We’re ending week one of dd at school w/o meds. I’m hopeful about the situation but the jury is really still out (decreased academic pressures since we’re in the last two week of school). Not sure where we are going with this but she either needs to take a(n extended?) med vacation or find another (not hopeful).
According to the teacher, in the past week at school dd has been “uncharacteristically” fidgety, needs reminders to stay on task or what books to pull out of her desk and blurts out answers (teacher was surprised, what a shocker eh?). Handwriting particularly sloppy, lots of doodles, using full or a little extened time to complete her classwork - BUT it is getting done. To me, this is EXCELLENT news.
In the past, when she wasn’t medicated at school and the learning differences weren’t remediated then either - she would expend all her mental energy trying to sit still (a major challenge) to not draw any attention to herself and also didn’t absorb anything except the fact she didn’t ‘get it’ like her classmates. I think what is going on now is she is comfortable with this beloved teacher, the learning issues have been remediated so she can do the work and is letting all her ADHD glory out. If she needs to figit to get work done, so be it - this is not bad news.
Anyway, depending on how her med situation evolves, I’m thinking if we end up with no meds, what other sort of treatments could I try to help her? What have you found that works? Bear in mind, I’m about $12K behind (poor child isn’t going to college b/c I can’t afford it at this rate but she CAN read and write well now) from private tutoring, so expenses need to be managable.
Diet and exercise
Before my son started meds, we ran the gammet of diets and suppliments. I have to tell you there is more to this than many people believe. Again, like meds, it might take a while to find the right one. What helps one kid, probably won’t work on another 10. It there is something worthy in this for your child. you’ll never know until you try. Start eliminating foods and keep a journal of behav changes. I found artificial food colors to wrosen my sons impulsivity. Another part of our recipe is exercise. It is a proven fact that exercise has a dramatic effect on brain chemistry. It is hard to find info or studies on this because no can make money off it. Any one can exercise. My 7yo dd son jogs around the block twice a day before school. It’s not a curall but he gets 2-3 hours of concentraion sfter these runs. We also do kickboxing 3 days a week, a much harder workout than other self defense lessons, much… and currently plays baseball twice a week.
I’m not saying you can cure a neurological disorder with diet and exercise, but you can greatly reduce symptoms and lesson the amounts of med the child needs. I’m not saying run out and buy expensive workout equipment, jogging and jumping rope will do. This will nt only aid attention in the hours to follow but will increase appetite and aid sleep. You can’t go wrong! I’m not saying get conned into pricey diets, you don’t need some Feingold plan to figure out what your child is sensitive to. Do it youself, it’s an annoying trial and error, it takes a while and it requires a lot of management from you and cooperation from your child. Sound fun? Well neither does giving our kids narcotics.
Unlike the meds, the long term effects of a good diet and lots of exercise are well documented. And if none of it works for you child, what do you have? A healthier child, not a such a bad side effect.
Re: Alternative Treatments
I agree with the above suggestion about exercise.
Daniel Amen has a book called Healing ADD; he has lots of different protocols for different ADD profiles. He talks about exercise (and diet) alot. He also uses neurofeedback with some clients. If you can find a competent practitioner, this can be an excellent way to go.
Some people strongly think that some foods or additives negatively affect their children’s behavior. You can go to the Feingold Association web site for more information. If you are interested in consulting with a nutritionist, you might want to go to www.kellydorfman.com and www.drstordy.com especially to learn more about brain function and essential fatty acids.
My son used to fidget. It was related to sensory integration issues. He was seeking stimulation.
I could not afford the $5000 the Sensory integration OT wanted to assess him to help understand his specific SI issues so I figured it out myself.
I would start with the book, “The Out of Sync Child,” if you think it is at all possible that this is your child. Providing your child the right sensory environment really does work. Many of these kids need a tremendous amount of directed movement.
Remediating si issues really can improve handwriting as well. I think programs like brain gym also work on these types of issues. The book is only $9.00. I think.