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September 23, 2006
Medications Given At School
Many children with ADHD have to take their medications daily to help with concentration at school. Most students find it embarrassing and would rather not go to the nurse’s office to take their medication. But, unfortunately, some times this cannot be avoided. Most stimulant medications have long acting, slow releasing doses that last for up to 12 hours, if your child can tolerate them. There are 8 hour doses and 4 hour doses, also available. One 8 hour dose in the morning might not be enough to last the entire day. You might need to give your child an 8 hour dose in the morning and a 4 hour dose after school to help with home work and/or after school activities. Now, if you don’t have any major after school activities planned, you might be able to skip the 4 hour dose, but it is always best to check with your child’s doctor.
When your child has to have the school administer his or hers ADHD medication, your child’s physician should complete a form provided by your school, giving the school permission to administer medication. The doctor will complete is portion of the form that lists the following; medication, dosage, time to give, and the possible side effects. Some schools require your pharmacy to give them a separate bottle for the medication that is administered at school. If your child has to have the medications given at school, the school should promptly inform you if he or she does not go to the nurse’s office to take the medication or if there is a consistent pattern of your child being late or complaining about taking the medication. Medication is one of the most important parts of ADHD, and keeping in contact with the school will give you and your child a better chance at his or her having a successful academic career.
By: Margo Richter
Posted by margo1 at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2006
Questions For the Doctor
Going to a new doctor is always a stressful time. When you get there, most of the time, we always forget to ask some very important things. Keep in mind that you are “hiring” this doctor to perform services for you and your family. When you are scheduling the appointment, remember that you are "interviewing" this doctor. These are some questions you should ask.
1. How many children does the doctor see for adhd?
2. How the doctor screens for adhd or other learning disorders?
3. What kind of opinion does the doctor have on adhd? Many doctors don't like to medicate younger children.
4. How many times does the doctor want to see your child a month? Meaning does the doctor want to drain the pocket book.
5. How does the doctor deal with emergencies? Can you call the doctor if there is a problem or will they just tell you to go to the emergency room?
6. How long does it take to get in for a follow up? You don't want to wait for several months.
7. How does the doctor deal with refills, do you have to go in to pick up a prescription or will they do refills on once a month or mail order for 90 days and, does the doctor charge you to pick up a script for refill script, or will the doctor mail the prescription to you.
8. How long has the doctor been in practice and how long has the doctor been in practice with children?
9. What kind of training qualifies them to work with children? What doctor fills in or takes his calls while the he or she is not on call.
10. Will the on call doctor make you go to the emergency room or can you call the doctor yourself or can you have the on call doctor paged to your house?
Always remember to go overboard with the questions to ask. If you think you will forget, make a list and copy it. Have the doctor read the list and answer the questions while you take notes. The doctors are here to help you. Remember, you are choosing the doctor, the doctor doesn't choose you. You will be employing this doctor to give your child medications if necessary, so you can ask the doctor anything you want until you are satisfied. Remember, you are just as smart as the doctor, you just chose a different career path.
By: Margo Richter
Posted by margo1 at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2006
Ask The Experts!
On September 20, 2006 Ty Pennington will host the Experts On Call Night from 8:00am to midnight there will be a toll free hotline set up to answer any questions people might have about ADHD. Some of the nation’s leading ADHD experts will be there to answer all the questions. This will be the 8th Annual ADHD Experts On Call” day. This year they will have a live web cast, too. The number is 1-888-ASK-ADHD. Go to their web site: www.adhdexpertsoncall.com and you can have all your questions answered by an ADHD expert with in 10 days.
Posted by margo1 at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2006
Home Work Battles; No More
I am a 34 year old mother with ADHD and have an 8 year old boy with severe adhd. My mom and I sat down the other day and talked about how she felt when I was in school about the subject of home work. Looking back now, I can say there are a few things I know about studying with adhd that I wish she would have known then. With ADHD children, most of them learn in a total opposite way. If what you are doing isn't working as well as you would like, try a different approach. Kind of like a back door, so to say. My son, even though he is only 8 has a different approach than children that are not ADHD. He does better at home work when he stands than when he sits. If he fidgets, that is perfectly fine with me. Although it does bother me, I know he cannot control it. I distinctively remember being told to sit still and stop moving around; to sit down, to stop swinging my legs, to turn off my radio, so it would be quiet. My mom would say, “Sit still!” over and over. I find with my son, if he is fidgeting, he is not focusing on sitting still. He is focusing on his studies. I know this sounds strange, but I've played it over with my son. And he does better if he is standing or lying down. Now, I'm not encouraging jumping or clapping; just try a different approach and if that doesn't work, try some thing different. You might want to sit down with your child and ask how he or she feels and what works best for him/her. Then build up from there. Most adhd children feel left out of the "loop" and need to have a feeling of control and giving him a bit of that control might just be what he/she needs. Give your child choices and work with him or her on finding what is best to accomplish these goals. Call your child’s teachers and ask what they think and what they see working in the class room. Find a middle ground that will work with your child. Keeping your child in on the decision making process is a very important part of the process. Most children, ADHD or not, need to have some control over the way they study. Giving your child some sense of power is important for them and helps raise self esteem.
