disclosure | ADHD Information

sorry if this was covered before, but my DS7 knows he has special privileges in school because of his IEP and behavioral support plan at school.

i have never really sat down with him to explain that he has an impairment, so my question is, when you sat down with your child, what did you say? i want to explain to him that he gets distracted and that we have to set up a system to help him do well in school and get along with his friends. it may/may not sink in, so i was wondering about what you, as a parent, experienced.

also, while we're discussing disclosure, who in your circle of friends/relatives have you told about your child's impairment? so far, only my parents and my brothers and sisters know.

This is a tough one. I am in process of looking for books for kids to explain it all to her better. Check online for books to help. What is your childs age? The only thing we have done was she is on meds now for 6 months and i explained that she is very smart and the med helps her concentrate better and I pointed out things she admits that bothers her like distractions. She is only 6 so I am only giving her what she can handle without making her feel different. I also shared with her that it is our secret only family can know and mommys close friends. I told her no one has to know. So far she does not have close friendships so that part can wait

Our son was 6 when he asked. I just told him some pick up slower and others learn faster than others. I also explained we all need different methods as well. I told him this is ok as long as you get it eventually. Hiding this for our son would be harder since we started his rode at 1.

Well, my son was twelve when he was finally diagnosed with dyslexia, but I had suspected it from the moment he walked through our door as a foster child three years earlier. There's a big difference between seven (your child) and twelve (my child), but I explained dyslexia to him, and I told him about all the brilliant and famous people who had it. He accepted it very well, and he often will say something like, "That's difficult for me because of my dyslexia." I also told him what all his intellectual and social strengths were, when I was telling him about the difficulties he would experience with dyslexia, so he also will say, "I'm good at that because it takes strong reasoning skills, and that's one of my talents, right?" I think my son's understanding dyslexia and how it affects his learning has helped him tremendously in many different ways.

Oh.........Glad there are no secrets about it!

With us, it just kind of came about in general discussion, like, "we wonder if you are ADD, are you like such and such about things?" It was a huge relief after the light bulb went off, because nothing motivated him. He just forgot many things and could not help it! Life was better after that.

I found the book I gave my son to read after we got the DX, and it might be perfect for your kiddo.

"Learning to Slow Down and Pay Attention" A Book for Kids about ADD, by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D, ad Ellen B. Dixon, Ph.D.

i told my son. and he knows it is not an excuse for bad behavior. (not that i am implying that any one else does). my ds age 8 is VERY smart and learns differently from the other children. Why not tell him. He knows and he understands that some things with him are very different from the other kids. Most ADHD children are highly intelligent, which is the case for my son. we use it as a tool and not as a crutch. I am adhd and I know how to help him learn and prosper in school. he is 8 and already knows his times tables and devision. these adhd kids are smart! Be proud of him. He's going to be such a joy to parent.

How do you keep it a secret? My son is so obviously ADD that if people don't know because they've been told, they know because they can see it. [QUOTE=gettingclear]

[QUOTE=Jillette]I am in process of looking for books [/QUOTE]

our public library has several books in the juvenile collection - you can do a search or have the librarian assist you.

one book that our collection doesn't have was written by Ed Hallowell, MD called "A Walk in the Rain with a Brain" and i am going to ask our librarian to consider adding it to the collection.

[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=calicorose]

[/QUOTE]

How true! As long as the kid is going to a psychiatrist for meds, I don't see how the kid cannot know.

.IMac38945.4115393519.IMac38945.4113310185

[QUOTE=Jillette]I am in process of looking for books [/QUOTE]

our public library has several books in the juvenile collection - you can do a search or have the librarian assist you.

one book that our collection doesn't have was written by Ed Hallowell, MD called "A Walk in the Rain with a Brain" and i am going to ask our librarian to consider adding it to the collection.

Wow, I guess I'm wondering how do your kids NOT know they have ADHD? After all the assesments and talks and conferences and evaluations and physicals they have to participate in, and the jargon that goes along with them all, how could it possibly be avoided? However, I wish I was not so verbal about it, because now he's 13 and tries to use it as an excuse whenever he can.

When he was first diagnosed, aorund 9 or 10, we found a great book at Amazon that was written in cartoonish form just for the kids, about ADHD. He read it and laughed, saying, "Mom, this is ME!!!" That book helped alot.

.IMac38945.4117824074i am not wanting to keep it a secret from him or anyone. i am just asking how it went when you sat down with your child to discuss the condition.That's great! I hope he likes it! He might like the fact that he's not alone, and that there are other kids just like him. In our school, and probably elsewhere, these things have to be kepe confidential. He might even know some kids in his class with ADHD, who are on meds, and is not even aware. You might even see him pointing out to you other kids that HE thinks has ADHD! Have fun.

[QUOTE=calicorose]"Learning to Slow Down and Pay Attention" A Book for Kids about ADD, by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D, ad Ellen B. Dixon, Ph.D.[/QUOTE]

thanks so much, calico! our library has it and i requested it.