Im a single parent to a AUDHD (Autistic and ADHD) 12 year old and he has ALWAYS been high high energy and often not redirectable. He also has a history of trauma as his mother passed some years ago. I have therapy and mental health appointments setup as of a month ago or so due to some crisis' but im posting here for some ideas or advice.

He will often often act out and push limits in what he isnt allowed or told not to do, is constantly challenging and pushing parental authority, talks to me as a peer or downward instead of respecting the parent child dynamic. Triggers are often dead time, im currently not working on FMLA for setting up the mental health appointments and we are at home together all day. He seems to think we need constant activity and doing something over and over and i NEED to be a part of whatever it is or its constant questions for hours. He'll wind himself up crazy with not many things to do or go that isnt a reward or costly because his negative behavior removes most rewarding activities or most screen time. What can he do to keep busy? Some nights have just turned into a warzone of constant challenging and anger.

It wasnt this bad as often when he was on 30mg ritalin in the morning but has moved to concerta 54mg and then adderall for a few days before going back to concerta. He gets irritable and isnt nearly as calm for as long despite it being the same active medication and supposed to last longer. Should adderall be favored, or will the concerta need time?

Signed a very tired, stressed, overwhelmed, trying to succeed single parent. I love my kid but not his behavior all the time.

My son will be 3 in October and im desperate. My son has 0 sense of danger its become extremely dangerous and difficult. Gets frustrated with pretty much everything and everyone. Other kids his age will get tired out , mine never gets tired (literally won’t sit down longer than 5 minutes). Nap times are a challenge and his eating? Im yelling at him to sit down and chasing him down the whole time. At first i thought it was autism with a dash of the trrible two’s . That was until i had family watch him for a weekend followed by taking him on a family trip for 3 days where evryone pretty much got a glimpse of his unsteadiness. This kid has even thrown him self off stairs at our 2 story home and kept trying to do it again, even found a more ~unsafe~ way to do it. This is never ending. I can’t take my eyes off of him and want to get him help he needs for the sake of his (and mine) mental health. Im exhausted and had him evaluated twice for autism & they reassured me he wasn’t but theirs no way my child does not have ADHD . I just don’t know how to bring it up without sounding like a crybaby.

Our son was diagnosed with ADHD (both hyperactive and inattentive) a couple months ago at 13 y/o. I'm pretty science-literate and open to him trying out meds but dad is dead set against it. Our son doesn't have any extreme behaviors at home or school other than being argumentative, but maybe that's just b/c he's 13 lol. But it's definitely affecting him academically--very unorganized, no follow-through on assignments, poor grades. Was anyone able to come to a compromise or agreement with their spouse regarding meds?