What have you done that has helped your ADHD child?

amother

Tulip

Today at 12:21 pm

I have ADHD and so does my daughter.

All the diet limitations and viatmins etc did not help me. In fact, I did much better while on a full normal diet of food than when my diet was altered, though it was guided by a doctor. Don't run to cut out entire foods or food groups, children can really suffer from that too, both physically and emotionally.

Ritalin was amazing for me, I feel ridiculous for putting it off for myself as a child.

Cog-fun therapy really helped my daughter when she was 6-7. An ADHD coach is also a must.

I also want to say, most important is skills AND pills. Pills alone may work well, but you still need to learn the skills to manage in life with or without medication. Skills themselves are also often not enough, as sometimes the child can't sustain tasks or attention long enough to acquire them. Both are really needed in many cases.

AlwaysGrateful ↓

Today at 3:06 pm

amother Linen wrote:

What about a four year old? Isn’t that too early to medicate?
Also everyone talks about coaches. Can someone recommend one for kids in BP/Flatbush.

Most doctors will only medicate at that age if the symptoms are truly severe (e.g, dangerous).

I think the most important thing, at that age, is reading up on ADHD yourself. Listen to videos by Russel Barkley, for one, who is an expert on ADHD. Try to understand what your child is struggling with, and try to avoid those struggles as much as possible.

amother

DarkYellow

Today at 6:17 pm

AlwaysGrateful wrote:

How is that helpful in school though? No one is keeping that safe bubble of avoiding struggles. You need a better solution unless your kid is with you 24/7.

↑ AlwaysGrateful

Today at 8:18 pm

amother DarkYellow wrote:

How is that helpful in school though? No one is keeping that safe bubble of avoiding struggles. You need a better solution unless your kid is with you 24/7.

That's a fair question. I think it still helps in two ways:

First of all, I found that my kids' teachers were willing to hear me out if I had solutions that had worked at home, and they would try to implement something similar in the classroom.

Secondly, I tried to help my child become a problem solver (yes, even at age 4). I'd work with him to identify things that were going wrong and what he was struggling with. Then we'd make a plan that we thought might help, sometimes with the teacher's involvement and sometimes not.

Here's an example. Let's say my child's main trouble was during transitions (common with kids who have ADHD), when there was no real structure. So he would exhibit impulsive behavior often, but the most common times were...walking from the classroom to recess, walking from recess back to the classroom, getting settled in at the beginning of the day, going out of the classroom at the end of the day when it was time to go home. If we found an activity that relaxed and focused him (e.g., using a specific fidget, looking at a glitter jar), we might suggest that he keep that in his desk and use it right when he gets to school in the morning. We would run that by his teacher, who would probably be fine with it if it helped, especially at this age. On the way to and from recess, we might try giving him something to focus on on the way out, like humming a song while marching to the beat and seeing how many times he could make it through the song before they got out, or back in. If one time of the day really stumped us, we might make an incentive chart just for that time of the day, making sure to design it in a way that provides motivation for a brain with ADHD.

There are a lot of options that really help these kids, both before and after starting them on meds. The key is getting both the teacher and the child to view you as on their team...which means you really need to understand your child's needs, what makes them tick, and advocate for them with the teachers in a respectful way so that their teachers see that you're really trying to make their lives easier by giving them ideas that you know work for your child.

Sorry for the megillah. Hope it helps someone!