I could try a lot of things with him if he could stop jumping and running around long enough enough to actually pay attention to what I'm saying. If I try to physically hold him still he will fight me and become even more wild.

His TEACHER is great. She came up with a reward system for him with a little race track and a Hotwheels car. She has the day broken up in time frames, and if he can "behave" for that time period, he gets a prize. He's come home with 3 prizes for the month. She also sits him off to the side away from the rest of the class because she understands how distracted gets. (which I can only see this making him feel singled out). She said she was going to have him listen to a walkman during class since he loves music so much, to try and calm him down. He spends most of the day in the office because he disrupts the class and makes learning difficult for the other students. And in the office he is expected to just sit quietly in a seat staring at the wall. Yeah, like THAT'S ever going to happen. She has 35 kids in her class. 3 of which are Diagnosed ADHD. It's the women that work in the office that are fed up with him.

I heard Mountain Dew has way too much sugar in it and it counteracts the caffeine.

The key word you used there is SHOULD. They should, but they don't. They are way understaffed and way over populated. Resources are thin.

Wow, everytime i read about one of your kids I see myself back there in the principals office laughing in her face, then her getting on the phone, then me walking home with a suspension note.. ahahhaha.. happened a thousand times!

I can only offer this.... I was -intensely- focussed and concentrated and still am when the activity is extremely challenging. And school is just NOT for add kids... it's boring beyond belief.

How did i get normalized? Music. I found an old organ in the basement and that was it, i calmed down most of the day.

I would not be surprised to find music helps most of your kids in some way... nothing is as innate as music, nothing can help modulate mood like music... and it helps build connections in the mind. PLUS you get to use taking it away as a threat to make your kid quiet! Of couse if it's a little girl who wants to sing, you can't take that away...

Coffee helps me as an adult with ADD big time.. calms me right down.. just like ritalin and cocaine... odd beause they are all stimulants and i'm already off the wall. i quite the cocaine years ago but for days after i would feel excellent and compleley calm, my then-girlfriend said if i was always like those days she'd marry me in an instant! Imagine those are powers of cocaine i never knew existsed hehehehe dont' tell the kids.

anyhow just a few blabbling sentences.. i'm add and i feel your kids need to be given just one thing to obsess over.. it may take a while to find it, but once you do, you might get those long extended breaks you are looking for. Your kids need to be extra-challenged mentally, not the regular kiddy garbage the typically non-add slowpoke can be happy with!!!

p.s. now i'm a computer programmer... i cannot focus on anything except for the very complicated and complex, anything else gets too boring too quick and i want to go out and cause trouble like a teen...

HEY i just saw you wrote about music.. well there you go... i hadn't even seen your second post Jayzandra, but i see you state the walkman helps... voila.. find out who he likes the best, buy him a guitar or a synthesizer.. no drums (!) you can plug in an electric guitar/synth.. i don't know how old your son is but anything past 5 i would think is old enough. In china they are 3 year olds playing orchestras lol

My son loves art and music. He's highly intelligent. His teacher says he's the brightest student she has ever had and that he's probably genius level. Which is why they think Aspergers, but I know it's not. He has been talking a lot about building a robot, so I've been looking online for a real robot kit, but I haven't found much yet. But I think he's imagining a robot like Jimmy Neutron would build. LOL. The teacher says she didn't notice any difference with the coffee, so....

So he get's to ride the bus again Monday. I'm almost inclined to just drive him anyway, but realistically it's just not practical. I've been trying a reward system where if he gets home from school without any incidents he will get a reward. He hasn't earned any thus far.

We are having a pretty good Saturday though. YAY! :)

Uhg, never mind. Calm day = fever. He's sick.

Well, now he's suspended from school....

i have actually heard WONDERFUL things about coffee and add/adhd., We have a family member who has worked as a teacher and did a lot of the higher level special needs and she said that they would have 2 pots in the classroom. one for caffienated for the kids that had add/adhd and decaf for the rest of the class in case they wanted some so they wouldnt feel left out.

As strange as it sounds, i have also seen a lot of great testimonials on reducing chemicals inside the home (going "green" in other words) and also using supplements that are supposed to help with circulation and heart function? i know, i am not totally sure why it works, but i have read lots of testimonials about it.

I know that we did the going green thing in our house and it definitely helped my husband out. he still has issues with media (always needing to bounce between tv, i-phone, lap-top, etc), but for the most part, he is much better.

why is he suspended?

this is one of my biggest fears. my son is only 3, but already people are pushing us with him. He will be starting speech therapy soon and people are also pushing ADD on us. We were looking into having him do speech through the school until we saw that it would immediately classify him as special needs, and we didnt want anyone to have an excuse when he started "real" school to start pushing an ADD label anymore. i HATE labeling. i feel like it is just an excuse for teaching staff to be lazy and not work with kids that need a little extra.

des10ed2b,


I got a call from the school saying he had sat in another kid's lap and called the teacher a poopy head. Then while he was expected to sit quietly in the office staring at a blank wall he was climbing all over the chairs and the floor, rolling around and stuff, so he was suspended the next day. They never gave it to me in writing.

His teacher actually works more with him than the other students, she really is trying, it's the rest of the staff and once he get an IEP he will receive a better education plan, the label actually helps not hurts., as far as education goes, but as far as peers go, IDK. My son really doesn't make friends anyway because of his tics, so I think special ed or homeschooling is the best thing for him.

I recently began using green coffee extract - I take one 800 pill 30 minutes before each meal. I began during a big crisis in my life, hoping not to gain weight because of nervous eating, but the most amazing thing is the extract's effect on my moderate ADD.

It has vastly improved my ability to stay focused, to stay on track - even when I have a lot to do I no longer get that high anxiety overwhelmed/can't think feeling - and my mood has improved, often find myself humming - as well as my ability to be patient, at least for a little while, still have little tolerance for certain social situations.

I feel calm and in control, something I have only felt before while taking medication, which I have now sworn off medication because my creativity is flat when I'm medicated.

I would certain love to hear others experiences if you try this.

Long-term use of coffee really isn't healthy and can lead to health issues. Try yerba mate or green tea. Less caffeine, and better for your health. Another thing I can recommend is taking him to an allergist. Apparently I've been allergic to a bunch of foods all my life and didn't learn of this until about 6 months ago. Removing these foods alleviated the majority of my symptoms. I also had some vitamin deficiencies which further helped my symptoms. Also, sugar can be a trigger for a lot of adhd/add kids. Mindfulness meditation or Qi gong are other things to try. I personally would not recommend ritalin. However, if none of these things help, I would say it's something to examine as a last resort. CBT might help his behavioral issues at school.