new to ADHD | ADHD Information
Welcome tbaby879........with all due respect, your child's grandmother is not a trained clinician and if she new anything about Adhd she would know that these children have the ability to hyper focus when they are doing something they find interesting.
If you suspect that your child's behavior is out of the norm I suggest you have him tested by a neuro/psychologist. To the untrained individual many things look like Adhd because many symptoms overlap. Start with a specialist and then take it from there. Make your decisions based on professional advice. Good luck and keep us posted
kids with adhd can sit and play with things that are of interest. but what are the reasons why you took him to the psychologist. if you think that he has adhd i would suggest you get him in to see a behavior developmental pedtrician. my son is 4 with adhd and had problems in preschool so my developmental ped. suggested i have him evaluated through the special ed to see if he qualified for smaller more structured classes where they work on his weaknesses and prepare him for kindergarten. meds probaly will be in the future but now with his age is being held off. i would suggest get more information than just one. and give the message board more information on your son for they have a lot of knowledge here . as far as to handle your son we need more in for we don't know what he is doing , i use the marble system for positive rewards that you can find at the top of the board. knowledge is power. read and research on the internet about adhd to see if he shows the symptoms.My son is 6 yrs old. He had a psychological test done. THe results point to nhim having ADHD. I informed his grandmother, and she was not happy. She stated that he is able to sit and watch plays and listen to books as well as help withn the dishes. So in her mind he does not have it.And one more thing, how do you handle/treat a child with ADHD?
lesnathan wrote: postive reward system does work if you implement correctly
Very true lesnathan. A behavior modfication program is only as good as the person implementing it. Children with Adhd respond very favorably to postivie reinforcement.....tbaby89.......might I ask who did the testing?? If this was a confirmed diagnosis of Adhd what recommendations were made as there are many tools to help manage the symptoms of Adhd. A good behavior modifcation program is a great tool but standing alone, it does not fully manage the symptoms of Adhd.
Luvmykids0239088.897650463postive reward system does work if you implement correctly. check out the marble system at the top of this forum to help you get started. it works on my 4 year old who has the same problems but that has alot to do with adhd . but i would get more testing done by a neuro/psycholoist like luvmykids suggested and behavior developmental ped. i don't think i would make it 100 stickers at first. the quicker he gets the reward the more he is going to work for it maybe start out at 50. use your imagination on the rewards and let him have some imput. good luck and don't give up it gets easier as you learn more . The results of the test show thta he is hyperactive, inattitive, and cannot s3eem to be able to concentrate. I have trouble with him listeing to me and doing as he is asked and talking back. I'm not sure what to do. Someone suggested that I number a piece of paper from 1-100. And give him 1 sticker when I catch him doing good. When he gets 100 stickers then he may got ot the store or movies. Not sure if this will work. The success of diet modification is debatable, just like most treatments for adhd. We use sticker programs periodically, but like most behavior mods, they tend to lose their appeal for the child and need to be changed now and then. It's best if you set a fairly easily attainable goal the first few times. 100 stickers might take too long and your child might not see to goal in sight. When we first started, we put the whole system on the doc and told our son that she said 15 stickers to reward. That lasted 2 cycles, then we upped the number and said the doc said so because he was older and smarter now (even though it was only two weeks!). His reward was a trip to the Dollar Store, which I would gladly do every day if it meant things went smoothly for him! Good luck! diets have been debated. like red dyes etc. but it hard for me due to the fact my son is a picky eater. and after reading labels , you are very limited on things . meds are about the only thing that can help the symptoms along with behavior modification. like luv my kids mentioned. it won't work without meds as far as the symptoms you mentioned. behavior mod helps on behavior. some things like focusing , impulsiveness , inattentiveness is where meds. helps. somethings they just can't help control without meds. i've heard of people using fish oil but i've never tried maybe someone will replie if that helps.Can diet help with symptoms? How do you all feel about tv and vidio games? I let my son watch tv and sometimes play video games. The grandmother states that tv and video games is not helpfull to him.Hmm. I think videos games and TV are probably a big enough topic to merit their own thread. 
