As you all know, from the subjectline of this blog page, one of my goals is document our life as a family that has a child with ADHD.
Before I continue, I would like to stress that this is a "real"diagnosis for my oldest son-not my husband and I just passing off poor parenting. If you know me, you know how tough of a cookie I can be when it comes to my sons and their discipline. Donovan's ADHD came as a result of three of his elementary school teachers saying the samething at conference time. "Very bright..unique thinker..difficulty focusing..staying on task..getting started on an independent assignment...impulsive..difficulty with keeping organized..easily misplaces things..etc. It also came as a result with things I saw outside of school. Again..lack of focus..disorganized..easily distracted..impulsive..hyperactive...hands-on, especially with siblings...blames others for mistakes..you get the idea. So, this has been a well thought out decision to accept this diagnosis for Donovan and, as a family, try to help him cope with his "uniqueness".
We try very hard to be certain Donovan does not see his ADHD as a "disability". Rather, we emphasize that his brain "thinks differently" or "works differently" than other peoples brains. Some of the greatest minds of our history were people with ADHD. You can Gooogle famous people with ADHD and you get people like Thomas Edison, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, William Shakespear. It is important for children who are diagnosed with ADHD to have extra-help with their self-esteem. ADHD children can often be the subject of peer bullying, which do great damage to their already fragile self-esteem. So my husband and I try our best, as often as possible, to make sure Donovan doesn't feel "labeled".
Most children recieve medication to help subdue the symptoms of their ADHD. Ron and I have chosen a non-medicated natural route. We chose this way because, first of all, his grades are not being affected yet. We can chalk that up to helping Donovan have the tools and learn the techniques to try and stay on task and finish what he starts. The non-medicated route involved cutting back greatly on processed foods, eating organic when our budget permits us, staying away from additives, preservatives and food dye. One of the things we use instead of medication is a chocolate coffee protein shake that Donovan drinks in the morning. The protein helps feed the brain and the caffeine in it keeps him focused. It performs better than a low dose of Ridalin. (If you google natural remedies for ADHD, you can go to the website where I found the shake reciepe.) In addition, we also include plenty of exercise for him (recreational play and baseball) and he sees a couselor to help him with his self-esteem and emotional control.
Well, we have our good periods and our bad periods. Right now, we are in a good period-grades are good, things are getting done, agruing about what resposibilities we have are at a minimum and we have lots of outside time-thanks to longer days. My biggest question now is whether to suspend the protein shake for the summer, kind of like giving him a "medication holiday". Sonmething to think about, since I have about four weeks left of school.
If there is a topic relating to ADHD you want me to discuss, feel free to leave me an email.
Remember, your kids are only young one time-so try and enjoy it as much as possible while being the parent.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Handling Rainy Days
I was not overjoyed to see the weather forecast for the week...
RAIN, RAIN, CHANCE OF RAIN, RAIN, POSSIBLE CLEARING.
Now being the person that usually can find a lot of things to do to keep busy on rainy days, it can be particularly more difficult to find things to do for children, especially if they are boys and more so if they are ADHD.
As a preschool teacher, I have spent countless times advising parents that, in the world of young learning, quality time with your child is the best teaching tool in the entire world. No matter how "busy" you can claim to be, spending just 15 minutes with your child/children can make such a difference with learning and relationship building. But after days and days of rain, even I can have my limits with restless children.
So, I've come up with a list of suggestions of cool things to do with your children on rainy days-whether they have special needs are not. Some take more time than others, but most are just 15 minutes of yor time-enough time to answer your email, make a few phone calls, or have a light snack. I hope this can be helpful to anyone who has to answer to the whiny chortling of "We're bored...!"
