[LMB] OT:AKICIF ADD

[Tzivia Adler]

From: "Marna Nightingale" <marna at marna.ca>
>
> Can he CONCENTRATE while not sitting still?
>
concentrate on what?  not on what anyone is saying to him, certainly. he's 
almost always able to concentrate enough to know where the walls are, even 
if only to get a good start in pushing off in the opposite direction.  (but 
mom, what's -wrong- with shoe scuffs on the wall at shoulder height?) 
sometimes he notices other people in the room enough to avoid bouncing off 
htem.

> Lots of kids can't sit still. It's the ones who also can't think straight, 
> and who are unhappy about it, that you want to think about diagnosing and 
> medicating.
>
the teacher we spoke to said that he really, really tries to sit still. 
he's occasionally upset to the point of tears when the teacher threatens to 
send him out of hte room, bec. he's doing the best he can.  so yes, he's 
pretty darn uphappy about it.

> If he can't pay attention for the duration of a sentence or two on a topic 
> he actively cares about, then maybe it's time to consider ADHD as an 
> explanation.
>
if he cares about it, his attention span increases.  he can discourse on 
airplanes while bouncing aorund to demonstrate what he means.  when he's 
excited aobut something, he can focus on the idea, but not always on the 
person speaking to him.

> Talk to your GP. You said school psychiatrist, but I'm guessing that you 
> probably actually have a school _psychologist_.  ... not qualified to 
> diagnose or prescribe for physical/neurological conditions.
>
oh, oops.  i must have mis-spoke in the first post.  the school is -not- 
trying to dose my son.  they spoke to us about his behavior, that he's a 
good child who seems to be going out of -his own- control, and have we 
noticed that too?

why yes we have noticed.  frequently.

so my son's teacher and principal and the school whatsit, not sure of his 
title, spent about an hour asking aobut different situations, how does he 
react to this or that, and advised us tthat my son seems to have a classic 
case of adhd.  they then gave us a list of psychiatrist and doctors who have 
a lot of experience with this, and can make the official diagnosis.

we are setting up appointments.  *sigh*  would you believe, the best doctors 
don't have open schedules to say 'see me tomorrow'?

><snip> The work fast and they wear off fast; either it works in the first 
>hour, or it's not going to work. And it'll be gone in 8 hours or so, either 
>way.
>
that's good to know.


> So, I have ADHD, and that's my advice: see your GP, if you end up with 
> another diagnosis of ADHD consider trying meds in a careful, "one or two 
> days only trial" sort of way, and try not to let either the "medicate 
> everyone" types OR the "it's all a racket" types get to you.
>
> Marna.
>

thanks for the good advice.  my first post was sort of initial panic,  'run 
in circles, scream and shout' mode.  it was missing some imprtant bits of 
information.

which is why i'm glad the school's psychiatrist spent so much time with my 
husband and myself.  if they just relied on waht they knew, or said 'tell us 
about your son' without asking a long list of specific quesitons, they would 
have been giving us advice on faulty information, and wasting everyone's 
time. :(
ziviya 



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