Yesterday we had a conference with my sons third grade teacher. She wants to put him in GT which is great but also mentioned that he may be showing signs of ADHD. She said he has a hard time staying on task, draws when he should be reading, reads during math, makes noise during quiet time and doesnt always complete his work. While we have noticed some odd behaviora from him such as impulsiveness and brutal honesty, his grades are ok A's and B's. He had a Dr. appointment right after the conference because of an allergic reaction he had over the weekend so I told his teacher I would talk to his doctor which I did. His doctor asked questions and then said maybe and gave us a form to fill out and one for his teacher. He didnt seem over concerned about it since my sons grades are good and he does have the ability to sit and play quietly or read or whatever and he always does his homework without being prompted. He said maybe we should try changing his diet and gave us a website to look at. The website says to eliminate dairy, 90% of his sugar, no msg, no food dye,and very little wheat,no fruit juice,nothing fried or processed. It also recommends these coffee shakes for breakfast and a supplement called Attend?. My question is have you ever tried changing ADHD or any focus problems with diet? Did it work? What did your kid eat? Mine is very picky. I am really nervous since we dont have ANY experience with this as none of my older kids had this issue and I really dont want to put him on medication.
I am ADHD and I drink coffee instead of medication. Works great for me, I don't need to do the other diet changes.
Diet changes should be done slowly. If you are going to do it then start 1 thing at a time and then wait a week or two.
Also tell the teacher, it could be that the diet changes will not change behaviors in the way expected and make him worse.
If my mom had tried to treat my ADHD with diet, the ADHD would have only gotten worse because I wouldn't have eaten it.. there's some studies that show it helps but if you kid is picky (like I am) then it won't work.. I was the same way at that age except they WOULDN'T put me in the GT class because of my ADHD.. if you can get on top of it now with some therapy and maybe low low dose of meds I think it'll give you the best chance.. therapy helped with me but mine was pretty bad and I had to do a combo.. good luck!
Well as a mom with a kid who has autism and an aunt of a child with ADD, definitely diet is HUGE!! Your gut is connected to your brain so what you eat affects your brain functioning. There are tons of cookbooks specifically for kids with autism/adhd/add etc.. Go to amazon and search "ADHD Cookbooks", TONS of options will come up. As far as sugar, there are sugar substitutes that don't hit the blood stream like cane sugar does. I personally use coconut sugar or palm nectar sugar, both are a 1:1 ratio although with the palm nectar sugar, I use about a quarter less than what the recipe calls for as it can take on a stronger taste, but it's a preference thing with me. Both those sugars you can find at a natural food market such as Whole Foods. Definitely also get rid of all artificial dyes and preservatives, they do more damage than you could ever imagine. If you want additional help, I've been at the diet thing for several years now so shoot me a PM if you'd like. GL!!!
I was just reading about this. So glad your son has good grades. From what I read diet is huge but also activity swimming, bike riding, karate being outside seem to calm the adhd and less video games and tv time because those seem to make it worse. I also read about the coffee. Seems weird but somehow the caff helps to calm down.
Personally I have no experience with this but my nephew had good grades, great personality, but had a hard time focusing, staying on task and finishing work. After all the paperwork was filled out and sent back to the Dr, he was put on meds. His teacher noticed a huge difference in a week. He also stopped coming home with homework because he was able to finish it all in school. But he is still his normal self. He does not have to take the meds every day. His mom does not give it to him on the weekends and did not give any during the summer. So don't be too afraid to try meds....if that may be the case.
You probably can change focus issues with diet, but in reading your post, it doesn't really sound like to me your son has ADHD. Of course, I am not a doctor or anything anywhere close to that, but it doesn't sound like your son can't sit still or can't stay focused; he is obviously focused on his reading at math time and on his drawing at reading time. It really sounds like to me your son is bored and not being challenged. It might not hurt to make the changes in diet and see what happens, but get him into the GT classes and see how he does here before you start any medication. It seems to me that teachers label a lot of children ADHD these days - it's their catch-all for any child who does things a bit differently!
a very wise teacher once told me that grades are not always an indicator for ADHD. Behavioral patterns are. Please listen to what the teacher has told you: he has a hard time staying on task, performs other tasks rather than the required one, makes inappropriate noises, & doesn't always complete his work.
You personally have noticed: impulsiveness & brutal honesty.
I am curious: while all of these are indicators of ADHD, they also represent ADD & many other disabilities. I sincerely recommend not labeling your son until an actual diagnosis is performed. I applaud your desire to avoid medication. We made that choice long, long ago....& with our son a freshman this year, we are in the process of closely monitoring his performance.
As for the dietary changes, YES it makes a huge difference! You might consider weaning him from the taboo list...it might help ease the changes into his lifestyle. I would also not mention the need, simply provide other options & use them yourselves. Don't make him feel like an outcast within the family ......the dietary changes need to be all across the board. Good Luck!
