ADHD - new to this - please help me :)

lilies

Mon, May 11 2020, 10:38 pm

rkade10 wrote:

I’m not the OP but I have a challenging 5yo DD with attention issues and what she describes sounds really familiar Sad

I just looked up this book on Amazon and if I’m not mistaken it looks to address situations where there is a severe attachment disruption in the child’s background like foster care or adoption? Is it helpful for “regular” challenging children in a mostly typical family framework?

After seeing it on the forums here, I read the nurtured heart book and found it went a long way toward helping me parent better in the way she needs to hear.

Didn't see your post until now.
The extreme cases of severe attachment disorder would be adopted/fostered/abused children. This book is definitely geared for regular challenging children, but explains the whole attachment issue.

amother

Sienna

Tue, May 12 2020, 7:06 pm

Hi.
I have an eight year old too who was recently diagnosed with ADHD and I could really relate to what you wrote OP. We are just a couple of months ahead in the game.
We tried for a while all the alternative stuff and diet modification. It all helped some of it a lot... But in the end of it we did go to psychiatrist for the full evaluation and he has started taking methylphenidate - ritalin.
I was really reluctant at first and it does have a bad reputation but what can I say, the change in him is remarkable.
We started with minimum dose and worked gradually up to get the perfect balance of helping him without turning him into a zombie. Since we are still at the start he only gets it once a day instead of twice and it works for 3-4 hours.
The results are astounding. He is still the same fun child but he is able to restrain himself. Most importantly, he feels sooooooooooo good with himself. He believes in himself that he is sensible, talented and a good boy. I have unlocked a wonderful son.
It does affect his appetite though and he actually realized it himself. He said "Mummy whenever I feel this way like I am feeling now I don't feel hungry at all" I asked him "what is this feeling that you have" he replied "I feel so happy!". B.H no other side effect and he does eat before and after and snacks.
So to me I feel that I owe it to my child. Of course I would rather never have had to go down this route and managed with all the alternative stuff but in the end of the day this works and I do owe it to him. interestingly enough, he is very perceptive and self aware and even when it wears off he can feel it wearing off and he manages to control himself for longer because he feels that he can push himself more like he managed while under affect of the meds. So in the long term we will hopefully eventually wean him of b.e.h but first he must taste success and get that behavior patterns embedded in his brain.
I am still sticking to his diet and supplement too.
Anyway this is my take. Wishing us lots of hatzlocho.
When we started to seriously go down this route I saw some great advice on here - this is still the same child with or without a diagnosis!
Thriver - could I PM you too please. I would like to hear more.
Thanks

amother

Copper

Wed, Jun 10 2020, 8:46 am

Hi. I’m also dealing with a 10 yr old son also recently diagnosed with adhd, and language deficit. He’s very behavioral and destroying the family unit. We are doing speech therapy for the language part, and meeting today with a psychiatrist to start medication and possibly some type of behavior therapy. The psychiatrist pricing seemed high but maybe it’s standard for someone good. $2000 for eval. If we choose to use him for therapy it’s 400$ /45 min therapy sessions and 300$ medication fu sessions . Any thoughts?

amother

Amber

Wed, Jun 10 2020, 10:18 am

Medication is a legitimate tool, but it is only one of the available tools. We had our child assessed and diagnosed recently, and were advised to implement environmental interventions at home and at school, without medication. And then, based on how much improvement we see, to consider whether medication is necessary.

Every child is different though. Our child's case was assessed as "mild," although the clinician noted that it was at the upper end of mild. Maybe with a moderate or severe case there would be more urgency to begin medication.