Raising a Child With ADHD

Raising a Child With ADHD
Raising a child is a challenge in and of itself. Parenting a child with ADD or ADHD can present additional challenges. Read on to find helpful tips, guides and support from caregivers who have been where you are.

Tips for Raising Your Child's Self-Esteem Children with ADD or ADHD often have difficulty managing school responsibilities and social relationships, which can make them feel alone and isolated. Help them learn how to focus on their successes and bolster a positive self-image.

Helping Children with ADD get to Sleep Children with ADD/ADHD sometimes have a hard time falling asleep. They may toss and turn or they may just not be able to shut down their thoughts long enough for sleep to come. Eileen Bailey outlines some helpful hints to help your child get a good nights sleep.

Adult Children with ADD Living at Home As our children grow up they are taught how to do their wash, cooking, and cleaning, with the understanding that one day they will leave home. But sometimes they do not seem to be ready to leave. What happens when parents have their adult children still living at home? Eileen Bailey addresses this conundrum.

ADHD - The Positive Side The three major symptoms of ADHD: hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention can create many problems in people’s lives. They can interfere with relationships, school and work. But there are also many positive characteristics of adult ADD/ADHD.

Games to Motivate your Children Eileen Bailey outlines the effectiveness of the reward system for children with ADHD. She describes that creating games and challenges for your child is essential in maintaining their interest and keeping their mind constantly on the move.

Creating a Discipline Process at Home The home is a place where children feel safe and secure. They feel accepted and loved. But children can also act out at home; they can fight with siblings, talk back or not listen to their parents and be defiant. Children with ADHD are more difficult to discipline than those without ADHD and need different disciplinary measures and methods to learn.

Strategies for Parenting Children with ADHD Children with ADHD are often hyperactive, impulsive and easily distracted. They can forget what they have been told (minutes later) or constantly lose items. Parents can help children learn to cope with these common symptoms of ADHD. The strategies here will help.

Parenting Strategies for Children with ADD (Without Hyperactivity) Children with ADD can be quiet, withdrawn and shy. They can suffer from low self-esteem, miss details, be forgetful and often misplace items. The following strategies for parents can help keep their children with ADD on track.

Activities to Keep Children Entertained Looking for ways to keep your children stimulated, focused and amused? Our ADHD Expert Eileen Bailey shares her tips for keeping children entertained throughout the year.

Coping Strategies for Siblings Children with ADHD require extra care and attention. Sharing a home with an ADHD child can cause siblings to experience feelings of frustration and inadequacy, but there are steps parents can take to ensure that each of their children feels equally loved and cared for.

Raising a Child with ADHD: Medication During the Summer Months Eileen Bailey describes the importance of early diagnosis and how to help young children cope with the trials, symptoms and medication options for ADHD, especially in the summer when keeping young children in check is hard enough!

SHARED BY: ms.angala



See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong

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Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism

The signs and symptoms of autism and related disorders. What every parent should know.






See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong



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Light at the end of the tunnel

Until my son reached 2 years old there was nothing in his manner to make us expect that we would shortly have to deal with the biggest challenge of our lives. A handsome boy who was beginning to speak single words and who loved music and dancing, Ben was an active crawler and demonstrated intelligence and wit. The first alarm bells rang when, having been a good sleeper, he would wake in the night and often not settle for several hours. He also developed a reaction to cow's milk, which he had happily drunk before.

Ben was very energetic; all he seemed to want to do was run around, almost hyperactively. We noticed that he was speaking less and seemed incapable of listening and following simple instructions. At playgroup, he had little interaction with other children or class activities, and when he began kindergarten at 3 the teachers advised us to seek professional help.

In October 2002 I took Ben to the Government Child Assessment Centre and was given an appointment for March 2003. For quicker results, we took him to a private doctor for a development assessment and were shocked to find that his development was delayed by more than a year. His language ability scored the lowest of all the tests.

