Advise on ADD

Hi A.!
I am a teacher in Lee County, but I am on leave to stay home with my daughter. My background is in Special Education, where I have dealt with a variety of issues in the classroom. There are SEVERAL strategies that can help your son. And I can understand your frustration. I also am a private tutor now, and am working with a boy who was recently diagnosed ADD as well. If you would like to email me - please feel free. I can offer strategies and ideas that I used in my classroom (I worked with 3rd-5th graders).

Some stratigies are simple, and some require some work. Simple things like coloring coding books and folders, using "boring" yellow pencils, sitting in the front, allowing time to move around the classroom, focusing acativites....

Take care and good luck!
R.

Hi A.! :-)

We have had great success with the Feingold diet. www.feingold.org. If you are struggling, I recommend following the program thoroughly to make sure that you isolate the dietary factors that affect your son the most.

Hth! :-)

Kim

With a child with ADD is not easy. my 10 year old daughter has ADHD and I had to quit my job to be a stay at home mother,but in ur position you will not be able to stay home. All you can do is do ur best. Keep it up and things will look up.
Have u tried tutoring or like a big brother or big sister program??
Or just enrolling ur child in activity...
L.

Don't get frustrated. My oldest son was diagnosed ADHD a couple of years ago and he is now 12 years old. He does not function in public schools at all. He only functions in private school. I found a scholarship call McKay Scholarship in Florida that provides private schooling for children not only with physical issues but also mental issues such as ADD and ADHD. I applied and my son has been going to private school and was also diagnosed as gifted. See about this scholarship and if you need help on how to apply for it, let me know. My home number is ###-###-#### and my name is M..

Dear A.,
My son was diagnoised borderline in 3rd grade, The schools continued to tell me borderline. Now he is in 12th grade adn he has had problems his entire school history. I have recently read newer articles on teh subject and now i feel like i have let him down, because i feel he is ADD/ADHD, and never followed through. He has had lots of problems and if i had really pushed this issue early on, Maybe he would of been or aggressive and his school grades and memories would be better than what he has. Keep trying get your son involved in sport, 1 in the fall, and 1 in teh spring. It will help greatly. My son was always btter when involved in sports because he knew that if he messed up, he would not be plying.

I hope this has helped but i dont know. I feel really like i i failed my son, but i hope that i can help somebody else.

My daughter has add and i have tried all of the drugs like adderall and concerta etc. i tried a new drug called strattera about three years ago. it is non narcotic but you still need a prescription for it. you have to adjust to it over the long haul. i tried it started it over the summer. my daughter slept for four days solid. i am at work and cannot make this to long but i will give you me e-mail. write me. my name is C.. ____@____.com worked for my family. concentratino is up. she eats sleeps and is doing a whole lot better in school.. the only thing is that you have to have patience with this drug. it takes a long time to get the dosage right. but it is worth it in the long run i think.

My daughter has been having problems since 1st grade also. After she was tested, after I insisted a few times, the ESE specialist advised me to take her to her primary doctor. She had all kinds of tests, including a CAT scan and then we were referred to a psyshologist who made the final diagnosis and prescribed the Ritalin.

I would be carefull with the drug if this is the route you end up taking. It made my daughter into a zombie and did not improve her concentration or grades very much. After about a month and a half, I took her off the medication. However, because of all the testing, she qualified to remain in the ESE program and to this day (she is a sophmore in highschool) she gets extra reading and language help. She has struggled with school the whole time. Tutors helped somewhat, but only if she put in the effort in the class. This year, both her and her twin sister, who always has done much better in school, are involved with the marching band. It keeps them very busy, but has taught them some responsibility and helped them keep focused in class. The consequence for not keeping up their grades is that they do not get to pariticpate during the football games.

Other friends that have children with ADD or ADHD have found activities, such as music, sports, dance, etc. has helped.

Jazmin is also very into the Japanese anime art. She is very good but could use some art classes to improve. Having something that she is good at has helped her self confidence and that has lead to some improvement with school.

Well I hope all this babbling will help you out. I would definitely start with the school ESE program if they have one or check with your pediatrician as to what can be done.

Hi A. ,
I have a friend that has a child with severe adhd. She had the same problems with him starting from the age of 1 1/2 yrs old. They kept telling her to wait then when school started they kept telling her to wait, she says to tell u do not wait find the head of the school board, email the governor "as he passed a bill that no child be left behind" make someone listen when u do this u will be getting many phone calls and things will move. U have rights and he has rights, it is a disability that the school has got to take care of and they only have a limited time to take care of it, or they can be charged with a federal violation! But u have to put exactly what u expect testing, therapy etc,in writing and hand it into the school, make sure u have a meeting when u do this and include someone from the district, the principle the counselor from the shcool . when u hand them this paperwork they have 30 days i beleive in which to have the testing completed. stay on them and threaten to pull ur child as if ur child has failed they will have to pay if u take him somewhere else. There are other options and grants u can get to put the child in private schooling. please also look up and email the federal disabilities commission they can give u more information on ur rights and even put you in touch with lawyers who will help you ifthe school is not doing right. please if u havent started it make notes of names dates ect of everyone u have spoken tooand there response and make copies of any paperwork they have given u. one copy for you and one copy given to them when they say they havent gotten a copy.here is my friends email if u need further help ____@____.com she will try and get you more information if u need it. Hope this helps P.

