Keeping the woo woos out of ADD

[belinda]

Note to Mods - Move this thread to a more appropriate spot if needed.


Yesterday I took my son (I'll call him MM here short for Mr Moo - don't ask!) to the paediatrician and he was diagnosed as having mild ADD (not ADHD). I thought to myself if this guy mentions ritalin I am out of here but he started to recommend occupational therapy.

What I want to know - and thought there might be people on these boards with more knowledge than I - is how to keep from getting sucked up in the ADD hysteria/trendiness. I am pretty sure a lot of the stuff out there is woo-woo but I have no way of sepreating the wheat from the chaff.

I was suspicious that MM might have ADD tendencies, but he is only 5 so I wasn't sure. Now I'm really confused! (and just a little upset - but I guess it could be worse....MM could be a believer ;) )

Does anybody know anything along these lines???

[LostAngeles]

Having been made to listen to several angry lectures on this from my teacher mother, I've heard that:

A It's overdiagnosed because
B It's a "cluster" and
C These lazy-something parents and other twit teachers can't be bothered to actually deal with any behavoir problems that might be there or
D They don't want to deal with a normal child.

I think the cluster comment is the key there. I'd pump her for more info on that, but she went to the dentist today and I think she's still groggy. I'll try tomorrow though.

[tracer]

Originally posted by belinda
I thought to myself if this guy mentions ritalin I am out of here but he started to recommend occupational therapy.
You have a 5-year-old kid with an occupation?
My goodness, they do grow up fast these days.

[belinda]

Originally posted by tracer
You have a 5-year-old kid with an occupation?
My goodness, they do grow up fast these days.

:D Yeah that's what my partner thought too - but it's occupational as in "doing something" eg "How is Jim keeping himself occupied whilst he is on holidays?"

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Occupational therapy is defferentiated from physical therapy in that instead of trying to rehabilitate an injured part of the body... occupational therapy tries to find a way to do things that otherwise a person could not do. Many times a therapist is qualified in both and are an "OT/PT".

You might try checking out www.aota.org ... it has some information about it.

In an educational environment a child who has fine motor disabilities may need extra help in learning how to use scissors and to draw. Sometimes all is required to help some kids write is the use of a simple cover to make the pencil "fatter" and easier to hold.

My son had gross motor problems (this was along with the severe oral motor disability that prevented him from speaking... which necesitated about 10 years of speech therapy). He got OT/PT in preschool, which tapered off by the time he was in 2nd grade. Things he had to learn (oh, so natural for many of us) was how to balance and to walk normally. Some things that he took longer to learn were to climb stairs without bringing both feet to the same stair (normally we skip a step with the alternating foot)... and to ride a two-wheeler bike.

I do not know the specifics with ADD... my son had a seizure history that may or may not have caused neurological damage, but he does not have ADD. Though I have heard that some exercises are good for focusing kids. Things like swinging, wearing a lightly weighted vest, etc (NO holding therapy, that is just stupid and cruel). Sometimes it is referred to as sensory integration (which is a bit woo-woo, but is actually being researched)... here are some resources on that: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399523863/sinetw/104-0926586-0928767 (A. Jean Ayers who postulated that there is such a thing as sensory integration disorders was an OT/PT)

... also one of the better websites for decent information (most of the stuff out there is dreck) is www.ldonline.org

Editted to add, because I found the book that helped me with my younger more intense child....

WAIT... your child may NOT be ADD, but just more spirited!!!

Child #2 would drive me crazy... but he did NOT have an attention deficit. It was the compleat opposite, very very persistent. This child could NOT be disuaded, or distracted if he had on his mind to do something. Sometimes you just had to go with the flow... he is bright, and wonderful --- he was the child who when we went to the zoo would sit for 5 minutes straight to find the hidden animal in the exhibit, and then sit for 5 or more minutes. He was stubborn, and if he wanted something he would not give up. This has translated in later years as a kid who can spend hours on a video game, has trouble starting to practice music... but then keeps it up... and he has a very strong resistence to peer pressure.

Here is what I read that described him, Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic :
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060923288/

[Zep]

Speaking as someone who has had very mild ADD all my life, I suggest getting the boy into computing. It sure did me no harm!

:D

Seriously, the mild form of the condition is not all that hard to deal with. The very best thing is that it is recognised, and the condition can be approached easily. And fear not; he will no more grow up to be a "socially disadvantaged" child than any other as a result of the ADD symptoms. And it is not autism, nor dyslexia, nor bad parenting, or any other condition that some people like to drag out and associate with it.

Hydrogen Cyanide has laid out a nice description of the "spirited" child. That seems to be right - ADD tends to be the opposite of the intense, energetic, persistent child. Elsewhere in this forum there was a good description of how it feels to have ADD symptoms - like having 30 TVs on around you at once, all of them interesting, so you sort of flip from one to another very easily. The effect is that ADD gives the child the appearance of being easily distracted, which is true to a certain extent. However, if a particularly interesting subject takes the child's fancy, they can become extremely focused for extended periods of time, even to the point of ignoring hunger or the world burning down around them! Lack of priority-setting ability, and forgetfulness are the negative effects of this condition (to an extent way more than that of the usual busy child).

