hyperactivity

Dear Brad,

My daughter was dianosed with ADD a year ago and has been treated with Adderal and Adderal XR with very positive results. The only negative side effect we have noted was her loss of appetite. She tends to be much more inattentive than hyperactive, but she has her moments. Of course, not nearly like those of her younger brother.

We are currently in the process of having our daughter evaluated by a neuropsychologist for Dyslexia. Also, 1.5 weeks into 5K, and my son is desperately in need of his own evaluations as he has been having behaviroal nightmare at school. The teachers have very rapidly begun the punishment phase with him. Last year, in 4K, he had a less structured environment and schedule, so he had a very positive learning experience. He loved school, couldn’t wait to get there. This year, with the increased mental tasking, the different longer schedule, and the different teacher and teaching style, and KABOOOOOMMM!!! Now we have a teacher with preconceived opinions, who has already punished him once that we know of, for an infraction that was brought about by another child taking his lunchbox, holing it over his head, and taunting him with it. Of course when the teacher noticed this, all she saw was his reactive behavior snatching his lunchbox back. She went over, took ten minutes from his recess, and refused to hear his explanation. Thankfully, my daughter witnessed the entire event and was able to stand behind our sons accounts. This added to his already horrible experiences in the classroom, says she is always mean to him and no one else, has my child hating school. While I am sure he did disrupt the class and talk excessively etc., I still believe there is a better way to handle this behavior without causing fear and shame in the child. We have requested to have him moved to another class, but they want to meet and discuss it. They want to put HIM on the spot and have him talk about his feelings with all of these adults looming over him. I think that is not a good idea. They want him to go back to the class after more than one very negative experience to give the teacher yet another chance to be impartial and understanding. As human nature and left brained teachers go, I don’t think that is a rational solution. He will not get fair treatment in that classroom because she already has decided what she thinks of him. He cannot win or feel safe there.

I myself also have ADD, but I am not hyper, well not physically anyway. Sometimes wish I was!(:(: I tend to be scattered, unfocused, disorganized etc. I would say I am hyper mentally and sometimes verbally. I have just started treatment this summer, so I am learning as I go. Curious as to your question, do you have hyperactivity problems or a child with them? Or are you learning about it for your education? Just curious… I am sure there are others here with more severe problems than we have found thus far, although my son may prove me wrong in time. Good luck and hope to get more info soon.
Deb

Brad,
What age range are you talking about? Hyperactivity is alot to deal and I would like to help if I can. If it is dealing with the younger child, I can be of help. Please let me know.
Take care.
Mary G

I am asking in regards to my son. I think he may have ADHD/LD due to inconsistent levels of activity. One day calm, one day excessively active and his attention is always poor. I work in the field of disabilities as well and think this is a likely possibility. I was just wondering what medications people found effective and what their experiences were like before we see the doctor. I am sure I probably did grow up with ADD but was diagnosed with LD. My son is 5 years old.

Thanks for the input and any further assistance,

Brad

I also have an extremely active 5 year old, as well he is extremely stubborn and at times has a very bad temper. I have thought of getting him tested but, is 5 years old too young to test? I also don’t think I could put him on drugs because of his hyperactivity. What do you think?
Marie

I have a 9 year old daughter with multiple LDs. She is now on Concerta, and we have found basically no negative side effects. Ahe has ADD, not hyper - at least not noticeably. She will fidget quietly in the classroom and/or zone out. She also has APD and I know that mimics ADD. Medication is a very personal choice. I have seen children who upon taking it, become better readers, better students and self esteem increases (my daughter). She also is more focused and starting to participate in classroom discussions (a first this year!) I have also seen children who became ill, quit eating, etc. One frient said it made her daughter “psychotic”. Must be wiring. Oftentimes it helps with remediation b/c it allows the child to be able to focus enough to learn.

I’m hoping she won’t be on it forever, but at this point, we will continue.

In my case, an adolescent (not a young 5 year old) responded quite well to a central nervous system stimulant/alerting agent. Not a total 100% cure but a real temporary reduction in ADHD symptoms. The response to the right med is quite striking and positive but still imperfect (as are all the meds available; all the meds are imperfect in how they work but sometimes they are better than nothing).

Good luck.

