12 yo in 4th grade

If she’s truly hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t there, that can be concerning. It could also be distracting to her while she tries to learn in school or do homework at home.

What are the side effects if any of the drug? Do you believe her to be hearing voices and seeing things?

The only thing I could say for sure is that being 12 and finding yourself in 4th grade again is not ideal. I’d ask the district - how long will you keep her in 4th? Until she’s 15? I can’t imagine other parents are wild about having a 12 year old in their children’s classroom when likely they’re children are 9. Ask the district what will be different this time around?

Good luck with this.

Honey, do not let them hold your daughter back again. You have more power than you think.

Can you get her an IEP under the category Emotional Disturbed based on her hearing voices? What was her dx that earned her the medication?

If she has an IEP she won’t be held back.

as far as believing her about hearing voices I don’t know. I mean I don’t know how literal it is. Haven’t we all thought we heard someone call our name and no one did or see something that we thought was one thing and turns out to be something else. I THINK that is what she is talking about although she did say that she hears a long beep in her ears sometimes which I think is ringing ears but I don’t know. The psychologist didn’t give a exact diagnoses he just said that the medicine should make her more able to focus in school because she isn’t hearing all that other junk.
The side effect are very minimal in fact she says she doesn’t feel any different except that she doesn’t hear the long beeps anymore.
The district said that they can hold a child back once between 3rd- 6th grade. But if they held her back this year, what would they do for the next two years just let her slide through without even trying to teach her knowing that it won’t matter cause they can’t hold her back again.
Fortunatly, she is small for her age and fits in quite nicely.
I am so lost :cry:

When did the school do their last complete assessment with her? How long ago was it?

It sounds like there is something medical going on here that is the stuff of decisions made with more thought than the standard “is she passing.” And it doesn’t really sound like you’ve gotten to the bottom of the problems. It sounds like whatever grade she is in, she will have inconsistencies. Is that the main issue?
If so (and even if not) I would start keeping a journal of what she does and how she fares in school; when teh good days and bad days are, and what is happening, what she’s eating (and find out when they spray for bugs and other stuff that would mean a chemical sensitivity; or, are they painting? have a major mold problem?) — could well be *none* of these things but it’s worth exploring.
HOw much is she learning this year? THat would be what my decision would rest on. If she’s learnign the stuff but is inconsistent in being able to produce it for grades — ****because of her medical condition that you’re trying to get under control**** then that’s a really lousy reason to retain her. I guess the big quesiton is, what is different between now and when she was on the honor roll? Was it less demanding teachers or somethign bigger?

My dear, the very first thing you need to do is clear up what exactly is going on with your child. If she is taking Risperdal because of psychosis, then you need to know that. If your doctor doesn’t give you the details, you need a different doctor. That she has been tested for LD and doesn’t qualify doesn’t mean there is no LD. It only means the school won’t recognize, at least not without more information from you. Go get your daughter very, very thoroughly evaluated by someone who is willing to talk to you and answer your questions. If she has a serious mental illness that is not being optimally treated, that is going to be a whole lot bigger problem in her life than whether she passes fourth grade. If she also has an LD that is not recognized, it will add the the difficulty. But, until you go get her looked at by someone who actually communicates with you, you are going to be feeling like you are in the dark.

I have a chronic medical condition that appears when I am stressed, or I haven’t eaten for a while, I get a drop in my blood sugar and then I get this roaring, ringing in my ears (tinitus), and my hearing goes way down. I would definitely look into getting a full blood panel, check her blood sugar, thyroid, anything you can think of, she can be anemic, low in certain vitamins or allergies, etc. I think Risperdol can cause some of the problems you are seeing in your child. Get a second opinion, and get a speech and language evaluation.

Yes, get a *proper* evaluation right away!

Psychological — does she really need Risperdol, what is the cause, is it actually helping or is it making things worse? What is being done to *improve* her condition, or is she being warehoused?
Audiologist — if she is hearing noises, how are the ears *and* auditory nerves *and* pathways in the brain working? What is actually causing those noises?
General health — allergies? food sensitivities? auto-immune disorders? thyroid and other metabolism? As Patti points out, many metabloic disorders can cause side effects — get to the root of it.
Emotional — this must all be taking a huge toll on her. To be told in elementary school that you are crazy and have to take strong anti-psychotic drugs — this would be enough to send a sensitive child into a tailspin all by itself.

I sincerely doubt that repeating Grade 4 again would help in this situation. It doesn’t sound like anyone is doing anything at all as long as she is quiet. Time for you as the parent to make some noise. Try to be polite and stay on the facts avoiding emotional outbursts, but make waves politely.

how would you go about getting these evaluations? She doesn’t have private insurance. She is on the states insurance. (chips)
As for general health it is excellent. She has no KNOWN allergies.
She has only been on the Risperdal for a week and we can’t see any difference. She says she feels the same but her ears aren’t ringing.
The psychologist didn’t do an evaluation. After hearing that she was having these problems I guess he figured that was the problem. She never mentioned to us or anyone that she was seeing or hearing things so I don’t know if she truly is or not.

there is no good reason to retain this child. Submit a WRITTEN request for a caomple educational evaluation to the school immediately. Be sure it is dated. This child needs help and is not getting any. Retaining her will only make it worse - she will sit through the same no-help again.

I don’t have any answers to the medical insurance - how are you seeing a psychologist now? Can you tell the present psych you want a second opinion. Your present psychologist is not communicating with you - good reason to find another. A prescription was made for a reason - you should have been told the diagnosis. Can this psychologist help find other testing for your daughter?

Getting a handle on the problem and finding appropriate strategies to try is not easy - hang in there.

My one thought is that your child tested with a boarderline IQ. The child does not test as mentally retarded but the IQ is too low to qualify for learning disability.

Helen

My heart goes out to you. I have had some of the same experiences. First, you need to know that many kids fall apart in 4th grade. Under no circumstances would I allow the school to keep her back again.

Your daughter needs a complete evaluation by an independent, board certified psychiatrist with a specialty in child psychiatry. This can be obtained at a large medical center or at a community mental health center. I prefer going to a Children’s Hospital. Depending on where you live, it can be a wait to get an evaluation. There is a shortage of child psychiatrists in our area. Is your child depressed or suicidal, in addition to having panic and anxiety? You will get an eval quicker if you go to an emergency room during one of her panic attacks. However, you need to be prepared to advocate for your daughter…don’t want them to hospitalize her unnecessarily.

You need to find out if she has a formal thought disorder. My child described hearing voices to her psychiatrist, but upon complete evaluation, he decided that she doesn’t have a thought disorder. I also found an excellent child psychologist who sees my child weekly for therapy. This has been a huge help is sorting out a diagnosis. The psychologist and the psychiatrist confer. We are using a mix of meds…an antidepressant (severe depression can cause psychosis), melatonin to regulate sleep (sleep disturbance can exacerbate psych problems). and Straterra for ADD (just added). It took some trial and error before we found the right mix of meds.

Again, I understand how worn out you must be and how overwhelming and complex it is to obtain the right kind of care. Just remember….you are the expert on your child. One last thing…a neuropsych eval might help you as well. It was the neurospsychologist who first diagnosed our daughter’s depression.

Good luck.