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I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has ADHD kids and has not medicated them and used other techniques that have proven to be successful over time. There seems to be much lately about the neuroplasticity of the brain and I sometimes wonder if the medication, although helpful, does not allow the brain to "repair" itself. For example, I just read about a study that found that poor readers who received reading interventions developed more white matter tracts than control. My son was diagnosed, and still has difficulty in school, but I have not medicated him. I've noticed that his ODD has virtually disappeared over the past month, and that he is better academically when given certain tutoring than what he receives at school. I plan to unschool him next year, and see how that affects his academics. Any thoughts?
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We've tried medication and not been 'successful' in finding the 'right' ones. So although we have medicated, we don't really. We do give fish oil supplements, and B vitamins. We try for 'whole foods' vs. processed foods, and try to avoid fake foods. (ie: If it doesn't grow, we try to avoid it. TRY, I said...not succeed. :) )We work on habits. We cultivate good habits and try to weed out bad habits. We talk about what we want to think about, not what we don't want to think about. So we concentrate on what TO do, not what NOT TO do. Does that make sense? And then habits. Routines, which can be along the lines of a schedule, but a little less rigid. A schedule might be clock driven, whereas a routine is more accomplishment driven. "When you finish breakfast, brush your teeth" over "At 8:30 a.m. brush your teeth." It all may happen at the same approximate time, which is a general, long-term goal, but that's not what we have focused on. Also I'm TRYING to school from the perspective of engaging curiosity instead of "finish this workbook". A helpful web page for that is [url=http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com]Free Homeschooling Ideas, Activities and Resources[/url] , particularly this page on that site: [url=http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/homeschool-planner.html]Homeschool Planner - Homeschool Scheduling with a difference![/url] I find lots of info on this site, and it's very alternate-learner friendly. ;)
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Interesting article. But I totally disagree with the author. I raise my children very much like the author describes that French children are raised. I am very structured, consistent and firm, from birth. But my children still have ADHD. Their ADHD is biologically based. Although some children are helped with nutrition, supplements, and behavioral therapy, many children's brains are just different and they need medication to help. My ds has been on 3 different ADHD medications, and they haven't been great. But he is now on a combination of Metadate and Tenex, and it is finally working. And he is happy! We did try the other approaches first, but I truly do not believe that they can work without something to slow my ds down enough to implement the strategies. Mind you, my ds is super hyperactive and impulsive. So, it may depend on what type of ADHD they have and the degree, but I don't see anything as helping with my ds without meds. With the meds, we can focus more on behavioral or nutritional interventions. But they're useless without the medication. Yet, I do believe that some children are helped with alternative approaches. It just depends on the child and the cause. My children's birthmother had ADHD/Bipolar and they had significant exposure in utero. So, the chances are pretty great that their issues are biologically based.
Actually, the author doesn't say that there are no cases of ADHD, just that there are less than are currently being dx'd in the US and that many would respond well to other interventions instead of pharma. Even in France there are children dx'd with ADHD, just not to the extent there are in the US. I have two with ADD/ADHD as well. We also have lots of structure. My kids were also born drug addicted and have brain damage due to prenatal exposure to multi-substance abuse.
I'm performing this experiment with my son now :) I'm just kidding, but I do believe in brain neuroplasticity. My son is extremely hyperactive, impulsive with significant attention difficulties. If he had been born to me, I probably would have medicated him. But, his issues are (most likely) due to early life experiences and I really believe that medicating him would be a band-aid when what he really needs is a brain-based change. Several doctors that we have seen immediately wanted to throw medication at him (to be fair, it was severe at first and still "looks" worse at the doctors due to anxiety). If we had agreed, I really don't think we would have seen the HUGE changes in him that we've seen so far. Eventually, he may need some help in the form of medication but high structure, high expectations and nearly constant training have allowed him to make significant gains in theses areas. That said, obviously, my kiddo's "ADHD" is caused by different factors than a child with true ADHD. I'm not sure about neuroplasticity for those children/adults.
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I think that article got a lot of backlash when it was first published. I think the cause of ADHD is multifactorial, and presentations differ from kid to kid. My son was also born drug addicted and has some learning, sensory and impulse issues. I don't know if that constitutes "true" ADHD if there is such a thing, but I wasn't eager to medicate him with the same type of drugs that contributed to the problem in the first place. He's not a bouncing of the wall type of kid, and most people wouldn't guess if they were to meet him. I can say that he seems to be outgrowing his ODD behavior, and I'm hoping that the unschooling will be the thing to address his academic challenges. I am curious for those of you who medicate, does it make your kids more focused at school and keep them calm at home also? How often must you titrate/change medications?