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Old 05-08-2008, 02:26 AM
 
Location: Mesa, az
109 posts, read 157,537 times
Reputation: 23

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hmm the medications are not the way to go. i am 18 years old and was diagnosed with a.d.d(now they say that and adhd is the same thing) and was put on Ritalin. well i experienced a vicious side affect and got extremely thin. i saw a pic and it looked like my eyes were huge because i was so thin. well the put me on another pill and i was a fat kid. so my mother immediately pulled me off the medication and i acted out again. so at that point i was told i was hated and all the blah blah because she is evil. but my point is that i think counseling would have made a significant amount of impact. Even through high school i flunked(though i was tested to be at very high levels). i was in a lot of fights my whole child hood and was expelled from 2nd grade at the age of 7 for knocking a computer monitor on another students head. now I'm still only 18 and I'm an assistant manger for Family Christian Stores. I earned my GED 6 months after dropping out and i think my life's finely on track but its been a long, depressing stressful road. Wow sorry about the rant I'm sure you all can care less about my life story but I strongly stand by counseling .
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Old 05-09-2008, 02:58 AM
 
Location: Mesa, az
109 posts, read 157,537 times
Reputation: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattyk View Post
hmm the medications are not the way to go. i am 18 years old and was diagnosed with a.d.d(now they say that and adhd is the same thing) and was put on Ritalin. well i experienced a vicious side affect and got extremely thin. i saw a pic and it looked like my eyes were huge because i was so thin. well the put me on another pill and i was a fat kid. so my mother immediately pulled me off the medication and i acted out again. so at that point i was told i was hated and all the blah blah because she is evil. but my point is that i think counseling would have made a significant amount of impact. Even through high school i flunked(though i was tested to be at very high levels). i was in a lot of fights my whole child hood and was expelled from 2nd grade at the age of 7 for knocking a computer monitor on another students head. now I'm still only 18 and I'm an assistant manger for Family Christian Stores. I earned my GED 6 months after dropping out and i think my life's finely on track but its been a long, depressing stressful road. Wow sorry about the rant I'm sure you all can care less about my life story but I strongly stand by counseling .
i did not waste my time in a dead forum i hope
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Old 08-10-2008, 04:26 PM
 
Location: SE
331 posts, read 1,194,027 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattyk View Post
i did not waste my time in a dead forum i hope
No mattyk you didn't. I understand your story and fully appreciate it. I have a 15 year old son who was diagnosed when he was 6. When he was born, I knew he was "different". I always tell people that he never walked. On his first birthday, he stood up for the first time and took off running. He's been running ever since!! I put him on meds when he was 6 and it only did one thing: make him sit still in the classroom. He still struggled and got bad grades no matter what. So by middle school I took him off. He is in high school now and doing well.

I became a special education teacher because of him. I went back to school and got certification when he was 9. Since then I have read and researched and mostly observed my own students. Most of them do not need medication but there are things I have observed about the parents, living situations, backgrounds that affect their child's behavior. Behavior can be corrected through discipline, scheduling, therapy and other approaches. I don't believe in popping pills for everything.

I think of this condition as a blessing and not a "deficit". I think the label is wrong.
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Old 08-13-2008, 11:16 PM
 
Location: Tampa Bay Area Florida
7,937 posts, read 20,283,804 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RaisedWell View Post
No mattyk you didn't. I understand your story and fully appreciate it. I have a 15 year old son who was diagnosed when he was 6. When he was born, I knew he was "different". I always tell people that he never walked. On his first birthday, he stood up for the first time and took off running. He's been running ever since!! I put him on meds when he was 6 and it only did one thing: make him sit still in the classroom. He still struggled and got bad grades no matter what. So by middle school I took him off. He is in high school now and doing well.

I became a special education teacher because of him. I went back to school and got certification when he was 9. Since then I have read and researched and mostly observed my own students. Most of them do not need medication but there are things I have observed about the parents, living situations, backgrounds that affect their child's behavior. Behavior can be corrected through discipline, scheduling, therapy and other approaches. I don't believe in popping pills for everything.

