28. "Your games have helped not only to focus, but to give him a "good time out"."
27. "Its as if I have been given my son back"
26. "Thanks"
25. "I didn't think that I'd make it through my GCSEs but I did"
24. He has succeeded.
23. In a band and just releasing our first cd.
22. Anecdotes from a mother with a 9 year old adhd son.
21. Ritalin Does Work.
20. Now Success at School.
19. Junior Girl Scout with ADHD, has just authored her first book.
18. He is now 14 years old and is classed as a "brilliant poet, artist and student".
17. I have some theories about ADHD of my own, and have some methods of working with kids who have this.
16. Good news for children with a lactose intolerance who couldn't take Ritalin
15. COFFEE... works almost as good as ritalin
14. Rewards are important
13. Success with Adderall
12. Thank you VERY VERY much
11. Success on ritalin
10. I am so proud......
09. My wife and I are so happy it was like winning the pools.
08. WOW what a difference
07. ...one of the first things we noticed was the forgetfulness
06. We tell him that he is not alone
05. ADD/ADHD is Real and it is not an excuse
04. Home Schooling Tips
03. Tips on getting kids to sleep and keeping them asleep
02. Tip from Thomas age 11 to help Anger Management
01. Doing a Heslop
Doing a Heslop - I was reading your Dad's Tips on Friday and sniggering over the "Doing a Heslop", particularly as the cable T.V. here is doing a re-run of "Porridge". Later on that day, my six year old ADD wonderful daughter Anna and I were walking home from her ADD best friend's house where they had been rampaging around happily for an hour or so. By then she was throwing a huge wobbly, sobbing and screaming at the top of her lungs, "I don't want to go home!", etc., etc. Bear in mind that this is in China!! People walking past were looking at me as if I was The Cruellest Mother In The Entire World....What could I do?
I did a Heslop! I couldn't actually think of any change of subject, my mind was blotted out by her wails of despair, the humidity and high temperature, the glares of passers by. So I casually remarked, "My mother went to Sidcup!".
Stunned silence from Anna. I went on to wax lyrically about Sidcup for several minutes, enough to get us almost home before she cottoned on and got back to her favourite subject again, namely the desire not to go home...
So, thankyou! Here in the crowded and polluted and alien streets of Taipei, you were firmly blessed and thanked for your helpful tip which reduced me to giggles amid the terrible tantrum that was going on by my side. Ten minutes later, she was transformed into an angelic child (almost) by the administration of vast quantities of food.
Hurrah! Porridge is on tonight!
By the way, I really enjoy your web site.
Greetings and thanks from the Far East.
Judith, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tip from Thomas age 11 to help Anger Management - Thomas was sent a notepad as a prize for getting his 20 ADDerward Certificates which is the Silver Award. Thomas was really kind and wrote to me to give me a great idea for using this.
Hello Caroline,
I have a really good idea of how to use the notepad.
If you are angry, you can draw pictures to get your anger out.
from Thomas, UK age 11
Tips on getting kids to sleep and keeping
them asleep. -
Getting them to sleep is the standard routine of calming down and
setting up patterns which they feel happy with. More complex patterns
with ADHD kids than with 'others'. Thick curtains helps, cuddly toys,
video and audio tapes. A friends son settles down with 'digital art'
video tapes. My son, Richard (Yes, another Richard! ....Ed), likes a relaxation audio tape called ZONK.
He also keeps a lucky charm, a smooth piece of marble, which we
have assured him (by delivering it in a box along with an antique
looking piece of art work from a red indian tribe...)will ward off evil
spirits at night. Tape recordings of washing machine and vacuum cleaner
have worked well to settle other kids. Richard likes red or orange bed
sheets. A friends son insists on terry towelling sheets. A child I fostered wanted a sleeping bag into which he stored all manner of items....it
needed regular washing! Stars stuck to ceiling (toy shop).
Once asleep it is a case of keeping them asleep. The best thing I found
was to buy a loudly ticking clock (in our case it is an older type
wind-up travel clock which is inside a tabacco tin) this is kept beneath
the pillow, or mattress...the ticking seems to keep them settled down.
