Anyone know if its legal for sch to insist on adhd medication

Maysie

or child cannot go on a school residential?

Just a little background son has been diagnosed with adhd and pdd (some type of autism not specific). Personally feel its more autism traits that cause meltdowns and other problems at school. Meltdowns have causes usually when routine is changed or something unfair has happened.

He has been taking tranquilyn one tablet in the morning. Yesterday took senco with us to pcahms appt. school are finding medication is the most wonderful thing since sliced bread so the psychologist decided he should have a lunchtime dose as well. Son not happy and vocal he does not want to take it or go to office to take it as someone WILL find out he is on it. I said ok but will need to talk to son about it and see if i can persuade him. I am on the fence because when i have given him meds at home on holidays notice no difference whatsoever.

I had to pop to sch for something and saw senco she blithely informed me if son wanted to go on school residential in june his teacher has said he can ONLY go if he is fully medicated. He will not be allowed his ipod (great distraction for him when he is stressed or upset) or any gadgets at all as no one else is either.

Are they allowed to insist on him being medicated? Meeting arranged for next week to discuss further with his teacher. So i really need a link i can print if not. I did say i am not happy and am shocked at this sudden decision.

He went balistic when i told him total meltdown crying demanded i tell them off. He does not want to take medication as he does not notice a difference, he does not want his classmates finding out. He has also said he won't go on trip. He has been so excited about this trip school have been on about it a year. Never mentioned a problem last year. New teacher...... £300 paid for trip.

I have tried saying pretend its a vitamin if its noticed by anyone rejected!

This morning he refused to take tablet and put it in the bin.

He has never hit anyone at school btw he just gets very loud and demanding and cries if rules have changed or something has been explained badly to him.He talks constantly which is annoying i know.

keep_flyin

How old is your son? I take it he is still at primary? Is he statemented and is the medication on the statement? If he is over 12 he has a full say in his medication and can refuse it. Ask the school what reasonable adjustments they are making to allow your son to attend the residential. They are breaking the law if he is banned from going as that would be an unofficial exclusion. Google IPSEA and talk to them, they are great.

Tiddlywinks

Maysie wrote: »

He has never hit anyone at school btw he just gets very loud and demanding and cries if rules have changed or something has been explained badly to him.He talks constantly which is annoying i know.

My first thought... Just because he hasn't hit anyone doesn't mean he is not disruptive or impacting negatively on his classmates. Your comment kind of suggests you don't entirely 'get' that.

As to medication, this is a medical decision - he needs to be reassessed and then medication recommended accordingly.

You then need to give the drugs time to bed in and see what works best.

I don't think that medication should be dictated by the child though... but neither is it the school's decision.

However, I'm all for the school making 'reasonable adjustments' but there must come a time when the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of your son - if he is not able to interact in a mainstream environment then it is better for all that changes are made.

The school can't dictate medication but they can say his behaviour is unacceptable so you need to have a long conversation about how he is impacting on the class.

Finally you mention that your son 'went ballistic' about not wanting his mates to know he's taking tablets - I can understand that but, if your son doesn't want to stand out in the crowd, how will he explain that he is allowed an iPod when everyone else can't?

These are bigger issues of how to help your son fit in...

Alikay

I'm afraid I have no idea whether the school can insist on prescribed medicines being administered but as a possible practical solution, there is a form of Methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Tranquilyn) which comes as a once-a-day time-release capsule. It works in a similar way to the old Contact400 cold remedies, and the coating on the granules inside the capsule mean it gets released and absorbed at different times.

I fostered a little boy who used this, and it was preferable to him having liquid Ritalin at lunchtime as he wouldn't always cooperate and take it in school. Might be worth asking the doctor if you can try it.

couponqueen123

of course its not legal for the school to say what medication your son takes , your his mum and more to the point he has his own mind and if he wont take them no-one can force him

, i would go to the school and ask them for the proof they can do this before the meeting takes place

this just seem like a school not able to cope with him, is there any other children with what your son has ,?

tom9980

Maysie wrote: »

Meltdowns have causes usually when routine is changed or something unfair has happened.