Our 7 year old son is hyper. But with a strict diet he is much better. He gets less frustated and is able to control himself better. It is still impossible for him to stand still, but he is focussing in school.
For the rest, he is very active in gymnastics and swimming. Gymnastics seems to work, he does it for at least 7and a half hour a week. That gives him the change to run some steam off.
With all this, he feels much better. ( his own words)
Monica

Thanks to everyone, your insight will help with the doctors appointment. I agree with everyone here. My son is on a special diet and we get involved in sensory integration exercises. I think there are very good meds available but I do agree they aren’t perfect. Given the choice my option is to try the meds since he has come a very far way on all of our past approaches but needs what I think is a the assistance to focus that medication may provide. It helps I work at the child treatment center where he is going to be assessed. I’ll let you know how it goes and thankyou again.

I agree with Ball on this one. I have had a similar experience with my son, but found that it was due to untrained, uncaring teachers in both the parochial and public schools. Good manners and kindness are not recognized or appreciated in the early grades–especially from little boys. Kids that are less impulsive, learn quickly how to set up a kid like Debra’s son. The teachers usually feed into it, often unknowingly, and never seem to see or be able to report the antecedant to any aggressive behavior–especially by little boys. They end up with an army of little tattle-tale goody-two shoes who make some other kids miserable. And that mean-spirited, rude behavior is not only accepted, but rewarded. I was told more than once that my son would “just have to get used to it” that, “that’s how kids are.” I hope at some point we have a generation of parents, esp. mothers who understand that school is more conducive to girl behavior and style. I wish also that this same generation of women would help there little girls (and passive aggressive boys and girls) unlearn the sneaky, manipulative behaviors that they bring to school every day. The teacher can’t possibly catch it all, especially the real sneaky stuff.
The good news is that I have hung in there with my son. I have continued to affirm his kind, thoughtful behavior and let him in on some of the “secret” female behavior and guess what?? He is now going into third grade and has been written up by his former teachers and other school staff as, “a wonderful student, hard worker and the kindest, most thoughtful student that they have ever had.” He has also learned that the values that he has been taught at home work–Slowly, but they work. He puts up with no b.s. from any of his peers, but now gets very little. He has been called a catalyst, a collaborator for kids that stand on the sidelines or don’t know how to be friendly. With a lot of hard work, his supposed impulsivity or hyperactivity has begun to serve him well at the age of 9–and I am sure will be a great strength to him as an adult. School has no barometer to measure a kid like that!

Brad,
A number of universities have been performing studies regarding LD, ADD, and ADHD. Funny, they can see the differences in the “normal” brain and and “LD or ADD or ADHD” brain with an MRI; yet, children are put on medication without confirmation of the “problem” mostly because “scientists” are still in the research phase.

The use of the “accepted drugs” like Ritilian is seriously under question. As it was explained to me - you see some one limping and the assumption is made that the person sprained their ankle - so a wrap is placed on the leg. In reality, there could be torn ligaments, a short leg, or numerous other explanations for the limp. There are methods to determine the exact nature of the problem, but they are for the most part not being employed.

I removed both of my ADD, LD children from Ritilian after I determined that the behavioral side effects of the medication did not out way the improved academic performance. The recent studies using MRI’s have determined that there is decreased blood flow to certain areas of the brain in the LD, ADD, and ADHD person. Those same studies have determined that Ritilian does increase the blood flow to those same areas. I am looking into a local Neurologist that is successfully using vascular type medications to increase the blood flow to those same areas of the brain.
http://www.floridaneurologicalinstitute.com/articles.htm

I have been researching Dr. Hammesfahr and his methods. There is little information “out there” regarding his specific methods but a lot of information supporting the direction he has taken. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like more first hand information as I explore the clinic itself.
[email protected]

JoAnne

My son was borderline ADD. I was never clear if it was all his sensory integration issues or a little ADD. I did interactive metronome with him and he has improved enough to have me believe (at this point at least) that he won’t be needing the meds.

A few things that have changed. He used to fidget in class with certain teachers, the teacher he has now is certainly someone I would expect him to fidget with but he has not been fidgeting.

When he was doing his math homework the other day the last question was a very specific question about why one would use a tally graph. He gave this very specific answer that I knew he had to have heard somewhere. He said, “The teacher said this when we were leaving, I know the other kids weren’t listening but I picked up on it.”

He used to be the child that if I sent him upstairs to get dressed he would half do it then start playing and forget to change his socks or comb his hair. The other day I sent him up and he came down completely dressed, I said,”Did you change your socks.” (thinking of course something had to be missing as usual) He said, “Of course, and Mom, did YOU sign my homework.”

