llrosario,
Good luck with your son. I don't pretend to be an expert in all of this. I don't want to push anyone into thinking their kids are ADHD or they should be on meds. I know that all kids are unique and that the choice to medicate or not medicate is an individual decsion for each family.
I'm almost 32 and i remember hearing the phraze she is a hyper one or she needs her butt busted and one time my uncle told my momma not to bring me back to his house again untill i can calm down and listen...when i was little we were known as the hyper ones..there was no add or adhd..i repeated the 3rd grade because i could get the math and again in the 7th because of the math. And now I know what not to say to my sons and learned to deal with it at a early age for both of them..I'm responding about my 6 year old son (will be 7 in Sept), I could have your written the post myself. Austin is very involved with sports, plays football, T-ball & basketball although because of his attention span, although he tries has not been great at any one of them. He is friendly and outgoing with other kids, but honestly after a short time they don't like him. He aggervates them, but he is just trying to be friendly. He is very hard on himself, the better he is the more he expects of himself. He frequently will say I'm stupid when reading if he doesn't know one word, or he is "sucks" if he doesn't get someone out (in T-Ball). Loud noises always has affected him, even the toilet flusing when he was younger, It's like it scares him. He just finished K5, lucky for us our teacher also has a child who is ADHD and was so understanding. Especially since the process from start to finish to be tested to actually getting the medication (he is on Adderall XR 10 mg) took almost a year. He is great in Math (straight A studid in all subjects actually), although can't sit in his seat, his teacher would say it looked like he was going to fly away when he was laying on top of his desk. She said sometimes the kids would say why can Austin stand up and we have to sit down? He has only been on the medication for a week and a half, it was the best thing we could have ever done. We went to McDonald Saturday and it was so enjoyable. He set with us and ate, played with his toy and was just normal. The thing is Austin only has mild ADHD, which a lot of judgemental people didn't think that he had it. I knew he did, my husband has been reserved about the medication but is very impressed with Austin's results. I've tried so many things before the medication and nothing worked, If you look at it like you are not doing this to make it easier for you, but instead to make it easier for him it might be eaiser to try it. Just a suggestion, but it so worked for us, I feel like a 1000 pounds has been lifted off of my shoulders.
Hi,No I couldnt listen even if i wanted to. i couldnt just chose when to listen. It didnt work like that. We ARE listening we are just paying attention to something else, or everything else. I played with others a lot. I did want to play with others. I was very involved in sports. I was never really depressed. i talked ugly to everybody. i was VERY agressive. I still talk non stop, even in my sleep. Loud noises made me anxious. I was never any good at math, requires too much concentration, but that I could do I could do it. high IQ, ability to do is is very probably, chances of doing it are slim to none. Ive never been medicated Im 24 and my son whos 6 has ADHD and is being medicated. It hurts you socially and emotionally. People just dont understand. THey blow you off, treat you badly, think you're bad and even if they try to understand they dont. I am or have been very impulsive, in what I say and do. I write everyhting down. I keep a book with me. When i talk i write it down, the social part is difficult, cause you just dont see the problem with jumping in a conversation. ADHD children have high IQ's and can be very agressive mainy because of the rejection that is felt due to the disorder.
[QUOTE=i_am_pauls_mom]Please enlighten me on some of the things that you did BEFORE you got medicated/not medicated. Could you listen IF you wanted to? Did you choose WHEN to listen? Did you play with others? Did you WANT to play with others? Were you involved in sports? Were you depressed? Did you talk ugly to your parents? Did you get aggresive? Did you talk NON-stop? Did loud noises effect you and if so how? Were there problems in school? Did you do really good in Math? Did you do really good in school regardless of your inability to sit still? I want to know it ALL. Pleaseeeeeee....I want to know how/when/why/you feel or felt different. (BEFORE meds) and if you were not medicated how did you cope?[/QUOTE]
This is SOOO extremely helpful to hear the kids' point of views! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone for the information!