In life things change, lots is beyond our control. How will your son cope in day to day life if he does not learn that he cannot get everything the way he wants it.

Maysie wrote: »

school are finding medication is the most wonderful thing since sliced bread so the psychologist decided he should have a lunchtime dose as well.

Teachers are not really given enough training. He has complex needs teachers are taught how to teach to normal children so i bet you would find the staff are not coping well with his behaviour. Training costs money and budgets have been slashed recently.

Maysie wrote: »

He will not be allowed his ipod (great distraction for him when he is stressed or upset) or any gadgets at all as no one else is either.

So basically he goes and plays games as his reward for acting up, where is the consequences for his behaviour? he should not be exempt because he has an SEN.

---

You need to understand the school get a few hundred extra for your child and that's it. Given the education psychologist are in those sort of things cost the school far more than the extra cash they get given. The school have to pay for some of these assessments out of their budget there is no LEA general pot usually. Not to mention your child will likely take up larger portions of teaching time and one to one contact time than the other kids. You must understand that for the teacher and the school your child is a big problem for them, it is clear to me they are struggling a bit and trying to find solutions.

Work with them to find solutions don't wade in demanding things and asserting rights because that tends to make people defensive. You wont get a long term positive result from that.

Maysie

He has been boxed into a corner and no one is listening to him not surprised he had a meltdown he is trying to assert control to make him feel safe and less anxious. I know the signs and just let him vent then he calms down quicker. His meltdowns have been less and less extreme and more short lived. If you try and argue or calm him down its counter productive. I say as little as possible maybe my view and why and stop. Say i am not repeating myself and will talk to him when he is calm.

The teacher was supposed to have written a short narrative on difference between morning behavior and afternoon for the last few weeks. Never got it to take to meeting. I mentioned it as soon as i knew, then the week before last, at parents evening and i put a reminder note in the office marked urgent on friday and never received it. Starting to wonder if teacher is just lazy/disorganised and cannot be bothered. The senco just said they had noticed he could concentrate better.

His classmates know he has adhd but not autism side but i do think they have an strong idea. The teacher had to have a talk with son not in class as some boys thought it was funny to wind him up. The last meltdown concerned the boys telling son i had tried to run them over while they were doing cycle safety. Not helped by the ta saying they had seen me that day driving. I don't drive have never driven and my husband was driving safely and gave them extra space. I had to write a letter to the school pointing out the facts and how upset son was by the lying/misunderstanding in ta case. They did the talk and i think things have been really positive since. I have not been called into school he has never been excluded. If he is that bad surely i would have been at least once? I have only been called in once last year in the entire time he has been at school.

He sits by himself at school quite often as he gets distracted by others and he them. Seems to work well. The senco is working with 4 of the yr 6 boys to help with their emotions and i have noticed the odd thing filtering through.

He cannot take the one a day as his dose is much lower than the one a day form.

He has been allowed to have time on the school tablet and to bring his ipod in for good behavior rewards. So there is a president that the other children know about already. Even if he is on meds he will still get anxious.

We recently had a long train journey and a week away lots of new things out of his comfort zone and he was brilliant all week. only sticky time was on way back drunk, loud, large group of men on the train home for an hour and a half. He was very insistent drunk people should not be on the train and the train company should do something about it. I was not to happy either train stank of booze and sweat lol. Gave him his ipod and he concentrated on a game he had.

I know there are 3 other boys they have concerns about in his class i have worked out who 2 of them are just from things my son has said and one of the mums i had a chat with briefly.

I was thinking of asking for it in writing as i found it such a turnaround forceful thing for them to come out with.

Mojisola

Maysie wrote: »

He has been taking tranquilyn one tablet in the morning. Yesterday took senco with us to pcahms appt. school are finding medication is the most wonderful thing since sliced bread so the psychologist decided he should have a lunchtime dose as well.

