The first step in doing anything in life, is to make the decision to do it. We, as a family, have decided to battle the ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) that plagues our son, Daniel. It is not an easy battle to fight. We have been dealing with the symptoms of ADHD ever since Daniel was a few years old. We have even gone as far as trying medication, to treat him. Medication, however, is not the same as treatment. Medication is only a band aid, in this case, a possibly addictive one. Though the medicine was effective in helping him focus, it never sat well in my mind or my heart.
So here we are, eight years into Daniel's life, with a sincere hope that we can find the answers we seek to help our son. So far, he is the only one, out of our seven children, that shows signs of the disorder. We pray that none of the other children will have to struggle as Daniel has. It is heart wrenching to witness such a innately sweet boy, fight to gain control over his anger, anxiety and impulsive nature. I have faith that God will lead us to a place that holds the answer. Whatever it takes...however difficult it may be...we are committed to this cause for the sake of our son and his future.
I have chosen to document our journey, in order to help others, share ideas and spread the knowledge that we prayerfully gain through this experience. Please feel free to share your thoughts and knowledge with us, as we progress towards our desired destination. Your input is greatly appreciated and your stories are always welcome. And now...on to the next step, which is talking to Daniel about our decision to take him off of the medication, changing the way we eat and what it means for his life.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
My 9 year old Daughter has ADD. We have decided not to medicate her. We have a therapist that specializes in ADD that we see together. Some other things we have done to help her.
1. We give her Omega-3. That REALLY helped her in school.
2. I started her on Juice plus since her fruit/veggie intake sucks.
3. Moreso then limiting sweets, I make sure that nothing with RED dye 40 touches her lips. Once she accidentally got some in juice. What a nightmare. Be careful of yogurts and kool aide and such. Even doritos as red dye 40.
4. In our case, we were fortunate enough to afford a hands on approach private schoool. We believe that will really help.
5. We have not done this yet, but is highly recommended---a yoga class for kids.
One thing to be careful about changing the diet, is that you dont want to be so restrictive that it causes an eating disorder. That happened to a friend.
Also forgot to mention that I talk about Alyssas ADD in my blog sometime. sdlevitt.blogspot.com
I will be praying for you guys. Daniel is so sweet:)
This is such an amazing thing that you are doing. I wish you all the best of luck and I will keep you in my prayers!
I am glad you are doing a blog about this. My son has ADD and I have reciently put him on meds, but I am soooo scared that it isn't what is right for him. I hope to get some ideas on it here. Thanks!!
Tressa
Wow. Good for you Kadi. Being in my profession, it's way too easy to "diagnose" a kid with ADD/ADHD and lead parents to believe that meds are the only option. It disturbs me as well, but I see meds work on a lot of kids, at least in the sense that it calms them in class.
I am going to follow this blog so that I have something to recommend to a parent when they plead for my help with their ADD/ADHD child. I think your choice is a great one and I look forward to hearing the results.
Brandi
Post a Comment
Thoughts to share?