I've said it before, my only regret is not recognizing the ADHD sooner in my daughter and getting her the medical help she needed. She's now got friends, getting good grades, has some self esteem, no longer says she doesn't want to live anymore. Her future is based on her education and her self esteem, and she's now building both. And everyone needs friends they can count on. Those of you who have posted here have validated what I've believed from the diagnosis - that she didn't CHOOSE that behavior, it was the best she could do without the help of the medication.
well i am a tean with ADHD & BP. i had a togh time doing prity much EVERYTHING.
sary about my speling
Please enlighten me on some of the things that you did BEFORE you got medicated/not medicated. Could you listen IF you wanted to? Did you choose WHEN to listen? Did you play with others? Did you WANT to play with others? Were you involved in sports? Were you depressed? Did you talk ugly to your parents? Did you get aggresive? Did you talk NON-stop? Did loud noises effect you and if so how? Were there problems in school? Did you do really good in Math? Did you do really good in school regardless of your inability to sit still? I want to know it ALL. Pleaseeeeeee....I want to know how/when/why/you feel or felt different. (BEFORE meds) and if you were not medicated how did you cope?
Oh gosh, paul's mom, where to begin. I'm not that young anymore but I remember a lot.
I was diagnosed "Hyperactive" in the second grade but my parents didn't do anything about it. Let's see... got in trouble a lot for talking, couldn't finish my classwork, got up and walked around without permission(when the teacher told me to go back to my desk,I remember being surprised I was up at all, didn't realize I had gotten up), climbed on my chair,sometimes my desk, chewed my pencil to bits, chewed my hair, tapped feet till my desk mates complained, spent lots of time at the principals office for all of the above.
Told I was immature, lazy, unmotivated,"doesn't work up to potential" was on just about ever report card( hate that phrase).
On the play ground, I had hardly any friends, was teased all the time. Spent most of the time alone at school.(at home, however I had a lot of friends on the block. Most of those kids didn't go to my school so didn't know the teachers thought I was a "weird" kid. I think the kids at school took their cues from the teacher)
I did have a hard time listening to the teacher if she went on for more than 10 minutes. That was about my limit. Much better with written instructions.
Even though I talked too much in school, if the room was too noisy I just couldn't do my work at all. But music in the background helped a lot.
Good at reading, bad handwriting, terrible at math. poor coordination in sports, bad at catching balls, but very good at art.
When I was little I wanted to be friends with kids, but by later(5th-6th) so tired of being teased, that I was not that interested, cause I thought most of them were so mean. Usually had 1 or 2 good friends and that's it. But that was enough then.
Wasn't aggressive per se, but did try to hit kids that teased me. If they left me alone I left them alone.
By the way since I had all these problems, some might think I was just kinda dumb, but my mom told me they tested me and I was found to be in the 98th percentile in intelligence. Which since every teacher I had knew that, really wouldn't cut me any slack! "She's so smart, why doesn't she apply herself?"
At home couldn't keep my room clean to save my life! I was very content to be by myself and read, My mom soon found sending me to my room didn't work cause I could happily stay there for hours, zoning out.
I really liked to be alone a lot, and to this day if I don't get enough 'alone time' get really cranky. Started little projects and made messes all over the house, and usually didn't finish any of them.
So much of this followed me through to my adult life, dropped out of college junior year, took lower paying jobs so I wouldn't have to make any tough decisions and have less stress.
I'm now a stay at home mom, and my oldest seems to have the same concentration problems and I'll be darned if she's going to suffer the same way I did! I'm going to fight for her all I can.
Hope this helps, and I hope I didn't run on too long.
I would love to tell you full details but fortuantely I can't really remember much. I was the first one out of my family to be diagnosed with ADHDthank you for all these posts.. i have a son that is 5 and has adhd. he is very hyper. and gets into trouble at school. we finally medicated him and are waiting to see if it helps ..
i want to say thank you to katies mom. i also have a ten year old and i actually started to cry when i read your post.. you see all the things u said about your daughter that is my son.. to the tee.. he is in fourth grade. he does his homework at home but forgets it.. his iq is 110. but his grades are ds and fs.. he forgets everything and takes him forever to do any work around the house or homework. his school is putting him in special classes next year. but after seeing your post. i will have to talk to the doctor, i know about the adhd hyper getting in trouble all the time .. just from my 5 year old. but never did i realize that he could be helped with medicane also.. i feel bad about yelling at him .. never did i think that it could be a medical problem . i just thought he didnt want to do it or was rebelling.. he was classified as a person with special needs by the school because his iq is so high .. and grades so low.. they even told me that he seemed to have a road block . he can orally tell you his thought but not right them down at all . and will forget about 2 min after he says them.. but never did they say anything about what u just said in your post
thank you again u have opened my eyes..
may241994@yahoo.com
Paul's mom.