Ms. Holly's Rainy Day (or any day) Suggestions:
1. READ a book together
2. Build a fort with blankets, pillows, couch cushions, etc.
3. Watch rain through the window and see if you can see patterns in the drops, like cloud watching.
4. Go outside in rainboots and play puddle jumping.
5. Finger/toe painting
6. Bake and decorate cookies
7. Have a tea party.
8. Dress up and perform a story
9. Write a book and illustrate it.
10. Create a boardgame and play it.
11. Play with clay or playdough. Add things like to enhance creativity like toothpicks or cotton swabs.
12. Save empty food containers (cereal boxes, water bottles, oatmeal or powder drink tins, etc.) and use them as large blocks to build with.
13. Make sock puppets.
14. Go on a scavenger hunt in the house for typical items and make it fun.
If you have any other rainy-day suggestions, please respond in the comments area.
Happy playtime!
RAIN, RAIN, CHANCE OF RAIN, RAIN, POSSIBLE CLEARING.
Now being the person that usually can find a lot of things to do to keep busy on rainy days, it can be particularly more difficult to find things to do for children, especially if they are boys and more so if they are ADHD.
As a preschool teacher, I have spent countless times advising parents that, in the world of young learning, quality time with your child is the best teaching tool in the entire world. No matter how "busy" you can claim to be, spending just 15 minutes with your child/children can make such a difference with learning and relationship building. But after days and days of rain, even I can have my limits with restless children.
So, I've come up with a list of suggestions of cool things to do with your children on rainy days-whether they have special needs are not. Some take more time than others, but most are just 15 minutes of yor time-enough time to answer your email, make a few phone calls, or have a light snack. I hope this can be helpful to anyone who has to answer to the whiny chortling of "We're bored...!"
Ms. Holly's Rainy Day (or any day) Suggestions:
1. READ a book together
2. Build a fort with blankets, pillows, couch cushions, etc.
3. Watch rain through the window and see if you can see patterns in the drops, like cloud watching.
4. Go outside in rainboots and play puddle jumping.
5. Finger/toe painting
6. Bake and decorate cookies
7. Have a tea party.
8. Dress up and perform a story
9. Write a book and illustrate it.
10. Create a boardgame and play it.
11. Play with clay or playdough. Add things like to enhance creativity like toothpicks or cotton swabs.
12. Save empty food containers (cereal boxes, water bottles, oatmeal or powder drink tins, etc.) and use them as large blocks to build with.
13. Make sock puppets.
14. Go on a scavenger hunt in the house for typical items and make it fun.
If you have any other rainy-day suggestions, please respond in the comments area.
Happy playtime!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
A New Beginning
Okay, seems a strange thing to do this time of the year.
With all the emphasis of the "end of the school year" approaching, seems odd to some to change my blog format to something slightly different..but I thought now was a good time to do so.
So..new leaf..
I've decided to document my times and experiences as a working mom, a mother of boys and a mother of a child with ADHD.
Mind you, this is not a "convenient label" given to explain a hyperactive boy-it is real. Believe me, I know what to look for, based on my experience in education and working with the special needs population. It is quite a bit to process, being I've got my own issues I struggle with. But, God is with me and knows my struggle, so I lean on Him for strength.
With the blog, I hope others will feel the need to read my experiences as well. I also hope others will find some valuable, helpful information with the things I write. I will try to keep it current as much as possible.
Thanks for reading.
With all the emphasis of the "end of the school year" approaching, seems odd to some to change my blog format to something slightly different..but I thought now was a good time to do so.
So..new leaf..
I've decided to document my times and experiences as a working mom, a mother of boys and a mother of a child with ADHD.
Mind you, this is not a "convenient label" given to explain a hyperactive boy-it is real. Believe me, I know what to look for, based on my experience in education and working with the special needs population. It is quite a bit to process, being I've got my own issues I struggle with. But, God is with me and knows my struggle, so I lean on Him for strength.
With the blog, I hope others will feel the need to read my experiences as well. I also hope others will find some valuable, helpful information with the things I write. I will try to keep it current as much as possible.
Thanks for reading.
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