This seems to be one of the most controversial topics when it comes to medication for a child who is diagnosed with ADHD. It seems that anyone I encounter with a negative opinion has not researched the issue. They base their opinions on hear-say, old trends and sometimes even religious convictions.
This is not an effort to bash those with a negative opinion. However, it segues quite easily into my first point; RESEARCH. Just as you need to be well versed on laws pertaining to your child's diagnosis, you need to be up-to-date on information pertaining to current ADHD treatments. The days of the zombie child on Ritalin are long gone. There are many different kinds of medication and side effects for each one. Do not become Dr. Google and rely on information you have found on Wikipedia, message boards, or even blogs. Yes, even mind. Instead, go to reliable sources of information on the internet. Here is a link to over 200 articles on the Mayo Clinic website on ADHD. The Mayo Clinic is a fabulous site on which to do your research on medical issues. It is much more reliable than message boards or anything that can be edited by regular folks and not medical professionals. You can also go on Google Scholar and search Journal Articles on any topic. These are articles published in scholarly journals. That means that they are research based articles and not based on opinion. You can research from the comfort of your own home. You can also go to the library and check out books or read articles on your topic of research. You really don't have to spend any money to become educated, just take the time to read.
Now on to why we chose to put our child on medication. There are several reasons...
First, I am a teacher. I've seen children from many different backgrounds with many different issues. In my eleven years of experience, I have seen more children than I can count who benefit from medication for ADHD. These same children who are on medication are usually completely different people on a day that a pill is forgotten. I can well remember one particular child that I could just look at in the morning and his whole demeanor told me if he was on meds or not. I have seen children who are failing everything go on medication and begin to excel in school. I have also seen children who have parents who for whatever reason have chosen to not medicate their child. I respect parents for their choices, but I've also watched their child suffer through trying to keep up with the pace of the class, be on the same page in the book as us, complete assignments, etc. I have even seen a student who's parents took him or her off medication and then the student became impulsive. What was once a trustworthy dependable child became a child who was lying and stealing every time I turned around. Clearly, I have seen quite more benefit than harm in medication for children with ADHD. In all of my years, I think I've seen maybe one student who was "zombie-fied" by the medication, but a change in meds fixed that problem. I have seen decreased appetites. However, medication can be adjusted for that issue as well. Again, research is key.
Have a conversation with your doctor. If your pediatrician doesn't answer all of your questions they way you want, then spend the money to see a child Psychiatrist. We have not gone this route yet, but it remains an open option if we start experiencing changes with medication.
We wanted our son to have the best opportunity possible to reach his full potential. We want him to be able to do whatever he wants in life and we don't want a low attention-span to hold him back. We felt that with careful consideration and monitoring of medication our son could be helped tremendously. I am proud to say that now after taking over a week to finish this post, our son has been on medication for 2 weeks now. There will be a post to come on that as well, but so far so good.
Our journey is just beginning. Don't rush to judgement on an option for ADHD medication. Do your homework and base your conclusion on real research and not hear-say.
Showing posts with label ADHD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ADHD. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Home Behavior Therapy
Let me start by saying I'm no expert. I am not the perfect parent and there is no manual on how to perfectly parent your ADHD child. This is a chronicle of my first attempt at at home behavior therapy.
To me, this is something that you can use with any child, ADHD or not. I've read very little about this, but between my experience as a teacher, my conversation with the psychologist who examined Austin and a little googling, I've figured some things out. Behavior therapy is simply teaching your child to develop good habits. The idea is that by positively reinforcing the desired behaviors, you build good habits. It's a plus that we're starting this with Austin when he's 5. Old habits die hard for us all, don't they?
