[meemee]

first let me talk about medication since its such a hot topic. my dd doesnt have ADHD, but quite a few of her friends do. for them though ADHD is not a stand alone diagnosis. and not all the ADHD is the same. all of them have something else too. an excellent test is the caffeine test. chocolate covered coffee beans, a cup of coffee or red bull. for some of dd's friends who took the medication actually asked for it. it helps them so much because they are able to actually do what they want. One of them took the NaNoWriMo challenge and the only way she could do it was by taking the medication.

the kids who didnt take the medication had a lot of support - from family, the school and community.

both families really worked with diet too to see what their child was sensitive too. red dye, any dye, gluten, dairy - different kinds of sugar. that did not impact enough to act like medication but there was some relief from tantrums at home.

Gosh i can so relate to you about not hating school. my dd was one who hated school 3 days after she started K. it was only towards teh end of 5th grade that she really started enjoying school. she still hates the academics but its her friends and teacher that made school for her.

dd was able to tolerate school because we did lots of fun activities outside of school. didnt mean she took a lot of classes. what it meant was she had free time to pursue anything she wanted as well as play with her neighborhood friends.

another thing to keep an eye on. just coz its a neighborhood school, doesnt mean the local kids go there.

the thing is you already know one school works. if her present school doesnt work for whatever reason, could she go back to her old school?

 

[meemee]

before i knew kids with ADHD i was very judgemental against the diagnosis and always thought one didnt need medication.

then i saw my friends kids and dd's classmates get the diagnosis.

and then the medication. what blew me away was that the kids were in charge of the medication. THEY were asking for it. it was they who demanded how long the effects could last.

for many living in regular society and trying to do the social thing was way way too hard. reading labels, keeping 'fun' foods out was taking an emotional toll on them.

as an outsider, a friend you can see the effects on the child - when they go off the medication for a week or two. WOW!!! i mean it is a wow moment when they first take the medication.

some of my adult friends dont take the medication.

but they did as a child. THEY decided to go off the medication, so they figured out how to come up with coping strategies and then worked it out. but they needed the initial medication to 'have a happy and normal childhood'. they experimented when they had time on their hand and life wasnt so busy or stressful. mind you though you can still spot the kids with ADHD. i see that in dd's class. the only reason why i know they are taking medication is coz i am friends with their family.

so what i am saying is that my attitude towards ADHD is so different now that i know some kids and adults with it.

 

[meemee]

thank you so much Belleweather for reminding me. ugh i feel so bad OP for not remembering the different kinds of ADD.

i totally forgot there exists a genetic component to ADD.

my dd has some of it which is kinda like what you say about ur dd OP. check out some books from the public library and read up on them.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro00/web1/Jones.html one thing to look out for is Executive function stuff. which is a little early to tell on ur dd. usually it shows up in 4th grade based on hw.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/24880/

http://www.chrisdendy.com/executive.htm

there are a couple of good books on this. Smart but Scattered

also check on Auditory Processing Disorder.