Whoooops! One more thought: we were able to avoid meds thru behavioral modifications. We worked with the school counselor & she taught us how to redirect our son's focus....& then each subsequent teacher was taught/reminded on how to handle him in class. Worked great for us!
I would point you to another website feingold.org or ADHDdiet.com. They both lead to the Feingold plan. It eliminates all artificial additives from the diet and there are no extra supplements and no coffee shakes (I have been to that website that you mentioned above) I have 3 sons with ADHD and the Feingold plan has worked wonders for them.
It is very easy to implement and they give great support. You do have to buy into it to get the main materials and the utmost important food list. I recommend it over the site the Dr. pointed you to.
On another note, there are 3 different types of ADHD and just because your child is not "hyper" doesn't mean that he doesn't have it. There is the impulsive type, inattentive type (seems like this is the one your DS has) and the hyperactive type. Most highly intelligent individuals have ADHD. You can have more than one type.
It is not about sugar. I tell this to all my friends- its the things that accompany the sugar and the type of sugar that are the issue.
As far as your kid being picky- on the feingold plan, there is a substitute for almost everything. My oldest LOVES goldfish. They are a no-no due to artificial preservatives, but we now eat Annie's Cheddar Bunnies by the boxful!
Good Luck and do a lot of research.
He sounds more like my daughter who had straight up ADD, I am the same way. We don't move a lot, which is what people think ADD looks like, but our minds are going, oh look, shiny things. :)
If he really has ADD or ADHD then diet won't do diddly squat. Then again if diet helps then you know he doesn't have ADD. :)
My oldest had a red dye allergy, it was like watching a wind up toy so you can look for food reactions. Still I could have let any of my kids just eat a bag of sugar and other than them throwing up they wouldn't change behavior.
What you also may want to look out for is higher intelligence mimics ADD. For those kids adding a bit to the challenge is all it takes.
Good luck
GT kids are also more likely to be ADD kids. My daughter goes to a GT Academy-all students in all of her classes are GT and it seems like ALL of them are ADD or ADHD. The correlation is that ADD kids are curious, up and moving around inspecting things and so learning more.
At our house we call it Bright, Shiny Object Disorder. My daughter has never been officially diagnosed but it is becoming more of an issue now that she is older and classes are harder. Testing is in her future. I, too, hesitate to do meds but also hate to hamper her education because of my preconceived notions.
Good luck.
Start with taking all MSG and yorgert out o his diet. You should see some if not a lot of improvement.
Sounds like you have a great doctor! Please do NOT listen to moms like Jo W and CAwriter mom! Many moms say diet is useless but that is usually because they have not tried it or it did not work for them. It takes committment, for sure but is worth it. I have THREE kids with ADHD and diet/supplements have helped tremendously for us. I would start with an evaluation by a psychiatrist/developmental pediatrician. Get a baseline and find out if there are concerns and what they exactly are. Then you can start by removing some things from his diet. Get rid of the junk (processed, preservatives, drastically lower sugar) and then you can remove others. Not sure where Troy is but if you are fairly close to Austin, you should check out the Neurosensory Center. Read the research, he successfully treats autism, ADHD and tons of other conditions. Also google to find info on diet-and remember you don't have to wait to get an evaluation to start, you can try some things now! Best of luck
Agree with Meagan.
My daughter is WAY too picky for the diet recommended. Although, she does like a few sips of coffee and that helps [even though the psychiatrist said that's a myth].
They put my daughter on 18mg/day of Concerta. She's 8 and 50-ish pounds. It didn't change her personality at all. We have her on the lowest dose for her weight. I don't want her to lose her spark and enthusiasm. Nor do her physician and psychiatrist. She's her... Just a little toned down. Even she said that it helps her stop to think and get organized.
ETA- My daughter always did well as far as grades, but once the teacher filled out the form that is required [to aid in diagnoses] we learned that he's a REALLY nice guy. And I suspect that while some of the issues he was having in class with her were workable... He's also extremely patient. He'd made comments on that ADHD evaluation form that surprised me a bit because he doesn't mention issues [most of the time] regularly. I think he was more "honest" on the eval form. He doesn't want to hurt feelings. ☺
Another Feingold success story here! My DS was diagnosed as ADD at age 5. After 6 months on the diet, his psych said she saw no clinical suggestion of ADD anymore and removed the diagnosis. Yes, it was that simple.
We took it a step further, as he was also diagnosed with Aspergers. Interestingly, he shows all the signs your son does - he's also GT, can sit in his room for hours reading, but can't resist wandering in the classroom or picking on friends. His biggest issue at school is "not listening." We eliminated all dairy, gluten and soy (if you remove dairy (casein), you need to take out soy as well, as they act the same in the body) - on January 1. This kid went from being in the principal's office 2-3 days a week last year for acting out to ZERO times this year. I am in awe of the change! We tested the food back in now and then, and after 3 days on gluten (just one small cracker a day), the school called and asked if there had been changes at home because he was out of control. He has an immediate reaction to dairy - running in circles, screaming, etc. So we know the diet works.