I'm going to be honest. The worst attention issue we have with Austin is getting ready in the mornings. It's enough to make me want to rip my hair out. When I tell him to get dressed in the morning, I leave his clothes out for him in his room to get dressed. While he's supposed to be getting dressed, I'm in the kitchen making three lunches, putting dinner in the crock pot (or preparing something so it'll be easier when I get home), making mine and Austin's breakfast and sometimes loading the dishwasher. (multi-tasking much?) More often than not, I go to check on his progress and he's standing in his room (often naked) and doing nothing. It can be very frustrating, especially since we're on a time schedule in the mornings. Let's get real people, there's a lot going on in the mornings. I have to get to work. I am NOT a morning person. I get frustrated with Austin's inability to pay attention. At times yelling ensues. I'm not proud of it, and it makes the morning STINK. The first goal of our plan is for him to get dressed, socks on, backpack ready in 15 minutes. There will be a timer involved. This is a reasonable amount of time.
We also have issues with him cleaning his room. I am currently spending the weekend reorganizing his room, again. We are going to reinforce positive behavior when he picks up the things in his room at the end of the night. So the second goal in his plan is to pick up his toys at the end of the night.
Here is a picture of the goal board I created tonight. I had a small bulletin board stored in a closet. It has flowers on it and they are so "yucky" to Austin, so I got some of my scrapbooking paper out and re-covered it. Then I typed out a simple chart on the computer. Austin is able to read this chart and read the whole thing to me as soon as I put it up. Then we talked about it. I think if he weren't able to read this well, I may have use pictures instead. I have it saved so we can start fresh each week. The most important part in a behavior plan for an ADHD child is that the rewards are quick and that he doesn't have to wait for them. (the end of the week is NOT going to work) If he follows the first goal and gets ready in time then he can play with the dog until I have his breakfast ready. If he meets the second goal then he gets the treasure box (junk from the dollar store). We already have a treasure box for "green" days at school, so we had that on hand already.
There are some other organizational things I am working on at home also. They really don't have anything to do with his ADHD issues, but more with having our home flow more smoothly to prevent some of his issues.
Do I know that this is going to be it, that I have solved all of my child's problems with this chart and some stickers? No! This is the beginning. We'll see how this works, there will probably be some tweaking and then we'll try again. Also, if you think that picking up toys and getting dressed on time is all the problems we have, then think again. We are starting with the thing we need to work on the most and moving on from there. Once we get these things mastered, or at least more manageable, there are more behaviors we need to work on with Austin.
And so the journey continues....
To me, this is something that you can use with any child, ADHD or not. I've read very little about this, but between my experience as a teacher, my conversation with the psychologist who examined Austin and a little googling, I've figured some things out. Behavior therapy is simply teaching your child to develop good habits. The idea is that by positively reinforcing the desired behaviors, you build good habits. It's a plus that we're starting this with Austin when he's 5. Old habits die hard for us all, don't they?
I'm going to be honest. The worst attention issue we have with Austin is getting ready in the mornings. It's enough to make me want to rip my hair out. When I tell him to get dressed in the morning, I leave his clothes out for him in his room to get dressed. While he's supposed to be getting dressed, I'm in the kitchen making three lunches, putting dinner in the crock pot (or preparing something so it'll be easier when I get home), making mine and Austin's breakfast and sometimes loading the dishwasher. (multi-tasking much?) More often than not, I go to check on his progress and he's standing in his room (often naked) and doing nothing. It can be very frustrating, especially since we're on a time schedule in the mornings. Let's get real people, there's a lot going on in the mornings. I have to get to work. I am NOT a morning person. I get frustrated with Austin's inability to pay attention. At times yelling ensues. I'm not proud of it, and it makes the morning STINK. The first goal of our plan is for him to get dressed, socks on, backpack ready in 15 minutes. There will be a timer involved. This is a reasonable amount of time.
We also have issues with him cleaning his room. I am currently spending the weekend reorganizing his room, again. We are going to reinforce positive behavior when he picks up the things in his room at the end of the night. So the second goal in his plan is to pick up his toys at the end of the night.
