Any good websites or books for ADHD or firsthand advice?

[Oh Haha]

Our son was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of weeks ago. We had him tested by our pediatrician as well as a counselor who also confirmed the symptoms.

After getting through the 'why us/him?" phase, we decided to take our doctor's advice and put him on medicine. I was totally against giving my son "drugs" to be normal. After thinking about it, I figured that was pretty selfish of me so I conceded that it was in his best interest.

It has made a HUGE difference in school. I'm not claiming it is a wonder medicine but we have seen the changes firsthand.

I know that there those that feel these type of "problems" can be resolved without drugs or that schools get $$$ for each student they diagnose. That may be the case but I know that if we didn't try it, he would not be with his peers but behind.

My wife and I are having a bit of a hard time with it, though. We are over anylyzing everything he does.

Do any of you have kids on medicine or have experience with this? We trust our pediatrician 100%(even me) but we would like to learn as much as we can about what changes we should make to accomodate this.

Thanks for your understanding.

[Tishabet]

How old is your son?

[Oh Haha]

He'll be 6 in December.

We know that we are fortunate that he is healthy in every other way and that other parents only wish that they just had to deal with this disorder.

[vash]

what were we talking about? look puppies!

i jest...wayne, good luck. i think i had the same issues as a kid. scattered, i simply grew out of it. somewhat. hope it all works out.

[Oh Haha]

me too, Vash.

My mom always said she let me play drums so that I would use up my energy on something useful.

[porsche4life]

How much time does he spend outside being active? Play video games much?

[teenerted1]

what kind of outside activities is he involved in?

the reason i ask is i was diagnosed as hyperactive as a kid 35+yrs ago. may or may not be the same as todays ADHD. was put on Ritalin as a kid.

but during the summer(was off drugs when not in school)and when i was playing sports the problems seemed not as bad. winter seemed the best since i was playing hockey all the time. fall not so good since i didn't play football and spring was so-so since baseball just didn't physically challenge kids

by time i got to my teenage years was taken off since being active seemed to counteract a lot of the paying attention in school issues. soccer in the fall basketball in the winter and track or soccer in the spring. plus i always picked PE as an elective class. the exercises helps more than physical issues.

not a parent so not really up on what kids go through these days, but i am of the school that if you keep them physically active a lot of these things will sort them selves out.

the whole push for 60 minutes of physical activity a day sounds great to me. good way to solve physical, emotional and social issues if you ask me. helps keep them off the video machines toys too, and help keep obesity away...

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

How much time does he spend outside being active? Play video games much?

As much time out as the weather allows and he only plays his VSmile before bedtime,maybe 20 minutes total.

As I told my wife, some of his hyperactivity is just being a 6YO boy. What isn't normal are the signs that we saw when he started kidergarten this year.

teenerted1--I agree on the sports thing and outside activity. This is why we want to find many sources of info on what we can do as his parents to help him along. My biggest worry is him falling behind in school.

ADD is differerent than ADHD although the terms are used by most people interchangeably.

[HardDrive]

I wouldn't be shy about giving my kid drugs. I had (have ADHD), no question. I always tested into the 'gifted' programs at school, but my grades were typically horrible. Studying was very, very hard for me.

[Whtnkls911]

My oldest son who is now 18, was diagnosed with ADHD at about the same age. Meds made a world of difference in school and life in general. School became much easier for him and his success in school made him happy. He was also able to make good friends with other kids which was never possible before medicine. My son also attended counseling and we attended family counseling to help my wife and I understand how to parent him because he was so different from our other two children. It has been an interesting journey with our son and if I were to suggest anything it would be to communicate with his doctor and find a counselor he likes.

[Oh Haha]

I knew I could count on you guys for some encouraging words. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences. I will show my wife these. I think it will help her as well.

[Chocaholic]

Our son had ADHD without hyperactivity. Was on meds for about 3 years (ages 7 - 10) and then outgrew it. Doing great now.

[wreckersteve]

My stepson has it. He could pay attention even when being disiplined. 2 things we learned. You cant medicate a kid perfect. He will always have some symtoms. Get it the best you can and live with it. Second thing we found was to keep him on a schedule. Sleep study and the like. It helped him alot. Now if i could only spell tonight.

[ben parrish]

Just curious, what were the signs that you saw that led you to take your son to the doc?


I was diagnosed in grammar school...Ritalin for a while...never saw a big difference. I also always tested for the gifted classes and placed there but never studied so my grades were only passable. School bored me to tears! I could doodle and daydream during class and still retain enough information to get by by just listening to the teacher.
I would have probably excelled in a different school structure...this is why my daughter is attending a Montessori school; I like the fact that the kids can learn at their pace utilizing activities that interest them the most.

