I am, but some problesm in my opinion today, are that ADHD kids are given too many acommodations. Sure, they might need it at some point, but i completely utterly hate the word "can't". People say, "my son cant concentrate without his meds", or "my daughter cant do her homework because she zones out", or "my son cant sit still in class". Words have a very real shift in our point of view in life. By saying that, you are telling him that its OK to use meds as an exucse, that its OK to zone out when you dont wanna do something, and that its OK to bounce around and fidget in a classroom. Im just recently 18 with a heavy case of ADHD. I take no medications anymore for anything. My parents have supported me all my life, never accepting no, and just pushing me to my limit of growth. Im now vice president of student council, im on 2 closed invite only comitees with the board of trustees, and my principle double-checks ideas he wants to change with me, because im popular enough.
I know dealing with us(adhd kids) is a lot of work, but it will get worse the more you let it go on. You create have strict rules, and follow them. Thats not to say, you cant have a rule like no videogames untill your homeowork is done; but dont make a rule like no videogames untill our homework is done, unless we behaved well lately. Its very important to make thier our lives at home static and predictable. The worst thing my parents could do was spring something on me.
Personally, i dont like meds. in my experiance, meds were like auto pilot with no override switch. Sure, i did the work and focused on school, but i wasn't doing it. i was sitting there thinking about how bored i was and the concept of finding fun was impossible for me, i jsut sat there and got it done. When i got home, i was tired, had a lousy day, and did homework untill bed time. The worst part about meds though was that i was unable to stop myself from doing anything. At the time, i was becoming somewhat violent, because i was being teased by everything from 6th graders to 1st graders, when i started meds (3rd grade), it still went on, but i couldn't argue or anything, i just watched them do it.
Meds today are an excuse to be wierd. kids are told, "you have ADD, this pill will make you better, because you cant help it". That is totally WRONG. We don't WANT to help it. Giving him that med, tells him that hes screwing up without support. By giving it to him, he no longer has to try to behave. It does it for him to a point. After that, he has to try, but its nothing compared to before. But like a muscle, your brain gets weaker by not being used so critically. Instead of meds, i found inspiration. I want to learn psychology and prove to all those stupid therapists that i was going to need support the rest of my life because i was so ADHD that i would not function in life ever, that ADHD is manageable, to whatever degree. Try to find an inspiration for your child, start him on a med maybe to give him the concept of control. Teach him to be smart as possible, and learn complete control over his body and consequently, his mind. Depending on his current severity level, a strict Martial art school might be positive to this.
these are my views, if you agree or disagree, your choice.
Are you doing homework or writing a paper?Eaedyan, your post was very interesting to me. I found out that I have ADD when I was 40. I tried medication for 2 years and then I went to some herbs. I found that meds helped me to see the other side and it opened my eyes. But I don't like the side effects that I experienced on them either.
I think that just knowing that I had ADD explained a lot of things that I never understood before. I never knew why it took me longer to get some things done. Why was my room always a mess and it took me all day long on Saturday to get it cleaned up.
I liked reading about your experiences in school and in your life. I'm sorry your parents were not more understanding and helpful with your problems. But now that you are on your own, you can experiment with what works for you and what doesn't.
Good luck
Try to find an inspiration for your child, start him on a med maybe to give him the concept of control. Teach him to be smart as possible, and learn complete control over his body and consequently, his mind.
Thank you, for your Post. In my heart, I believe that teaching the concept of control is extremely valuable, the hard part is doing it! Its hard enough for me to keep our life in control, let alone a 3rd grader! I must teach her, not the meds! Thank you.
For me and my son I advocate it not a disorder. It is a part of us, not some thing to be "cured" of but rather an element of our personalities and responsible for some of our tendencies. Good and bad. The responsibility is key, if I take medicaiton I am responsible for the descision and the ramifications, side affects etc. My son (8) has been involved in his process from day 1. I have explained it to him and his options and we have together chosen a course of action, (This includes medication, school reinforcement, and evaluation of behavior as methods of improving his ability to manage his situation. I have fervent hope that he will not be on medications for his whole life. (No basis for the hope I grant you but hope exists) the reason I hope is that his abilities to focus on certain tasks has dramatically improved to the point it is still there during the times he is off medicaion.
ketan1y wrote: My son (8) has been involved in his process from day 1. I have explained it to him and his options and we have together chosen a course of action, (This includes medication, school reinforcement, and evaluation of behavior as methods of improving his ability to manage his situation. I have fervent hope that he will not be on medications for his whole life. (No basis for the hope I grant you but hope exists) the reason I hope is that his abilities to focus on certain tasks has dramatically improved to the point it is still there during the times he is off medicaion
The approach your using is the multi modal approach which has proven to be the most effective treatment plan for ADHD. Medication is one of the many tools used to manage ADHD symptoms and in combination with behavior modification and school accomodations, the child has a really good chance of going on to lead a normal, productive life. While many children do need medication into adulthood, many don't and if they do its not a bad thing. Its a quality of life issue and just like if a child needed medication for another medical illness that he had to take for life, the medication would continue to sustain life and quality of life. However, many children, my son being one of them was able to come off medication because through the multi modal approach, he learned to compensate for his limitations. While life in general is more challenging for him and will always be, as a result of early intervention, the quality of his life is better than I had ever hoped for. So..this is indeed a basis for your hope and dont give up hope because such outcomes do exist. If my son had to continue medication throught adulthood that would be fine with me too because I dont veiw medication as the enemy. I view it as one of the many tools that saved my sons life. Keep the faith because there is a lot of help out there and a lot of hope for our children