Need advice on ADD/ADHD

[Reinbeau]

ADHD is not a mental illness, it's a difference in brain wiring. There are many members of my family with ADHD, including me. I wasn't 'diagnosed' until I was 38, and had two sons of my own, both with the diagnosis, one inattentive type (I don't believe he has it at all, and he hasn't been treated for it) and the other hyperactive, just like his mother. My son wasn't learning, they put him into the third grade unable to read a word of english. Idiots. His IQ measured over 149! I spent thousands of dollars on tutors and special schooling (after normal school hours) and they were able to teach him just fine, however, we did start him on Ritalin, and it definitely made a difference. He only took it during school hours, though. As far as I was concerned, he was normal - just like me. Normal but different. And there's the rub.

My son is extremely smart, but it turned out he also has dyslexia, which was causing his reading problems. Finding the right tutoring was critical in helping him. The schools did absolutely nothing but do a CORE evaluation on him and then drag their heels from one end of the year to the next. It wasn't until I threatened them with lawyers that they finally got off their sorry butts and put together a half-a**ed plan for him. It was a joke. Thank goodness we had the means to help him out ourselves. He's 23 years old now, an apprentice electrician, he'll do well in life, no thanks to them.

Many ADHD children don't learn the same way so-called 'normal' children do. It takes a few tries to find the right approach, but there is a way for your child to learn. Even without meds, although in today's society meds make it a bit easier. The change in my son's ability to sit and attend was amazing once he started taking the Ritalin. But when he decided he no longer wanted to take it (he started at 10, ended at 13) he stopped taking it. His decision. I respected it.

So, as a tool to help him get over the hump and learn, it was a good move for him and us. Don't let the schools bully you into it - let it be your own decision.

As for nutrition, etc. I'm not against going that route, I just don't think it has all that much to do with it. It's the way we're wired. Eating well, avoiding artifial ingredients, all that is important for many reasons in our lives, but treating ADHD isn't one of them. Of course if you or your child has a sensitivity to the additives then by all means avoid them - but if the symptoms are caused by those additives or some other foodstuff, it isn't ADHD.

There's a great book, called ADD: A Different Perspective - Hunter in a Farmer's World, By Thom Hartmann, that's a neat read about ADHD. I have come to agree with much of what he has to say - he's interesting, he's also diagnosed ADHD, as is Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, who wrote Driven to Distraction. Both of these men are college educated, successful people living with ADHD. I personally know some of the people who wrote prologues or other pieces of both of these books. I've been dealing with ADHD issues since 1984 - it's something I've researched thoroughly.

Good luck with your quest in getting help for your child. If you want to chat, PM me.

 

[country freedom]

Quote:
I have 4 out of 6 children who have ADHD - 2 mild, 2 severe - You really have to have a consistant daily routine for them to keep AND you have to be consistant and firm with all kinds of disclipline - no hitting - for them to maintain more or less peace (some kind of quiet) every day.

My children were diagnosed in 1998 and the family therapist (I was going thru court ordered separation from their father for abuse) threatened to get my children taken away from me IF I didn't up their dosages and get a new family Dr. < he wouldn't up the dosages because none of my children who were taking Ritalin were gaining any weight.

I haven't had any of my children on any meds since we've moved here to Indiana in 2000
and my life has never been boring! Yes we have trying days but every day is taken as a learning xperience for us.

I have had to write a list of how to clean/keep a bedroom:
1) Make bed neatly
2) Put paired shoes on closet floor neatly
3)Hang button-down shirts in closet neatly
4) Fold other shirts neatly and put away into drawers neatly
ect.......I also had to make other kinds of lists.
If I didn't put the word "neatly" after each specific line my children would have just thrown everything everywhere in their bedrooms have to be told/ made again to do it right.
That would go on all day.

Every day there were/are small rewards and every week there were/are larger rewards for anyone who hadhas done what had/has to be done. I also had/have them doing friendly competitions with each other to keep them from fighting AND telling them that they won't have me around at some point in their futures and that they would have to keep close and help each other out if a need came up.