We enrolled Ben in the private training programs run by the Heep Hong Society. We began one-on-one sessions with a therapist to get Ben to the stage that he would sit down and pay attention. At first Ben cried a lot, but he soon developed an excellent relationship with his therapist, who was extremely kind and supportive.

Finally the day of our appointment with the Child Assessment Centre came. Ben's abilities seemed to have improved, and we were hoping for good results. However in the waiting room Ben fixed his attention on a toy hippo and refused to co-operate. We were told he showed some features of autism spectrum disorders and may need to go to a special school.

It was a hard diagnosis to swallow and I confided in some of my close friends. A few days later I received an email from one of them who had taken the time and trouble to search the internet for information on autism. I was touched and felt the doorway to my journey to understanding the disorder had opened.

I learned one hard fact; autism is a disorder with no real cure. Research showed various intervention therapies may help to an extent, and one thing most of the experts agreed on was that if I could get help for my son before he was 5, then we had a better chance that he would be able to lead a relatively normal life.

A week after the diagnosis I visited another private doctor to discuss biological treatments. We eliminated dairy and wheat products, and began vitamin supplements and cod liver oil - in very high dosages. For Ben, the cod liver oil was highly effective and within just one week he seemed a lot calmer and he was able to sit and learn simple words through flashcards.

During SARS when the schools were closed, my son spent a lot of time with his caretaker (an English speaker), and he seemed to be learning new words and his concentration was improving. It was at this time that we realized he was an English speaker.

In May we took Ben for an assessment with a psychologist, who confirmed Ben's previous diagnosis but added he was emerging on the high-functioning side. Ben's vocabulary was judged to be at the low end of the normal range expected for his age, however his spoken and receptive language was only at the level of a child of 1 year 7 months - at this stage he was just over 3. The psychologist recommend we keep his language as English, as his Chinese was virtually zero and it would only serve to confuse him, so we moved from Heep Hong to Watchdog and joined the waiting list for the government subsidized program. In the meantime we began seeing a language therapist.

By now I had read up on lots of different treatments and cases of autistic children. One book was about a boy called Ryan and when I finished the book I reflected that I had just read the story of Ben's life to date. This was when I first began to hope that we could help him to live a 'normal' life as Ryan was now doing.

Another article I read talked about homeopathy as an alternative treatment. I found a practitioner and took Ben to see her. We left the appointment with a bottle of medicine and were told to administer 10 drops three times a day. The next day our helper was astounded at the change in Ben, and even the speech therapist questioned whether we had returned with the same child. Ben was a lot calmer, was starting to reach out and interact with other people and seemed to enjoy playing with other children. I was delighted when one day I took him to the park and he ran off after one of the older children.

In late August we started the ABA program at the Autism Partnership. Ben was signed up for 15 hours a week and the improvement was amazing. From a limited word vocabulary when he joined, he now speaks in sentences and answers questions. In December we had another language assessment and Ben was shown to have the receptive language of a child 2 years and 8 months and the spoken language of 2 years 3 months.

I don't know which element of all the treatments we tried has been the most effective, or whether they work together to produce these great results. Certainly, I believe that these treatments enabled Ben to reach a level where he was ready for learning and therefore able to adapt to the intensive ABA program. Nutrition and diet intervention are not recommended by behavioral therapists, and traditional doctors will tell you the dosage of vitamins and cod liver oil is harmful to children and that homeopathic treatment is a fairy tale. Speech therapists will tell you the ABA program is for training animals and good for making a kid sit down but it's not about language learning.

The Hong Kong Chinese are less accommodating of syndromes such as autism. They tend to believe that sufferers should be institutionalized, rather than given a chance at normal life. Many local parents don't want to talk about things like this - it is considered a loss of face. I want to and if I hadn't talked about it to my friends, I would have never got the original email and begun such a successful course of treatment for Ben.

We are delighted that Ben will start at an English pre-school this month. He will continue to spend half of each day at the Autism Partnership, as well as two half days at Watchdog. I now feel a lot of hope for my son. His progression over the past three months has been even faster than Ryan from the book. Looking ahead I want my son to be accepted to either ESF or another international school. I must admit there is still a big gap but it seems to be closing up.

