of temper.
 We are _not_ looking forward to puberty with any eagerness  )-;
 RR> What can happen(like,mood,eatting,sleeping and my best
 RR> one of all their Temper
 We only see mood changes when his meds have worn off, sometimes
 dramatic, sometimes nothing to get excited about.  Eating has never
 been a problem.  Bedtime, during the school week, is engraved in
 stone.  9:00PM and he's in bed - now he may not fall asleep right
 away but there is a better chance that he will if he's in bed as
 opposed to being up and about...he can watch his TV until 9:30 if he
 wants to, but it goes off then... if he's still not nodding off he
 can read a book or anything else he's interested in; that usually
 does it, then it's just a matter of turning off the bed light.  There
 are, increasingly rare, times that nothing will knock him out and we
 hear from him for a couple of hours or so ... most is ignored ... no
 drinks, bathroom trips okay but not every 2 minutes... radio is okay
 then...no tapes.. he'd have to get up to turn it over.  These are the
 "fun" evenings.  Once he's asleep tho the house could fall down and
 he'd never hear it...
 Temper...oh yes he's got one,  MY Mother says he gets that from me,
 of course I say temper comes from my wife's side (-8.  We _try_ to
 listen to what he is _really_ saying (doesn't do ANY good to try and
 talk him out of it - responding most often will just escalate him)
 after he has his say he can pretty much figure out for himself what
 the cause was ... THEN it can be talked out and different ways to
 express that anger suggested ... usually it's a question to him like
 "is there another way you could have told me/us about (whatever)"
 sometimes this works sometimes it doesn't.  My wife and I agree that
 he probably feels "safer" having these ... episodes ... outbursts...
 tantrums ... whatever .. at home than in school, after school
 program, or out in public someplace.  If he's been trying hard, and
 successfully, all day to maintain then he needs a tension breaker.
 We both see a lot of kids, she works in a public school and I teach
 MR kids in a non public school setting...basically he's not much
 different from any other 9 1/2 year old.
 We see his pediatric developmental neurologist every 4 months for
 follow up physical and just to touch base on how everything is going.
 We always have the option to call his office (he's pretty good about
 returning calls) if there is a specific problem that we think needs
 his attention.  This doc by the way specializes in ADD/ADHD, he's an
 MD/PhD with roughly 20 years of experience working with ADD/ADHD
 children/adolescents...our regular pediatrician has an ADD son of his
 own so he knows what's what also...he has been an excellent source of
 information out of professional medical journals..he doesn't even
 charge to make copies .. (-8
 ADD/ADHD is forever...it doesn't go away, it's not "curable". Kids
 with ADD/ADHD _can_ be helped to learn how to help themselves to
 become absorbed into the mainstream of life and get on with the
 business of living just like everyone else.
 IT'S JUST NOT EASY!
 That's my SHORT answer to your question ... 
... Boy:  a noise with dirt on it.
--- PPoint 2.02
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