Didn't know where else to look...My 10 year old DD diagnosed with ADHD
06-04-2009, 03:34 PM
#21
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NY
Posts: 5,652
You need to see a specialist....regular MD's do not have the training for tis. These medicine have some terrible side effects.... Almost every teacher i have met with says
the same things. A dr will go along with it. Makes it easier for the teacher if the kids sit and be quiet
the same things. A dr will go along with it. Makes it easier for the teacher if the kids sit and be quiet
06-04-2009, 03:49 PM
#22
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Belle Isle, Florida
Posts: 6,668
Hang in there mom! There are many resources that may help. Take one day at a time and try not to get stressed or discouraged. Your daughter sounds like a bright child, so I think your "mom-ing" will do wonders along with what the doc says. You can do it!
06-04-2009, 05:03 PM
#23
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North East USA
Posts: 4,949
Yes ADD'ers are more intellegent then the average bear. That is a fact. It is difficult but it can be dealt with. 33% of us will grow out of it. 33% will be significantly better by adulthood and 33% will not get any better.
06-04-2009, 05:20 PM
#24
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Location: Out searching for some sunshine :-)
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When my daughter was 4, her doctor had me put a hand on either side of her little face and hold them there gently until she would look me in the eye. If she looked away, I would stop talking, when she made eye contact I would start over. She learned to listen and focus on what I was saying. We only used this method for the more important stuff, eventually all we would have to say is look at me please while I am talking and then she tuned out whatever else was going on and would focus on us. Her teachers would tap on their desk, not saying anything, and that was my daughters sign to pay attention. No one else in the room knew it was just for her benefit...they thought it was meant for "all" who may not be paying attention.
06-04-2009, 05:27 PM
#25
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North East USA
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In the third grade my DD was bringing home hours of homework every night. I contacted the teacher who told me it was stuff she had not finished in school cause she was wondering the room. I told her to tell DD to SIT DOWN!! She wouldn't so I gave DD a small postit note to go at the corner of her desk. I told her to put a mark on the paper everytime she got up and bring me the paper every night. The first day she had 24 marks on the paper and four hours of homework. I told her I wanted the marks cut in half the next day, they were and so was the homework. Things progressed along until she was only getting up 4-6 times a day and the homework was much better. This is just one example of how things go with an ADD'er.
06-04-2009, 06:09 PM
#26
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 825
I have had many students who have been on ADHD medication including Concerta. I have seen it work wonders.
I would suggest that you not forget about the non-medication side of living with ADHD. I have seen the most improvement in students who were treated with a combination of medication, counseling and behavior modification.
Some suggestions that may help. Frequent breaks during assignments, alternate seating (I have something called a Wiggle Cushion -- a plastic, inflated cushion shaped like a wedge. Lets kids wiggle as needed while still remaining in their chair), shortened assignments, frequent progress checks with the teacher (child does 2 problems and then checks in, does 2 more and checks in, etc.)
Just an FYI -- schools must make accommodations for children with ADHD under Federal law
Good luck and God bless.
I would suggest that you not forget about the non-medication side of living with ADHD. I have seen the most improvement in students who were treated with a combination of medication, counseling and behavior modification.
Some suggestions that may help. Frequent breaks during assignments, alternate seating (I have something called a Wiggle Cushion -- a plastic, inflated cushion shaped like a wedge. Lets kids wiggle as needed while still remaining in their chair), shortened assignments, frequent progress checks with the teacher (child does 2 problems and then checks in, does 2 more and checks in, etc.)
Just an FYI -- schools must make accommodations for children with ADHD under Federal law
Good luck and God bless.
06-04-2009, 06:44 PM
#27
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW Iowa
Posts: 32,855
my youngest daugher took concerta. It was a godsend for her. She started it as a senior in high school and took it through collage. She has learned as an adult to work with the ADA and is doing better without the meds. They were a godsend when she needed them.
06-04-2009, 11:22 PM
#28
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Williamsport Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,361
I am sorry that you are going through this. My younger sister who is 28 was diagnosed about a year maybe almost two ADD. She probably would have when we were younger too but I don't think it was that common knowledge. She has trouble with tests too. She is taking meds since she started taking college classes. She says that they do help and can tell when she didn't take her med that day.
