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Post by Teabrat on Nov 13, 2003 11:49:25 GMT -5
My kids know they are ADHD. Told them right off the bat, saw no sense in hiding it from them since it such a huge part of their life and why they way they are. BUT I have also had the mantra of "ADHD is the REASON, NOT THE EXCUSE!" so my kids never use it as an excuse with me. I just tell them that since they have ADHD some things will be harder for them, some things easier and we need to work on the harder things. I have taught them every one has their strengths and weaknessess.
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Post by Lost and Looking on Nov 13, 2003 12:27:58 GMT -5
Our son was 5 when he was diagnosed. I do not think we used the work ADD or ADHD with him right away, but we explained to him that his brain works a little differently that most people and that the medicine would help him concentrate and fidget less. He is 7 now and knows about ADHD. He reads about on web sites for chilren and books and he knows what things he needs to work on ... little tricks to help himself. I feel that he needs to know so that he can actively seek to help himself. Some of this might be a little over his head, but he is very bright and seems to comprehend what he is dealing with. We explained to him that the medicene he takes can help him, but it cannont make him do anything... he still has to try him best and work at things. When he started having problems at shcool this year he told us that it must be his fault because he was taking his medicine and still could not concentrate and was feeling emotionally out of control. Now we are working at communicating more with him and his teacher about how he is feeling so that we can get his meds properly adjusted. Anyway, I am glad he knows and I have never heard him use it as an excuse.
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Post by LitlBaa on Nov 14, 2003 2:04:29 GMT -5
Katie asked why she had to take the meds, I told her then about ADHD and that the meds would help her focus in school. She hadn't used that as an excuse until recently. She was jumping around and acting all crazy, not like a 12 year old, and I asked her what her problem was. She said "I didn't take my medicine yet." I pounced on that...told her the meds were to help her focus, not to make her act right, and she had to develop her own self control.
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Post by Angelia on Nov 14, 2003 15:16:53 GMT -5
I have an almost 9 year old son that I have tried to sit down with on numberous ocassions and explain to him what adhd is all about, and why he does take medication, but it goes right over his head he completely does not understand a thing I am telling him nor does he act like he even cares. So, we have opted not to tell him until he starts to as questions about it. I am not sure that if it is maturity level on his part or that I can not get him to sit down, and focus on anything for more than 5 seconds, but as soon as he is able to understand completely I will sit him down and explain.
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Post by RiahBubbaPooh on Nov 15, 2003 9:08:03 GMT -5
Kind of funny...I don't know if you know who Mark Lowry is, he's a Christian Comedian/Singer who travels with the Gaither Homecoming Group. He wrote a song (I think it's called The ADHD Song" and my kids LOVE it! He's their hero!! It's very funny in a kind of "Yeah, that's me" kind of way, but also it's a message of, "Yeah, I'm hyper, and God made me that way...it's just who I am...I'm not broken!"
We've been very upfront with the kids from the beginning. The main message in our family is that no matter the diagnosis, YOU are responsible for your actions. We see ADHD as a (sometimes uwanted) gift. We try to celebrate the creativity, artistic ability, thinking outside the box, all the things that give them an advantage over the "Multiple Thought Impaired."
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Post by smilechild on Nov 16, 2003 23:45:11 GMT -5
No, I never have told her about it...she has an idea but not from me, she wants to be like everyone else and we have no specail IEP since she has no issues with grades. Her new doctor says she does not have adhd at all only anxiety and another doctor says she also does not have ADHD...I guess is is a subjective disorder. Therefor I will never tell her as long as I can. You know when you really think about it are the doctors always right? ADHD has a terrible stigma to it in this world so I choose to keep quiet/  |
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Post by Zanesmom on Nov 17, 2003 11:15:05 GMT -5
Since we have been working on these issues with my 7 year old son for 3 years or so, he's know that he has things going on in his body that make it harder for him to do certain things. Fortunately, he's always been in classes with lots of kids with different issues so he doesn't feel too weird, I don't think. Once he was diagnosed last spring with ADHD and put on medication, we didn't use the name, just explained what the medication was for. He hasn't used any of this as an excuse (so far) but we are pretty firm about how the meds and therapy are to help him but he's still responsible for his choices.
Lisa
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Post by Veronika on Nov 20, 2003 17:32:54 GMT -5
smilechild; How old is your daughter? What kind of dr's have you taken her to? Are they ADD/ADHD specialists?
I'm just curious as to why they would say she doesn't have ADD/ADHD. Isn't she on medication?
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Post by sierra on Nov 21, 2003 0:29:01 GMT -5
When the sprouts were younger we and the doctors called their medication their thinking pill.
By 4th or 5th grade they knew the term ADHD. Now they both understand better what it means. Especially Bean Sprout. At age 15 he sees pretty clearly what ADHD means in general and to him personally. It isn't easy at this age being different in any way. It's especially hard being different in a way that some people think of as negative. We talk a lot about the strengths of ADHDers and about some famous people who probably have or had ADHD.
A musician in one of his favorite bands has ADHD and says so in his bio information. It's a little surprising how much that means, but knowing someone he admires isn't ashamed of having ADHD and isn't trying to hide it helps him feel ok about having ADHD himself.
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Post by rosyred45 on Nov 21, 2003 12:03:33 GMT -5
Since Mikey is mostly the HYPER part of adHd, we don't "talk" about it being a diagnosis with him per say. We have always heard the hyper term, since my MIL thinks it's SOOOO funny that he acts just like my BIL.
Since I have worked with kids for the past 15 yrs, I have seen all kinds of ABILITES. I don't look at the " Dis" I focuse on the here and now with the kids I work with and my own.
kaiti
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