My own solutions involve the use of making "habits" and "routines" - I make a habit of doing the same things the same way regularly. Like actors learning lines and prompts until they are second-nature. That way I don't have to actively remember necessary stuff (and thus have the opportunity to forget them). It's hardly gee-whiz stuff, and I think this is much what the idea of "occupational therapy" was that was mentioned to you.

[belinda]

Originally posted by Zep
Speaking as someone who has had very mild ADD all my life, I suggest getting the boy into computing. It sure did me no harm!

:D

As both my partner and I work in IT - and MM has had his own PC in his room since he was 6 months old, there's a good possibility. :D He even had a little t-shirt when he was just learning to talk. It had "I'm bi-lingual - my first language is C++" :p

As for the rest - thanks for the input. I must admit I felt really bad when the diagnosis came in, thinking surely I stuffed something up along the way, but I guess not. You are certainly right about the focus if something really takes MM's interest - he loves lego and uses the sets that are meant to be for 9-12 year olds. Usually we have to threaten him to put it down to eat or go to bed.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

LEGOS!!! Our basement is wall to wall Legos.

It takes a bright, consciencious child to sit down and deal with all those little teeny tiny blocks. sigh (ask me how many I have stepped on).

Anyway... just one note on discipline. Be consistent. If you threaten any punishment, make sure it is feasible, and you follow through. I learned this with Child #1 : he would (because he could not speak) want something to eat and have me stand there and look into the open fridge. I started to count to 10, and at the end of 10 close the fridge door. He learned quickly (along with learning to use sign language) to choose quicker.

Sometimes bedtime was not enforced... but the lights had to be out. We have also been known to turn off the modem (or just pull the PCI wireless internet card from offending child's PC... oh, the joys of modern parenting).

[Benguin]

Is there any proof of the links suggested between ADD/Hyperactivity and diet?

[HelPick2]

What is ADD?

[Benguin]

Attention Deficit Disorder.

Here's a bit about ADHD (http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/en.asp?TopicID=45&AreaID=3980&LinkID=3055) but it does mention ADD also.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Originally posted by Benguin
Is there any proof of the links suggested between ADD/Hyperactivity and diet?

No.

Here is one article: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Victims/feingold.html

and from http://www.ldonline.org/article.php?max=20&id=703&loc=17 :
"Another theory was that refined sugar and food additives make children hyperactive and inattentive. As a result, parents were encouraged to stop serving children foods containing artificial flavorings, preservatives, and sugars. However, this theory, too, came under question. In 1982, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal agency responsible for biomedical research, held a major scientific conference to discuss the issue. After studying the data, the scientists concluded that the restricted diet only seemed to help about 5 percent of children with ADHD, mostly either young children or children with food allergies. "

[belinda]

Originally posted by Hydrogen Cyanide
Anyway... just one note on discipline. Be consistent. If you threaten any punishment, make sure it is feasible, and you follow through. I learned this with Child #1 : he would (because he could not speak) want something to eat and have me stand there and look into the open fridge. I started to count to 10, and at the end of 10 close the fridge door. He learned quickly (along with learning to use sign language) to choose quicker.

Count to 10? :jaw: - you're generous ...we give MM a count to 3, if he hasn't complied (with whatever the dispute is) on 3 then the discplinary process begins. We warn him what will happen if he doesn't comply and then...well you get the picture.

But we have never used physical punishment - except in cases of life-threatening situations eg knife in powerplug.

[belinda]

Originally posted by gnome
Belinda...

If I may, you seem quite wary of medicines such as Ritalin, or the modern equivalent, Concerta, and I wonder if you have worries about the medicines beyond the concern that your child may be mis-diagnosed. Would you care to elaborate?

If occupational therapy works, great!

But the medicines can be quite useful for those that need it...

It could indeed be over-diagnosed, but the legitimate cases are still there.

Unusually enough for me - I am wary. About misdiagnosis partly, but also becuase I do not know enough about the effects of ritalin (I haven't even heard of Concerta - only available in the US?) - particularly the long term effects. If MM has to go on it at age 5 as I understand it, it could be years before he is off it. I am not against pharmaceuticals per se, just want to be sure it is the best option before using it.

Just looks like I'm in for a lot of slogging through medical journals and research papers to find out.!

[gnome]

Originally posted by belinda
Unusually enough for me - I am wary. About misdiagnosis partly, but also becuase I do not know enough about the effects of ritalin (I haven't even heard of Concerta - only available in the US?) - particularly the long term effects. If MM has to go on it at age 5 as I understand it, it could be years before he is off it. I am not against pharmaceuticals per se, just want to be sure it is the best option before using it.

Just looks like I'm in for a lot of slogging through medical journals and research papers to find out.!

That's what my mom did before putting me on Ritalin. By the end of her research, she knew more about it than any doctor we went to.

She had a head start of course, being that she taught psychiatric nursing.

I think you're on the right track, with proper research you will make an informed decision and be more confident of it, whichever way it goes.