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hello to all,

ive been wanting to share with you all my families experiences with what everyone is calling 'add'. my oldest son who is 11 was diagnosed in late 2007 with attention deficit disorder. we beat around the bush with this for a long time. he didnt show troubles at home but school was a stressful time for him. when he reached 5th grade he really struggled to stay focused. i can remember understanding when he was young, about age 2 or 3, that he learned differently then most children. i remember stressing myself out feeling that it would be best to home school him but realizing i couldnt possibly do so.

presently he does take a very mild medication. let me please express to you before you tell me i shouldnt medicate him that it took 3 to 4 yrs to come to this decision. i have mixed feelings about it for him as well as a have learned a positive feeling about it. he has gone from a c-d report card to a-b report card. i did everything i could to structure him to be successful in school. he just couldnt keep focus. i did not consider medication till his grades were failing. we would literally spend 2 to 3 hours every night doing homework that should of taken 30 mins. he takes medicine only on school days. he does not take it on the weekend. i dont notice any effects on it making him any different besides he is able to focus on something when someone needs him to. his mind thinks sooo many things at once, he cant focus the way the main stream system expects him too. i could give you pages and pages on the rounds ive gone with teachers and principles and even the school board when i refused to medicated him during elementary school. he would go to school in the day and at night i would have to re teach him just about everything because he had to learn things in repetition. we are still on the trial and error road, this is not something i will set in stone for him. but i can now relate to some that feel that medication can be a temp. good thing. he has not lost any characteristics to his personality, if anything he seems to be enhanced. its like his mind is opening rather than closing(this is what many think happens, and it might with some). he draws more, he reads more, he is writing stories, he is more active outside, he doesnt show impulsive behavior as much and he does not show any signs of being withdrawn at all. before, we were lucky if he ever started something and actually finished it without being pushed to do so. it has gave him a balance.

when i look back on things, he always showed to be very artistic and creative, he always learned in patterns and repetition. also i want to squeeze in here that he had a very spiritual experience when he was 5. he claims a light entered him and the light gave him new life. i remember asking him what made him think it gave him life, and he said 'i dont know, i just saw it in my mind'. i had him draw pictures that day of what i saw( a story for another day perhaps ), they are truly amazing. he is a very vibrant soul.

my youngest son is showing similar signs as well in his learning pattern.he is 2 yrs old. he loves repetition and symbols. he seems to assume you know what he is thinking all the time. he seems to talk with his eyes and gets frustrated when you want him to talk to communicate what he wants. he failed hearing test at birth, but 2 weeks later passed them. when i expressed some early concerns to the doctor of speech delay, as well as stemming signs (repetitive behavior to sooth or calm) the doctor wanted another hearing test. this boy hears fine, he passed the regular tests that check the function on the ear drums and at home he doesnt show any lack of hearing. he does though show signs of choosing what he wants to pay attention to.his stemming is 'rocking'...he rocks when he gets overstimulated. bill gates does this even today in his adulthood. its actually something they relate to autism. but with autism, children dont show much affection or happy emotions. my son loves to be loved and he loves to give love. he smiles all the time and shows to be very happy. he engages in playing with others and connecting with others. he might not acknowledge you though if your trying to get him to pay attention to you if he is focused on something he is interested in . so back to the testing, the doctors said there was a test to check and make sure the brain was receiving the signal from the ears. i asked the doctor if it was possible that his brain will choose if it wants to pay attention to something and possible bring inclusive results on this next test. he said this was possible but for children older who might be add. hmmmm, have i heard that word before. so we were going to try the test, but the nurse woke him up while sticking the sticky things to his head she kept getting his hair in it. he woke up so we couldnt do it.

i take high interests in this topic for obvious reasons. i know some of you will find it very wrong that my oldest is using some medication, and i understand your frustrations with that. i have dealt with this worry and am still dealing with it. its very tough on me to make such a decision. we have changed alot of things in the diet around the house, but still its hard to cut out everything that is advised to on the sites for kids with add. im still learning alot about how foods may affect this. we dont eat alot of junk or high sugars. there snacks are mainly fruit. still a very frustrated parent here.

i find it very interesting that children are showing more of these signs today then they did years ago. they seem to be learning in a different way. they seem to have great intuitions of what others around them feel or want. im curious to what dna has to say about children that have this add. i would love to hear others stories on dealing with this. its been a long tough road for us.

peace to you all,
lynette