I know the decision to medicate is a huge one. Here's my story (my daughter's story really). Maybe it will help to have one parent's experience. I feel guilty about all the times I yelled at her while she was doing her homework. I wish I would have persued this sooner.
My daughter is 10. She is extremely well behaved in school(and at home). Besides the occassional talking during class (which she does no more than what the average kid does), she never has gotten in trouble. However... she is the girl who cannot repeat what you said to her 5 seconds ago. She is the girl who cannot remember what she read 1 minute ago. She is the girl who can't remember what instructions the teacher just told her. Her inattentiveness started really showing itself last year in third grade. I tried to brush it off as "that's just Katie, can't do anything about it". This year she is in fourth grade. Fourth grade in New York is tough because of stupid state tests. The tests freak out the teachers who take it out on the children. She also got stuck with a very boring and disorganized teacher. Her inattentiveness became a real road block to school. Homework would be a constant struggle. I would end up yelling at her to pay attention to me. She would end up crying and apologizing to me. Not exactly the Leave it to Beaver household. I finally went to her Dr., spoke with teachers, forms filled out etc.... Anyway, at the end of March she started a low level dose of Concerta. Within a week she was doing her homework all by herself, able to stay on task etc. Her speech improved, she was able to complete a sentence without forgetting what she was talking about. There was no more yelling at her for not paying attention to us. Anyway, becuase she wasn't hyper, didn't get in trouble at school it took me a while to really come to terms that she had a problem. I hate medicating her. She also is severly allergic to peanuts and also has asthma. She has had two eye surgeries. Another reason I didn't want to persue this. Medically, the girl has gone through enough. But we do have her on Concerta and it has made the world of difference.
<ahem> well first and foremost lemme' say a great big THANK YOU to each and everyone of you that took the 'time' to reply. You see...my son is almost 7 (in July) and I really do know that he is adhd but we haven't gotten a 'real' diagnosis from a 'real' Dr. as of yet. We really were hoping that he would kinda 'grow' outta this 'stage' that he was going through. Started in kindergarten with his teacher....now just finished 1st grade and it continued...he 'really' can not help himself and I 'now' (especially after reading all of your thoughts) know he can't. We simply will NOT medicate unless that is our absolute 'last' resort. I say that and then think...."what if I'm robbing him of his childhood by not getting a diagnosis and medicating him?".... sometimes I feel like a 'bad' (don't like that word) parent because we do punish him for 'not listening', 'not paying attention'. This is soooooooo hard to 'deal' with. But on the other hand....I think .... well if this is hard for us (the parental units)... then he must be going through HELL 'literally'. I don't think that I can stand by another year and see him not have any friends, see him be teased by other students, hearing another, "oh I forgot" KNOWING that he 'really' can't help himself. I like the idea of taking it in little 'bits'. I 'do' understand this part. Again...it truly is depressing reading your post but at the same time I must commend you all for being able to HELP another. Again...you'll 'never' know how much you've helped us. Simple answer, I didn't cope....it took me a long while and alot of brutal events to become what I eventually did....[QUOTE=i_am_pauls_mom]Please enlighten me on some of the things that you did BEFORE you got medicated/not medicated. Could you listen IF you wanted to? Did you choose WHEN to listen? Did you play with others? Did you WANT to play with others? Were you involved in sports? Were you depressed? Did you talk ugly to your parents? Did you get aggresive? Did you talk NON-stop? Did loud noises effect you and if so how? Were there problems in school? Did you do really good in Math? Did you do really good in school regardless of your inability to sit still? I want to know it ALL. Pleaseeeeeee....I want to know how/when/why/you feel or felt different. (BEFORE meds) and if you were not medicated how did you cope?[/QUOTE]
I didn't get diagnosed until recent but as a kid I never talked to anyone. I had three friends as few people understood me. I was hyper-focused on cars I read books on them watched shows on them worked on them. Nothing much else factored into life. I had anger issues with strangers I never lashed out at people I knew, People outside my "circle" were fair game. I did horible in school 2.6 gpa........I never could do homework yet I tested extremely well. I never got held back I just tested well enough to get passed on. I read and self-learned very well but couldn't bring myself to organize projects or hand in and take home assignments. I could only concentrate while I was at school.