Richard gets hot at night...so has windows wide open and sleeps with a
cold-water bottle...even in winter! Richard is given a tablet
KALMS...which is a homeopathic thing from health food shop...it says it
calms and relaxes..one tablet is pretty usless in fact (I took 6 and
felt nothing at all!)..he trusts it however and believes it works. I
have also given a syrup-based vitamin thing..a spoonful at night,
delicious, with loud comment along the lines of "if this works so that
you don't wake me before 7.30am then I will give it to you every night
even though it is terribly expensive!" ....it worked until he saw a new
bottle in my shopping bag and read the label...I had to act shocked..it
was awful that drug companies were using the same bottles for different
products and that a person could be tricked into buying the wrong stuff
...I would be writing to tell them off etc...I would have to buy
something else just to make sure he wasn't poisoned!
Let me know if any of this works! Pass on to others of course if useful.
Chris G, North Somerset, UK.
Home Schooling Tips:
My son has been out of school for almost three years. He has many
difficulties and structuring lessons along with encouraging motivation
has been somewhat like trying to train an elephant to knit! I have
developed some strategies which have proved helpful: My son receives
home tuition from LEA funded tutors for a few hours in the mornings.
Some of these sessions are of social content rather than being academic
based and I feel a need to try to add a little to his academic education
myself. We don't work every day, but when there is a day which is
'social' then I aim to work with my son myself for an hour or so. I
begin by agreeing a time for work to begin and set a token reward for my
son being 'at table' at the agreed time. I am given a token for being
ready also...so this soon sets itself in place as he loves to 'catch me
out'. Work has to be split up into small sections, my son can't cope
with a work book, but happily works to complete a photo-copied page in
worksheet form ('10 out of 10' have worksheets which match their
software). Work sheets are given out singly and when my son tires then
we leave the table and move to the computer before he starts to
complain. My son works well with computer based programmes, so I limit
the time he spends, leaving the work almost uncompleted. We work with CD
Roms and Internet resources. We then move to art or craft projects for a
while. Returning to computer for a final session. After each section of
work a token reward is given, my son gives me a token also, unless I
have left him to answer phone etc...which he judges to be 'off task'.
At end of each session of working we total rewards (we use coloured
paper clips, stickers or ink stamps on our arms) and the person who has
earned the most receives a wrapped gift (sweets, coin in a matchbox,
foreign coin, few foreign stamps, interesting pebble, cheap novelty,
christmas crackers).
I hope that some of these ideas work for others as they do for us.
There are still problems sometimes, when all the 'agreements' in the
world fail to encourage compliance with expectations. I try not to lose
heart at these times and can usually 'save the day' by noting my sons
negative stance before his behavior escalates, I then smile and say "Oh
bother...I'm not really in the mood to teach you now! Shall we bake some
cakes or something instead, do you mind very much?" this throws him off
the defiant route completely!
ADD/ADHD is Real and it is not an excuse
Hi!!
I just wanted to say that my son who is 9 has ADD/ADHD and I knew it for a
long time and that many people think it is an excuse but it really isn't.
Finally Child study has proven that. I am grateful that you recognize it. With
proper medication and/or counseling it will improve. Please don't stop letting
others know that ADD/ADHD is Real and it is not an excuse. My son is doing
better now at home and in school. I was afraid and did not want any part of
it, but I did face it and now see my son as the young man that he really is.
ADD/ADHD is not his fault. I am very proud of him and he can test me at times
but he is a good boy and he is mine. Just a thought I wanted to share.
Becky
We tell him that he is not alone
I have a son, his name is Christopher. He is 10 and has been diagnosed with ADHD since the age of 5. We have found through many years of research that not only does Chris suffer from ADHD, many other things have occurred. For example; he has allergies, extreme heartburn from an overactive esophagus and low self esteem. He gets upset when he can't remember things. We try to understand but as often humans do we do lose our patience sometimes and end up walking around the block several times. He has difficulty with other children but he is trying harder now that he is getting older. We tell him that he is not alone with the disorder that there are a large number of people diagnosed daily. I wish you well with this home page and the only advice I have found in the many years is just be an advocate for your child; fight for extra time in school on tests and reports and special attention to memory extenders (notes, post-its, bracelets, pins). His allergies have improved since I started him on vitamins and herbs and run him hard (play hard) it seems to exhaust him so he sleeps better.
