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Being an experienced teacher and having gone through this I'd like to add to this discussion. Students may genuinly have ADHD and teachers are usually the first to notice it. A teacher is not allowed to diagnose this, but can recommend a parent take their child to a pediatrician to be tested. Sometimes a student who one would think has ADHD usually suffers from some sort of disfunction in family life or is being bullied in school.
In my defense for teachers, we're not mind readers and have no idea what truly goes on in a child's home or between students. There are many ways students are sneaky and can torment one another without the teacher's knowledge.
I'm wondering if anyone out there has a child they do medicate?
I medicate myself with a mixture of complex carbohydrates, suspended in a liquid medium, that have been processed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Does that count?
I medicate myself with a mixture of complex carbohydrates, suspended in a liquid medium, that have been processed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Does that count?
Our son was/is also a very sweet daydreamer who forgets things. Although very bright, he was just an average student until high school when the work got tougher. By the end of freshman year he was struggling to maintain a passing grade. He was starting to have self esteem issues while his friends were making the deans list. At the suggestion of his counselor, we had the state test him and found out he has some attention deficit issues. They recommended we see a neurologist. We decided to do lots of reading and changed his diet first. When things didn't improve we saw the doctor who recommended adderall and had him see an organizational skills therapist (which he saw weekly for two years) and was a great investment. Everyone should see one of these specialists. Within an hour of starting the meds, we saw a difference and it wasn't a personality change. He could focus and remember things and that was it (except for the loss of appetite). Because he was older he could articulate how he felt, which was a relief to me since I fought the meds and felt like I was giving up by medicating him. He said it was as if someone pulled the switch and all of a sudden he could see clearly. His grades improved as did his self esteem. He is in college now and works full time. He only plans on taking meds while in school. In going through this process, my DH realized he might be ADHD and had himself tested. Having always gotten through on his charm, he suddenly found himself in a pretty tough job working from home. If he was going to succeed in this job he was going to have to overcome all the same issues he had learned to avoid and become very disciplined. He saw the organizational skills therapist and started on the meds. His performance changed immediately and he is now very successful. He is the same person I've always known, the only difference is his focus and attention to things.
What works for one person may not work for another and vice versa. Everyone is different so it's just not fair to criticize one method over another. You have to do what you feel is right for your child. The meds are not a cure all and it can take months of tweaking to get just the right dose but once there, you don't wind up with a zombie.
My favorite books on the subject were Driven to Distraction and the sequel Delivered from Distraction written by two doctors with ADHD. It gives great insight into what happens when ADHD goes undiagnosed and what can be accomplished once you know how to live with it. They also don't view it as a negative thing which I found refreshing. After reading these books, you will recognize a lot of people you know. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a better understanding of how some brains work.
I wish I had more time to respond and I will after tomorrow. My son was diagnosed
in 2nd grade and after being put on Ritalin went from a miserable,angry kid who felt like a failure and who considered doing homework torture to a happy kid who loved school
and felt smart. Yes I hated to give him meds but it was needed . In 10th grade he quit taking his meds and learned to compensate for his ADHD. He is an A student now going to college in a few short months.
If he is diagnosed please consider the emotional toll if he is struggling at school with out meds.
Also remember anything you try is a trial. You watch with the teachers input how it affects him and how his school work is. We tried Alderal for 1 week and I knew
it was a no-go. He was agitated and angry on that med but it may be the right one for another child.
True ADHD is real and trying to treat it with diet may not be enough.
No one says we are over diagnosing vision problems and those kids who have glasses just need more carrots. People who have never had an ADHD kid really don't know
all the struggles a family has that deals with it 24/7.
ADHD is very real and obvious to families who deal with it. (Classrooms are a whole different environment, with different demands and expectations, and I agree that some normal children fall outside those expectations, but are not necessarily truly hyperactive.)
But some children ARE. What is often missing from the discussion is WHY they exhibit these problems. It is not enough to say that there is something going on in their brains. WHY is something going on with the brain?
Dr. Doris Rapp is a wonderful pediatric allergist who has gotten to the bottom of this question for many families. Foods can trigger ADD or ADHD-type behavior. So can things that smell, or things that children touch. She has written several books that outline what to do to figure out for yourself if your child is one of these. In many cases, it's a matter of changing some things that your child is exposed to, and can be dealt with at home without getting into drugs or psychotherapy.
"Is This Your Child?" is one of her books. Another good one (that also deals with school problems) is "Is this Your Child's World?" Dr. Rapp is also available for consultation. She explains her approach as: If you have a sliver in your foot, you can cover it up with a band-aid (Ritalin, etc), or you can pull out the sliver (eliminate the cause.)
Also, there are some types of alternative medicine that help with or eliminate ADD or ADHD. Most doctors are not familiar with Dr. Rapp's approach or using alternative medicine, and many are negative towards trying anything like it. You have everything to gain, and nothing to lose, from looking into all approaches. Good luck --
This is how we explained the medicine to our 7 year old so he would not feel like something was wrong with him.
We talked to him about kids who need glasses to help their eyes focus and see the
board. We said in the same way some need this medicine to help them focus on their work .
We played it down so he would not feel like something was really wrong with him.
The resource teacher at his school said she liked the way we compared it to glasses
for him because it helped him to see that the medicine is just an aid to help him be his best .
Definition of Gifted - What is a Gifted Child?
I have had the same problem with my son who is almost 8 years old, but recently we knew that he is talented gifted. The attached link coyuld be useful for you in order to identify and understood your son.
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Instead of a label, look for the cause