Hello everyone.. this is my first post. looked like a good topic... I'm struggling in my own way with "ADHD" my son is 10. Curtis had been taking med's since he was almost 7. When he was in the first grade, his teacher suggested that he may need his eyes checked. She had noticed him squinching his eyes etc. ...ended up with glasses. Second grade starts.....after the 1st month of his weekly reports coming home..I finally called the teacher and asked her." Can you not find anything positive to check off on your list, about my son?"( now kepp in m mind I waited a month,which for me is good...I am confrontational. ) Needless to say...she and I had ugly thoughts about eachother.. she decided he should be tested for ESE. In the state of Florida this program is designed too help kids with learning disabilities, etc. OK.. I'll have him tested. He is struggling to get his homework done, He CAN DO THE work, just doesn't want to. So, the pyschologist with the school does this really long test. At our conference, the Pychologist tells me that on the math, his score was Superior..comprehension good, until we get to the reading,writing part..he is equivilant to a mentally handicapped child..WHAT??? He can't focus blah,blah,blah. his score in this area is low because he cant focus? The pictures that he had to copy didnt match the diagrams in the book??..He need's adderall. Also time for new glasses. All is well and off to 3rd grade. Hates his ese reading class, has to be in it because in Fl we have FCAT if 3rd grade doesn't make a 2 on the test they WILL be retained..And I was to prepare myself.. for his retention.. because he surely wouldn't be successful. HE SMOKED THE TEST 4 on reading and HIGH 4 in math, 5 being highest score possible..took him back to the pediatrician told her wanted ref. to Shand's eye center or Miami eye clinic.last summer he was taken to the new doc,come to find out his left eye sits 2 degrees higher than the right. a straight line to him,is impossible..the prism's that were in his glasses were removed . 4th grade left him on meds still, but cut dosage in half. His teacher suggested that he be re-tested.(. he's been drawing spaceships on his papers, once she had asked him where he was..I'm on the moon) BUT, he could answer her questions to the lesson she taught(while he was drawing) she wanted him re-tested because she didn't think he needed ESE-she thought he was gifted.. ok I'm game we will try again.. his IQ is 129. 3 points from our "gifted" program. He is going to G'ville next week to find out if he need's the eye surgery this summer. In the fall, he will be on the Safety patrol, in the 5th grade. Hopefully making A's & B's like he has done all thru school. Please, understand that I am in no way judging any of you for doing the med's. believe me, I did see a difference, He may have to go back on the meds. But, before a school source sends you the note that your kid is talking in class, playing on the moon or just plain being a kid.. remember the school has put 4 boxes on the table and according to the school, your child should fit into one of them.Box #1 is for the kids with severe L/D are. box #2 the ones that need a little help. #3 on grade level #4 smart kids. Curtis was never mean to anybody, didn't disrupt class. But now that's he's off his meds, the discipline/ self control that he hasnt had too have the last 3 years is now hard at work. He acts a little immature but not anything serious. I did discover also he doesn't want to take the medicine anymore. It was embarassing for him to have to leave class to go to the clinic.the other kids wondering why...he went everyday. He is happy and gaining weight. Again, I'm not saying the meds are bad..just throwing my story out.. for feedback. have a good night.
School? I didn't go that often. I was confused most of the time with what was going on around me, never knew where I was meant to be going next class wise, what part of the school such and such a room was at. I done fantastically well on my exams, though which surprised people to the point of accusing me of cheating! Which, as you can imagine did not help my self esteem any!
