My son was recently diagnosed with non-hyperactive A.D.H.D. (commonly known as A.D.D., although I'm told that's not the correct term for it) and so this will probably be the first of many blog posts regarding it.
We're still trying to work out his medication correctly. Our physician initially placed him on Adderall. This has worked well for him, there have been no side effects, but as he seems to do best if he takes 4 5 mg doses during the course of the day, I think a time-release version of Adderall would work best for him. However, it's been ridiculously impossible to converse with his physician concerning this. I really don't think it's the doctor's fault, it's the team of office people and nurses who make it so difficult. I guess I'll have to make an appointment for my son to see him before I can talk to him- but that's not going to be possible until exams and football are over. Hmph.
Then there's the whole "should we medicate at all" discussion. Thankfully, I have many supportive friends- who either have A.D.H.D. themselves or their children do, I've received valuable help and encouragement from them. And the medicine makes a real difference in Zach. In studying for exams last night, he got most of the questions right on the first run-through. That's NEVER happened before. It was quite exciting.
I have to tell you about this remarkable invention- it's called a TimeTimer. One of my son's main problems is that he has no concept of time. This simple device is ingenius, though. We set the timer before a task, and when you set it, the time that he has to accomplish the task shows in red. Seeing that time gradually diminish is great for him to motivate himself to "get a move on".
For example, last night we set the timer to 15 minutes for his bath. He's been known to lock himself in the bathroom for an hour, while I pound on the door and tell him to get out, he's been in there 45 minutes and it's bedtime already. But last night, he was out when the timer beeped out. This morning, we set 20 minutes for dressing and making his bed, 10 minutes for brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and feeding the dog. He made both goals, and I made it to the gym before work. (YES!)
For him, the best thing has been discovering that he is not stupid, as he has believed himself for years (I guess he never took my protestations of that seriously, thinking that I had a prejudicial viewpoint) but he has an above-average intelligence and a great degree of imagination and creativity. Focus is the only problem, and finding solutions that really work to help him has been a delight to me.