He has improved in other ways as well. The other day he lost a special Yu Gi OH card. Something like this usually would have lead to a puddle of tears and cries of anguish. He cried for about 10 seconds and then just stopped and said, “Oh, what are you going to do.”

He is more in control, less hyper, easier to be with. I never thought he was terrible, he was always sort of in and out. He is just now more in and less out.
He still has 4 sessions to go so I have hope for even more improvement.

I have seen and even more obvious improvement in motor coordination.

I have my doubts about people who claim vast knowledge of medications they can’t even spell correctly. BTW, to the person who posted that his hyperactive child is now the kindest most wonderfully well-behaved child in school, all due to his wonderful parenting, when you write stuff like that you are basically saying the ADHD is simply the result of bad parenting. That is complete nonsense and has been disproved repeatedly. Bully for you that your child is doing well, but stop picking on parents whose kids are still having problems. Thats just plain mean.

There is no doubt that “bad parenting” has absolutely nothing to do with ADD or ADHD. However, Ritalin can have some very negative side effects - see www.google.com and use “MRI ADHD” as the search criteria. The recents studies by various Universities show that blood flow is increased to certain areas of the brain when Ritalin is used as a medication. However, the same studies show a decrease in blood flow to “other” areas of the brain. If you stop and consider “what happens” when the medication starts to wear off in the middle or at the end of the day - you gain some real insight into “why” you are still having difficulties. The combination of “pent up energy” and blood flow increases and decreases within the brain (an area of true unknown for all researchers) - is a problem. Sadly, while both of my ADHD children did better in the educational environment while on Ritalin - the “after effects” and side effects were horrible. Not to mention that the dosages had to continually increase to see the same or like results. My oldest, who was on Ritalin for many years - has some “real” behavorial issues. My youngest - is struggling academically since being removed from the medication - but is a happy well adjusted child - learning to deal with his frustrations. I have not given up - I am just looking for “other” potential solutions.

Anonymous,
I am apparently not as bright or educated as a lot of people on this website. I do the best I can with spelling and parenting, but don’t claim to to know a lot about meds. My child’s neurologist told me that a lot of personality traits of kids (adhd or not) have to do as much with their own hard wiring as with their environment. I didn’t seen anyone bragging about parenting as a cure for adhd. I think it had more to do with common courtesy and manners that should be or may be taught in the home. I think that criticizing someone’s spelling (especially on this particular website) is a bit picky and insensitive. I am sorry if expressing one child’s success (against extreme odds) offends you. But I still believe good discipline and good parenting are essential to all kids and most especially adhd kids. I see nowhere in these postings where anyone implied that bad parenting caused adhd.
It is apparent that you are experiencing some difficulties. So is everyone else! This site is here to help and collaborate. Your interpretation of some of the postings is unusual.

Do not put yourself down. THAT is NOT allowed! Without a spell checker most have difficulties, some of us have a hard time with a spell checker! I agree that behavior is a result of good parenting and discipline. However, if you read my post on “blood flow/lack of blood flow” a topic documented by various universities - then you understand that you are one of the “lucky ones”. Sometimes an ADHD/ADD child can be beyond anyones control. As a foster mother working with local Mental Health hospitals, I encountered children for whom the “norm” was an energy level that you could feel when they walked into to the room - that was WITH massive dosages of medication - you could not expect these children to react “within the norm” - after all the “norm” inside a classroom is a challenge for children without health issues! I am also fortunate that my son is quite gentile by nature. He has had his “moments” but with much love, attention, understanding and NO MEDS I am being quite successful in raising a young man that I am quite proud of! Ryan’s mom.

Thank you JoAnne,
I count my blessings everyday. Although my son is not gentile by nature, he is developing into a very nice young man. (9 years old). That’s why I shared his successes with the site (sorta wish I hadn’t now!) We were given very little hope for him 3 years ago (both academically and socially) and I just wanted other people to know that,even with the cards stacked against him, he (and we) feel good about where we are at this point. It took a long time to really relax about him and to celebrate his uniqueness. As I tried to console “anonymous” in my last posting, a lot of it has to do with the way our brains are wired. Good parenting and discipline are needed by all kids. That was not to imply that anyone who’s child is having difficulty is a bad parent. Sometimes I feel like a bad parent, but know that I am doing my best and some of it is working. Guess I am one of the lucky ones. Thanks for being so nice and helpful.