Work. I've constantly left jobs as I was baffled as to my position, in the firms. Whenever I thought I was "getting bored" I simply left and was unemployed again. This went on for years and years. It's only after getting treated (Ritalin) that I've held my present post for so long. Which is great. It's good to feel "in control". Now when I get bored I leave early.........the important thing is that now I can listen to people and understand what is expected from me I go back. In the great immortal words of The Small Faces, "I feel much better".
Relationships. They also suffered with me. I'm the worst (now a BIT better!) at noticing when I'm being reticent which comes across as dismissive. I'm lucky to have a very patient woman (11 years) who puts up with me. In summary=Ritalin has turned my life around. And that's from someone that would have poured scorn and mirth on the heads of others that would have stated that not so long ago!
In school I had two, count them TWO friends. Both freaks (ahh! Just like me!) I had to leave/expelled from my first school. On an interesting related note; my first time taking time off school illicitly was when I was 6 years old. Teachers never got through to me, just gibberish. Like a lot of people I think I was viewed, as I viewed myself after a while, as just being dumb! That's all changed now BY GOD AND THE WORLD BEST LOOK OUT! Grrrr!
I learnt by DOING...Hi Paul'smom,
As for remembering things of being ADD/ADHD, there are some things more when I was medicated then not medicated. Some of things that I remember from childhood and being on so many different meds are; being hyper, squirming in desk at school (many many times), being quiet at school and extremely hyper at home, getting into many arguements dealing with my hyper-activity with my siblings, my parents having to yell at me at times for not settling down. Another big thing that happened in school, was drawing. I could not pay attention unless I was drawing in class. This happened from first grade to all the way until high school. And yes, there were a few teachers who didn't understand why I was drawing in class, but I needed to do it. So many other things that I can't remember right now, but drawing was the biggest one. Hope this helps. ^^
Paul's mom,
I'm a 32 yo mom, who is going to go get checked to see if they'll diagnose me ADD. The more I've read, the more sure I am that I'm ADD.
To meet me, you'd think I am a very successful woman who had a normal childhood, did great in school, etc. It's not my actions that I have trouble with - it's how my mind works.
You can go to the Adult board and read my long list of symptoms that I just posted. But to sum other things up that I didn't list - I was great in math - until Calculus. Math was simple to me, the teacher even let me help other kids in the class. Until Calculus, then it was as if I was reading Latin Math - I couldn't get it, this frustrated me horribly. I withdrew from it.
I withdraw from anything that isn't easy. I've always had very few friends. I seem to only 'click' with people who think like me. My mom would worry about some of the kids I'd be friends with, that I'd be influenced by them - when I'd turn out to be their 'stable influence'.
I've always been extremely stubborn. If I make up my mind about something - that's it, there will be NO discussion over it. I feel sorry for my kids growing up - LOL.
Listening - I'd try to listen but I can't keep focused. Even the most interesting thing can't hold my focus for long. I often come 'back' to the conversation trying to catch up on what the person is saying to not let on that I was just 'somewhere else'.
During high school, I lost my short term memory. I can't tell you how many times my mom would tell me something, then I'd look at her and for the life of me I couldn't remember what we just talked about. Several times I'd tell her to tell me again - she'd get mad and say that I was doing it on purpose. I'd tell her that she better tell me again because if she didn't, if she told me to do something it wouldn't get done because I didn't remember what she said. That was a very hard time in my life. I can't even tell you how I got my short term memory back but it's leaving me again.
I hope some of this helps.
I have herd girls usually are add and boys adhd. Hi pauls mom, my name is diane and i have a 3 year old just diagnosed with adhd. He is very smart very active and very much into trouble all the time. I think its more that hes curious and wants to see what everything does. My son would stay awake from 7am to 3am every day of the week. Ive been to the hospital countless numbers of times already for things such as dish soap in his eyes, ppulling a tv down on himself, ect. It never ends. My home is like a fortress, every door and window has a lock on it , every cubbord and drawer has a lock. All things like nick nacks are gone or up high in locked cabinets. I could go on for hours in short, i cant take my eyes off him for a second. He dont have alot of friends. He also has what they call explosive disorder. He would play by himself all the time.parallell play. He would destroy the toys he was playing with. He s going to a special school 3 days a week. Between an occupational therapist and a steady routine hes doing alot better. im looking forward to him growing up as a normal active adult,even though there may be a few challenges along the way.[QUOTE=arbiterxero] ... Teachers and parent's often hurt me, although not intentionally it still hurt. I'd spend my WHOLE weekend trying to get a project done and then I'd forget the disk at home, or the printout would get muddy or this or that....something ALWAYS goes wrong and I never did anything to MAKE it go wrong it just kinda happened...... Then teachers always think you're making excuses and you get that disapointed look..... ....the one where they look at you and you can tell that they're saying "what am I gonig to do with you?!?!?!?"