Here is a picture of the goal board I created tonight. I had a small bulletin board stored in a closet. It has flowers on it and they are so "yucky" to Austin, so I got some of my scrapbooking paper out and re-covered it. Then I typed out a simple chart on the computer. Austin is able to read this chart and read the whole thing to me as soon as I put it up. Then we talked about it. I think if he weren't able to read this well, I may have use pictures instead. I have it saved so we can start fresh each week. The most important part in a behavior plan for an ADHD child is that the rewards are quick and that he doesn't have to wait for them. (the end of the week is NOT going to work) If he follows the first goal and gets ready in time then he can play with the dog until I have his breakfast ready. If he meets the second goal then he gets the treasure box (junk from the dollar store). We already have a treasure box for "green" days at school, so we had that on hand already.
There are some other organizational things I am working on at home also. They really don't have anything to do with his ADHD issues, but more with having our home flow more smoothly to prevent some of his issues.
Do I know that this is going to be it, that I have solved all of my child's problems with this chart and some stickers? No! This is the beginning. We'll see how this works, there will probably be some tweaking and then we'll try again. Also, if you think that picking up toys and getting dressed on time is all the problems we have, then think again. We are starting with the thing we need to work on the most and moving on from there. Once we get these things mastered, or at least more manageable, there are more behaviors we need to work on with Austin.
And so the journey continues....
Do Your Homework!!
Oh, you thought I might be writing about teaching school? Yes, I say those words all the time, but this has nothing to do with my own classroom.
I won't go into specific details on the internet for all to see, but I wanted to share a first lesson that we have learned in this process.
READ THE LAWS! If your child is going to receive assistance in any way from the Public Schools, then you need to read the laws. Go to the school officials armed with factual information. Exceptional Student Education services and 504 Plans are all related to laws. Here is information on Section 504 from the US Department of Education. You can also find information on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act here.
If you are met with any opposition at your Public School, take a deep breath. Educate yourself and go in with the facts. Don't be afraid to stand up for your child in a calm way. If you have to go above your school administration because you feel you have exhausted all options at that level, then do so. Don't be afraid to calmly stand up for your rights under our Federal Law.
I won't go into specific details on the internet for all to see, but I wanted to share a first lesson that we have learned in this process.
READ THE LAWS! If your child is going to receive assistance in any way from the Public Schools, then you need to read the laws. Go to the school officials armed with factual information. Exceptional Student Education services and 504 Plans are all related to laws. Here is information on Section 504 from the US Department of Education. You can also find information on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act here.
If you are met with any opposition at your Public School, take a deep breath. Educate yourself and go in with the facts. Don't be afraid to stand up for your child in a calm way. If you have to go above your school administration because you feel you have exhausted all options at that level, then do so. Don't be afraid to calmly stand up for your rights under our Federal Law.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A New Journey for Our Family
When Austin was just a tiny baby in my womb, I went to my doctor for an ultrasound. My child, at about 9 or 10 weeks gestation, was dancing around in my womb. His small nubs for arms and legs were flying around. He looked like he was doing the jig and we all thought it was funny. At the next ultrasound several weeks later, he moved so quickly they couldn't get a clear picture of him to give us. While I carried him he was always moving, and often woke me up at night while he seemingly tapped dance on my ribs. While in labor, he was squirming so much in my belly that they couldn't keep the heart rate monitor on him. He was getting his last chance at dancing in the water.
As soon as he figured out how to move around outside of the womb, my baby was a mover. He kicked out of his swaddle. He would lie on the changing table and kick his legs a mile a minute. He kicked so much that over time, he wore a hole in his changing pad where his feet would hit it when he kicked. When Austin finally learned to walk, it immediately became running.
When he was about 18 months old, he learned the alphabet. Just as fast as he picked that up, he knew the sounds. When he was nearing 2, I was cooking dinner and he was playing with the magnetic letters on our fridge. He took an M and turned it upside down and said "look mommy, W". Then he took a 6 and turned it upside down and said "look mommy, 9". My jaw was in the floor.
From a very young age, we knew we had a very smart and active child. It wasn't until Austin was about 3 or 4 years old that we started to realize that he was having difficulty paying attention and at times seemed scattered all over the place.