Kelly
...one of the
first things we noticed was the forgetfulness
My son
was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 7, he is now 10, and one of the
first things we noticed three years ago along with the inability to
concentrate and the "spaceyness" was the forgetfulness. We have post it
notes and charts all over our house to help Andy remember things. And
even day to day things have to be verbally reminded. Andy is like many
ADHD children, he is very emotional and loves touch. Sometimes just a
touch on the shoulder will bring him back on tract, no words are needed.
Bobbie
WOW what a difference
Dear Simon,
Over the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time on your website gleaning
all
the information I could about ADD/ADHD. Even contacted Quest IV in the US
to
see whether their vitamin tablets would work on our William (the answer was
NO
they didn't work but anything was worth a try whilst waiting to see the
consultant!). Also bought a couple of the book titles that had been
reviewed
and have found the one by the author of Toddler Taming absolutely
invaluable (as
well as easy to read, digest, sympathise and laugh about).
The long and short of it is, having got to see a consultant in London
William
started Ritalin last Saturday and WOW what a difference it has made to
everyone's lives. His teachers are over the moon and are indeed very sad
that
they did not have William like this 3 years ago as he moves on from them at
the
end of this term to the Main School. We are also VERY lucky in having a GP
who
is sympathetic to the use of Ritalin. As for us at home it is just
WONDERFUL
to have a boy who is now getting all the "good" attention rather than the
constant "bad attention" he was getting.
Anyway, a big thank you for providing all of us out there with such
invaluable
information.
Kind regards and best wishes
Fiona
My wife and I are so happy it was like winning the pools.
Dear Grey, my son Andrew has been through a terrible time
with problems at school and home.He was uninterested in his school work
, wouldn't interact with other children, bullying you name it. My wife and
I have had him assessed
by education experts ,paediatricians etc to no avail.
Recently a friend of mine came to stay with us and he advised that AJ
was displaing all
the traits of his son who is ADHD.We had tried everything else so we had
him assessed.
Miracle of miracles he was found to have 19/20 indicators and has been
trialled on
Dextamphetamine, since taking it he has completely changed,he
is attentive,no more bullying,looks forward to school and his peers are
really taking care of him,
my wife and I are so happy it was like winning the pools.
just thought you might like to hear some good news from down under.
By the way AJ was coliccy when he was a baby and would cry for 12hrs at
a time.
According to experts this is often an indicator for ADHD later.
All the best Steve & Noreen
I am so proud......
I am so proud, that I have to share this with you all.
Last night my 8 year old son (ADHD/Tourettes) passed his fifth
Karate grading in 18 months. Not bad for a child who just 4 years
ago was written off by a psychiatrist who told me my son would
leave school at 16 being unable to read or write, and end up
living in a cardboard box in some shop doorway!
If only that Doctor could have been there.
So everyone who is struggling to get the medication right, and
who is despairing of ever seeing the light at the end of the
tunnel just hang in there you will get there eventually.
Success on ritalin
I have a 15 year old daughter who was only diagnosed AD/HD 2 years ago.
My life was a living hell. being a single parent I had no support from
anyone. I couldn't face telling my parents how bad things were. she
had no friends and was constantly agressive. It got so bad that I hated
coming home from work. I was summoned to the school regularily.
Phycologists got involved and all they had to say was that it was my
fault, I need to spend more time with her. I shouldn't worry if she
didn't say please or thank you, or not put her knife and fork down "it
will only aggrivate the situation" . she could never sit still even
when eating, and if she decided she didn't like what I had cooked, even
though the day before it had been her favourite it was either thrown at
when she threw a knife at me because I was making her go to school. I
exploded, this may well sound horrendous, I dragged her by the hair
threw her in the car and drove to school. School obviously saw the
state she was in and at last social services were called in. She was
referred to a paediatrition and as I went through the catalogue of
horrors he immediatley diagnosed AD/HD and prescribed Ritalin. Her
behaviour improved 100% within 2 days of her taking the medicine. She
was always a very loving child, in-between attacks (as I called them),
but now our life together is so wonderful and she is doing brilliantly
at school and has lots of friends. I feel though that through the
ignorance of the "specialists" she has missed a lot of her childhood and
she will never get that back. I am so glad that AD/HD is becoming more
recognised within schools and medical circles.
