This blog post can be found at “A Mom’s View of ADHD” http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/04/get-facts-or-shut-up.html.

 
I keep reading over and over articles, blog posts, etc. claiming that teaching ADHD kids consequences will “cure” their ADHD. Anyone who spreads this rubbish can’t possibly have ADHD, know someone with ADHD, or be a medical professional of any sort. They are just yet another conspiracy-theorist anxious to fuel the flames. They do get me in a tizzy but not the one they were hoping for. I get downright angry. If they were educated on the subject whereof they take great liberty to speak, they would know this belief is pure trash.

As a parent of an ADHD child, we hear it all: behavior problems are just bad parenting; if you punish them they will comply; every child can sit still and focus if they try hard enough; ADHD medications/stimulants just drug a child into submission; blah…blah…blah.

We knew there was something going on with Luke because

* we know we are good parents,
* we punished taking away privileges until he literally had no toys and had to earn them back a few at a time and he still couldn’t follow directions (or earn his toys back)
* he wanted desperately to follow directions and please his elders and was very sad a lot of the time because he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried
* he is the sweetest, most kind-hearted little boy around but he was constantly in trouble.

Now, I know perfectly well that my son’s ADHD is very real and not something that he can control on his own (at least not at 6 years old — I certainly hope he will learn to compensate and cope when he is older). He can’t just tell himself to calm down and sit still and pay attention and have it be so. For that is the definition of ADHD! An ADHD individual cannot control their impulses — something different is happening in their brain.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST, PLEASE GO TO http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/04/get-facts-or-shut-up.html.

Wow, the response to last week’s post, What I Would Want a Mother of a Typical Needs Child to Know” (http://www.lipstickwisdom.com/2009/09/15/what-would-i-want-a-mother-of-a-typical-needs-child-to-know/), has been tremendous. I have seemingly been able to verbalize in my post what many mothers of special needs children feel in their daily life. Frustration with a lack of understanding and consideration is a common feeling among those of us with special needs children.

What, in my opinion, are the two most often cited sources of frustration and lack of understanding? I feel they are extended family and the school system. So I have been asking myself for days – how can I help to educate those who don’t know and don’t understand?
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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.
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The mother of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who committed suicide after receiving cruel Internet messages is focusing on ways to protect other children from cyber-bullying. Tina Meier says her life has “done a 360″ since her 13-year-old daughter took her own life after being bullied online.

The mother of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who committed suicide after receiving cruel Internet messages is focusing on ways to protect other children from cyber-bullying. Tina Meier says her life has “done a 360″ since her 13-year-old daughter took her own life after being bullied online. NOTHING IS THE WAY IT USED TO BE. AFTER MEGAN PASSED, I WAS JUST IN A FOG (TINA MEIER/MOTHER). Now she’s working to turn the tragedy into something positive. I KNEW I HAD TO TAKE ALL OF THE ANGER AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS AND TURN IT INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. IT NOT, IT WAS GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE. The Missouri mother has set up a foundation in her daughter’s memory that focuses on bullying and cyber-bullying. I’M KEEPING HER MEMORY NOT B/C I CAN’T LET HER GO BUT IF TRYING TO SOMETHING WRONG HAS HAPPENED AND A RIGHT HAS TO BE MADE TO PROTECT OTHER CHILDREN THROUGH LEGISLATIVE OR TALKING TO OTHER KIDS, THAT’S WHAT I’M GOING TO DO. Megan Meier– who had a history of attention deficit disorder and depression– hanged herself on October 6th, 2006. She died the following day. The teen committed suicide shortly after receiving cruel messages on MySpace from a boy named Josh Evans. But weeks after Megan’s death, her family found out Evan’s online profile was allegedly made up by a neighbor. It’s believed Lori Drew helped create the account to find out if Megan was talking about her own child. Drew’s lawyer previously denied the claims, but his client has since been indicted. SHE KNEW ABOUT THE ACCOUNT, SHE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. AND IT WAS A JOKE, IT WAS FUNNY. AGAIN, I DON’T BELIEVE SHE KNEW MEGAN WOULD COMMIT SUICIDE BUT WHEN YOU DO THESE TYPES OF THINGS, THIS CAN HAPPEN. Tina Meier says her daughter was a real girl, with real dreams. And she hopes by sharing her story no other family will have to endure the pain that her family has.