Hey needin help with my 7 year old. The Dr said that he has ADHD, and wants me to give him aderol. I have some problems with this. But he gets really mad sometimes, he screams and throws fits I'm afraid that he is going to get hurt. I also have a 4 year old girl, and he constantly tries to fight with her. I have always stressed that I dont aprove of violence. And I just recently had another baby boyt. Any suggestions?
First off, your child does NOT need meds, regardless of what doctors say. I'm an ABA instructor. I work under a Behaviorist. You can use easy behavior interventions to get your son to behave. I like token economies, which basically means the child needs a certain amount of tokens to get a backup reinforcer. Tokens can be stars, coins, etc... Backup reinforcers have to be something that the child absolutely likes. I use gluten-free cookies or time on the computer when I work with my clients. Only award acceptable behavior. Remind him of what acceptal behavior is and that you only give tokens to him if he has this acceptable behavior. Make sure that the tokens are easily viewable to your son. I have to go to work right now, but when I return I will post the research that backs Applied Behavioral Analysis for individuals with ADHD because your son could potential get hours of ABA through the school district without any charge to you. They don't tell you these things. Instead, they promote meds because it is the "easy" way. Good luck!
Also, have you heard about gluten-free diets? A lot of the clients I work/ed with are on it and it works wonders. Try providing opportunities for sensory input (bouncing on trampolines, body socks, rice bins, exercise balls, etc...) I still have to go through my email for that article on ABA and ADHD.
I found this site when I googled "gluten free diets". http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs06.htm I hope this will help, and I am sure that there are many other places that have information as well. I have a son who has been diagnosed ADHD, but his problem doesn't sound as severe as your son. I am not sure what to do that would help your son, not knowing him and not being a doctor, but I did cut sugar almost totally out of my older son's diet and it seemed to help a bit. Not totally cured him, but it did help him. I hadn't heard of, or tried, the gluten free as well, maybe that will help more. Good luck, I hope some of the information helps you.
Besides gluten free, also watch things that are artificial. Flavorings, colorings, sweetners. These can be really wicked with these kids. My grandson was on aderol until my daughter took him out of school. Now when he is having a really bad day, she gives him a shot of expresso. It works in their system the same way the aderol does, very calming. Kathi
Before medicating your child, look into dietary changes. http://www.feingold.org is a WONDERFUL resource. For some kids, dietary changes are enough and medication isn't needed. Some kids do need medication even with the dietary changes, but they generally need smaller doses than kids who don't change their diets.
I'm a feingold kid! Was on the diet from age 4 to 16... and voluntarily returned to it at 21 because those artificial things just don't do good things to me. It WORKS! The one thing I've seen affect ADHD kiddos more than anything else is artificial colors. Red #40 specifically. If you want to try a really quick REALLY easy test, eliminate just that one ingredient from his diet for 2 weeks & see what happens. Restricting refined sugars & trying a gluten-free diet are awesome too if you get desperate. I'd try an awful lot of diet changes before I'd play with medications... but that's just me Oh, one other thing I learned fairly recently. If your kiddo is truly ADHD and wasn't accidentally diagnosed with it, hand him one of those small cans of Mountain Dew or some other super-caffeinated sodas. It ought to help calm him down, where a "normal" kid would get more wired-up! love, mom
