My son is 6 & has been on Ritalin 10mg twice a day since april. everything has been going really well until about 2 weeks ago we noticed he has started to escalate in his aggression towards us. over the past 2 weeks I have been called to his vacation care to calm him as he was hitting other children/carers & also throwing anything he could get his hands on, I have been called to his before school care for the same reason & now today had to pick him up from school as he not only injured other students he has destroyed the classroom & bitten a teacher. I'm not sure what to do. is it possible the Ritalin is no longer working? I have to wait until Monday to see if he is going to be suspended from school for his actions.
Wow. I would contact his prescriber immediately. He might need a higher dosage. I’m really sorry you are going through this with your son. Could he be unable to verbalize his feelings? There might be a reason why he is acting out. Is it a possibility that someone (a fellow student or teacher/daycare employee) might be mistreating him or being mean to him? I would definitely look into these things before prescribing a higher dosage of medicine. Huggles
Shana
Thank you ladies for your support. I just wanted to give you an update. unfortunately the school has decided to suspend him for 3 days. We had a meeting with the principal this morning in which we informed her that our son has said the other children make fun of him & won't let him play. It appears he doesn't want to tell the teachers when this is happening as in the past when he has gone to the teacher he has ended up being in trouble. we will continue to work closely with the school for the best outcome for all. I feel as though I have let him down as he is struggling with something yet can not seem to verbalise it. He is a beautiful little soul & I constantly tell him I will love him forever but sometimes I don't like him for what he is doing. This seems to hit a soft spot & he cools down.
Sometimes the teachers at school, vacation care or daycare are skilled at including children into groups with activities. It's not uncommon to be working on behavioral issues at any age, and younger children can learn the skills they need to socialize and with guidance they'll understand how to be included in groups or to make friends more easily. If the teachers can bring a few children together or individually with your son in a safe setting when things are calm, he can get some information from his peers about how they feel about his behavior, and what his peers do when asking other children if they would like to play. It takes practice for some children but the results can be very positive.
I could be a medication issue along with something else. I love the gentle ways of connecting in the other suggestions. So important!