By: Margo Richter
Posted by margo1 at 06:23 PM | Comments (4)
Marble Discipline System
I started this and it is a “hands on” discipline program that most ADHD kids will respond to. ADHD kids need to participate in their discipline. They do well if they are able to have hands on and participate in. If they can see it, they will respond to it. This is what I do. I keep a log, but he is the one to add and remove the marbles. I am also ADHD, so this system works for me to keep consistency in our home.
Marble System:
I have two "PLASTIC" containers. I have "in" on one and "out" on the other. I have a List of all the good things that he is supposed to to, like chores and reading books, homework with out a complaint and working on left over worksheets his teacher gave us, and I add to it when I think about new tasks he should be working on. Each one has a value. The most value is 10 marbles for reading a book. Cleaning his room is 3 marbles and keeping it clean is 5. I have every thing from brushing his teeth, to picking up any trash that might be in the yard, to picking up sticks, to helping me pull weeds. After he gets 100 marbles he gets $30.00 and he has to put $10 of it in his savings. Now, if he does something wrong he has to take out marbles. If he gets sassy or talks back, he takes out 3. If he argues he takes out 5. To keep track of what goes in and out, he has to write it on the paper. That way he cannot put more marbles in there than he should. I have not had to argue, raise my voice, spank, or even tell him more than 2 times to do something. I will remind him ONE time for a warning and then he has to take marbles out. We are doing this instead of an allowance. If he reads 10 books in a row he will get his money and we start all over. But, I don't think he has figured that out yet. lol At the end of each day, if he doesn't have to take any out all day, I let him put 3 in to reward him for good behavior. This has been the best system for my son, yet. I don't have to raise my voice and it's much easer to keep consistency when I don't have to raise my voice or put him in time out all the time. This way he can see his progress, and he takes great pride in counting all the marbles he collects. After he has mastered a skill, it moves off the list, and we add a new one.
On the ADHDNews message boards, I have posted the marble system and it has helped many parents with disciplining their children. http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19898&PN=1
Posted by margo1 at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2006
IEPS AND HOW THEY HELP YOU GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
by Margo Richter
Going back to school after summer break is not easy for the kids or the parents. Children have had a lot of leisure time and now it's back to structure in the classroom. There are a lot of questions about what are IEP Plans. This is a term that parents with children who have special needs, including but not limited to ADHD hear all the time and should come familiar with. Learning about the IEP is important.
An IEP is what most public school districts use. IEP is an acronym for Individualized Education Program. Every child in need of Special Education should have an IEP. According to the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY), the definition of IEP "is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet your child's individual needs. The IEP has two general purposes: to set practical goals for your child; and to discuss the services that the school district will provide for your child." NICHCY has an excellent description of the IEP process on their web site ( www.nichcy.org ). To get an IEP, a parent/guardian should make a written request to the school district asking for this service. You may wish to request a written plan consisting of goals for the student and strategies to reach those goals using assistive technology (AT), and an evaluation of a specific technology to determine its usefulness for your child. Schools are legally obligated to respond to this request, even though they are not required to give it their immediate approval.
The main purpose of the AT is to determine your child can profit from advanced assistive technology into her/his academic plan as a strategy to reach the goals stated in your child's Individualized Education Program (IEP). Once each year, there will be a meeting held to review all the progress your child has made and to plan for the following years IEP. After you have had the meeting, the IEP is instated and your child will have in some cases modified lesson plans, occupational therapy, speech therapy, behavior modification plan, or reading plans. Most school districts in the U.S. have a team of personal that will meet to help plan the IEP, they have:
* one regular education teacher; one special education teacher;
* a representative of the public school who can provide or supervise the provision of special Ed, who has knowledge of the general curriculum, and who is informed about the resources that the school system has available;
* an individual who can interpret the results of the evaluation and who can discuss what may be necessary for the student;
* the parent/guardian; and
* The student (when appropriate).
Go prepared. Bring any information from your child's doctor and take lots of notes. I have even brought a mini tape recorder with me to ensure I don't miss any thing. Don't be afraid to ask questions and share ideas that might be helpful for your child. School districts do not want any student left behind, so the IEP will help ensure you child will have the best education possible.
Posted by ernestpr at 10:52 AM | Comments (1)