Heather
Thank you VERY VERY much
I don't remember if I wrote to you before to say thank you. I clicked on a banner that was on a game that I wanted to download. You have saved us all from insanity. After I checked your website on ADD I realized my son had ADD and he is not a bad kid and I am not a bad parent. My husband also read what you had to say on ADD and he agrees with me about our son. The only disappointment I had is WHY did the teachers catch this when he was younger. I looked back on his report cards and it constantly explained that he would not pay attention in class, he did not apply himself, did not hand in his homework etc. But that ok his teacher has been wonderful once I told her about ADD she did some research and she agreed with me. He is now taking Dexedrine and we are trying to get some anger management courses for him to take.
Thank you
Michelle
Success with Adderall
Want to tell you about my son Josiah.
He has ADHD, this year we've tried something different, Pycnogenol. It didn't work for Josiah, so we went back to the Doctor and he
suggested we try Adderall. This seems to be working. When the school
year began, he was in one type of trouble or another. Two weeks after
being on Adderall, the school commented on Josiah, and his new ability
to stay on task 100% of the time. And we have had only one "sort-of"
trouble, compared to many without. We have been enjoying the new
Josiah, and we are glad that he is also eating too. (When he was on
Ritalin he did NOT eat.)
Just wanted you to know.
Steve
Rewards are important
For 7 and 1/2 years I argued with my pediatrician that my son was not "normal"
like his older brother. Finally at the age of 8 years it was suggested he be
tested to see if he was ADD. I knew he was but we had him tested and sure
enough he was a classic example. He has been on Ritalin and it has helped him
enormously. But, he does not take it religiously. We use if for school, but
on weekends I give him his dosage based on his behavior. He can have up to 40
miligrams a day. We have 5, 10 and 20 dosages at home.
When he starts to get out of control I tell him you have a choice. Either
stop doing this or you won't be able to do something else. Or you decide what
you are going to do, be quiet or go without tv. This works most of the time
because he made the choice for himself. Rewards are important. When you have
an ADD child you spend so much time trying to discipline them that you can
overlook rewards when he does have a good day. This can be a trip to the
movies, or rent a video game. My son is now almost 12 and in middle school
(6th - 8th grade). When he was in elementary he had a terrible time. He had
to serve detentions after school and was constantly being punished. In middle
school you change classes. Six different classes, plus a locker you must go
to at least once during the day to switch books. You also have a half hour
lunch in a cafeteria with the entire 6th grade class. He has been in school
since August 19th without any infractions this year. He also made the honor
roll (B average over all). And is learning to play an instrument in the school
band. He is the most lovable child I know and I wouldn't change him for
anything. I know he will grow up to be a responsible and respected young man.
B. Simpson
COFFEE... works almost as
good as ritalin
I knew before my son Michael was even born that we had a restless one on our
hands... after his birth he never slept and had night terrors. The first 5
years of his life the doctor said there was nothing wrong with him and that I
was just a nervous mom, he prescribed tranquilizers for me ! Once Michael was
5 all of a sudden I wasn't a nervous mom, miraculously Michael had become ADHD
! Life on Ritalin was a dream! He was so bad that the doctor would not even
give him the "break" that many children get from the drug during the summer
vacation months. Many people have argued with me over the use of Ritalin, but
I can say it did NOT stunt his growth (at age 13 he is 6'3") and he did not
become addicted to the drug (he decided when he was ready to stop taking it
and had no ill effects coming off the medication) However, we knew ADHD was
not his only problem and it took until the age of 11 before anyone would
diagnose Ausbergers Syndrome (autism). which is another story.
I now have a 5 year old son who is showing all the signs of ADD and I feel
confident now after going through it with Michael... that we can handle any
obstacle ahead of us. I wish all the parents luck.
PS: one thing I found that works when your child gets really hyper is to give
him COFFEE either with no sugar or with artificial sweetner... works almost as
good as ritalin
Jeanne
Good news for children with a lactose intolerance who couldn't take Ritalin
Hi there! This is the latest update on my continuing saga of Laylee and Ritalin.
