Anyone had success treating child's ADD holistically?

amother

Tue, Oct 15 2013, 3:49 pm

I am not an expert but - As someone who has ADHD and as someone who taught for several years (k-8), is the daughter and of an IVY League Professor who is expert in child development and travels all over the world speaking about child development, here are some thoughts to consider. Now, this is just a lot of what I have learned to will hopefully be helpful. If someone does not like what I have to say then don't read it!

There is nothing wrong with your child. LOTS of children have ADD and ADHD difficulties. A big part of the problem is school - children's bodies are not meant to be still from 8-4. It is a very long day for them and unfortunately there is not nearly enough recess or play time - at least in the schools I taught in. Children's bodies are always buzzing, so its very difficult to turn the buzz off - for some children its harder. This is where medication comes in - it basically helps kids to go against that natural instinct to play, grow and explore.

Now there are some natural things and exercises you can do as well (again my recommendations done by university research and my own personal experiences). 1) cut out sugary foods (as much as possible) - this includes juice and soda (stick to water or unprocessed coconut water things like that)- even be aware of yogurts which can be LOADED with sugar - stick to low sugar greek and icelandic yogurts 2) cut out processed foods - chips, granola bars, crackers etc... 3) Limit the amount of carbs - cut out refined carbs like white bread 4) Stick to real foods - fruits, veggies, meats, fish etc. 5) by organic whenever possible - if its too costly then at least by the dirty dozen organic. 6) Not sure what the tv situation is in your house - but TV is really rough on attention because it literally is constant motion you never had to focus for more then 10 seconds.

Exercises you can do is to work on lengthening your child's attention span. Spend time every day doing attention lengthening exercises. work on an age appropriate lesson or activity. Start with one minute. Have your child focus for one minute on that activity. If he does it he gets a reward (up to you). Then move on to 2 minutes. Find a time length where you as a realistic goal to achieve. Depending on DC age it may be 3 minutes or it may be more like 5 minutes. When you are at that point, work on that time over and over again (rewarding each time), until you are ready to add another minute onto the time. I often would use a star chart. If you get 10 stars you get a reward. 100 starts you get a big reward - when the time intervals increase, you can start giving 2 stars, that way there is extra motivation. You can talk with DC about what the small rewards can be as well as the large.

I hope this was helpful good luck.