This makes me so sad.. my son is 12.. and I just KNOW that he is feeling this same way. His teachers and I get down on him for being "lazy" (not doing work, leaving it in his bookbag, losing it, god knows where?). I know that he isn't doing it on purpose. Then, his teachers start to treat him differently, like a 'problem student' and the kids DO follow that lead, and he becomes somewhat of an outcast. Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread... I'm going to promise him and myself this year that I will work WITH his teachers to be more understanding and to come up with better solutions. He's going to a new school, so it's a chance to make a whole new first impression.
Ok...now I really appreciate ALL of your replies to my post but I still think there's MORE of you out there that would really, really help me in our decision to medicate our son or not. DO you feel that you would have been 'better' in everything that you did IF you would have been medicated?????? I guess this is what I was trying to say in the first place. ARE you still on medication? Believe me; any/all responses are greatly appreciated. Thanks again for those that have replied.My son was almost 7 when he was diagnosed with ADHD and I can tell you what he told me after he was medicated, "mom, I feel like I have control over myself now, I can actually hear myself think and make my body do what it needs to do now." I haven't regretted medicating him since. He said he felt so out of control before he started taking his meds and didn't know why because he wanted to stop doing the things he was doing but he couldn't and was so very often embarrassed because he always felt everyone looking at him when he did things he shouldn't be doing. He's 10 now :)
NO, as a kid I couldn't do any of those things, even if I was told to. I had to want to really bad, and then it still ended in disaster. Being from FL .... (another parent posted from FL also) 'really' got my attention. You see our son is in 2nd grade and in Kindergarten his teacher said, "take him to his Dr. and tell him that he's HYPER to the highest end". Well I did and the Dr. gave us forms to fill out at home and then give to 3 other teacher to fill out...(i didn't do this because after I filled the one out for home I was horrified). Needless to say he goes to 1st grade..matter of fact he was the best boy reader in his kindergarten class...great in math...great in reading...just can't stop talking and moving. Anyway his 1st grade teacher wanted to have him tested and this was only 6 weeks left of school; we suggested that we wait a month and 'see' if things didn't change...needless to say there was no test done...so now here we are in 2nd grade. (sigh) it's started all over again...no testing has been mentioned but I'm almost positive it's coming and this time he will be tested then we will take him to the proper Dr. to see what to do. Thank you ALL for your input; it's been quite helpful and I feel almost like I'm not being a good parent by NOT medicating him. Then...I think of long-term effects of the meds...oh gosh...really...in truly you've all been through what I'm going through...(most of you) and not one of you regret medicating your child. G'luck to you all.I knew I was different and on meds. I got to attend private school.I focused on school and made friends outside of school elsewhere. I didn't care what other thaught. I was shy and didn't talk with people. Brent's wife
Brent: I was with the in crowd.
my son when he was about 7/9,,told me one day,,he has adhd,,he said mom thanks,,,i said for what,,,he said for getting the meds for me,,,,i ask him why,,,he told me that with takin the meds he now felt normal,,,that before he took them that his mind was racing,,in all directions,,,he couldn't slow them down,,he would get mad and not know why,,and he just wanted to say thank you and sorry,,,,i still cry over that,,,,i hate taking pills or givin my grandkids theirs,,,but i remember what he said,,,and making life better for him is my goal,,,he is now 31 has two childreni_am_pauls_mom wrote: Please enlighten me on some of the things that you did BEFORE you got medicated/not medicated. Could you listen IF you wanted to? Did you choose WHEN to listen? Did you play with others? Did you WANT to play with others? Were you involved in sports? Were you depressed? Did you talk ugly to your parents? Did you get aggresive? Did you talk NON-stop? Did loud noises effect you and if so how? Were there problems in school? Did you do really good in Math? Did you do really good in school regardless of your inability to sit still? I want to know it ALL. Pleaseeeeeee....I want to know how/when/why/you feel or felt different. (BEFORE meds) and if you were not medicated how did you cope?