Austin is now in kindergarten. I am fortunate that he goes to school at the same school where I teach. His teacher is willing to chat with me here and there. We knew that Austin was doing quite well (he can read far above grade level), but he struggles with paying attention in class. His teacher pulled me aside a few months ago and said that his lack of paying attention was hindering him from growing academically. Those words were all that Paul and I needed to confirm that something more needed to be done.
After consulting with our pediatrician, and talking to some people we knew who were parents of children with similar struggles, we decided to pursue our own independent psychoeducational evaluation. I am writing this because I want others who may have some of our same issues to know what their options are and what to expect. This service was not fully covered under our insurance and what was fell under our deductible. This is a sacrifice that we felt was necessary for our family at this time.
The entire process took about three weeks. We went to a Child Psychologist. There was a parent interview where he took our family history and inquired about our concerns for Austin. Then, before Austin met him, the doctor went to Austin's classroom to observe him in his environment. He was a non-biased eye and was able to compare Austin to his typical peers. Finally, I took Austin to his office one morning and the formal evaluation took place over a few hours.
I got the results back this Wednesday. Austin has a very high IQ and does have ADHD. This does not surprise Paul and I at all. We knew this was the case. The psychological report gives us a full picture of Austin and allows us to fully understand him and his abilities and limitations.
This is just the beginning. I plan to blog about our journey as we pursue the next steps for him. If you are reading this, you need to know that I am not putting this out there so that the world can critique our parenting skills. This is our journey, and with the help of the Lord, we are going to do the best we can to parent our child through his focusing difficulties so that he can meet his full potential. If you so desire, please learn from our experiences as we go down this new road with our precious son.
As soon as he figured out how to move around outside of the womb, my baby was a mover. He kicked out of his swaddle. He would lie on the changing table and kick his legs a mile a minute. He kicked so much that over time, he wore a hole in his changing pad where his feet would hit it when he kicked. When Austin finally learned to walk, it immediately became running.
When he was about 18 months old, he learned the alphabet. Just as fast as he picked that up, he knew the sounds. When he was nearing 2, I was cooking dinner and he was playing with the magnetic letters on our fridge. He took an M and turned it upside down and said "look mommy, W". Then he took a 6 and turned it upside down and said "look mommy, 9". My jaw was in the floor.
From a very young age, we knew we had a very smart and active child. It wasn't until Austin was about 3 or 4 years old that we started to realize that he was having difficulty paying attention and at times seemed scattered all over the place.
Austin is now in kindergarten. I am fortunate that he goes to school at the same school where I teach. His teacher is willing to chat with me here and there. We knew that Austin was doing quite well (he can read far above grade level), but he struggles with paying attention in class. His teacher pulled me aside a few months ago and said that his lack of paying attention was hindering him from growing academically. Those words were all that Paul and I needed to confirm that something more needed to be done.
After consulting with our pediatrician, and talking to some people we knew who were parents of children with similar struggles, we decided to pursue our own independent psychoeducational evaluation. I am writing this because I want others who may have some of our same issues to know what their options are and what to expect. This service was not fully covered under our insurance and what was fell under our deductible. This is a sacrifice that we felt was necessary for our family at this time.
The entire process took about three weeks. We went to a Child Psychologist. There was a parent interview where he took our family history and inquired about our concerns for Austin. Then, before Austin met him, the doctor went to Austin's classroom to observe him in his environment. He was a non-biased eye and was able to compare Austin to his typical peers. Finally, I took Austin to his office one morning and the formal evaluation took place over a few hours.
I got the results back this Wednesday. Austin has a very high IQ and does have ADHD. This does not surprise Paul and I at all. We knew this was the case. The psychological report gives us a full picture of Austin and allows us to fully understand him and his abilities and limitations.
This is just the beginning. I plan to blog about our journey as we pursue the next steps for him. If you are reading this, you need to know that I am not putting this out there so that the world can critique our parenting skills. This is our journey, and with the help of the Lord, we are going to do the best we can to parent our child through his focusing difficulties so that he can meet his full potential. If you so desire, please learn from our experiences as we go down this new road with our precious son.
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