Communication with Doctors and Teachers about Predominantly Inattentive ADHD

Finding the best treatment for Predominantly Inattentive ADHD (ADHD-PI) can be a challenge. Teachers and physicians often have very limited feedback regarding how stimulants affect children with ADHD-PI. This is a typical scenario. A parent gives an ADHD-PI child a stimulant, the child does not improve or worsens, the teacher and doctor tell the parent that they need to increase the dose, the parent does not think that more is better and the parent stops the medication. The parent is labeled as non-compliant by both the teacher and the physician.

The parent may then look for a new school or a new doctor or both and the physician and teacher are never given the benefit of hearing why the parent was non-compliant. I think that if that same parent told the teacher and physician, "My child has ADHD Predominantly Inattentive, he is not responding the way that most other kids do to this medication because he is not hyperactive/impulsive, I need your help in finding another way to address his symptoms." I believe that most physicians and teachers would respect and respond appropriately to the parents observations.

This communication exchange can only happen however, if we monitor and report back to our teachers and our physicians regarding the specific effects that the medications are having on our children. If enough teachers and physicians are aware that kids with ADHD-PI may not respond the way other ADHD kids do to the most widely used ADHD medications, then these teachers and physicians will be better able to advise future parents on what they may expect when they place their ADHD-PI children on ADHD therapy.

Some ADHD-PI children will do fine on a regular dose of stimulants, some will do fine on a low dose of stimulants, Some may be helped by Strattera, and some will do better on other treatment regimens. We know very little about how 'best' to treat ADHD-PI, but teachers and physicians need to hear from us about all the effects that the treatments are having on our children. With the information that we provide them, teachers and doctors will be better prepared to treat their other students and patients that they have with ADHD-Pi.