I think of this condition as a blessing and not a "deficit". I think the label is wrong.
Interesting im glad I read this post...my only issue I have with the riddilin is that like your child she is more focused in school then she was without it..However she isnt hyper she has the inattentiveness...and I keep telling my dh I dont know if the meds are working, because of her grades they seem to be the same..but again, we are starting fresh this year, going back to 3rd grade very difficult thing for us to do but know that when she is in middle school it will be a blessing that we did, as I have a middle schooler already...and although we were against the meds we have tried to change the diet and that didnt work she has her outbursts and we let her have them then she calms herself down and is another person WITHOUT the meds...so I think they are helping her in the classroom Im not sure about anything else...any other recommendations?
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Old 08-17-2008, 08:28 AM
 
Location: LEAVING CD
22,974 posts, read 26,866,205 times
Reputation: 15643
Quote:
Originally Posted by berryjuice4life View Post
Interesting im glad I read this post...my only issue I have with the riddilin is that like your child she is more focused in school then she was without it..However she isnt hyper she has the inattentiveness...and I keep telling my dh I dont know if the meds are working, because of her grades they seem to be the same..but again, we are starting fresh this year, going back to 3rd grade very difficult thing for us to do but know that when she is in middle school it will be a blessing that we did, as I have a middle schooler already...and although we were against the meds we have tried to change the diet and that didnt work she has her outbursts and we let her have them then she calms herself down and is another person WITHOUT the meds...so I think they are helping her in the classroom Im not sure about anything else...any other recommendations?
I highly suggest a neuropsych eval for any kidlet that has ADHD. We just did this at 16 and found out our son has Aspergers syndrome as well as ADHD which is what was impacting his learning ability the most and explains his grades and some social issues.
It is very common to have other LD issues if you have ADHD and if when you remove the ADHD part with meds schooling doesn't get better then there might be something else.
I wish we had been told this years ago, all these years wasted that could have been used to address this.
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Old 08-17-2008, 10:20 PM
 
Location: Tampa Bay Area Florida
7,937 posts, read 20,283,804 times
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Originally Posted by jimj View Post
I highly suggest a neuropsych eval for any kidlet that has ADHD. We just did this at 16 and found out our son has Aspergers syndrome as well as ADHD which is what was impacting his learning ability the most and explains his grades and some social issues.
It is very common to have other LD issues if you have ADHD and if when you remove the ADHD part with meds schooling doesn't get better then there might be something else.
I wish we had been told this years ago, all these years wasted that could have been used to address this.
you must have read my mind..lol I literally just told dh I think we need to have her see a neuropsych, now let me ask you what will this tell us? she has an awful time with school and again ther were other factors to this from her previous school where we lived and lack of teaching and so fourth..does insurance cover this? we would like to have re-evaluated again in Dec since it will be a year she was tested...any other suggestions? she has been off the meds for about a month and I have to say, there hasnt been any difference with her off than on...does that make sense? she is definitely Inattentive but her weakness is math and comprehension, this has been such a struggle for all of us...we just want a happy home and honestly its rough in general...
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Old 08-18-2008, 11:56 AM
 
Location: LEAVING CD
22,974 posts, read 26,866,205 times
Reputation: 15643
Quote:
Originally Posted by berryjuice4life View Post
you must have read my mind..lol I literally just told dh I think we need to have her see a neuropsych, now let me ask you what will this tell us? she has an awful time with school and again ther were other factors to this from her previous school where we lived and lack of teaching and so fourth..does insurance cover this? we would like to have re-evaluated again in Dec since it will be a year she was tested...any other suggestions? she has been off the meds for about a month and I have to say, there hasnt been any difference with her off than on...does that make sense? she is definitely Inattentive but her weakness is math and comprehension, this has been such a struggle for all of us...we just want a happy home and honestly its rough in general...
Our neuro spent about 5-6 hours with our son and ran a whole battery of tests and at the same time observed his actions and just talked with him. She noted how his meds worked and found out more about how he sees things than we ever could. There was also a few long questionaires that we had to fill out as well as 2 of his teachers. One piece of advice that I'd give is be HONEST on the questionaires, look at it without emotion which may be hard because for us we're admiting our child is not "normal". What I did is I reminded my wife as she was in tears that it didn't change who he is or has been, it just put a name to it and told us why and how to proceed.
Insurance should cover it but we didn't have any so had to pay for it ($1000.00), best money we ever spent.
We found out that his poor ability in math and some comprehension as well as fine and gross motor skills was due to aspergers and a processing delay inside his brain. The best part is now we know how to proceed and what he'll need to survive as an adult.
As for the meds, we had the same issue when he was on Adderall, no difference either on or off so we switched to a different med and it worked. We also found that he got used to a med after a couple of years and it'd stop being as effective so we'd have to switch. Right now his meds do ok, he has some of what the neuro called "bleed through" of his ADHD but he's controlling that himself pretty well.
You can also look at http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=life_aspergers (broken link) OR Autism Society of America: Understanding and Evaluating Your Options (http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=life_treat_options - broken link) OR Sleep and Exercise for Children and Teenagers with Asperger's Syndrome

If I can be of any help let me know....
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Old 08-27-2008, 02:36 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,156 times
Reputation: 10
Default My 8 year old

It is nice to know that I am not alone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by skoe View Post
My 9 year old has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. For years we have felt hopeless, worried, confused and alone. I have taken my son to 9 different doctors. The majority of them knew very little about it and very few had ever had an ADHD patient. So many times we took him to doctors so they could study him and learn. That made us feel alone and frustrated. Our poor son was having to battle this alone with our best efforts at helping.

