those with children who have add/adhd

McKenna- Are you still looking for info? I have two kids with ADHD and there were signs very early on. Just wondering if you're still interested? Nicki

yes, i would love to hear more information, thanks

my oldest daughter was diagnosed at 2 years of age (early for a diagosis). when she was 18 months old she would shake her crib across the room on a floor that had shag carpet and we had taken the wheels off of the crib. she would shake it until it hit the wall then go to the other end and shake it back across the floor to hit the other wall (she managed to smash her fingers and broke one of them ) she was always in constant motion, climbing, no fear of anything, she started walking (running) at 7 months. she was reading when she was 2. she was put on atarax for sleep at night. it helped some. she was 4 when she was put on ritalin. i had alot of problems with my parents not wanting her to be medicated. they are not the ones who had to deal with her suffering. no one wanted to play with her, she was always in trouble for talking or not staying in her seat. I could go on and on. Three of our four were diagnosed with ADHD. I am ADHD and so is there dad. Our youngest one tried to be ADHD because of all of his role models, but he is not ADHD. HOpe this helps, feel free to pm me if you'd like more information. Susan

The last poster noticed a lot of the same things that we did, only we had no idea why our kids were different. With our son, we noticed that he was very active, coordinated, and confident. I lost 15 lbs beyond my pre-pregnancy weight when he started "walking" at 10 months. He was always on the go, climbing and running. He did not nap much and was hard to get down at night. In preschool, we were told how artistic and creative he was. His teachers loved him because he was interested in everything and liked talking to adults. We had a number of trips to the emergency room for accidents because he would blast around and run into things. It got to the point that anywhere we went, we would find the emergency room for "just in case." When our daughter was a baby, she was colicy and then fussy when she was a little older. She was too fat to even roll over until she was 6 months but was running by 9 months. We were off again. Seh would not stay in a crib or nap. The preschool teacher would lay next to her at nap time and rub her back to help her relax for a nap. We would do the same at night. She got thrown out of gym class when she was 3. She couldn't handle being in a group, waiting her turn, and not just blasting thru everything. She couldn't sit through a Disney movie for years beyond when other kids could, but had them memorized. She knew her ABCs at 2. We gave her horse riding lessons at 4 and she could do that for 2 hours at a time, so did really well with one on one interaction. She has dislocated elbows regularly from changing direction without warning as someone was holding her hand. She could care less about having friends or what anyone else wanted. She was extremely impatient and intolerant. She was "food driven" and always wanted something in her mouth. In kindergarten, she would take off from her class and visit others at shcool. She had no fear. She was impossible to discipline. I thought she was the "slow" one, because she just wouldn't learn no matter what we did. With both of them, time outs didn't work because they would forget and get up. They had to be practically held down. She was diagnosed in first grade and we started medication. The day we first gave her the meds, she layed in bed with me and counted by 1s, by 2s, by 3s, ... by 7s to 100 until I said we couldn't do this anymore. This was the kid who was at the bottom of her class in math and couldn't read. Within 3 months she was top of the class in math and reading along with the rest of her class. Now she is 10, has friends, is an honor roll student and never in trouble. I advocate a lot for her so her teachers, friend's parents, and coaches know what is happening when she is in la-la land. Our son is 13 and not as difficult as her, but having trouble in middle school without medication. He doesn't like taking pills. We are going to counselling to try to help him learn other things he can do to help himself without always taking medication. But back to preschool- yes- there sure were signs. There is a good book called Running on Ritalin that talks about symptoms and lots of different options for handling it. I recommend it. Good luck and enjoy. They are a lot of hard work, face challenges in theri lives, but soooo worth it. Nicki

some of what you are describing i see in my son, but not as intense. he is always impatient, he has a lot of energy, but does have fears. he sleeps well at night and at nap. he does much better with one on one help rather than group interaction. he has a hard time sitting still for much except books. he does not just sit and watch a movie, he likes one on but plays with other toys while he is watching it. i will have to look into that book. thanks

