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.

This blog post can be found at “A Mom’s View of ADHD” http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/05/ugh-more-meds.html

 
Last week, Luke had his second checkup with the Behavioral & Developmental M.D. at the Olson Huff Center since being diagnosed with ADHD there Nov. 2008. At the first checkup in March, his Concerta dosage was increased and the doctor was concerned because he had lost 4 pounds. I was, of course, nervous about going in again. I knew if he had lost any more weight, the doctor would change his medication. I agree that he has to grow. But I was also nervous as to the outcome because both his teacher and I had begun to realize the Concerta was loosing effectiveness again (that’s how he got the increased dose the last time). I just don’t approach the unknown very willingly.

So he was weighed and measured and his blood pressure was taken. Then we waited for our turn with his doctor. I saw what his weight and height were at the time measured, but I didn’t remember what they were in March so I was on the edge of my seat when we finally got in with the doctor. Fortunately, he looked at his weight first. It was exactly the same as two months ago, down to the tenth of a pound: 47.7 pounds (he had been 52 pounds when diagnosed in Nov.). He actually grew 1.5 inches too. Yeah, he was growing!

When I mentioned that the Concerta was beginning to loose effectiveness again, I got the dreaded “this may be as good as it gets” spiel. Frankly, I am fine with his current behavior. It can be frustrating at times, but we have dealt with it for a few years and can deal with it again. What is bothersome is how much trouble and learning prevention ADHD causes at school. When his meds are working he does so great and I really want that greatness for him.

So Dr. S told me about Tenex. Tenex is a hypertension medication that is often prescribed to ADHD individuals when stimulants aren’t tolerated or don’t work well. It is not yet FDA-approved for children and for treating ADHD but that is going to happen later this year. It affects a certain chemical in the brain causing a “slow-down.” I didn’t like the idea of giving him two medications every day and I didn’t like the idea of giving him a medication for high blood pressure when his blood pressure is a-okay. But Dr. S explained that it helps with hyperactivity and impulsivity, the two ADHD symptoms that Luke was again struggling with. He said we could try it for a few days to 1) see if he could take it without severe drowsiness or other side effects and 2) see if it would help with the re-emerging symptoms. If so, great. We’ll continue to take it. If not, he’ll tell me how to wean him off of it (you cannot stop this medicine abruptly).

TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST, PLEASE GO TO http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/05/ugh-more-meds.html.

The post can be found at “A Mom’s View of ADHD” http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-high-metabolism-really-blessing.html.

I have wished for a higher metabolism my entire adult life. Once my lifestyle “settled down,” the fat also settled…on my stomach, hips, thighs… I have watched my husband eat like a horse (his serving size for Twinkies is 2-3 at a time, for example) over the last 12 years and not gain a pound. He is still under weight. I however, can think about chocolate (obsess really, but that’s another conversation) and gain weight. I am 40 pounds heavier than I was at age 21. A good 30 pounds overweight.

Now I am starting to wonder if a high metabolism is really such a blessing though. I mean, I am sure it would be great for me, but it is not beneficial to the men in my life, my hubby and son. The first time I heard that your body can metabolize your medications was last year, a couple months after my husband began getting remicaid infusions for his ankylosing spondilitis. The first couple months were great. The pain was down significantly over his previous medication, which had just stopped working after several months. But after 2-3 months on the new medication, it began loosing effectiveness as well. His rheumatologist immediately asked him about his eating habits. My husband, god love him, survives on a Coke diet (at least 6 cans) up until dinner. He eats nothing during the day and then eats dinner and doesn’t stop eating until midnight or later. So, the obvious question is, what will his body burn to make energy when it runs out of calories from the Coke? Ah, it will burn his medication. Ding, ding! That’s a problem. Getting him to eat is a problem too. For a few weeks after this revelation, he ate pre-packaged peanut butter crackers and cliff bars, several a day. But soon these two foods got tiresome and he fell back into his pattern of being too busy at work and on job sites far from food and not eating again. He had actually put on about 15-20 pounds during his high-calorie phase but had lost it all again by the time he went back for his last doctor visit six months later.

Mia’s wonderful comment on my last post, mentioning metabolism, triggered a revelation. If my husband’s body is burning his medication when he doesn’t eat or eat enough, can’t Luke’s little body be doing the same thing to his Concerta?

 
TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST, PLEASE GO TO http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-high-metabolism-really-blessing.html

The blog post can be found at “A Mom’s View of ADHD” http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/guilt-overload.html.

