ADHD......how we handle it.....

aubs1 · 2009-08-25T12:35:47+00:00

In another thread there were some references to ADHD, so I thought I'd just share this with some of you who are parents and have a child diagnosed with ADHD...... My son, Eli, was diagnosed at age 6. We knew before that that he was hyper-active, but thought, ok, he's just a very active kid! However, when he started school, the signs became more clear, he would write his name up-side down, (no he's not dyslexic) and would do all sorts of stuff to drive his teacher nuts! Not complete his work, can't sit still for more than 10 minutes, gets bored quick, and a host of other stuff. But we did notice that he was quite intelligent, never stops asking questions, difficult stuff, even his teacher said to us one day..."this child has an amazing vocabulary for his age"....geez, that made us feel good.....etc etc etc...... We tried homeopathic medication, which helped calm him down, but still his concentration span was lacking.......we did research for months, internet, specialists, GPs and especially people who had kids who were ADHD. We got him to play soccer, cricket, tennis and his favourite summer sport, swimming, (he can swim for hours) which all helped a bit....... so, eventually we settled on (with the guidance of his paediatrician) Ritatlin, first small doses, and then finally LA once a day......ONLY FOR SCHOOL.....no weekends, no holidays, etc......within the first 2 weeks you would not believe it was the same kid......handwriting improved, it was like night and day......he is now a 95%er at school, and NO side-effects, (we watched specifically for depression, nothing)....... That's also one of the main reasons I bought him the (Taylor) guitar, so he can do something a bit more calming than just sport......he is slowly getting into more music, which also seems to help. Well, just like I said, we are slowly weaning him off the drug by skipping a day here, and a day there, and so far, he's just super, but still asks 10,000 questions a day....hahahaha ?

Manfred-Klose

I have found that a list of possible symptoms for a desease or illness could be just about anything. Example: when i looked at the list for "swine flu" symptoms, i can easily tick off a few, but the fact that i am not even sick makes it so funny. Another thing is that i suffer from a bleeding nose once in a while, there is 101 possible symptons for that as well, which i can also tick off a few. So it would be better to have tests done rather than asume you could possibly have a.d.d. Or some other illness.

Squonk

Very Controversial Subject but as Bob says, there has been a lot of miss diagnosis of ADHD. A lot of doctors prescribing ritalen and diagnosing all kinds of conditions, when there are more natural ways in some cases to remedy the situation.

@ Aubs, Tailon etc , I am not saying that you guys are not genuine. There are genuine cases of ADHD

My wife works at Radford House, one of the only schools in RSA that deal with gifted children. And as you can imagine there is a fine line between gifted and ADHD. The founder of the school Shirley Kokot(you can google Shirley to understand what she is all about) has done extensive research on this subject and has found practical ways of getting these kids off ritalen by using different methods.

I have no clue on the subject but can get the School Principal to comment a bit further.

At Radford they stimulate the children according to the "intelligence" that they are born with.
here are some of the intelligences

Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):
Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
Musical intelligence ("music smart")
Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

In fact some of the kid's IQ's are off the scales but cannot read and write.
As I said I have no clue on the subject, I know all this via my wife.

So you might think your kid is ADHD, but all they might need is proper stimulation from qualified teachers.

Please dont take offence, as I have very little knowledge on this subject.

Reinhard

Manfred Klose wrote I have found that a list of possible symptoms for a desease or illness could be just about anything. Example: when i looked at the list for "swine flu" symptoms, i can easily tick off a few, but the fact that i am not even sick makes it so funny. Another thing is that i suffer from a bleeding nose once in a while, there is 101 possible symptons for that as well, which i can also tick off a few. So it would be better to have tests done rather than asume you could possibly have a.d.d. Or some other illness.

Yeh that is true, imagine what a hypochondriac goes through. My light bulb moment was confirmed a while later when I did a psychology module at varsity, but I agree most conditions have so many symptoms everyone could recognize some of them. I suppose I could pay someone to tell me what I already know, but I'd rather spend the money on guitars ?

aubs1

Squonk wrote @ Aubs, Tailon etc , I am not saying that you guys are not genuine. There are genuine cases of ADHD

My wife works at Radford House, one of the only schools in RSA that deal with gifted children. And as you can imagine there is a fine line between gifted and ADHD. The founder of the school Shirley Kokot(you can google Shirley to understand what she is all about) has done extensive research on this subject and has found practical ways of getting these kids off ritalen by using different methods.

Squonk, no offence taken, this is the sort of response I really welcome, not that I don't welcome ALL responses. I would be a fool if I did not continually search for answers.
Some of the stuff we've tried, and I mean gave it one helluva bash.....but we keep coming to the same conclusion regarding Eli!. Like I said, we tried homeopathic methods, had him off sugar for months, took him off dairy products for months (only used specific powder milks, etc etc) One psychologist even told us he's just a normal naughty little boy.......hahaha..
and Eli is very intelligent, the things he comes up with sometimes even astounds me!
But I'm gonna research Shirley and maybe get my wife to call yours, and just talk about it.......thanx for that info, who knows??

Reinhard wrote ................ but I'd rather spend the money on guitars ?

Hahahaha.......maybe that's the solution Reinhard, get him a few more guitars, get him to drive his audience bananas........ ? ?

TomCat

Hey Aubs

Paul and Eli are like two peas in a pod. When you described Eli at the beginning of this thread it was like you were describing Paul.

We also had him on a form of Ritalin called Concerta for a few years. Also did wonders for him. We took him off when he turned fifteen so he has been off for just over a year now and he is still doing well. The key for Paul is to put structure around him and then help him focus on what needs to be done. We put a daily list on a white board for him and he ticks off his tasks as he completes them.

aubs1

Hey Tom, I am so happy that Concerta worked for Paul, will pray he continues to prosper! I firmly believe it's how we manage the kids is what will help in their recovery.........ah, maybe wrong wording....... bottom line, they're gonna be fine...... ? ?

TomCat

Hey Aubs....sometimes we need to manage our kids for our recovery....LOL.... ? ?

chris77

I think that a lot of the stigma surrounding psychological conditions is a direct result of the quacks who practiced/practice it as an absolute science. The mind is not an engine that has a written down easy to follow blueprint of its design. Its rather an amazing piece of biological hardware that we are only now starting to 'reverse engineer' to find some of its secrets. For too long there were those in the know who made up the rules as they went and then preached it as the gospel. Countless people suffered an amazing amount of scarring because of this, yours truly included. Thank heavens things are starting to change and that along with the better understanding of the human psyche we now live in a society that is much more clued up and tolerant then the folks not so long ago. So my hat goes of to everybody who either personally or through a loved one, has to endure the battle of not being considered 'normal' for whatever reason.

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