I started giving her 1/2 Ritalin and one Lactogon tablet on a morning, and she was (is) a different child again. Lactogon is a capsule containing lactase which is the enzyme which digests lactose. All went well until she had to start taking a dose at lunchtime at school. The school policy here is that they can only give prescribed medication out. Lactase is not prescribable, as it is classed as a food!! ( To avoid tests regulations etc for drugs, I suppose.) Anyway I managed to get a prescription for it eventually and got a pharmacist to stock it. It just means that I have to buy it (£13.00 a month) instead of getting it free.
The good news however is that Laylee is a transformed child!!!!!!! It is wonderful !!!
The only thing is that she has started to question exactly why she is taking them.
Just how much do you think it should be explained to a "wise" 6 3/4 year old, bearing in mind that she is already classed as being "different" by the other kids because of her diet.
Yours, happily,
Sue
I have some theories about ADHD of my own, and have some methods of working with kids who have this.
There are many children in my family with ADD and/or ADHD. I seem to have a
"way" with kids, have only one of my own who is now grown with 4 children of his own, however, I have had a hand in raising many of the kids in my family, including my own siblings. I have some theories about ADHD of my own, and have some methods of working with kids who have this.
My theory is that
kids were not designed by nature in the first place to learn by sitting quietly for hours on end... like other mammals, human children were designed to
learn thru constant motion and movement. When ANY child is forced to sit still
and quiet for a period of time, they may do so at first, but eventually begin twitching and fidgitting and wiggling and squirming until they arrive at a point of absolute frenzy. My theory is that there are various normal body
and brain chemicals which we "burn off", or use up by moving... amino acids,
and so forth which are the fuels used by our bodies to create energy with
which to move. When we are still for too long, these chems begin to "stack up"
in the brain and muscle tissues, and literally drive children to distraction, sort of like an itch. When I am working with a child in my family, I pay attention to their level of body movement, and before they reach that
state where they absolutely cannot concentrate or be still, I tell them "I can tell that you are trying to pay attention, but you are feeling distracted. Why don't you get up and move around a bit, do some jumping jacks or run
for a few minutes, or whatever feels good. When you are ready, come back and
we will work on this some more." Kids seem to really respond well to this.
They not only appreciate that I realize they are not simply misbehaving, but
they also seem to feel good about being taught what they need to do for
themselves to be able to concentrate. So often, children with ADD or ADHD get labeled
as behavior problems, or in some way get the impression that they are not as capable of learning as other kids. Children who come to think of learning as a difficult and tiresome task become "lost". It is the natural inclination of the human spirit to want to know everything about
everything. Once a child feels bad about their ability to learn, their self esteem suffers, and learning is tedious to him.
I may not be telling you anything that you do not already know, but I do like to share what children have taught me about themselves over the years. Something else that seems to
work well with most children is to singsong lessons to them. For some reason,
when teaching children the kinds of things they must learn by rote, adding a musical rythm to it seems to help them retain the information. perhaps
this is because it is more attention catching and less tedious, or perhaps
because it places the information in more than one area of the brain, since speech and music to be stored in different areas of the brain... so adding rythm gives children an extra place in their memory from which to later recall
the information.I also sometimes but the two methods together... by clapping
or patting my foot to the rythm of whatever I am singsonging to them, and encouraging them to do the same... which gives them the opportunity to use those stored up, distracting brain and body chemicals I mentioned.
Deborah, Houston, Texas, USA
He is now 14 years old and is classed as a "brilliant poet, artist and student".
My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 3 years old. He is now 14 years old and is classed as a "brilliant poet, artist and student". He has a college scholarship and is looking forward to a very bright future. None of this would have been possible without the assistance of knowledgeable people and the many resources available in this area to help parents and other people learn how to help those with ADHD.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Junior Girl Scout with ADHD, has just authored her first book.
My elementary school-age daughter was diagnosed with
ADHD at an early age, yet it doesn't hold her back.