A. you can be upset with the school but where would that get you. Now you know and you can help him cope and teach him aswell as yourself about ADD. I have a son with ADHD and o boy did we struggle up until he was in the 3rd or fourth grade I believe is when he started getting treatment in school he was just labeled a horribly bad kid then he started getting tremendously depressed due to him getting made fun of by his peers beacause he couldn't read or write started to threaten to kill himself and act out alot. That's when I finally decided to make a move we didnt have health insurance at the time so since he was depressed and I thought suicidal we had him bakeracted that was the worst day of my lfe but it helped we started seeing a doctor a therapist counselor you name it we saw them.Now Chris is in the seventh grade he struggles but we always talk about how talking about your problems in school whether it be reading math or just making friends will make him feel better last this year they have him attending regular classes instead of SLD - Slow Learning Disability Classes bheacuse of the great improvement you will probably have teachers that will tell you that he needs extra tutors and so on sometimes that is the case but there are so many more things that cost less money which I know was the case with me. Last year I had Chris math teacher tell me that Chris was gonna fail if he didnt get a tutor that he will never learn his multiplication facts just by studying and chris still has problems with it but as long as he knows that I am there to help whenever he needs it all he has to do is ask they will never fail you have to make sure they know that they are not stupid kids in school can be cruel and so can some teachers. Chris has been on meds since he was about 10 or 11 he is doing great I had fought it some at the begining you know after all the reports you hear on tv but the fortunately for us the very first med they put in on worked like a charm
at first he lost lots of sleep he couldnt sleep during the night so then prescribed something to sleep but weened him off it and now hasn't used it in about 2 years dont be scared just learn about it and always ask about side affects Chirs at first had problems putting on weight but now that he is 13 and is alot more inlvolved in sports he lifts weights just a little with his dad and he stays very active so that helps he has build some muscle which helps burn fat but also makes them hungry so he eats more so relly think about things beacause everything does not work the same for everyone but definitely
ask questions.

So just hang in there and if you need help ask..........

Hi A.,
I definately can simpathize with what you are going through. I have 3 boys, the oldest was diagnosed in 1st grade. I fought it tooth and nail on the medication, but unfortunately he needed it. We tried him on several meds, before finding one that worked the best Adderall, that was before they came out the the Adderall XR (you cannot cut XR in half, they are time released capsules), our biggest problem with the meds is the weight issue. He has always been so skinny (which he wasn't before taking the meds). In fifth grade I took him off the meds so he could gain weight. Big mistake!! He did gain weight, 12 pounds, but he also ended up repeating the 5th grade. So, he stays on Adderall XR. He is still really skinny, he will be 16 in 5 days and he only weighs 90 pounds.
So, my best advise I can give you, is that you have to be very structured for children with ADHD or ADD, same dinner time, homework time, bed time, ect...
And the number one advise I can give, is if the doctors feel meds are the best answer, try different ones, and start him on a protein drink that you can turn into a shake with ice cream, and have him drink one a night before bed so he doesn't loose weight, we are trying it now just to help him gain weight. But, if you start before he even looses it, maybe you can keep control of the weight issue.
Good Luck!

Take him to a pediatrician and get him on medication (like adderall XR) If the dosage is too high he might have abnormal fidgeting or lose weight and quit eating - if that happens then try cutting pills in half. A lot of kids have ADD but it can be very different for each child and they have it to different degrees. Some are hyperactive and some are not, so you will have to find what works for your son. My son began taking adderall in 1st grade. He required a very low dose to see a change like night into day. ADD isnt well understood but thank goodness it is recognized and treated these days.

hi there.. not the same situation.. but my son has PDD.. he is only in kindergarten, but has been going to school from 3 yrs to get help..
somet things to concider, does he have an iep?
if he has had an iep for over a yr there is an excellent private school for these children, florida christian institute.. ask for a mckay scholarship.. i plan on sending my son there next yr as i have already had nothing but problems this school yr...
also you may look into diet, if you are more interested in the let me know. it has been shown many add, pdd adhd children can not handel certain foods..
hope that helps some..

i had that problem with my oldest son i finally let them convinced me of medication which turned out to make him worse off than he already was i had to take him off myself i just had to keep him focused on school work plus homework i set him up with counseling that didn't work either so i went to a higher source i gave him to GOD i got tired of the things & stuff that was happening to him letting them label him i gave him more love & attention it is a battle but my faith in GOD gets me threw all these crazy times just pray for him give him to GOD to deal with just put your faith in the best doctor he will handle it if you believe be blessed sis!