PDD/ADD/ADHD

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story1267

Cathlete
Hi,

I have a 12 year old DD with a complex case of ADHD as well as a 10 year old son with PDD and ADD.

I'm wondering if any of you knowledgeable folks know of a good discussion/support board for;

ADHD/ADD
PDD
parenting multiple kids with disabilities

I find myself often at a loss as to how to optimize our time together and deal with their inevitable behavior issues effectively and with loving calm. They spend part of their week with their Dad & step-mom. I'm single, living in a small apartment and sometimes it feels very small in here! :-(

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi Suzanne!

My heart goes out to you. You have your hands full. I would try chadd.org. My DS who has ADD just graduated high school and it was real tough but he did it. I also have a few books on ADD I could send to you if you'd like. They are:
Teenagers with ADD: A Parent's Guide by Chris A. Ziegler Dendy, M.S.
The Hyperactive Child Book by Patricia Kennedy, Lef Terdal, Ph.D. & Lydia Fusetti, M.D.
The ADD Hyperactivity Workbook for Parents, Teachers & Kids
How to Reach and Teach ADD/ADHD Children by Sandra Reif

These were all very helpful to me. If you think they might be helpful, just PM me.

Marcy
 
Welcome to the world of D's. My son has an ever changing label, depending on which doctor you talk to. We've had ADHD, OCD, ODD, BPD, and anxiety disorder. Currently we are working with our son's therapist with the Dr. Ross Greene method. He has a book called The Explosive Child, which is brilliant. It covers a host of issues and really comes from the empathetic side of parenting a child who is easily frustrated. In the first part of the book, he explains how things look and feel to a child with chronic frustration, and the second half he explains his basket theory of parenting. You may not need anything this intense, but the first half of the book is great at explaining what a child with ADHD is going through. It helped us understand what drives some of our son's behavior and why the firmer we were with him, the bigger his issues became. There's also a short section on PDD. Hopefully, if your interested, the local library will have a copy you could flip through.
 
Hi Suzanne,
My 10 year old son has a very long list of learning issues including those you mention. It can be exhausting to be a mom sometimes! I've gotten my best advice from other parents in our school district. I've learned about local specialists, resources, how to navigate the school bureaucracy, which teachers work best with kids that have issues, good places for outings, etc. Feel free to PM me anytime to vent, share, cry or whatever--

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
Thanks so much Marcy, Fembot, Jonahna!!

I appreciate your responses very much. Marcy, I'll look for those books at my local library. DD's case is so complicated I often don't know where to turn first.

Fembot, I have Explosive Child and love it. My X actually bought the DVD which I haven't had the chance to see but that book was the one that actually seemed to apply to both my kids and it seemed so familiar to me - I was doing some of the approaches already in my many attempts to weed out what really matters so that we weren't having melt-downs every minute over every little thing!

Jonahna, I have just this past school year been able to begin attending the SPED-PAC meetings in my area. I had previously worked nights and then I had my kids on the nights that the meetings were held. They are a great bunch of people and I've already learned so much from just a few meetings.

We are on the verge of trying to figure out if we need to reject DD's IEP and try to get her an out-of-district placement. Last year wasn't pretty. I'm hoping for huge improvements but am trying to be realistic. Also, I just have to tell you that your quote about chocolate being the answer is just priceless. First time I saw that I said "now this is a person with their priorities in the right place!! ;-)

Maybe I will PM you since we have children the same age - I'd be interested in your journey.

Thanks again everyone!!
 
Hi, my oldest was diagnosed a few years back with ADHD. It's gotten more and more profound over the years. By June of this year she "hit a wall" and we decided she needed medication. She's going into 11th grade this year and it's been quite a journey.

One book that has helped a lot is "Healing ADD" by Daniel Amen. It suggests a multi-faceted approach to dealing with the symptoms and issues surrounding ADD/ADHD.

DD has had therapy and we tried supplements, but they weren't very effective. She's now on 30 mg. of Adderall and it has made such a difference.
 
GreenEyedLefty - that's funny - I'm a green eyed lefty too.

Ah yes, better living through modern chemistry. When I look back on this journey I have to shake my head. I started out as a vegetarian, home birthing, birkenstock wearing, demand-nursing hippie. My kids were never going to be on "meds".

How things have changed. DS takes adderall and it works tremendously well for him. Unfortunately, DD had side effects of frequent headaches, worse appetite suppression than usual, and stomach pain on it. In general she is very, very tiny - we see an endocrinologist and are considering (gulp) growth hormone. She takes a very small amount of methylin and uses other medicines instead. We try to avoid the stimulants.

I'll add the book you recommended to my list. Thanks very much!
 
Try this site www.adhdnews.com/forum

There is a forum - parents of children with ADHD. They are wonderful.

My teen has been diagnosed with ADHD inatentive by one therapist and now is seeing another one that says anxiety and maybe or maybe not ADHD.Mys on actually likes the one who doesn't think it is ADHD.

It's so hard to diagnosis. The Explosive child is a great book.

Good luck.
 
Hi again Suzanne,
I was never going to put my son on meds either--well, whaddaya know--
I've had to do a complete 180 degree turnaround on that! He was on Concerta for a year which absolutely helped with the focus/hyperactivity etc. but he did not gain a single pound and only grew 1" over that year!! He ate so little (even at dinner) and was wide awake at 11:30 at night staring at the ceiling. It broke my heart. We tried adjusting the dosage, timing, etc, etc but got nowhere. Finally, I talked to another Mom who suggested Ritalin LA. Chemically it's the same as Concerta, but the delivery mechanism is different so it kicks in faster and wears off sooner. For him, it's fantastic! He's gained 10 lbs in 5 months and grew 2 inches! He's sound asleep by 9:30. He's still small for his age (typical for adhd--isn't that so weird??) but at least he's growing again. We too wondered if we'd have to do some growth hormones because he wasn't growing. At least for now, that's not a decision we have to make.

I had to go to pediatric neurologist to get the meds changed because our pediatrician said he wasn't familiar enough w/ the subtle differences between the meds. At least he was honest! Anyway, I'm sure you've done a lot of researching on your own, but I just wanted to tell you what helped us. Every kid has different metabolisms and processes meds differently! The neurologist told me that a child's weight is just 20% of the consideration when determining appropriate dosage. Best of luck to you! I'm glad you're a fellow chocolate fiend--it's nice to find another one!

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
I sent you a PM earlier that I believe answers your question. I think I sent it while you were sending yours to me. Your trial run was a success! Let me know if you didn't receive mine.

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
Thank you for sending out a support forum for adhd children. My daughter has ADHD/Bipolar and ODD and this is a blessing for me. You guys are great on here.

Just wanted to let you know .... thanks
 
Sittinduck,

Have you been on the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation Forum (JBRF.com)? They have awesome moderators on their board. It's great if you have legal or educational questions. They were a major support for us when we were having issues with our son's special education dept. BTW, our children share the same diagnosis labels. Our son just turned 10. It seems to be getting better to deal with as he ages. It also helps to find others who aren't afraid to talk about it. It's nice to see people on this board who are eager to reach out.
 
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