As for pickiness - my kid eats the same thing he always has! He has always loved fruits and veggies, which are all ok. But he also has hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries, milkshakes. They're just all free of preservatives, artificials, wheat, dairy and soy. :)
It can be rough at first, but there are so many great resources out there that if you're looking for a specific item, it CAN be found. And you don't have to be in a big city - I've been doing this successfully for a year now in a town of 40K. The internet is a godsend. And you don't need to go all or nothing with the family - my DS is the only one on this diet (and budgetwise, that's almost a necessity), and he doesn't feel like an outcast. Most of the meals that I make for the family fit his diet anyway. Frito Pie? Totally ok. Pad thai? Completely on his diet. Hamburgers and fries? Sure, if he doesn't have a bun. But my youngest still drinks cow milk and my oldest is ok with that. He knows he has a different diet and he knows he feels better on it. It won't be a big deal if you don't make it one.
Bottom line is, try it. If it works, you have your kid back. If it doesn't, then you're out a few more $$ on your grocery bill and that's it. He won't be lacking any nutrients - all veggies and fruits, nuts, meat and eggs are fine. For calcium, calcium-fortified OJ has as much calcium as cows milk! And almond milk has even more. This is a really no-harm, no-foul way of treating ADD (and possibly more).
If it's ADHD, dietary changes won't do anything. There is zero scientific proof of a connection. You can make changes for health reasons, but if it's truly ADHD, it's a waste of time as a treatment option. If you see any benefit, you're not dealing with ADHD.
Get your son in with a specialist, like a child psychiatrist. Only specialists are qualified to accurately diagnose ADHD. Whatever type of doctor you saw sounds far too laid back about this and doesn't seem informed at all about ADHD to mention dietary changes. You really want to be working with experts who can say with certainty that your child does or does not have ADHD. You also want an expert's advice on treatment options with proven track records.
Don't do coffee shakes. Your child will get a caffeine addiction and face headaches when he doesn't get the coffee. Medications are also stimulants like caffeine but aren't addictive.
Take a look at the websites for CHADD and ADDitude magazine for more accurate, up-to-date information about ADHD and treatment options.
No one really wants to put their children on medication. However, if you're really dealing with ADHD, it can make tremendous, amazing changes. Keep an open mind and don't go into discussions with specialists with preconceived notions about what they're all about. Treat talk about treatment as seriously as you would if your child had diabetes or a heart condition. Really listen to the specialists.
Since no one else has commented on it, I'll comment on the Attend. My son, who is a 4th grader, has been on it since kindergarten. He also takes the 2 other meds that go along with it, Extress and Memorin. They do wonderfully for him. He takes 2 Attends and 1 of each of the others every morning.
Background, my son was diagnosed by a child psychologist right when he turned 5. He had been having some problems in day care and we started seeing the psychologist. She didn't recommend any drugs then, just to wait and see how kinder started out. Well, it wasn't good. He couldn't sit still, and his impulsiveness was out of control. My husband and I neither wanted to put him on the narcotic drugs, so I went to our local health food store, Peak Nutrition, to see what they had. They had about 5 different brands, I picked Attend because it is "homeopathic" and I knew he had done well with the Hyland's Teething Tablets as a baby.
We started him on one, not much change after a few weeks, so we increased it to two pills a day, immediate change. His teacher said he was like a whole different child. At home he could suddenly sit still and color in a coloring book, which was something he had never done in the past. He would only scribble. He made it through kinder with only a few problems, mainly impulsiveness.
In first grade we added the Memorin and Extress. He had some trouble in first grade with behavior, plus he had a very hard time learning to read (which is a whole other story). But, I must add his 1st grade teacher in the spring semester did not have a real strong classroom management style. The kids kind of ran amok. This semester was also tough, because the teachers did not like the idea of a homeopathic drug and suggested we put him on narcotics. Wasn't going to happen.
I have to say that my son is very smart and creative and should most likely be in GT. He is reading a grade level ahead. Most GT kids do show signs of ADHD. Just because your son has good grades does not mean that he is not ADHD, and the not paying attention might one day catch up with him.
To continue, between 2nd and 3rd grade, he changed a lot. He matured and his whole physique changed. His teacher for 3rd grade was a "no holes barred, it's my way or the highway" type of teacher, very structured. He needed the structure, as do all ADHD people.
He also started taekwondo in January of 3rd grade and is doing wonderfully. Now that he has matured more we can reason with him and he has gotten much more in control of his self control.
My son likes to move about the room while the teacher talks. He does not have ADD/ADHD. He is too smart for the class that he is in and if he is bored he can be a terror. I would have him evaluated by the Psychiatrist before you do anything else.
