From: http://thepealfamily.blogspot.com

Becky
I am… wife to a wonderful husband, mother to 2 awesome boys, daughter to fabulous parents, sister to 2 phenomenal women, friend to many… and a child of God.

Do They Know?

http://thepealfamily.blogspot.com/2009/09/do-they-know.html

The other day, as I was watching all the kids get on the school bus outside our front door, I dreamed about having a “normal” kid… a kid who gets themselves ready in the morning without 100 reminders or redirections… a kid who does their homework without complaining and completes it in a normal amount of time… a kid who doesn’t have a meltdown every time he doesn’t get his way… and the list goes on and on.

Then I wondered… Do they know?

Do the other parents know what we go through on a daily basis, just to get ready for school?
Do the other parents know what we go through every night when we have to do homework?
Do they realize how good they really have it? Do they appreciate their kids?

I love my kids with all my heart and I wouldn’t trade them for the world… but some days I just wish for some semblance of normalcy. What is our “normal” you may ask – here are just a few glimpses of what it is like to be a parent of a kid with ADHD:

- Simple tasks like getting dressed, making a bed, or brushing their teeth require numerous reminders and redirections and it takes 10 times longer than it should.
- Sometimes I just help them get dressed, eventhough they can do it by themselves, just so that it won’t take so long.

Read the rest of this entry at: http://thepealfamily.blogspot.com/2009/09/do-they-know.html

http://thepealfamily.blogspot.com

Becky
I am… wife to a wonderful husband, mother to 2 awesome boys, daughter to fabulous parents, sister to 2 phenomenal women, friend to many… and a child of God.

Sample Blog Entry:

This Blog Post Can Be Found at : http://thepealfamily.blogspot.com/2009/09/easy-essays.html

Friday, September 11, 2009
Easy Essays
I stumbled upon this site this week and it has been a huge help to my older son who is not formally diagnosed but has mild ADHD symptoms. He really struggles with planning his thoughts and getting started on writing. He is in 5th grade this year and they are doing weekly essays – yeah more work for mom! I had a discussion with him yesterday about needing to do his essay before soccer practice and he complained that it would take too long and there was no way he could get it done before soccer… but when I got home, the essay was completed thanks to this wonderful FREE site! He said he did it in less than 30 minutes and it was the first time the essay actually flowed properly. Three cheers for The Easy Essay website!

www.theeasyessay.com

http://adderworld.com

Bryan Hutchinson

Bryan, a published author, shares media based information on ADHD as well as personal stories that are usually presented in a very humorous light!

What About Bryan?

After struggling through a painful childhood, a frustrating young adulthood, and a decade in therapy, Bryan Hutchinson finally found the key to unlocking the complexities of his mind. He was diagnosed with ADHD, type 1 (inattentive) at 37 years old – and after his initial shock at the diagnosis, he was ultimately filled with liberation and validation, knowing finally that he wasn’t simply lazy, or a failure, or incapable of sustaining relationships and living a life of purpose. He embarked on a journey of self-discovery, learning along the way the power of positive thinking and reframing his negative self-image into a positive one filled with optimism.
As he learned more about ADHD, and met more and more people like him, who had felt like failures for their entire lives, who lived with pain and self-loathing every day, who felt powerless to change their lives, Bryan was filled with a need to bring to others the peace and hope that he himself had found. He wrote his first book, “One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir – Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD” in the hope that people reading his book would know that the higher ground is out there, and more importantly, no matter how far down you are, the higher ground is within your grasp. Bryan has come so far, through therapy and mentorship, that it’s often assumed by those that don’t know him or haven’t read his book, that his ADHD is only a mild case. It’s only after you understand where he came from, that his current success becomes inspirational.