I also tell all my children that I'm very blessed to have each of them in my life for my children because only the Good Lord above gives parents rare gems from heaven to cherish and to teach how to get back Home. I also tell them I love'm too.

 

[ams3651]

I agree, even with my sons developmental problems he has always had the ability to "figure it out", The Dr once asked me when he was 2, how does he ask for something. He didnt , he found a way to get it. He loves puzzles, but teaching him letters required word association and numbers he just doesnt get. As for Jenny McCarthy, I saw her story and it is amazing but her story is about autism and there are so many types, shes so lucky she found what worked for her.

 

[debakadeb]

I want to add to what some of the others have said about medication and ADHD. My son, who is now 32, also has the inattentive type of ADHD. He wasn't hyperactive but it is my understanding that a person does not have to be physically hyperactive to be mentally hyperactive. While our son received medication, Ritilin, it was at a very low dosage and was built around school. To ensure his liver was not being damaged, we had blood tests done every 3-6 months. Today, they have other medications for those under the age of 12 that I think do an even better job. You are probably tired of hearing this but it can make life easier for your child if they are lightly medicated. Certainly you don't want a zombie effect. I also believe a counselor is one of the best routes you can take for you and your child. Early counseling can make a difference.

This is what I know.... ADHD affects more than learning. It affects the way a child feels about themselves. When they are so far behind other children, it takes its toll.

This is what I've heard... our prisons are full of learning disabled adults. Why? I don't know but I would hazard a guess and say it is because children grew up into adulthood feeling bad about themselves, did not feel they could suceed at anything, and basically said "why not?"

Working at a college, I have seen many ADHD children make a success of their life. I'm saying this because sometimes it feels like you hear so many negatives that itG is improtant to know that there are many positives. Most ADHD children are extremely creative. These are the people writing our books, creating fantastic art, acting on broadway, inventing tools the rest of us would not begin to try. I could go on and on.

I read a book once that said we have 2 types of people in this country -- the farmer and the hunter. The farmer is very much a routine sort of person, has certain expectations, and works within what s/he considers the norm. On the other hand, the hunter is very quick to make a decision. The farmer would call that impulsive. The hunter would call it survival. To survive in the jungle, you have to make quick decisions.

So many ways to look at this. Your child may have an amazing gift once the "farmer" stuff if sifted through.

I wish you the best.

 

[chcknrs]

My son was diagnosed with ADD/ADHD at about 2 1/2 years old. The old doctor I had taken him to told me to take him off sugar. That helped, but not completely.

Then my stepdad gave me a book called "Why your child is hyperactive" by a Dr. Feingold. I read the book, followed the elimination diet, and found out the foods that were causing my son's problem.

My son was also dyslexic, and I had problems with the first school he went to. When we finally moved and got him a 'real' resource specialist, he made great gains. His IQ is also very high up on the charts, 135 I believe.

Before you try meds, I encourage you to try the diet. It's not easy, most everything is made from scratch. If you cut out what they most recommend (anything with artificial flavors, colors or preservatives) you may start to see a difference. It's hard tho, no fast food, no candy, no packaged food.

Breyer's ice cream is all natural, so is 7UP now, so those are some treats.

We found out my son reacted to strawberries, almonds and concentrated tomato products (ketchup).

Good luck to you!

 

[seismic wonder2]

Im sorry but I have to climb on my nutritional consulatant soap box for a few minutes...
Somptons such as poor coordination, inability to concentrate, mood swings, inappropriate emotional reactions, fatigue, depression, digestive problems, writing and reading problems, are the hallmark of too many children. What they all have incommon is the brain.

the brain is the most vulnerable organ of the body to poor nutrition. Essential fats, and fat soluable vitamins and zinc, are commonly missing in the average 21st century junk food diet. They ahve been replaced by high sugar foods, high processed fats, refined wheat(white flour) and dairy products.

Many kids diagnosed with ADHD acutally show known typical symptoms of essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency, such as evcessive thurst, dry skin, eczema, and asthma. It is also interesting that males, who have a much higher EFA requirements than females, are more commonly affected: four out of five children with ADHD are males.