** Original article published in February 2004 issue of Playtimes magazine.

To read more about Ben's treatment journal, pls click here


See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong
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Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong

Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong:

Support Group for Parents:

Autism Parents Network                 www.autismpnhk.org

Rainbow Project (HK)                 www.rainbowproject.org

Education:

Rainbow Project (HK)                 www.rainbowproject.org

Anfield International Kindergarten        www.anfield.com.hk

Woodland Pre-School                 www.woodlandschool.com

The Child Institute                         www.tcihk.org

Koala International Kindergarten         www.koalakinder.com.hk

Assessment & Training:

Pang's Music Therapy Centre         www.musictherapy.com.hk

Step Centre for Child Development         www.step-hk.com (Chinese website content) Tel: (852) 28-992-993

Potential Development Association Ltd. www.pdachild.com.hk 

Autism Partnership                         www.autismpartnership.com

Hong Kong Vocational Centre         www.hkvc.org.hk


See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong

Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin

Yes, children can recover from autism. And to varying degrees, and depending on the individual child, there can be a lessening of autistic symptoms. Most often this process will require extraordinary effort by the parents to turn over every stone in the quest to help their child. What follows is a brief list of where to begin.

1.         Begin the education process.

2.        Find an autism doctor.

3.         Read these books:

• Lewis, Lisa, PhD.   Special Diets for Special Kids. Future Horizons, 1998.
• Lewis, Lisa.   Special Diets for Special Kids Two. Future Horizons, 2001.
• Maurice, Catherine.   Let Me Hear Your Voice. Ballantine Books, 1994.
• Seroussi, Karyn.   Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Broadway Books, 2002.

4.         Educate yourself about the GF/CF diet.

5.         Become a good GF/CF cook.

6.         Educate your spouse.

7.         Attend a conference on autism.

8.         Look into biomedical treatments.

9.         Supplement, supplement, supplement.

10.         Start a behavior-therapy program.

In summary, you are about to begin an odyssey that will change your life in ways you never dreamed of. There will be days when you cry in frustration over the setbacks, and days when you dance for joy on the successes. Especially in the beginning stages, expect to take one step back for every two steps forward. This is still progress, however slow.

None of these therapies comes with a predictable rate of improvement. Many believe that you need three months to a year before you can accurately monitor the success of your efforts. You might feel that real progress has been made when, one day, your child passes some important developmental milestone―or simply when you have the overall feeling that your daily family life now has an element of normalcy.

―M.R.

For the unabridged version of this article, please see www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-8-0/diagnosis-autism.shtml


See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong

Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration

Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
By Jeanne Tan Te

* It is my sincerest hope to continue inspiring parents who are facing the same dilemma that we've been through, that I share another story from the very courageous and giving lady, Awit Dalusong

It is my sincerest hope to continue inspiring parents who are facing the same dilemma that we've been through, that I share another story from the very courageous and giving lady behind www.autismpinoy.com, Awit Dalusong:

"A few weeks before giving birth to Ethan, I was busy surfing the internet trying to update myself on the latest research on how to take care of a newborn. When, suddenly, I was directed to a website with these words on the front page, "God gives special children to special parents." Immediately, I turned off the computer and said, "Well, I don't think I want to be special."

As fate would have it, two and a half years later, I was once again in front of the computer, trying to figure out why my son lost his language and why he has failed to make eye contact with anybody including his mom and dad. It really started with an innocent question from a friend. She asked me, "How does Ethan call his Ate Colleen?" I answered, "He doesn't really call her anything. He had about 60+ words but after his second birthday, his words suddenly disappeared. I think it's because he's been watching too much TV." That night, I got a text message from her with these words, "not to alarm you or anything but please have Ethan checked right away because it's unusual for a child to lose his language according to my uncle who is a psychologist." I deleted her message right away. Fear had hit home, and it hit me hard.