I still recognize times I feel scattered but with that comes a photographic memory and the ability to learn abstract information very quickly.

I don't necessarily believe that having "ADHD" is anything to worry about. Keep your son active and find activities that excite him and I bet you will see him advance at a rapid pace.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

As I told my wife, some of his hyperactivity is just being a 6YO boy. What isn't normal are the signs that we saw when he started kidergarten this year.

What "signs"?

While I agree that for some kids meds are a magic bullet, for most I think they are a mistake. I know in the case of my son we resisted meds, finally caved to pressure from a variety of directions, then quickly found that they were decidedly *not* the answer. We finally got a different doctor who said that he didn't have ADHD (despite a very well respected psych testing him and saying he did). In our case the solution was play therapy with a good therapist along with an IEP at school.

Again, there certainly are those that should go the med route, but in general I find that schools are way to quick to take the "easy" way out, as are many docs. You don't see many girls at school on ADHD meds...why is that? They immune? Or have we just made it "illegal" to be a boy?

In our case we worked with the school to come up with a plan that helped him work within a reasonable set of constraints and they made allowances (and they have to by law). Now in 7th grade the IEP is going away as he doesn't really have a lot of the same behavior issues.

I have seen kids who were transformed by meds both positively and negatively. There was one in particular that I remember. Very bright and vibrant kids who was a bit of a handful. The school pushed for meds, the parents said, "ok," and he became a very quiet and sedate kid. Good for the school...but imho not the same kid.

This isn't an indictment of meds or the parents who go that route. I have seen some kids who were totally uncontrollable without that meds helped immensely. But I do think that schools are the primary cause of ADHD, both by often mind-numbing class environments and the inability to let boys be boys.

[Oh Haha]

Signs-

Resistance to going to school even though he has the same teacher he had for pre-school and he really liked her.

Needing directions repeated several times and still not completing the task. "Giving up" was what we were told.

Not wanting mom to leave him at school, insisting that she stays the entire time he is there. (We obviously didn't do this.)



I was the first one to chalk it up to new school jitters or just being a boy but when not only the teacher but an independant counselor and his doctor say the same thing, I had to listen.

Todd--what is IEP?

Good point on the girls as well. I am going to ask our doc at the next visit about it.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Signs-

Resistance to going to school even though he has the same teacher he had for pre-school and he really liked her.

Needing directions repeated several times and still not completing the task. "Giving up" was what we were told.

Not wanting mom to leave him at school, insisting that she stays the entire time he is there. (We obviously didn't do this.)

I was the first one to chalk it up to new school jitters or just being a boy but when not only the teacher but an independant counselor and his doctor say the same thing, I had to listen.

Todd--what is IEP?

Good point on the girls as well. I am going to ask our doc at the next visit about it.

Individualized Education Program.

6 years old, doesn't want to go to school and has trouble staying on-task? Stop the presses...

Of course it depends on the details of the interactions, but just because teacher, counselor and doc all say the same thing doesn't make it gospel. You know your kid better than any of these people.

Again, I'm not saying that he doesn't have ADHD or that he shouldn't be on meds. But despite me being generally pro-psych and pro-meds, ADHD in boys is one area where I'm not convinced.

[Oh Haha]

Todd-I know what you mean and I was, at first anyway, against even testing him.

I also felt that if I didn't agree to look into it further, I would be not giving my son the best chance to succeed. I felt that he just needed a bit of discipline to get in gear, so to speak.

Trust me, I can be the most cycnical person in a room and I didn't want to believe that my son had this.

He is showing improvement.

[Mothy]

My son was diagnosed with ADHD when 7 - he is now 21. Was initially put on Dex then on Ritalin - fairly low dosage. Both a very restricted drugs down here - needs to be diagnosed by recognised pediatrician on referal from family doctor.

Have never regretted the decision - it has always been a case that he was better off on the medication than off unless there was something else to keep him highly focussed or no need (such as school holidays).

Ritalin has been around for many many years - you will get lots of stories and articles written about it and ADHD or ADD and will nearly always have a negative slant. Most a written by people who don't have first hand knowledge and invariably misquote/misrepresent results.

Tim

[Rot 911]

Our daughter is 9 and has been on ADD meds since she was 5. We keep the dose as low as possible and still allow her to have some power of concentration in school. Without the meds she is like a pinball bouncing around in the classroom.