Bryan has become an advocate in the ADHD community. His blog, www.ADDerWorld.com , is an online journal of his experiences and opinions concerning life and ADHD. In many ways Bryan’s blog is a continuance of his first book. His second book, “The Brilliant Reality of ADHD”, is a collection of his personal blog posts, as well as new articles written especially for the book. He also created the www.ADDerWorld.ning.com social network, which is quickly growing to be one of the largest and most active ADHD websites on the net, where those touched by ADHD can come together as a community to support and encourage each other in both struggles and triumphs. Bryan’s dream for ADDer World is for it to become an organization of motivational encouragement, spreading positive thinking and positive redirection for those struggling with the frustrations of ADHD. He has participated in limited public speaking and looks forward to expanding in that area to continue to assist others in various ways, highlighting the realities of ADHD, and showing how positive thinking can help ADDers take control of their traits and realize their talents.
Bryan is married to a wonderfully supportive and inspiring woman, Joan. She has been a true guiding force in Bryan’s life, showing him unconditional support and unfailing belief in his abilities. Bryan and Joan spend time together watching movies and taking day trips to different cities, just to walk around and experience the sights. He devotes most of his spare time to advancing ADDer World, providing hope and inspiration for people with ADHD everywhere.
 
 

Sample Post
http://adderworld.com/blog1/2009/06/29/is-it-adhd-or-bad-luck/#more-1965
 
 

Is it ADHD or Bad Luck?
June 29th, 2009 · 25 Comments · 01 My Thoughts

A few weeks ago I was reminded of something which I sincerely and vehemently believed for a long time: Which was that I was cursed with a terrible case of life-long bad luck (if you have ADHD then you know what I am talking about). In my imagination I figured I must have done something terribly wrong in a past life and; therefore, I was paying the price for it in this life. Well, I was later diagnosed with ADHD, just as awful, I thought at the time, but not as unmanageable as pure, cross-a-black-cat, break-a-mirror, step-on-a-crack, bad luck.

Let me tell you what happened, and feel free to let me know if something similar has happened to you. Nobody wants to be alone in their follies, right?
Read the rest of this entry »

www.myaddblog.com

Tara McGillicuddy, the author of http://myaddblog.com, is a woman with ADHD who is a professional ADHD Coach. Her blog is full of useful information about books, seminars, support groups and personal insights into the mind of a woman with ADHD. It is an insightful blog that helps anyone dealing with ADHD.
 
Tara McGillicuddy

I am a Senior Certified ADHD Coach and a woman with ADHD.

Tara McGillicuddy is an Senior Certified ADHD Coach . She has been educating and supporting people with ADD through her website Living with ADD for several years. She is also the director of ADDClasses.com.

Tara is a professional member of the ADHD Coaches Organization and the Institute for the Advancement of ADHD Coaching.
 
 
Sample blog post

This blog post can be found at http://www.myaddblog.com/2009/04/adult-adhd-and-thinking-the-worst.html

Adult ADHD and Thinking the Worst

It’s quite common for Adults with ADHD to automatically think the worst and jump to the wrong conclusions. Some of it is do to impulsivity and some of it is due to past experiences. When Adults with ADHD have a poor self image we automatically think the worst about ourselves and it’s quite often not the case.

So when you are thinking the worst about yourself stop for a few moments to ask yourself if you have all the facts. If you don’t then it’s probably a good idea to try and get them. As adults with ADHD we beat up ourselves enough for real things and we don’t need to beat ourselves up for things that may not even be true.

Managing ADHD in the classroom requires a tight collaboration between the family, the teacher and the school administrators. Many people, including teachers, are not well educated about ADHD and some still have the prejudice that the child is lazy or a discipline problem. The fact is ADHD is a neurological disorder that can make every day tasks that are second nature to those without ADHD/ADD seem like an insurmountable task for those with ADHD.
 
The standard definition of ADHD includes three subtypes:

1. Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive
2. Predominantly inattentive
3. Combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive

The most prominent features of ADHD include:

1. An inability to control behavior or impulses.
2. An inability to delay gratification.
3. Excessive physical activity that is unrelated to the activity at hand.
4. Poor ability to sustain attention or to persist with tasks.
 
Each individual with ADHD is different with their own set of strengths and challenges. However, in addition to the hyperactivity or the inattentiveness, the ADHD child often has challenges in a group of skills called executive functions. According to Wikipedia, executive functions is a “concept used by psychologists and neuroscientists to describe a loosely defined collection of brain processes which are responsible for planning, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule acquisition, initiating appropriate actions and inhibiting inappropriate actions, and selecting relevant sensory information”.
 