 
I am really feeling bad about giving my son medications for his ADHD this week. In months past, I have reminded myself that we give him medications so he can be successful and feel good about himself. We chose medication for HIM, not one bit for us. That reminder usually makes me feel better.

But this week I am overwhelmed by guilt and self-doubt. I wonder if we are just medicating him so he’ll fit in. So he’ll fit into a world he isn’t neurologically capable of fitting into without chemical intervention. This cannot be the reason. I celebrate individuality. But, helping him fit into the “ordinary”‘ world is what creates confidence, peace and joy for him that he lacked beforehand.

I remember his demeanor before he was diagnosed with ADHD and medicated in Nov 2008. He was sad and defeated, probably near a clinical depression at 5 years of age. It brings tears to my eyes to think of all the times he tried so hard to please his teachers, parents, and elders and, try as he might, he just couldn’t. I don’t want to go back there. That feels like parenting failure.

 
TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST, PLEASE GO TO http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/guilt-overload.html

This blog post is from ADHDMomma and can be found at
http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-adhd-medicine-key.html

Luke has been taking Vyvanse for 3 straight days now. He has tried a host of other medications, most recently Concerta. The Concerta was fantastic, a dramatic change, but lost effectiveness after a month or so.

Of course, I have mile-high hopes for the new medicine, for the Vyvanse. I want it to be a dramatic positive change worthy of giving him a serious medication daily. I am on the edge of my seat, fingers and toes crossed, holding my breath. While we have battled some with being really sleepy, that seems to be subsiding and we are seeing great results. He brought home a story he wrote in school yesterday (pictured below). I smiled so much my cheeks literally hurt. I gushed and gushed until his sister was so tired of hearing about it she left the room. It was far beyond any expectations I had for him. It was a full page of writing. I could read it. It made sense. He even used quotation marks around dialogue and had dialogue in his story to begin with. And he drew a full picture to go with it with lots of color and detail. It may not be amazing for a 2nd grader. In fact, I know it isn’t. But for my 2nd grader, my ADHD boy who struggles so much with handwriting and even the desire to write because of it, it is beyond amazing.

 
TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST ON ADHD MEDICATION, PLEASE GO TO http://adhdmomma.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-adhd-medicine-key.html

This blog entry can be found at LD Parents

http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/06/low-blocks-and-high-kicks.html

I was less than thrilled the first time my son said he wanted to try tae kwon do. I pictured a little 5-year-old ninja running loose in my house kicking and hitting everything. Within a week of his first class, my impression had completely changed and I became a huge fan of our local program.

Teachers started telling me that my son “lacked focus” sometime around his second birthday. I was completely unaware that any two year old had focus so, for the most part, I ignored them. But seeing my little ninja out there with the other kids, I began to understand their concerns.

My son wiggled and wandered and interrupted with the most off-the-wall comments. He fell on the floor. A lot.

The instructors encouraged him to stand still and taught him to gain better control over his body. As he earned new belts, a transformation began to take place. He fell less, his coordination improved and he stopped being so fidgety in martial arts class. His confidence grew and he felt very successful and strong.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST, PLEASE GO TO http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/06/low-blocks-and-high-kicks.html

This blog post can be found at LD Parents

http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/05/shaky-hands.html

Around the time my son started to talk, his speech therapist noticed that his hands trembled whenever he tried to color with crayons, drink from a cup, put food in his mouth or grasp small objects. An MRI showed everything was fine and we were told that these hand tremors or what we called, “shaky hands,” were here to stay.

I quickly accepted that my son probably would never become a neurosurgeon but I didn’t realize the effect that poor fine motor skills and “shaky hands” would have in the classroom. Writing is tiring and mostly illegible. Over the past 10 years, the schools have tried to help and I’ve sought help from outside professionals but the problems persist and handwriting remains his biggest obstacle in the classroom.

Poor Handwriting (dysgraphia)

What’s worked – Using an AlphaSmart or small portable keyboard. I bought him one in third grade, he’s now in sixth and he’s finally accepting that it’s his friend. (www.alphasmart.com)

What hasn’t – A well-meaning occupational therapist with the school district tried placing a weight on his wrist to steady the shaking. It didn’t work at all and was painful! She also tried a contraption made of string that made him hold the pencil differently, also ineffective and very distracting.
 
TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST, PLEASE GO TO
http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/05/shaky-hands.html

This blog post can be found at LD Parents

http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-hear-what-i-hear.html

Auditory processing disorder has become a common diagnosis among children with learning differences in the past several years. Most professionals agree that it’s hard to distinguish between an auditory processing issue and ADHD. Often, a child might have both.