Yikes, it was scary to read about the "fun" y'all have had with your little "active" ones. I have seven children. My first, a girl- was extremely intelligent, reading early, knowing things that other children were not yet ready for, she could get out of her crib and did so by standing on the top rail and jumping. We made MANY trips to the ER. She was very strong willed and would make demands of me and threats to me, like I am not ready to leave the playground, if you try to make me, I will poop in my pants.... this at age 3. She was always in trouble with her teachers, but also won awards for "most books read", "best handwriting," etc. She is now 30 and just got out of jail. Second child, also a girl, threw major fits and would arch her back and throw herself down on the back of her head. My pediatrician recommended ignoring her. Well it stopped that behavior as she moved on to the banging her head on the floor until her forehead was bruised, full of bumps and she had broken most of the blood vessels in her forehead. She is now 27 and has an extremely intelligent 2 year old, who (you guessed it) is into EVERYTHING!! He was potty trained before age 2 and goes to the bathroom by himself. He talks in complete sentences and says things to me like " Thank you for watching me , MomMom, I appreciate it very much."........... Here we go again. LOL My third child, a boy, was in the emergency room so often that they knew us by name and when I would carry him in unconcious they would just tell me to take our regular room. He was diagnosed with ADHD at three. He understood math concepts at age three could count by threes... unusual stuff. He was on Ritalin for 7 years. He was very bright but never finished high school because he could not "conform" He hung around with other "ritalin" kids and "expressed himself" through grafitti and drugs. He committed suicide in Dec 2002 at age 23. My 4th - 7th children are biologically my grandchildren from the oldest daughter. My daughter dropped them off at birth with the exception of the boy ( her drug use caused him to have cerebral palsy) We got him at 17 months. We adopted all four Nov 2003. 4th is a girl, struggled in school in the beginning, now doing 8th and ninth grade work at the same time and singing in the school choir. She is extremely emotional. Counseling has NOT worked for her, because she seems to be more intelligent than any of the counselors and can play them like a fiddle. We did figure out that playing music....For her - playing the piano settles her down tremendously. 5th is also a girl - attends a school for the performing arts and sings like an angel. She is by far the easiest of the group, but still tends to alternate between giddy and morose. She likes to play piano, but is not as good as her sister. She is better than her sister at the electric guitar and frequently we hear a "battle of music" One in the living room playing piano loudly and one in her room playing her guitar with the amp turned up HIGH. She tends to stretch the truth.... and perceives that either everyone loves her dearly OR everyone is out to get her. AND this is the EASY one. 6th is a boy with cerebral palsy. He has overcome so very much. He wasn't walking until he was 26 months old. He is in first grade and can read, but doesn't like to read. He is a real clown and will try anything. He broke his hand trying to turn a flip and cartwheel in the living room to show off for a friend. Two of his teachers called yesterday to tell me that he will not do his work. 7th one is a girl.... who we think may have ODD, FAS, and RAD. She was walking at 9 months and running at 9 mos and 1 day. She would catch her knee in between the crib rails as she was trying to climb back IN to her crib after she had climbed out. Yesterday the bus driver told me she was about to be kicked off the bus because she wouldn't put a seatbelt on and she had punched another little girl. We are having sooooo much fun. I just won't quit. Somehow I am going to find what will let each of these kids reach their full potential and live happy lives. There just have to be answers to all of these challenges. I intend to find them! :rolleyes: God help me!!!

Hi, I'd like to recommend a book on ADD ADHD called 'Driven to Distraction' by Dr. Hallowell ... he also has a sequel called, 'Answers to Distraction'. The books have lists of helpful hints and focus on the positive. Good luck! NancyNic

Our son was officially diagnosed as ADHD half way through the first grade. But in hindsight there were a lot of indications early on. One was that he was never an easy sleeper. He was also a very active baby. At 7 months he could climb the stairs. By the time he was 8 months we had to be sure to push in the chairs all the way when we left the dining room table or he would climb up onto the chair, then onto the table! But I have some video sequences that tell it all. Scene I: He is inside the kitchen cupboard shoving all the tupperware and bakeware out. Scene II: He is standing next to the bookcase full of videos pulling all the videos off the shelves, one by one. Scene III: He is sitting inside the dryer throwing all the wet clothes out. Scene IV he is sitting inside the toy box throwing all the toys out. and Scene V (my favorite): the shot at first just looks like we are videotaping the changing table. Then out through the sliding doors on the front comes a little hand, dropping a diaper out (we used cloth diapers). One by one the diapers come out of the cabinet till every single one has been thrown out, then the door slides the rest of the way open and this darling little face peers out and sees the camera on him and smiles from ear to ear. All of these scenes were before his 2nd birthday.

I have been gone for a time, but am back now!!!! We had two children in two different hospitals and a kitchen fire. I have been reading like a house afire.....LOL Two books I would like to recommend to any parents of a special needs child, or a child with ADD (who incidently does meet the criteria of "special needs")..... EXTRAORDINARY KIDS by Cheri Fuller and Louise Tucker Jones and HEALING ADD by Daniel G. Amen, MD