Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd)

Aliyah’s Experience with Vyvanse

Aliyah is a 6-year-old child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To avoid difficulties during medicine and disease treatment, it is preferable to resolve the problem before it becomes chronic and severe. Vyvanse is a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (ADHD). Because patients with ADHD have a brain imbalance, the medicine is designed to function as a stimulant to aid in restoring the equilibrium of the brain’s neural neurotransmitters (Buttross, 2007). Aliyah experienced insomnia throughout the first few days of using the medication. It was when we visited the doctor back for the effects seen after using the drug. It was later recommended that the medicine could be avoided during afternoon or evening hours. Once a day, only in the morning was the final prescription that the doctor recommended. Despite the side effects experienced from the use of Vyvanse 20mg, the attention of Aliyah improved and slowly there was positive progress that brought hope to me. The performance of Aliyah improves regarding how she could react to situations and the emotional character changed after a few days of using the medicine. The situation had been disturbing me since she was a child to the age of 6 when the use of Vyvanse indicated some light for her future.

Performance of a “Psychoeducational Assessment” by the University of Maryland Psychology Clinic

As a measure to ensure proper analysis has been done regarding Aaliyah’s condition I approached M, Colleen Byrne from the University of Maryland Psychology Clinic to ask for the help on doing the assessment to Aliyah. The cost of the assessment without including insurance was $700. If it were possible to get a group of other the sessions that were recommended to follow the set program, I would attend one session together with Aliyah and two sessions where she attended by herself (Stahl & Mignon, 2011). Every session was taking two hours. However, I wished we could have met a group of people with the same problem so that we can be charged $50 per session. It could have been cheaper to attend the psychoeducational assessment as a group than individually. The venue of the assessment was held in the place indicated below that covered three assessments.

University of Maryland Psychology Clinic:

Psychology Clinic

2114 Biology-Psychology Building

University of Maryland

College Park, MD 20742

Director: M. Colleen Byrne, Ph.D.

Scheduled Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) with Aliyah’s School

The kids that are seen to be having disabilities or experiencing delayed developmental skills are subject to enrolment in the individualized educational plan (IEP). The reason for enrolling for individualized education programs is to offer special attention and services at no fee charged to families. The endorsement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) brought confidence to parents by making them feel the most important people in the lives of their children in supporting education. The struggle that Aliyah has in reading made me get help from the CHADD Montgomery County Chapter to improve the ability of the child. Lucky enough the meetings are made open to the public free of charge. All meetings were scheduled at every first Wednesday of every month unless it was on a public holiday. After booking the meetings, I programmed my schedule to be attending the meetings at the CHADD Montgomery County Chapter http://www.chadd-mc.org/montgomery-county. The schedule was as indicated below for the first five months of the year 2017.

First Wednesday of every month (except Holidays)

7:30 - 9:00 pm

2017 Meeting Dates:

January 4, 2017

February 1, 2017

March 1, 2017

April 5, 2017

May 3, 2017

The meetings were held at the Twinbrook Library 202 Meadow Hall Dr. Rockville, MD 20851.

Obstacles and Challenges in Implementing the Plan of Action

Obstacles may be faced in the implementation of the plan of action for medicating Aliyah and ensuring that she can interact well with people and make her improve her performance at school. Firstly, the assessment cost is high considering the insurance fee is not included. The high cost of consultation and treatment leads to the cut in the household expenses to cover for medical bills. The reduction of the household expenses contributes to poor living standards to the people. The resources available in school cannot be quantified to satisfy Aliyah’s needs as a special child. The classroom setting needs to be made to be conducive for the patient so that she can thrive and concentrate better. It is suggested that in such conditions, the teacher’s perspective would play a huge role in the success of the intervention that will be implemented. The teacher would thus have to mobilize other educational stakeholders to ensure that the patient is as close to those as possible even when their personal security is threatened (Gordon & Mitchell, 2009). It is essential to encourage the affected student to sit at the front of the class to minimize the possibility of distraction by other students. The teacher should also ensure that those who sit next to Aliyah are quiet and hard working to motivate her to focus on her studies. Through the implementation of these techniques, it will be possible to warrant that Aliyah will thrive in the learning environment.

Consequently, when issuing feedback to the parent, it is crucial to cover the need for her to seek intervention from a health facility to help in managing the condition. Parents would have to be involved in the behavioral therapy process through training from a healthcare provider. Medications would also have to be provided to Aliyah though it has since been identified that there are possibilities for side effects from the medication. Awareness and observation for signs of sleep problems, tics, a decrease in appetite, delayed growth, moodiness and irritability and headaches are enough to warrant that the child is experiencing side effects associated with the medication. In any of these cases, it will be important to consult the advice of the physician on the development and the appropriate course of action.

Personal Reflection

I chose this lot of life because I am personally going through this ordeal with my son. He is eight years old and unbelievably smart (for all things except reading). All the actions planned in this assignment are the very actions I took with my son. He has been on Vyvanse for three months and slowly minimizing minor side effects. As it is well understood, every drug has side effects, but it works well when they are taken care. The medication was the first step before I decided to meet the teachers and discuss Aliyah’s case in school. Before meeting with the school, I had him assessed by UMD, and the experience was amazing. I learned not only that he had ADHD attentive and inattentive, but he also had some anxiety and a learning/reading disability. We are also extremely lucky to be in the school that he is currently attending. They have been exceptional and not once have I had to but, his teacher reports to me weekly, and I love it.

Conclusion

Aliyah’s case is among the many that present a variety of cases that need to be addressed amicably. The questionnaires given to the mother for filling were not well received because some of the questions asked were not appealing to the mother. When a research about an issue is being carried out, it entails the collection of information and correlating it to come up with a decision that will help solve the issue. Questions, such as the sexuality of a child, should not be received with a wrong perspective; they should rather be answered adequately to help gather the required information. Through the analysis of literature, it will be possible for the parent to understand the condition affecting the child and the need for the correct diagnosis. A good explanation of a child’s character will determine the stage of the disease and the kind of prescription to be given to the child. There is also a chance that there are other disorders complicating the primary condition and all have to be factored. The treatments patterns could involve behavioral therapy, classroom interventions, and medication, but a close attention needs to be paid to the occurrence of side effects.

References

Buttross, L. (2007). Understanding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (1st ed.). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Gordon, S. & Mitchell, A. (2009). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (1st ed.). New York: Nova Biomedical Books.

Stahl, S. & Mignon, L. (2011). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge \University Press.