Avner had previously encountered an ADHD medication “generic equivalent” that gave him extreme side effects. The reaction was so violent that we filed a report with the FDA about the medication. Apparently several other patients had enough problems that the medication was removed from the list of generic equivalents for Concerta (a longer acting form of the same medication in Ritalin).
Still the attitude grew darker. Avner gravitated to violent video games. In fact he had migrated away from the social games that he played with friends at school. He was turning morose and there wasn’t a ready explanation, except adolescents. Everything that we thought we saw could be explained by teenage hormones or frustration with school work.
Avner faced a number of challenges in school. By the time that we finally secured his individualized education plan, more commonly known as an IEP, he was in third grade. Avner received a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asperger’s Syndrome, now classified under the larger umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He was classified as twice exceptional, meaning that he also tests with a gifted IQ. Some