Paul's Mom,
I do not have to think far back because it although I am 46, most of my symptoms are the same today.
So far, trying several meds, none really work. I listen but I do not hear. I was anxious to respond and worried I would forget what I wanted to say before they finished. I always thought what I had to say would change their life for the better, as soon as I got a chance to help them. I was always a leader, so I had a group of kids around me all the time. I invite people around and then I do not want to be bothered once they all get there. I am lazy and the leader. So, then I would have to entertain them, which is exhausting. No sports. Always chronically depressed. I wouldn't dare talk back to my parents. I wouldn't have teeth. Every report card said "Excellent student but talks to much in class." FYI, rx=Provigil, makes me talk even more. Didn't think it was possible. Loud noises-no, but syncronized noise of any/all kinds instantly put me to sleep. ex; dishwasher, trains, fans, cars passing by. Only problem in school was talking. I did start cutting from 8th - 12th grade. I was smarter, so I was bored. Then, I went to 2nd best HS in the country and didn't go because everyone was a genius. (they would cry in the floor, if they got a 98! Mostly jewish and chinese..FYI..most of them are our CEO's now, I wish I had been more like them but as a ADDer, I could not compete, so we hung out in Mickie D's all day) I was excellent in Algebra, Tri and Geometry. Passed on the Calculus. All of which I took in HS. NY had one of the best HS systems in the country in the 70's. The top three HS were there; Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and Bklyn Tech, 1 2and 3, respectively. I went to Stuyvensant. It was semi-private. We had to take and pass a SAT-like test to get in. I did not do well because I never went to class. If I had gone to my neighborhood high school, I would have graduated with a 4.0 but my mother was not having any of that "hood" stuff for me. Private Jr. School and Semi-private HS is a another whole layer on the ADD.Feel free to private email. Just keep loving him, supporting him and telling him he can do anything he wants to because there is a world full of people beating up on his ego, all day when you are not around. I have a ADD niece and I have to catch myself and not beat up on her all the time. She is a fabulous spirit and we are killing it by all having to tell her to "sit down". She is 5, and turn cartwheels 24/7 on steps, in the street all kinds of dangerous places but she is getting very good at it and she is the untlimate nurturer at 5. Be conscious of your words to paul, words have enormous power. - Hope I helped.
Do any of the Adult ADDers here work in the Information Technoloy field? I am trying to determine if there is a connection.
I'm so thankful for all of your input on this topic. It has helped me to UNDERSTAND the way our son is. You've no clue as to how much this has helped as far as just understanding that he truly can NOT help some of the things (most of the things) he does. You see...I started this topic thinking perhaps it has something to do with one's childhood....how they were raised and how they were treated WITHOUT meds and those that had MEDS. I wanted to know HOW one was treated during their experiences throughout life. How'd you cope...how'd you socialize...how'd you do in school...did you 'feel' different? Most of you have answered all of these questions for me and I must say...thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please continue to enlighten me more.
God bless you and yours,
Paul's Mom
[QUOTE=chatters]I'm almost 32 and i remember hearing the phraze she is a hyper one or she needs her butt busted and one time my uncle told my momma not to bring me back to his house again untill i can calm down and listen...when i was little we were known as the hyper ones..there was no add or adhd..i repeated the 3rd grade because i could get the math and again in the 7th because of the math. And now I know what not to say to my sons and learned to deal with it at a early age for both of them..[/QUOTE]
WOW..... I'm 32 almost 33 and...... oh wow....... apart from the fact I only repeated year 5 due to maths and just not coping with school your story is on the surface exactly the same as mine. Hyper, no ADD / ADHD, figet, doesn't listen and my mums favourite........... "I could put you in a room to do one thing with nothing in the room and you still wouldn't finish it".
Yup I too was aware from an early age about how to handle things with our boys.