The Autism Society's website confirmed any mother's worst nightmare. They enumerated fourteen behavioral signs and symptoms that may indicate autism. If the child manifested seven signs, then he needed to be diagnosed immediately. It was funny how my husband, Edward, and I desperately omitted some signs so Ethan wouldn't meet the seven signs or symptoms. I vividly recall saying, "I think he only has five signs, six max. Maybe he doesn't have autism after all." But, deep down, I knew the writing was on the wall. For the next several days, I never felt more scared, never felt more desperate and never thought I had so much tears to shed. We just knew he had autism. The diagnoses from the development pediatricians were mere formalities.

"Why my son?" was the question I asked myself everyday while I cried myself to sleep. Ethan crawled, lifted his head, sat, walked, uttered his first word exactly when he was supposed to, if not ahead of most kids his age. At eighteen months, he had uttered more words than his sister. His repertoire included the names of the secretaries in his Dad's office including complex words that a 3 year old may have difficulty pronouncing. He was a very happy boy with a constant smile plastered on his chubby little face. I fondly recall the Christmas before his second birthday, Ethan was dancing to the tune of the latest dance craze. He also gamely helped me show off his extraordinary verbal ability by perfectly identifying all the words in the flashcards. Everyone was really impressed with Ethan that I carried those flashcards wherever we went. Ethan (and I) enjoyed the applause and admiration. Then, out of the blue, autism entered our house, like a thief in the night it snatched my son's soul away from me. At two years old, our son virtually disappeared.

From a bubbly toddler, Ethan transformed into someone I barely know. He walked in circles, opted to play on his own, and the most devastating of all was that he seemed to have forgotten who his parents were. He had a blank look on his face all the time, our boy seemed lost, oblivious of our presence...

Edward had to kick me out of my depression and told me to "get to work because Ethan won't get well with you just sitting down." I called the Behavioral Management for Autistic Children (BMAC), Inc. (thank God for their website) and told them I wanted my son to undergo Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy ASAP.

Edward and I went to two developmental pediatricians and both confirmed that Ethan was indeed in the Autism Spectrum. We went back to the internet in search for hope. After a few days, we stumbled upon the website of the Autism Research Institute (ARI). ARI's theories on the biomedical approach in treating autism offered a new lease on life for our little boy. Incredulous as we were, our skepticism was still there. But it also offered us hope, and for a parent of a special kid, hope is all you could ask for. Prior to discovering the existence of BMAC, ABA therapy and the biomedical intervention of the Defeat Autism Now (DAN) movement, I felt so hopeless. I kept picturing Ethan ending up in an institution. My nightly prayer was for God to not let me lose patience in taking care of my boy for the rest of his life. In fact, one developmental pediatrician told us point blank, "Your son is autistic, and he'll forever be autistic." From that moment, we vowed to prove otherwise.

A month later, we went to Hongkong to meet with a DAN doctor who helped us get started with Ethan's biomedical and dietary intervention. If we were to help Ethan, Edward and I felt that we should address the behavioral and biomedical issues related to autism to ensure success. We felt we owed it to Ethan to explore every possible treatment available to help him recover. The DAN doctor told us that along with the ABA therapy, Ethan's biomedical interventions will put him on a faster track to recovery.

Ethan's first day of ABA was on June 28, 2004. I remember how frustrating the first session went. Ethan practically cried for the first two hours. I thought he could have cried longer had he not exhausted his energy from all that kicking, screaming, and running away. As the days rolled by, Ethan behaved better. For that alone, living with a child with autism seem to be more bearable.

However, Ethan's lack of expressive communication was still a very deep concern for everyone in the family (especially his grandparents). So, in the summer of 2005, I flew to Canada and the United States to attend a couple of workshops on Verbal Behavior spearheaded by Dr. Vince Carbone.

When I came back home, I was very eager to share what I learned from the workshops. I was ecstatic that the staff was excited to incorporate Verbal Behavior in Ethan's program. I have been blessed to work with a team that was very supportive in my endeavors to strengthen my son's program.