Often with the ADHD child, the impairment is more than them being hyperactive or inattentive. Other possible ramifications or symptoms of the child with ADHD include challenges, limitations or problems with:

1. Organization

3. Memory recall of facts or concepts learned.
Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.angelsmind.co.za/

Angel has a teenage son (at the time of this writing, 18) who was diagnosed with ADHD (severe hyperactivity) at age 6. She once read that having ADHD was like a person driving a Ferrari fitted with Toyota brakes. There’s all the beauty, power and speed, but none of the control. Its one of her favourite ADHD metaphors and she uses it to remind herself and her son that he is brilliant- but needs guidance. Angel shares both daily life, successes, failures and things she has learned along the way.

Angel

I’m a coffee-addicted; junk-food-junkie; social-smoking; single-mom to a teenager. My darling Damien (AKA Knucklehead) has ADHD and it makes our rollercoaster slash bumpercar ride very interesting!

I have six tattoos and three cats, and when I grow up I want to be one of those strange ladies that people are a little afraid of ‘coz she walks around in public in huge, purple, flower bedecked hats and feather-boas.

Here is a sample blog post http://www.angelsmind.co.za/2009/06/13/my-adhasa-parenting-seminar-presentation/.
 

My ADHASA Parenting Seminar Presentation
by Angel

On June 13th, at 14h20, I got up in front of an audience of about 50 people- which included my mommy darling, my sister B, my Glugster, and L and P (the parents from one of the families I “mentor” via phone and email) to speak at the ADHASA Parenting Seminar.

It was great.

I think it went quite well, with people nodding and laughing in all the right places. I only had 15 minutes- and a set topic which helped me stay focussed- but I do hope I’ll be invited to speak again and be given more time next year.

As always, the seminar was immensely interesting and informative, and I am already looking forward to next year.

And here, as promised, is my presentation- including my introduction which didn’t get read out but was provided in the notes given to attendees.

————————————————————————————————
Angel is mom to her 18 year old ADHDer son, Damien, and until about a year ago she was a single mom.
Her son has taught her life lessons- like stopping to smell the roses, and seeing the beauty in a simple sunrise, and he continues to teach her to take it one day at a time.
She’s a business consultant by trade; she collects ADHD reference books and is an avid campaigner for ADHD awareness.
You can read about her life with Damien on her blog here, and you can email her here
————————————————————————————————

Growing Up with ADHD- a Parent’s Experience

I’d like to start by reading a poem written by a woman named Michelle Flood, whose son Austin was 6 when she wrote it. It’s a poem I have read and re-read on several occasions, to remind myself that I am not ever alone in this.

You’ve Seen Me Before

I’m the mom dragging her kid out of the car in the school parking lot while he holds on to the interior for dear life.

Again.
Read the rest of this entry »

On this video are practical powerful tips for reading with your child that can dramatically improve your child’s reading capabilities especially for elementary school children. Our son has language based learning issues and this approach has helped him tremendously.

 
As a parent you know that reading is extremely important. Studies show that the more children read, the better readers and writers they become.

Now as you know, our son has language based learning issues. Getting him to sit still to read a book when he was young was torture. No matter how much I put inflection in my voice and used sound effects, I could only get a couple of minutes out of him. What I have found, however, is that over time I am able to add more and more time to our reading time together.

What I want to do today is to give you some really practical tips for reading with your child that can powerfully improve your child’s reading capabilities especially for elementary school kids.

First find out from your school, the comfort reading level of your child. Each “grade” has multiple reading levels and your child is testing probably at least twice during the school year to determine his or her reading level.

Then what you need to do is to get a list of books at your child’s comfort reading level as well as a list of books at the next two reading levels above. You can get these lists either from your school, your school library, the public library and or online resources. For instance, Scholastic has an online book wizard that helps to list books by reading level.

Of course, there are many systematic approaches to reading levels and you need to understand which system your school uses. For instance some of the approaches for reading levels are Guided Reading, Basal Level, DRP (Degrees of Reading Power), Reading Recovery, DRA Level and Lexile Level. Our school uses the Basal rating system and our son’s comfort reading level is at PP2.