Kids with ADHD bay be deficient in EFA not just because they are have inadequate intake, but rather because their need is higher because they don't absorb them properly or because they don't converth them well to prostaglandins that help their brain communicate.

Prostaglandin conversion can be inhibited by most of the foods that cause symptoms in kids with ADHD, like wheat and dary products. Conversion is alsi hindered by deficencies in vitamins like B3, B6, and C, Boitin, Zinc and magnesium.

It looks like REAL food, vitamins and minerals can help just as well as making robots of kids with drugs.
Hmmmmmm......
Im off my Nutritional soap box now...
By the way, I'm typing too fast and made several spelling errors, And I really don't care. You get my point anyway....

 

[shangri-lafarms]

My son age 7 turning 8 in Sept. has been diagnosed w/ADHD. He has been on meds for one year and he does great....He had a lot of problems since birth, he did not speak until he was 2 or so, he had a few words like mama dada but no other words. Then when he did speak he was having a hard time with his speech. I thought he was deaf, but he wasn't I had him evaluated and his gross motor skills were more than a year behind. So I put him in speech therapy/PT for gross motor. We did this for about one year, then we tried changing his foods, but eventually he is on meds, and really he does well with them he takes Metadate CD and doesn't have alot of side effects. The most important thing I have learned with all of this is to have direct eye contact when speaking to them and make sure they hear what you are saying..I get down to my son's eye level so that I am sure he hears me...Hope everything goes well for you

 

[cthrash1]

My 10yo son is severe ADHD combined with impulsivity(he really tries hard to control this though) and also moderate to severe Dyslexic. I was on nerve meds myself because I didn't want him drugged down but when he started in school we had to do something. After many meds we settled on the Daytrana patch which was wonderful for about 2 yrs...but like his daddy he builds resistance easily to meds so now he is on a new one called Vyvanse. He has been dx with ADHD since Kindergarten and with the dyslexia last school year(4th gr) although we've known since Kindergarten but no one high up in the school system would listen even though his teachers each year agreed. He not only was having problems with his reading and writing skills but also with comprehension and was literally writing full sentences completely backwards and could read them. His ADHD makes it harder because in his words he hears everything, sees everything, and his own thoughts were keeping him from focusing. When there is too much activity going on he gets really stressed and can't focus. I think additudemag.com really helped me a lot with understanding ADHD and has a lot of good tips. We tried many natural alternatives but not much help, now the meds(nondrowsy by the way) along with tutoring is really making a difference and he is going to be assessed this month for a candidate for the 504 plan(Principal says he's too smart for SPED) so he can have more accomodations at school, although they have already started them...They allow him to go to a room in the library to do his school work any time he is feeling overwhelmed with distractions. I have learned through all these years that almost always ADD/ADHD has a coexisting condition of some kind that goes along with it.
I would suggest reading the info on additudemag.com as it is very helpful.
IMO I feel there are too many children being dx with ADD/ADHD that shouldn't be because maybe they are a little more hyper than Jane Doe's kid or there is another underlying problem that may resemble it etc...Then there are kids who really do have it and need the help to keep focused or need the help to learn how to control their impulsivity. We've been lucky to have a very cautious Dr. that has a lot of experience with this Disorder and will only give the lowest dose possible as he does not like the drugging down theory and encourages Occupational Behavioral Therapy wholeheartedly although we still haven't found a psychologist in our area that practices this yet.

 

[cthrash1]

Quote:
Hey check out this site it shows syptoms of dyslexia...sounds a lot like he may have it. It isn't only writing backwards although that is some tell tale signs. ADD/ADHD and Dyslexia often go hand in hand. http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/learning/dyslexia.html and also this one is extremely helpful as well I love it http://www.dys-add.com/dysvideo.html (read through this whole site).

 

[cthrash1]

Quote:
Being that hers is the inattentive type, there is a program called Play Attention at www.playattention.com that really sounds like it would be great. It's expensive but I would buy it if/when I could. It is PC based and works on the brainwaves to help build stronger focus. Check it out