<p>I haven’t read through this whole thread, but as the parent of a child diagnosed with ADHD in HS (under different circumstances though) this is what comes to mind.</p>
<p>1-Why is he refusing the meds? If they make him feel bad maybe he should try a different one. If he’s embarassed about taking them during the school day he could take it at home and no one has to know. When my son first started an adderall his comment was that instead of catching himself zoning out in class he caught himself paying attention. That was really exciting to him. We had him try the medication at home first before going to school medicated. That may have reassured him about how it would make him feel. Fortunately he had no negative side effects. My best suggestion would be to try and listen to why he is rejecting the diagnosis and how he explains the difficulty he is having. Then you may be able to work with that. </p>
<p>2- My S has always had organizational difficulties. The incredible thing that I saw in him was that once he saw this disorganization as connected to a disorder he was willing to work on it in a way that he never would no matter how many times I tried to teach him or scolded him to clean up his room. That is not to say that one year later he is completely organized, just that he recognizes that this is something he needs to work on.</p>
<p>3-Two of the things that have been most helpful for my son in keeping his grades up have been making an effort to sit in the front of the classroom to avoid being distracted and having several other kids he could contact regarding assignments in each class. He was doing both of these things without ever discussing ADD with anyone. </p>
<p>Just looking at your words it seems that if you can convey to your son that the medication will not magically fix him but might facilitate his ability to “try harder” and that the medication alone without his effort to try hard won’t change anything he might be more willing to try it. From what you mentioned it seems he needs to see the medication as a tool and not as a cop out. You said you want him to try the medication to see if it makes him “feel better”. It might help if you can use another term besides “feel better”. Perhaps he should use it to see if it helps him to “pay attention” or something of that nature. There is nothing that says he has to take it every day or that he needs a full day’s dose to start out. He can take it one day and not the next and see if he notices a difference in his ability to focus in class. If he just takes a morning dose and not an 8 hour time released dose he can try and see if he feels different in class in the morning than in the afternoon. If he can grow to see that taking the medicine along with other steps he takes is what he does to help himself then he might be more inclined to work with his diagnoses than ignor or reject it.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>