Question about ADHD meds~m~

[Guest guest]

I had a meeting yesterday with Amber's current preschool teacher.

She is a lovely woman with over 30 years of teaching experience and

really seems to do her job well (and just as important, she seems to

really enjoy it!!). She told me that Amber is doing well with the

material they are working on (it isn't too advanced for her), but she

is really strugglign with focusing and payiing attention. This is a

montessori based curriculum, so it isn't like she is asked to sit at

a table for 30 minutes at a clip. Last year's preschool teacher and

our private OT have told me the same thing. I love Amber's classroom

but the teacher told me that Amber is not getting the most out of it

because there it is a bigger classroom and she is just all over the

place (13 kids and a huge room). She said that the choice is up to

me, but if her attention doesn't get any better that she would really

be better in a smaller setting (she wasn't forcing us to leave, just

being truthful). I notice the same type of issues when we are in

private therapy (except PT because htey keep her moving constantly)

and when I am doing homework with her at home.

Now, I really struggle with medication. I talked to our

neurodevelopmental pediatrician back in September and he wasn't sure

if Amber's inability to focus was true attention issues or whether it

was related to her delays (her attention for a 2 1/2 to 3 year old is

appropriate-for a child that is 4.5, it isn't). He told me that

while he didn't normally medicate children that just turned 4, he

felt comfortable doing so if it was warranted (I forget the

medication he mentioned but he said it has been in use for over 30

years). I told him that I wasn't comfortable with it at this point.

We agreed to let it go for now and revisit the medication issue if it

started to interfere with her learning.

Now I don't know what to do. I hate hte idea of medication, but will

it help her learn easier. She has so much going against her, I don't

know if adding medication to the mix will help (if she can focus, she

can get more out of her therapy) or hurt (since she clearly has a

neurological condition, is it wise to medicate her unless it is life-

threatening). I know that some of you mentioend Pro-EFA's helping

with attention, but they didn't seem to help her last year when she

was on them (but was she just too young developmentally?).

I am the type of person that will suffer with a migraine (and

complain nonstop!!) rather than take a Tylenol, so I hope that

explains why I am suffering so with this situation.

Any BTDT advice?

Thanks

Tina and Amber