concern

: People and parents fall on both sides of the medication line. It is certainly a parent’s decision. What does help her to focus? Is she better focused when she watches tv or films? If so, at times you could try just playing the sound a tv show or a cartoon without the picture and help her to zone in that way, help her to pattern what it is to command her focus in a different way.Her motor skills can be helped with some OT or crayon/scissors/finger play activities at school or home.Medication, though, it deserves to be said should not turn any ADD child into a walking zombie. That child was on the wrong medication or the wrong dose or had a different diagnosis than ADD.Good luck.I’m concerned that my little girl will soon be diagnosed with ADD.
: She’s only 5 right now, but we do seem to have some ADD
: (undiagnosed and diagnosed) in the family. She’s not disruptive in
: class, but she does not focus well, and has poor motor skills. I
: would like to be able to help her without medication - after
: reading your posts, I’m sure some will not agree with this. But we
: did have someone medicated as a child and she seemed like a
: walking zombie rather than a child, and now as an adult, she seems
: worse then I think she should be. Any suggestions as to how I can
: help focus her attention better at home? thanks

PASSWORD>aaaghvsKT3iJgI have to agree with Sara here. Any child that acts like a Zombie on meds needs to be re-evaluated. My daughter has been on meds for 3 years now and she is still the bright, lively little girl she was before meds.I also wanted to caution you about something else you said, though. It’s not uncommon for girls with ADHD to not be recognized early on, mainly because they don’t display a lot of overt behavior like disrupting a classroom. That does NOT mean that a girl with ADHD does not have problems in school. Sometimes their issues are quite severe. It just means that they are harder to recognize, diagnose and treat. My daughter was a perfect example of this. Her teachers swore she was “fine” and they couldn’t understand how I could think she had ADHD that was affecting her in school - until the formal observations were done by someone other than the teacher, who was too busy controlling a whole class to recognize the signs of ADHD in a child who was not disruptive. If you have any concerns at all, do not hesitate to request and formal evaluation.Early diagnosis and treatment, including a behavior modification program that uses positive reinforcement, can help to prevent problems later on.: Her motor skills can be helped with some OT or crayon/scissors/finger
: play activities at school or home.: Medication, though, it deserves to be said should not turn any ADD
: child into a walking zombie. That child was on the wrong
: medication or the wrong dose or had a different diagnosis than
: ADD.: Good luck.: I’m concerned that my little girl will soon be diagnosed with ADD.