Ethan recently turned 4 years old. He knows all the uppercase and lowercase alphabets. He knows his numbers from 1- 20. He easily identifies all the shapes, colors, body parts and animal sounds. He has about 300+ receptive vocabulary. He knows the concept of opposites. His fine motor skills have dramatically improved to indicate that he now has the ability to concentrate on tasks. He feeds himself during mealtimes with great scooping control. Our greatest achievement by far is that Ethan can now sight read common words. But, Ethan is still a work in progress. He still has very limited expressive language. Most of his words are just approximations. His social skills need to be addressed. But there's no denying that he's had a major leap in his cognitive skills. A year and a half ago, he was a boy who didn't know any nursery song. Fast forward to today, Ethan can fill in words to some of his favorite songs. The point is, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel might be long and winding, but that light is a guide for me to persevere more for my son.

The year 2005 has been good to Ethan. Ethan got a coveted slot at International Montessori School, a school with a well-established inclusion program. The directress, Ms. Judith Gonzalez is very supportive with Ethan's dietary and biomedical intervention. She has been an answered prayer to a mother like me. The icing on the cake is that the school uses ABA techniques during Ethan's pull out sessions with his SPED teacher. Ethan's socialization skills practically blossomed overnight. He now enjoys being around other children. A far cry from several months ago when he opted to be left alone and showed no interest to be part of a group.

I am often asked what keeps me going despite the fact that my son has autism. The answer is simple, I have fully accepted Ethan's condition but I also haven't given up hope that I will recover him. Don't be afraid to tell people that your child has autism.

Upon confirming that Ethan was in the Autism Spectrum, I was afraid that my friends would pull away from me. Believe it or not, I never felt more loved and more understood by the people I cared about the most after I revealed Ethan's condition to them. Also, it's important to study. The best way to fight autism is to face it head on with courage, conviction and research. Nobody has all the answers to your child's condition. Parents are in the best position to decide what they feel is best for their children. I am currently doing some volunteer work for the Generation Rescue group. I also moderate an online support group for Filipino families affected by autism. Every week, I receive several emails from parents from here and abroad who wish to learn more about helping their children. Nothing excites me more than reading emails from parents inquiring about autism and recovery.

Yes, Ethan is a special child. He has made significant steps but he is still on the proverbial long road to recovery. Every now and then, my six year old daughter innocently assures me that "Ethan is on the road to recovery but there's just traffic, Mom." I still hope that Ethan will attend a good University, borrow my car to go on dates and get married someday. Edward still hopes that his little boy will be a world-class athlete. Yes, we still have high hopes for him and we will never give up until we find the solution.

They say that God gives special children to special people. We truly believe that parents of special children are some of the greatest caregivers in the world, the uber parents as they say. It's a tough honor, but it surely is worth living up to. Every child with autism deserves nothing less."



See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong

Autism - Checking for Symptons

Here are 7 questions parents with children three years or younger are often asked during checks for signs of autism.  Replies must be one of the following four choices :
a.  Never,
b.  Rarely
c.  Sometimes
d.  Often

1.  Does your child take an interest in other children ?

2.  Does your child ever pretend, for example, to talk on the phone or take care of dolls, or pretend other things

3.  Does your child ever use his/her index finger to point , to indicate interest in something ?

4.  Does your child ever bring objects over to you (parent) to show you something ?

5.  Does your child imitate you ?  (eg. you make a face, will your child imitate ?)

6.  If you point at a toy across the room, does your child look at it ?

7.  Does your child look at your face to check your reaction when face with something unfamiliar ?

If two or more of the answers are never, your child has an inclination towards autism.

Source : HK University Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine


See also related posts :
Autism: A gift of hope, courage and inspiration
Autism - Checking for Symptons
Light at the end of the tunnel
Autism : Brief List of Where to Begin
Autism (part 2): Signs of Autism
Raising a Child with ADHD
Autism Resources for English speakers in Hong Kong