Finally I came upon our current doctor. He takes the time to find the right medication, he contacts the school every 2 months to see how he is doing and he was able to get him top of the list for counseling through the government. I can finally take a deep breath now that the weight is not all on me.

This is talking to you as a trained Youth Care Worker. I can not imagine what poor kids and families are going through who don't have the education or patience to deal with an ADHD child.

They are very difficult. If your child is ADHD you will know what I am talking about. Society is no help in the matter due to lack of knowledge. To give you an example..

One day we were in Ikea. I had my 3 sons with me and we were standing in a long line to pay. My son who was 6 at the time decided he didn't want to wait any longer. I told him we had to. He started screaming and kicking at me. He called me bad names and was about to run over to a display of napkins and I know he would have started throwing them. In a rage he would wipe 50 packs on the floor and start hurling them around. I couldn't let this happen so I got down on one knee, grabbed him by the waste and bear hugged him to me, pinning his arms and hands to his chest. I had to watch for his head because I knew his rage would make him want to head butt me. My oldest son was use to outbursts like this so he just kept playing his gameboy. After a minute my son calmed down enough for me to talk to him. When I looked up there were people starting at me and giving me the nastiest looks because I was physically restraining my child. What should I have done? Let him throw everything around? I by that time knew exactly what to do in his "freak out" outbursts.

These kinds of freak outs happen many times a day with ADHD children. They are not mentally able to understand the difference between right and wrong behavior. So many times people would tell me that I should discipline him more (these are strangers, my friends and family all knew we were doing our best), "put him in a corner for a few minutes, that will teach him" they would tell me. Little do they know that an ADHD child can't stop moving, especially when they are worked up.

That is just a few small examples of why we felt so alone. People who didn't understand the disorder felt we were bad parents and they didn't want their children associating with such an "unruly child". My poor son has been invited to 2 birthday parties in his 9 years of life. He has friends but the parents don't want to deal with him I guess.

Now he is on a medication to help calm him. He is able to sit and concentrate in school and the kids are beginning to like him better. He is in counseling to help him learn how to control himself. I could cry for the difference it has made to our family and to the quality of his life.

I also cry for all little boys and girls who have not been diagnosed or have families that will not get them help. I hate having my son on medication but it has made his life livable. Before meds he would ask me "mom, why am I even here on earth? Why do I have to live? Why do I have to be like this, I hate myself because I can't control myself." Before meds my son tried to climb out his second story window when he was mad at himself. He would isolate himself by picking on kids in the neighborhood thinking this was how to make friends. He would be picked on a lot because kids knew how easy it was to set him off and loved watching him get in trouble when he over reacted. I watched him cry at nights because his mind would not turn off and let him go to sleep. He didn't even start sleeping through the night until he was 6 1/2. Up to then he was up 4-6 times a night. I could go on forever talking about what ADHD has done to my child.

The sad thing is, when we were in the worst of it we couldn't find one support group.

Please let me know if you have a child like mine and just need to talk.
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Old 09-15-2008, 10:24 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,054 times
Reputation: 10
Default skoe

Please share with me the medicine that has helped your son with ADHD. One of my grandsons has ADHD and this would be valuable information for my daughter and her husband.
Thank you!
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Old 09-15-2008, 11:52 AM
 
3,031 posts, read 9,062,874 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
I don't have a child with ADHD but I have seen many in my teaching career. One boy sticks out so clearly in my mind. As a kindergartner/first grader he couldn't sit in class for 5 minutes, he was always in trouble on the playground and basically spent most of those years in the principals office doing his work there where she could help him one on one where the classroom teacher really could not.

His parents spent years trying to find the right medication. When he was in 4th grade they finally found it and WHAT a DIFFERENCE in that boy. He was able to stay in the classroom, finally could play on the playground without causing problems, and he finally started making friends. It was AMAZING the transformation this boy had. I always cringe when parents flat out refuse to medicate kids that REALLY need it because this boy's success with the right medication.
This was pretty much my son's story--though we waited and fought this diagnosis until he was in 6th grade.
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