Dear Breaker,

Sounds like Anonymous is a little envious and also going thru a rough time with her/his child. Too bad he/she has not had the inclination to respond again–perhaps in a more positive way. Stress and pain can do a number on people. Not sure why he/she thought anyone was talking about bad parenting as a cause of adhd. I suppose it really must feel like that sometime. I hope he/she has a good Dr. and a good relationship with the school – both are imperative.

Thank you for your insight.

Forgive me, I’m new to this site. I do have some comments. I’ve seen quite a few comments about what the teachers are not doing right or not doing for the child. I wonder…some days…how teachers do their job and keep their sanity. I know for a fact that my son’s disability isn’t the only one that my son’s teacher is dealing with all day long. To put so many little personalities in one classroom at one time and to deal with them all is truly amazing. The problem with education is that parents aren’t getting involved in their child’s education. It seems we only like to get involved when it’s time to complain or when we don’t like what’s going on.

When I found out that my child was having problems I went to the teacher and asked her what I could do to help her. I didn’t go in to demand that my child get special treatment. I know we would all like to think that our child is the only child in the classroom but truth of the matter is that they’re not. As a parent, if my child was punished for snatching his lunch box back, I would sit down and talk to my child about their role in the whole incident. What ways could your child have handled it differently? Had your child not snatched the lunch box, maybe the teacher would have caught the other child holding the lunch box over your child’s head taunting your child. Regardless of what difficulties our children may have…we’ve got to teach them self control. We have to focus on the positive and the strengths of our children. If we continue to place blame, we will raise a generation that knows nothing but how to make excuses for themselves and others. No matter what the situation, there are two sides to the story and there are many outcomes to that situation if handled different ways.

And I definitely question the “smack the kid to get honor comment.” Personally, I feel that honor is something that we carry because of the type of person that we are…admirable, honest, caring. I certainly don’t see honor and respect as a result of smacking someone around to make them fear you.

Certainly, we must realize that when we send our children out in the world, they essentially represent us. How they act will definitely be the one factor behind how people view us as parents and individuals. We all know this…I’m sure we all have once or twice (who knows maybe more times) said “If that were my child…I can’t believe they let their child behave this way or do that. ” What we view as minor inconveniences, such as talking in class, playing around, etc… and as parents we might over looked…can’t always be overlooked in the classroom. The teacher is responsible for the learning of ALL children in the classroom. I for one don’t want my child to be the cause of other children not being able to learn what they need to be functional citizens one day. For one thing, one day these people will be running our world…like it or not. Please let’s make sure they get their education. I’d like to get the right change back at least one time in my life.

I agree to some degree with Ball when he says that “parents are friggin babies.” I think it’s true more to the point because we love our children so much…want to protect them from any pain…and pamper them only out of love. At times, we expect that other people should do the same. We want our child to be treated special because we see them as special ourselves.

I love my son so much…that I want him to learn his life lessons now…while he’s young…when he can make a mistake that will only cost him recess…and not years in prison(or worse).

May I make a suggestion that you go to this teacher and say…”What can I do to help my child become more successful in your classroom.” That teacher is going to see you and your child in a whole new light. I wish you good fortune in helping your child! It’s not an easy endeavor.

Julie,
You seem to be a very wonderful, well spoken individual. As a teacher, I really think that my job would be easier sometimes if I had more parental support. Now, I know it isn’t possible to have parents in the classroom helping everyday. However, even just once a month to come in and read all of the children a story, or work with reading centers, or really anything, would show their child that education is important. Too many students, in my opinion, don’t really understand how important it is to have a good education, and I can model that in the classroom, but there has to be some modeling of that going on at home as well.
In response to several of the other comments posted on this site, I think that several people are forgetting that all of us are working toward the same goal. We aren’t waging an educational war, so why are there so many attacks? If we want children to learn and be able to function in a global society, we are all going to have to work together. When we attack each other, the children are ultimately the losers. I am very well aware of the fact that there are some horrible teachers out there, but is it really fair to label all teachers bad, just because of one or two experiences you may have hadin the past? Some of us really want to make a difference in the world!!!
Good luck to all of the parents and teachers of students with disabilities, I have several exceptional children in my own classroom. I try to enjoy all of my students’ differences and cherish the fact that they aren’t all the same (if they were it would be boring!)