Then get a bunch of books at your child’s comfort reading level and then some books above your child’s comfort reading level. The books which are above your child’s comfort reading level (just one or two levels above) are the books that you read out loud to your child. Try to read out loud to your child each day for 15 to 20 minutes.
Read the rest of this entry »

 
The recent diagnosis of ADD (ADHD inattentive) for our son has resulted in a major framework shift or me. Learning that he has a lifelong disability that will make life more difficult than it already is causes waves of sadness to come over me. I realize that in order to move on from these feelings, I need to face them and embrace them and then let them go.

 

 
Learning Issues, ADD and Grief

So I call my little peanut, my little onion as well because we just keep peeling back the layers to understand more. As you know, we recently got a diagnosis of ADHD (inattentive) for our son. This, I recently realized, has been a dramatic framework shift for me. Let me explain.

Because he is young, we have been working on and with his learning issues and trying to figure out which issues are based on learning differences and which are based on immaturity. The learning needs school that he has been attending is a transition school. This means that they work with the child to discover their strengths and to establish methodologies and frameworks that work to help the child address their learning weaknesses. They also teach the child to advocate for themselves and their learning needs. When the child has a strong learning toolset and the understanding and mindset to be their own learning advocate, the goal is to transition them back to a mainstream school.
Read the rest of this entry »

http://tracynicolaus.blogspot.com/

Tracy Nicolaus has ADHD and has 3 sons, each of whom has ADD or ADHD. Tracy shares about her life, her writing and her wisdom gained from having ADHD and raising children with ADHD. Her writing is emotionally charged, funny and, at times, a little crazy (LOL). Her writings are mostly entertaining with wisdoms sprinkled throughout.

Tracy Nicolaus

Raising 3 wonderful sons was the greatest adventure of my life! 2 ADD and one severely ADHD (like his momma) gave me stamina, patience, and a sense of humor. Anyone who has raised a kid or 2 like this, or who lives with ADHD themselves may appreciate these poems and stories. Feel free to share them with friends and family and link to my page I need all the help and support I can get! You know what else? YOU DO TOO!

 
I am an ADHD adult. I was diognosed in the late 1980s after my 5 year old son was put on medication for ADHD & I saw that he wasn’t the only one with issues. Finding an MD to test me for something I was ’supposed’ to grow out of was quite difficult! But with tenacity & blatant pushiness, I finally pioneered my way into treatment. Today I am a very happy & content freelance writer and singer. Your comments are very important to me, I have a deficiency in attention after all… SO PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!! We ADHD/ADD folks need as many strokes as we can get. After getting beaten up by the world for years, our view of ourselves can become a bit askew. So if you have ADHD or ADD let me say, YOU ROCK!!! Way to go, you found us and you never have to feel “less than” again! If your parenting an ADHD/ADD kid let me say, I’m SO SORRY… lol (tounge in cheek), YOU hit the jackpot! You have a child that will teach you the meaning of being truly alive! I’m involved in recovery and I do a lot of work with other women and girls facing drug or alcohol addiction, I was born and raised in northern California and I LOVE it here.
 

Sample blog entry

http://tracynicolaus.blogspot.com/2008/10/please-help-me-my-adhd-son-is-driving.html

This is a portion of an email chain between Tracy and another mom who needed help and support. Here is a portion of the “conversation.”

 
FROM: Tracy
OCT. 13, 2008, at 6:54 AM

I was a single mom of three boys. Cody had one of the worst cases of
ADHD the doc had ever seen. The others had ADD but not bad enough for
treatment.

You wrote “I feel like i am always yelling and that he is always
being punished”

Yes, I was always yelling too, and an amazing therapist told me to
look for the things Cody was doing right, ignore the bad stuff to the
best of my ability (in other words, choose your battles wisely). What
the therapist didn’t understand is that I never could catch him doing
anything right!

So I had to start small… if he took his plate to the kitchen,
“Thank you sweetie for taking your plate to the kitchen, you really
are helpful”.
Read the rest of this entry »