But, when it comes to grandmoms/family members, my take is the same as it is in most other spheres of my life: Take their opinions as valid, important input. And then live my life as I choose.
As it pertains to my son's ADHD, I strongly agree with chasesmom. Sometimes, talking with family members about these things is helpful. Sometimes it's not.
I spent the first three years after my son's diagnosis trying to convince my Mom that he had a real, well-defined problem. After three years, she finally believed me. I wonder where he'd be now if I'd waited for her permission to seek help for him.
Sometimes people from a previous generation just can't or don't want to wrap their minds around today's reality, IMHO. That doesn't mean I'm going to abandon my son when he needs help. I might be wrong about his ADHD diagnosis. Or his grandmom might be wrong. I'd rather err on the side of getting him help that he doesn't need than not getting him help he does need. But that's just me. I know that family dynamics can sometimes be really powerful or even painful. 
Hi everyone
I'm new to the forums and my son is 4 and recently diagnoised with ADHD and ODD. I have a hard day, most days with him. I am having the biggest problem with potty training and him fighting with me and my husband, other family members and of course kids at daycare. Like I said I'm new to this whole thing. He is a only child and I dont know where to begin with him. If anyone can help me and give me some advice about anything pertaining to ADHD, I would absolutly love it. 
Amanda
I'm okay with meds it they are necessary to help him with school, and so is his father. How do I convince his grandmother. I trie telling her that meds could be the last resort, but she says no. I tried telling her he can take it during the week to help him in school and not necessarily on the weekends unless other wise needed. you have to do what is best for your child. she will come around. print out a research on what happens to their self esteem among one thing and let her read it . for he will not always be little they grow up into teenagers and have a harder time if not helped for these kids can carry a bad label all their lives by people who just don't understand them remember his future is in your hands. just get him help[QUOTE=tbaby879]I'm okay with meds it they are necessary to help him with school, and so is his father. How do I convince his grandmother. I trie telling her that meds could be the last resort, but she says no. I tried telling her he can take it during the week to help him in school and not necessarily on the weekends unless other wise needed. [/QUOTE]
Whether yourr child's grandmother agrees to the treatment you and the father choose for your child, you have to do what you know to be best for your chilld. This is a quality of life issue. Decisions should never be made based on fear but rather accurate knoweldge which could be sought through good reseach and the expertise of a specialist. Adhd is not a school issue or an academic issue. Its a quality of life issue as it affect all areas of life. Whether you choose to medicate or not, make your decisions based on what your child needs to sustain qualtiy of life, not what you child's grandmother agrees or disagress on Unfortunately all too often family and friends give uneducated advice and while it's well intended, people start to lose sight about whats best for the child because the it becomes about being right. Do what you feel is best. Good luck.
I agree with luvmykids2.....grandmas are important to a child's life, it is true...but as long as you and the child's father are in agreement, what the child's grandmother thinks should be listened to, weighed and then you do what you know to be best for your child.I have not even told my MIL, or my sister, because my MIL would react as this grandmother has, or would be beside herself with worry that he must take a daily med for anything, let alone ADHD. She is 80, from a different time, and would not understand. My sister is childless and thinks that she knows all about childrearing....but I have raised one child with inattentive ADHD to adulthood w/o meds due to being un-knowledgeable about ADHD and treatments 20 years ago, and I do not intend to put myself or another child through that again! My oldest daughter's self esteem has been forever damaged due to the failures in her earlier childhood, and though she is a productive adult now, the road was and still is much harder than it could have been had I known about ADHD treatments in her childhood.
You cannot let her dictate to you about your child. Be respectful, but agree to disagree. Who knows, when you get the correct med and dosage, maybe she will see her grandchild's quality of life change for the better and she will come around...