I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel. (My Experience of Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder)

Member Name: Sue Hoskinson

Product:	My Experience of Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder
Date:	01/02/02 (338 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There aren't any

Disadvantages: Causes total chaos

How do you feel when you have to admit that something isn’t quite right with your child? I wouldn’t for the longest time and felt like a failure.
My youngest son, Steven, was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) this week after several years of struggling with the system.

Let me tell you a little bit about Steven so that you can get some idea of what things have been like in the last few years.
Steven has just turned 11 years old, he’s tall for his age at 5ft 1in and he only weighs 95lbs. My son is a very gentle and loving child who has an intense desire to be liked and he also hates confrontation. From the moment he was born he was always considered ‘hard to handle’, he was born with twisted intestines and had to be fed hourly because of the intense screaming fits caused by the pain he incurred.
Starting school was a nightmare. Steven is incredibly intelligent which has helped him maintain his grades throughout although his social skills have been severely lacking and he has always been in trouble for fidgeting, talking and generally not paying attention during class. Riding the bus to school has also been tough, I’ve driven him to school more times than not because he’s been suspended for mainly stupid things like not wearing his seatbelt or being too noisy.
For the last three years his teachers have been pushing me to get him tested for ADHD and to be honest I wasn’t too keen, after all I didn’t believe that he had it mainly because of my preconceptions of the ailment and what the symptoms were. I was under the impression that a child that had ADHD was violent and completely unruly and didn’t perform well academically – I was wrong.

So, what is ADHD?
Well, it’s not a learning disability but a behavioral problem and children that are diagnosed with it are usually overactive, impulsive and have trouble paying attention for mor
e than a few minutes at any one time. Did you know that only 3% to 5% of all school age children are affected and it’s more common in boys than it is in girls?
Most children know that they are being disruptive but are unable to do anything about it, which causes extreme distress both for the child and their family.
The way it was described to me was that an impulse is carried out before the brain has time to engage and decide whether it’s appropriate leaving the child bewildered.

What are the signs of ADHD?
It’s a difficult disorder to diagnose because it shares many of the same symptoms as other disorders. ADHD frequently starts before a child reaches the age of 7 years.
Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention, are impulsive and usually very active. There is a list of telltale signs that the doctors gave me and I’ve listed it here so that if you are concerned about your child it will give you some guidelines.
Children 3 to 5 years of age:
Are constantly in motion.
Find it hard to sit still at mealtimes.
Play only briefly with toys and flit from one activity to another.
Have difficulty responding to simple commands.
Play in a way that seems noisier than that of other children.
Talk nonstop and often interrupt others.
Have trouble sharing, waiting and taking turns; often take things away from others with little regard for their feelings.
Misbehave regularly.
Have trouble keeping friends.
Are described by teachers as ‘hard to handle’ or ‘behavior problem’.

Children 6 – 12 years of age:
Often get into dangerous activities without thinking about what will happen.
Fidget and squirm restlessly in seat and often wander around the classroom.
Are easily distracted and don’t finish assignments or chores.
Have trouble following through on instructions.
Play in an overly aggressive manner.
Talk at inappropr
iate times and often blurt out answers to questions.
Are disorganized and often lose things; make careless mistakes at school and home.
Have inconsistent school performance.
Are socially immature, with few friends and have a poor reputation among peers.
Have been labeled by teachers as ‘unmotivated,’ ‘lazy,’ ‘a daydreamer’ or a ‘behavior problem’.

If you have any concerns or your child displays any of the above signs for more than 6 months continuously then it may be worth seeing a pediatrician.
I laughed when they showed me this list because I recognized so many of the signs, for instance Steven has lost 4 coats, 3 sweaters and more lunch boxes than I care to remember in the last 3 years! He would put them down and forget about them.

What causes ADHD?
The doctors don’t actually know what causes ADHD but their studies do indicate that some of the following could be the reasons for it:
If one or both of the parents have ADHD then there’s a chance that their children may show signs.
Exposure to toxins may cause ADHD.
Sometimes it shows up after childhood illnesses.
ADHD may be caused by a brain injury.
There are indications that children with ADHD have problems with the chemicals that send messages in the brain.

How do you cope with ADHD?
Stress is the biggest problem within families with a child with ADHD and without treatment of some kind then the child will continue to disrupt the family.
Sticking to a daily routine can really help your child control their behavior. Punishing a child with ADHD for their behavior doesn’t help – I know, I’ve tried. More often than not they don’t even realize that they’re doing something wrong or inappropriate.
If they really are running you ragged then ‘time out’ is excellent for getting the child to calm down and to give you time to regain control
of yourself. Getting them to understand what they’re doing and the consequences can also help although it doesn’t always work but anything’s worth trying, isn’t it!

Medication
According to the statistics, about 5% of children have a serious problem with their attention span and about 70% to 80% of these will respond dramatically to medication.
At the moment there are four different medications available to treat ADHD and these are:
Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall and Cylert

Everyone’s heard of Ritalin haven’t they. These medications are actually stimulants and work by making the brain ‘focus’ so that they can complete their tasks for effectively. Apparently adults who smoke and drink coffee or coke are doing the same thing for themselves that these drugs do for the children!
The good thing nowadays is that these drugs are not considered addictive and usually the child comes off them voluntarily in their teens. Occasionally the usage continues into adulthood but not too often.

Some of them are taken more than once a day and are always started with a minimum dose to find out the acceptable level required for each individual child.
Steven has been prescribed Dexedrine; it’s a slow release drug, which means he only has to take one first thing in the morning with his breakfast. The dosage they’ve prescribed is 10mg and he has to take it continuously for a month so that we can monitor any side effects. After this time he will only have to take it during school time or when he really needs to be focused.
It’s worth noting the possible side effects that we’ve been told about and how common they are:
Frequent: Decreased appetite.
Less frequent: Problems falling asleep. Sedation. Stomach aches and headaches. Weight loss and poor growth. Finger picking. Tics or twitches of the face (this can also be a sign of Tourette Syndrome).
Rar
e: Bizarre thinking. Depression.

To sum up, it’s a relief to finally get over this huge hurdle! Although Steven has only been taking the medication for a few days we can already see a dramatic change in him. He’s not ‘zombified’, which was my greatest fear; instead he’s more alert and is actually enjoying school for the first time. The only side effect he’s experienced is difficulty actually going to sleep but I’m hoping that once his body is used to the medication this problem will sort itself out. I think it’s like drinking coffee just before bed – not recommended!

I apologize for the length of this opinion – it ran away from me. If you’ve made it this far then thank you for your patience and if it will be helpful to just one person then it’s been worth it.

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