Kaitlyn Bayne, a Junior Girl Scout with ADHD, has just authored her first book
"The Little Book of Knock Knock Jokes" (ISBN: 1930408048). Now cataloged by
Borders.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Amazon.com, the gift-sized hardcover
will ship this summer, according to the publisher. Produced by Lawrence
Teacher Publishing Group of Philadelphia, Kaitlyn's book is a compilation
of jokes emailed to her from kids all over the world. Kaitlyn has had her
own jokes and riddles Web site since she was 4 and spends several hours
each week sorting incoming email and surfing the Web for new kid's sites.
Besides being mentioned in books, periodicals, and on educational CD ROMs,
Kaitlyn's elementary school-age comedy has been used on the air on WPAP-FM
92.5 in Panama City, Florida. In August, Kaitlyn's site was mentioned in a
column in Eiken Times, a Japanese magazine for people studying English. The
Web site has been indexed in "The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages, 4th
Edition" and "continues to be one of the very few joke sites" highlighted,
according to author Jean Armour Polly.
Now Success at School.
You may recall I wrote to you some months ago now with the problems I was
having with my 6 year old ADHD/ODD boy. He had been permantly excluded from
school and I didn't know which way to turn.Well thanks to you very
informative advice I managed to get in contact with all the right people.
After several months of no schooling I managed to get Adam reinstated in
that school and the decision overturned, basically because the school didn't
have a leg to stand on after my findings!!!!!! on looking through his school
record I found a letter, a faxed letter from county hall in Norwich offering
the school emergency funding in the next letter it was typed from the school
'Not needed as medication seems to working'......Whoops!! I found several
things that all lead the governors to believe that Adam had not been catered
properly for.......for goodness sake when I called the meeting with them
after 4 exclusions from school....they didn't even know that Adam had
ADHD!!!!!......headmistress finally through her hands up and confessed she
didn't know where to go for help or what to do, never come across it in 19
years of teaching!!!!!! Adam was statemented and returned back to school
with his FULL TIME one to one, that was at the beginning of sept. Its
so wonderful Caroline, in that time he has never been sent home!!!!
something that happened every day before, we have had a couple of outbursts
but Adam quite rightly took himself off to his 'time out' place and he has
come on in leaps and bounds and is far ahead of the others,all that home
tutoring finally paid off his teachers are amazed, he still attends the
pupil referral unit two a/noons per week and has successfully obtained all
of his targets for the term. I must admit its the first time I have really
sat up and fought for my son, it wasn't easy and I had to take unpaid leave
form work to do it.....but it has paid off....at last, the school are now so
much more cooperative and are now quite happy to give him his lunchtime
medication.where before I had to arrange someone to go in for me everyday.
Anyway its good news for a change, hope you and your family are keeping
well.
Bye for now
Lisa Jayne
Ritalin Does Work.
My son was classed hyperactive at 18 months, not a lot could be done for him apart from doing our own tests regarding food additives. So until he was 5 years old we had a wild child on our hands who got into all sorts of mischief. But lucky for us we had a great doctor who did all that was possible regarding getting Andrew tested for ADHD. So at five it was confirmed he had ADHD, but it was another year before he was given the Ritalin. Yes it made a great change in our lives not only for him and now he is 10 and plays rugby, also he is a goal keeper for his school. These are great challenges for him because he has to work in a team. We tried other medication but it didn't work. Ritalin gives him a chance to study like any other child in his class, not that he doesn't have bad days because we have had quite a few of them and we still do.
I only wish people would stop and think before making comments when we are out shopping ( a nightmare at times ). But the best one was when we where out last year and some one in the line said, 'he is like that boy on the TV' ( Kid in the corner), to which I replied, 'yes my son has the ADHD problem as well.' Not another word was said from anyone else.
So what did I do I have bought my son a t.shirt with the words ADHD at the top and underneath liable to mood swings. So as the song says things can only get better we all hope so.
Freda
Anecdotes from a mother with a 9 year old adhd son.
Hook and Eyes placed strategically at the top of a door way are easily reached with a broom handle.
Getting ones self into the washing machine is a lot easier than getting out of one.
You don't need to reach the gas pedal to drive a Mercedes Benz in reverse.
Pennies go down a lot easier hidden in a peanut butter sandwich.
New TV's don't need buttons, after all, you have got a remote control, right?