An audiologist determined that my son had a “moderate” auditory processing disorder when he was in first grade. To be quite honest, it’s very hard to tell if any of the products or interventions has been effective, none provided immediate results but it’s possible that his improved listening and processing skills are a result of early interventions.

Auditory Processing

What’s worked – small class size, quiet work environment, sitting in the front of the class.

What hasn’t – My son completed both sets of Earobics exercises, dozens of hours of computer listening time. The cost was relatively low ($69 per set) but there was no noticeable change.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST, PLEASE GO TO http://ldparents.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-hear-what-i-hear.html

This blog post can be found at Can Mom Be Calm

http://canmombecalm.blogspot.com/2009/08/aba-vs-adhd.html

I remember the day I had a psychologist come to my house to evaluate Spencer. At the time, he was about 20 months old and wasn’t getting much out of speech therapy because he was too distracted to follow any directions. His speech therapist had an ABA therapist come to observe Spencer and the therapist said that ABA would benefit him.

Everyone thought he would have a hard time getting the ABA therapy because kids without an autism or PDD diagnosis do not usually get it here in New York. However, the psychologist that came to my house that day to test him, asked me a series of questions and within an hour she told me that Spencer had PDD-NOS, shut her laptop computer, and walked out of my apartment. I felt like I was hit by an truck. Doesn’t she know that you just can’t talk to people like that?

I went to the bathroom and wept.

And then I was angry – angry because he “got a diagnosis” and angry because that psychologist gave me the diagnosis like she was telling me I had a sinus infection. I hate when people are like that because I have to waste my time getting pissed off at them before I could refocus on the more important issue.

PDD-NOS? My Spencer? I couldn’t believe it but then I was re-educated by my social worker who told me that a diagnosis of PDD-NOS at Spencer’s age was very plausible. This is because a child with ADHD at age three can be diagnosed with PDD-NOS at that time since you can not diagnose a 3-year-old with ADHD.

This is why I always call Spencer and Logan the ADHD brothers because I have a feeling that Spencer will eventually end up with the same ADHD combined-type diagnosis as Logan. I suppose I can also easily call them the PDD brothers because at this point, I am certain that if Logan was evaluated at age 20 months then he would have gotten the same PDD diagnosis.

After swallowing the sadness, I talked to my good friend Sue, another special needs mom. She told me that despite whether or not the diagnosis was correct, I should be glad that Spencer got the diagnosis because it was going to be so much easier to get him ABA therapy from the city. I guess special needs moms always think in terms of what kind of battle they’ll have to have once they set their mind on something they need for their child.

I had great hopes for ABA therapy and I was right to dream big because soon after he started ABA therapy, Spencer’s vocabulary of five words seemed to jump to fifty within a blink of an eye. I know I’m exaggerating but really everyone was amazed at his progress.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST DESCRIBING ABA THERAPY, PLEASE GO TO http://canmombecalm.blogspot.com/2009/08/aba-vs-adhd.html

The blog post can be found at the Can Mom Be Calm blog

http://canmombecalm.blogspot.com/2009/09/good-friends-are-hard-to-find.html

This summer, I was on a mission. At least I started out that way and like some of my “missions,” it sort of fizzled into almost nothing but as the summer fades, my laziness goes with it and I’m reviving some of my goals.

One of them was to make friends for my kids. I really feel the need to make more socialization opportunities for Logan and Spencer. After all, that was one of the reasons I quit my job. When I was working, getting playdates for Logan was a lost cause. I think there were many reasons behind it. Some parents didn’t want nannies to have playdates. Some parents didn’t want other people’s children in their homes when they weren’t there. Moreover, no mom wanted to have a playdate with a nanny. The only time it was possible for me to have a playdate for Logan was during the weekend and of course, those were always spur-of-the-moment and skills could not be practiced on a consistent basis.

I quit my job when my kids entered the world of special needs services but unfortunately, it was still hard to get playdates for my kids. It was great to have special services for the kids but therapy takes time and keeps you locked up at home or a clinic. Moreover, Logan (and soon Spencer) goes to a special ed school and so he is not able to go to school with kids in the neighborhood. Furthermore, time spent on the bus, something neighborhood kids don’t do, means less time in the neighborhood playground where he could be making and keeping friendships.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG POST ON SOCIALIZATION, PLEASE GO TO http://canmombecalm.blogspot.com/2009/09/good-friends-are-hard-to-find.html