The most important thing is, does this kid get enough sleep at night? That can masquerade as ADD.
I am not a professional, but I have worked with teens with ADD, and this sounds very much like ADD. He probably has shown signs of it before, but it was subtle and easy to miss, especially in boys where ADHD is more common. I know girls and girls tend to have ADD.
2) Concerta has been incredibly helpful in 4 of the 5 people I know who have taken it. One person I know suffered from tics, which Concerta worsens, and had to stop it. The nice thing about Concerta is that you can take it in the AM and don’t need to carry it with you, and it has a smaller “drop” at the end of the day than let’s say Adderall. (I know one person on Adderall, they like it a lot but they also abuse it, saving it for studying, so can’t give you feedback on that.)
2) The alternatives do not work on people with real ADD (not sleep or nutrient deficient.)
Another option is therapy. This may sound strange, but one or two girls I know actually improved without medication. They learned to face their limitations and work with the tools they had.
Yet another option is natural stimulants, like caffeine. A doctor once told me he treats his ADHD with coffee, it’s enough to help him focus. I would not recommend this for a child as it may stunt growth. (the scientific literature on coffee stunting growth goes both ways, but anecdotally, every child I know who drinks coffee regularly, or coffee yogurt, is very short for their age.)
It’s not the end of the world, half the secular Jews I meet tell me they have ADD/ADHD. So I figure there’s a similar percentage in our community. 🙂
Good luck!