Son not happy and vocal he does not want to take it or go to office to take it as someone WILL find out he is on it.

I had to pop to sch for something and saw senco she blithely informed me if son wanted to go on school residential in june his teacher has said he can ONLY go if he is fully medicated. He will not be allowed his ipod (great distraction for him when he is stressed or upset) or any gadgets at all as no one else is either.

He went balistic when i told him total meltdown crying demanded i tell them off. He does not want to take medication as he does not notice a difference, he does not want his classmates finding out.

He has never hit anyone at school btw he just gets very loud and demanding and cries if rules have changed or something has been explained badly to him.He talks constantly which is annoying i know.

I can sympathise with the school. They have seen a big difference in his behaviour at school (just because you can't see any change at home doesn't mean he isn't different at school).

It's very difficult to cope with a child "going ballistic" when he/she is one of a large group away from home. Normally on school trips, there are a set number of staff to children. If one is going to have to spend a lot of time managing your son's behaviour, who is going to look after the other children they should be watching?

If he thinks that the other children don't know there's something different about him, he's not being very realistic - of course they do because of his behaviour.

There_Goes_Trouble

Surely it's the Doctor who decides what dose of medication is needed? Not the school or even the parent. Maybe a visit to the doctor would clarify what is needed and when it should be given.

Mojisola

Maysie wrote: »

so the psychologist decided he should have a lunchtime dose as well.

There_Goes_Trouble wrote: »

Surely it's the Doctor who decides what dose of medication is needed?

The doctor did decide.

Fieldsofgold

Maysie wrote: »

He has been boxed into a corner and no one is listening to him not surprised he had a meltdown he is trying to assert control to make him feel safe and less anxious. I know the signs and just let him vent then he calms down quicker. His meltdowns have been less and less extreme and more short lived. If you try and argue or calm him down its counter productive. I say as little as possible maybe my view and why and stop. Say i am not repeating myself and will talk to him when he is calm.

The teacher was supposed to have written a short narrative on difference between morning behavior and afternoon for the last few weeks. Never got it to take to meeting. I mentioned it as soon as i knew, then the week before last, at parents evening and i put a reminder note in the office marked urgent on friday and never received it. Starting to wonder if teacher is just lazy/disorganised and cannot be bothered. The senco just said they had noticed he could concentrate better.

His classmates know he has adhd but not autism side but i do think they have an strong idea. The teacher had to have a talk with son not in class as some boys thought it was funny to wind him up. The last meltdown concerned the boys telling son i had tried to run them over while they were doing cycle safety. Not helped by the ta saying they had seen me that day driving. I don't drive have never driven and my husband was driving safely and gave them extra space. I had to write a letter to the school pointing out the facts and how upset son was by the lying/misunderstanding in ta case. They did the talk and i think things have been really positive since. I have not been called into school he has never been excluded. If he is that bad surely i would have been at least once? I have only been called in once last year in the entire time he has been at school.

He sits by himself at school quite often as he gets distracted by others and he them. Seems to work well. The senco is working with 4 of the yr 6 boys to help with their emotions and i have noticed the odd thing filtering through.

He cannot take the one a day as his dose is much lower than the one a day form.

He has been allowed to have time on the school tablet and to bring his ipod in for good behavior rewards. So there is a president that the other children know about already. Even if he is on meds he will still get anxious.

We recently had a long train journey and a week away lots of new things out of his comfort zone and he was brilliant all week. only sticky time was on way back drunk, loud, large group of men on the train home for an hour and a half. He was very insistent drunk people should not be on the train and the train company should do something about it. I was not to happy either train stank of booze and sweat lol. Gave him his ipod and he concentrated on a game he had.

I know there are 3 other boys they have concerns about in his class i have worked out who 2 of them are just from things my son has said and one of the mums i had a chat with briefly.

I was thinking of asking for it in writing as i found it such a turnaround forceful thing for them to come out with.

So you have noticed that the medication's improved things out of school as well.