New TV's still work even after a large chunck of the screen is removed with a hammer.
New TV's never work after a magnet is applyed to the screen.
Expensive shampoo makes great bubble bath!
He has succeeded.
"My adopted son Robert was born crack addicted in 1990. Diagnosised with ADD/ADHD at 3 he has been on stimulants all his life. He has fought and overcome the sp. ed. school system for the last 3 years. Through neuro-feedback he has learned to control his symptoms plus his rages due to holes made in his brain by his mother's drug use. He wants to help the other 400,000 children born and adopted out each year. We have written a book on his journey to show the different methods we used and what he had to endure at the hands of the school system. He has succeeded but nobody wants to hear his story"
In a band and just releasing our first cd.
My name is Frank I have had ADHD for about as long as I can remember when I was younger I was on ritalin but now I am on no medications, but would like all the kids know it is possible to excel even though they have ADHD I have.
I am 19 now and am getting ready to leave for collage majoring in music and I am in a band that is doing well. We are just releasing our first cd. This has been a dream of mine for ever.
My advice to other kids with ADHD is to set goals and have your dream don't give up you can do it too!
"I didn't think that I'd make it through my GCSEs but I did"
"I was diagnosed with ADD in February 2002 aged 15 and so have been trying to find out about it for a while. It was discovered after going to a psychologist for anxiety problems and that my ADD was in fact the root cause. I have found your website to be one of the most useful to me. My parents, psychologist and myself,didn't think that I'd make it through my GCSEs but I did and passed 8 with flying colours! I am now doing 4 AS levels at sixth form college. I hope to be able to go to university and study Psychology when I have done my A levels. Keep up the good work!"
Hannah (16)
"Thanks"
"Just to let you know that after a very long slog with ordinary paediatricians (who didn't believe there was any need for treatment) our 6 year old is being very successfully treated for ADHD with Equasym.
At 3 years old, she was unthinkingly aggressive but blissfully unaware she had a problem. At 4 she would come home from school very stressed and have a good cry after her bath each evening and at 5 she would come home and cry about no-one wanting to play with her. Finally, at 6 years old we have a relaxed and happy kid who is joining in at playtime and growing in confidence every day. Just three days after receiving her first ever medication her teacher remarked 'Wow; it's like magic! She has finally joined the class'.
This success story comes to you courtesy of Adders.org and all your wonderful contributors. Without the information, examples (both glad and sad) and general encouragement on your web-site, we probably wouldn't have badgered the doctors to get access to the right help for our daughter. Thank you and all of your contributors for the inspiration and warm support."
Sandie
"Its as if I have been given my son back"
"Hello all,
I just wanted to let yous know I have put my son age 10 on concerta.And.... its as if I have been given my son back.He is still when I talk to him and can wait his turn.I have been told by his teachers that he is now a pleasure to teach.One teacher didnt know he was on concerta andshe told me that for some reason he is like a different child since christmas.I know , I told her.Its great, and hes not a zombie , hes just my son ,less all the hyper , been in a daze, always talking stuff. He is happyier now. So a success story , I just had to share.
thanks for everything."
Cathy
"Your games have helped not only to focus, but to give him a "good time out"."
"Thanks again for the membership. My son is extremely ADHD. Over the last few months he's had a really rough time while out growing his meds. When they're adjusted stimulants work great during the day but he deserves to be more than a 9-5 kid. Your games have helped not only to focus, but to give him a "good time out". It's difficult to teach him that he's a great kid and it's okay to be ADHD when most of the obvious symptoms are associated with being "bad".
I've needed to homeschool and I use mostly all online game type curriculums. I've been began putting little 10 minute little fun refocusing games in between subjects to help get him going, ease any tension, or just to refocus him. Otherwise, an hours worth of school can some days take 4 hours.
These are some of the other sites that I've found helpful.
www.homeschoolskedtrack.com - I use it as a Launchpad for their school and tracking.
www.proprofs.com/games/ - more focusing games
www.symbaloo.com visual bookmarks
still looking for a med reminder/tracker for young kids. I think it'd do a world of good in preventing depression to help him feel a sense of control over the ADHD instead of visa versa. Especially at an early age.
Thanks for listening.
Vicky"