I hope that you see an improvement with your daughter with the medication.
Kyia
I hope that you see an improvement with your daughter with the medication.
Kyia
06-07-2009, 03:14 PM
#29
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lynchburg, VA
Posts: 739
Originally Posted by dreamdanzzer
I just wanted to share something my daughter's doctor told her when she was 13. School was constantly a battle, she couldn't stay in her seat, she was always in trouble for talking and disturbing other kids, homework was a nightmare and a constant battle of the wills. Combine all that with having a rare disorder that left her with no sweat glands except on her nose, skin that cracked wide open in winter months so even holding something like a pencil could be painful, body temperature that could not be easily regulated -- life was one roller coaster ride after another. At 13 she was diagnosed as ADHD but could not be put on medication because there was no way to know how it would affect her and because I was dead set against medication. Her doctor sat her down and told her "you need to understand that there is nothing wrong with you ~ it is just that your brain works at a speed faster than all the other people and so while they are talking about something, you have already moved on to a whole new topic. What I need you to do for me is to work on slowing down your brain so the rest of us can catch up to you." She walked out of his office feeling confident, rather than like she had one more thing that made her different. We had a great LD teacher - we worked with her on a plan for school work, we put together a schedule that was taped on every surface of the house and she had to check off each thing as she accomplished it, we set a time limit that she had to stay on task for each day and worked at increasing that time every two weeks. She took her tests at school in time increments - one part of the test on day one, second part of the test on day two and within the task time frames we developed. Within just a few months her school work had improved tremendously, her grades jumped way up, she could stay on task for the time limits and started increasing the time limits on her own. Her behavior at home and school improved -- it was like having a whole new child!! :) When she would get off task, we'd remind her, as would her teachers that we needed her to slow her brain down so we could catch up. She is 28 years old now and to this day she keeps a list of things she needs to get done, she is the most organized person I know and one of the most patient with kids and adults with disabilities ~ because she has been in their shoes.
So ~ tell you're little one she needs to slow her brain down so all of you can catch up.
So ~ tell you're little one she needs to slow her brain down so all of you can catch up.
this sounds EXACTLY like me!!! it is so nice to know I'm not the only one...
Rose Hall
06-07-2009, 06:04 PM
#30
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Central Washington State
Posts: 5,997
How do the experts determine that a child is ADD or ADHD?
I read a Guideposts magazine a few months back about a mom who found out that it wasn't add or ADHD that was her child's problem.
The girl had sleep apnea ... they took her to a sleep clinic and found out that the child was stopping breathing almost every three to five minutes!
Can you imagine what your brain would do during the day if during the night, you were struggling to stay alive?
I do not mean to discourage you in trusting your medical experts, but I have heard so many things that make the child uncontrollable in school - - from their sensitivity to flourescent lights in the classroom, to the sleep apnea, to a sensitivity to molds growing in the plaster walls.
If the FIRST thing a DR says is: XYZ ... a pill will take care of it ... without actually ruling out things like sleep apnea, or other sensitivities ... I don't know that I would accept his/her choice of medication until she/he has explained to me why it can ONLY be ADHD/ADD.
I read a Guideposts magazine a few months back about a mom who found out that it wasn't add or ADHD that was her child's problem.
The girl had sleep apnea ... they took her to a sleep clinic and found out that the child was stopping breathing almost every three to five minutes!
Can you imagine what your brain would do during the day if during the night, you were struggling to stay alive?
I do not mean to discourage you in trusting your medical experts, but I have heard so many things that make the child uncontrollable in school - - from their sensitivity to flourescent lights in the classroom, to the sleep apnea, to a sensitivity to molds growing in the plaster walls.
If the FIRST thing a DR says is: XYZ ... a pill will take care of it ... without actually ruling out things like sleep apnea, or other sensitivities ... I don't know that I would accept his/her choice of medication until she/he has explained to me why it can ONLY be ADHD/ADD.
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