Looking Back

Here it is the start of a new year, and I’m looking back. Not back to last year, but way back. Back to when my children were small - babies and toddlers.

Do you remember when your ADD child was little? A toddler, maybe, or even younger? What did you think about them then?

Of course, you loved them. Did you think they were smart? Maybe even smarter than some of your friends kids? Did they learn to walk, or talk, or do something earlier than their peers? (My son learned to ride a 2 wheeled bike when he was 3 years old.)

Were you proud of them then?

What about now? How do you feel about them now? You can be honest - you’re only talking to yourself.

The love is still there. But what about the pride? The feeling that they are smarter than other kids? Do you still think and feel those things?

And if you don’t (it’s OK) - what has changed? Them? Or you?

You might be surprised to find out that the biggest thing that has changed is your perceptions about them. They really haven’t changed that much, at least not fundamentally.

Sure, they give you more trouble now, and headaches. They might be less adorable and more frustrating.

But all the potential and intelligence and wonderfulness you saw back then is still there. The problem is that it’s being covered up.

It’s being covered up by labels, and people who don’t know better and some who do. It’s being covered up by bad feelings and frustration and knowing who you are but not being able to express it. It’s being covered up by one more failed attempt, one more forgotten thing, and one more mentally foggy day.

You can uncover it, if you try. If you do, and you succeed, it will be the greatest thing you’ve ever done. To try means to go against the grain, to swim against the current along with your ADD child.

To try means that you still see them as they are, for all that they can be.

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The Natural ADHD Diet

For years, I’ve had parents ask me about treating the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder without prescription medications. I’ve always told them that a combination of prescription medication and coaching is considered the best method of treating ADD .

Still, I know that some parents or people with AD/HD don’t want to use prescription drugs to manage their ADHD. I started looking for an alternative method for them that would help minimize ADD symptoms naturally, and I’ve come up with one that I believe will work. (By the way, it’s also a great complement to medication.)

Actually, in doing the research, I realized that my family has used many of the suggestions in The Natural ADHD Diet for years; it was the way I raised my kids. By adding a few more things to our lifestyle, and modifying others (based on my recent research), I’ve come up with a lifestyle plan that I personally find is working very well.

If you’re interested in finding out more, check out the website.

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Transitions and ADD

Have you ever really thought about what your child’ school day is like? About all the information he has to absorb every day, to understand and remember? It’s more than most of us have to handle each day, and probably more than we had to deal with when we were in school.

One of the characteristics of Attention Deficit Disorder is difficulty making transitions. Transitions are very hard for someone with ADD. Moving from one thing to another - at the speed most people would like us to - can be hard.

Now I know that our minds are constantly transitioning from one thing to another, so it seems odd that to do so when someone else asks us to should be difficult. Still it is.

If you wonder if your ADD child has trouble making transitions, all you have to do is look at their sleep habits. Do they have trouble settling down and going to sleep at night? Do they have trouble waking up the next day? Think about when they were toddlers. Were they more resistant than most to changing from one activity to another? Leaving the playground to go home?

ADD often shows up or begins causing real trouble when a child is in 4th - 6th grade. At that age, kids have moved into the “upper el” and most teachers are adding more subjects to their day and making the move from one to the other more distinct. It’s a way to help prepare them for middle school and changing classrooms throughout the day.

For a kid with ADD, studying math for 50 minutes, then abruptly changing to history or language arts can be a bit of a shock. They need time to make the move from one subject to another - more than a few seconds.

There’s nothing we can do about changing classes and abrupt transitions.

What you can do is this: educate your child on what’s happening. To understand that they will need an extra bit of time to catch up with the new subject will go a long way in helping them adjust.

Then give them a little visualization to work on. Have them picture closing the math part of their brain (or their math book, if that’s easier) and then opening up the next subject’s part of the brain. If they work at doing this, eventually they’ll get pretty good.

Give it a try and see.

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