Sara, that's a great start. My friend has a child with ADD. They did the medication with more problems coming from the meds than they had from their son to start with. The dad said enough after three long tuff years and one summer while out on break, dad went with diet and structure. It's amazing how this young guy changed! No drugs in his system, better grades at school he can focus on task!

I'm thinking of Gregorian chant while we're doing homework. It'll either help him concentrate, put him to sleep or inspire him to become a priest. HAHAHAHAHA!

Hi Sara, gosh I agree that you all have had enough already!!

I've had students in the past that got very good results with chiropractic and diet, although I cant remember the details about diet.

My nephew has severe ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder and two types of learning disabilities. My sister had a very normal pregnancy so no one knows the reason. He is on meds but the side effects are awful. He has no appetite and is almost catatonic at times. Diet and other things just did not help him.

Hopefully it will help your little guy who the heck wants a medication that makes you crave an illegal substance? Crazy.

I do know that the diet is a real pain in the butt. There can be absolutely no dyes, preservatives, etc. etc. I'll switch to organic milk, fruits and veg, and emphasize more organic snacks, but that's about it. He's so borderline that it's hard to tell normal "fidgety" from ADD. Even the neurologist said that it's just that little bit over the diagnostic line. I was very surprised that he recommended medication as a first-line treatment.

Sara,

Tyler has ADHD and we did therapy - it worked wonders! Most people have no idea he has it now and he has never taken drugs.

A few things we learned that helped him with concentration are:

Engaging the gross motor muscles before needing to concentrate - heavy lifting, etc. such as helping the teacher move the milk crates before a reading session.

When he felt he needed to concentrate more, he would try to 'push down the wall' - pushing on the wall as hard as he could for a bit.

Chewy things - gum, Starbursts, etc. help with concentration while doing homework.

Not sitting still helps - sitting on a ball instead of a chair when doing homework. Many schools have found this helps all students, not just ADD kids and use them in classrooms.

I hope therapy works as well for your GS as it did for Tyler! I would certainly give it a try before medication.

Thanks for the ideas, Kat -- I'll definitely try them. The pushing on the wall one really makes a lot of sense.

(And I'm still going to try the Gregorian chant. Maybe it'll make ME less spazzed as I try to teach him his spelling words. LOL)

Sara, I love your post! Even when the chips are against you the spirited replies never end...Enjoy your chanting!

As my own children were growing up i didn't let them have food with dyes in it and i made most of my own snacks, cookies etc. My brother had ADD and this is what my mother did and it worked back then, and my nephew is same as his dad and they do the same with him, its controled through diet. And he goes to a child psycologist and he gives him exercises and advice to help him with it. I will do the same if my grandson has ADD aswell. Right now my gs gets soya milk and i make a lot of things from scratch. Why do so many kids have this now a days , i think were opt out of cooking too much and take short cuts, and all that stuff has preservatives.

The thing is that I do virtually all of my cooking from scratch and use almost no processed foods. And I've also switched to organic milk. But I'm wondering if it's the stuff they're eating in school, which, of course, I can't control.

Aaaarrghhh, I wonder if I'll have to start packing his lunches!!!

Hi Sara good luck with all that I have 4 kids and all have ADHD. Was said to be in both my and my Husbands families. I tried all the diets and therapies around and 3 out of 4 just flurished on meds. Yes was as descrided below but the medication was wrong and when put on the correct one did so well. I know there are a lot of people who will just put on meds because it makes the sombes and easier but some kids just can not manage with out. Tried my 21 yr old son just recently and he nearly lost his job because he could not stay on task and got angry

Here I am having a good weekend. Sorry to hear about the Grandson,in the long run if you can keep him of medication the better for his body keep strong will be thinking of you and praying GS copes well. Sharyne 22

I'm sure you're right, sethsma. The neurologist said that medication would "take the edge off" and allow him to learn concentration, etc.

It's just that I think I need to be convinced that medication is necessary. I've seen so many people start one medication, only to need another to combat the first one's side effects, then another, and on and on.

I guess I'm also resisting medication because he's SO borderline -- his scores are right on the edge between normal and ADD. And since he doesn't have any hyperactivity/aggression issues, that complicates things even more. He's actually a perfect child in every way except that he can't spell and his handwriting is atrocious -- and he does fidget in class.

Oh, what to do? What to do?

Hi Sara,

I was just reading your post about your gs. It triggered something that I went through with my own son. He has/had adhd and horrible handwriting and issues with spelling as well. I did some research back then and found he had dysgraphia as well. Could this be something going on with your gs as well? I know with my son's IEP, we were loaned a word processor to help him with his writing and spelling and word thoughts. Here is a link to dysgraphia. Thought I would share with you. IF this is something you suspect with your gs and it is worked with early, he will be able to succeed with this. Just a thought.

http://www.vaxa.com/learning-disabilities-dysgraphia.cfm

Gamma, I was totally shocked that the neurologist didn't go along with dysgraphia. I went there thinking for sure that my grandson had dyslexia, dysgraphia subset. He has every single symptom -- including saying "Ws" for "Rs." The only thing against it is that he always could rhyme. Apparently that's a major red flag for dyslexia.

The most the doctor would say is that the ADD and dysgraphia can be associated.

I was also shocked when he recommended medication so strongly. This wasn't one minute after he said the ADD was right on the border.

I just don't know what to think or do about this. I'm the type who won't take medication at all unless it's for something like an infection or sinus pain. My husband started taking prednisone for a fibromyalgia-like disorder and next thing you know he's on blood pressure medication, diuretics, and about four other medications. All because he started taking one thing...

"The only thing against it is that he always could rhyme. Apparently that's a major red flag for dyslexia. "

I meant "not being able to rhyme" is a major red flag for dyslexia :-)