About a month ago, our pediatrician diagnosed our 8 year old son with ADHD and prescribed medication.
We have yet to start the medication.
After listening to me for an hour, she also suggested occupational therapy because he may have some sensory integration issues. At the time, I really didn't understand what that meant.
Fast forward a month...
Jacob is homeschooled and excelling academically. His handwriting has improved tremendously. He can focus for 20 min at time on his work. He is listening better.
Why the difference when we haven't started medication? Well, I attribute it to many different things: OT, karate, our version of the Feingold diet (yea, yea, that's a whole other post...HAD to modify it to work for us.)
During OT, in addition to the "fun" stuff they do with him, he does Interactive Metronome. IM is proven to help ADHD and sensory integration disorders. They are also giving me great tips to help him at home.
I've been doing a lot of reading and recommend a great book, "The Out-of Sync Child." Children with sensory issues can actually look as ADHD but NOT have it. I'm not convinced that he has an accurate ADHD diagnosis, so we'll be having an all day eval next month at the teaching hospital.
Parents, PLEASE do your homework. Be sure that your kids are getting what they need.
2 comments:
As a fitness-type person, do you happen to subscribe to Bicycling Magazine? There's an interesting article in this month's (I think) issue regarding a rider who battles his ADHD with exercise. Meaning he used to take drugs, but couldn't stand all the side effects and he eventually figured out that by riding his bike every day, he gets the "drugs" naturally instead of taking a pill. (very interesting!)
We have a 6-year-old son whom the doctor has threatened to diagnose as ADHD. We, too, started using our version of the Feingold Diet a few months ago and I have grown to really enjoy him again since we started the diet.
I'm thinking about looking into Occupational Therapy for him, too, though - his handwriting skills are greatly lacking.
Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the info about exercise as a way to combat ADHD. :)
Hi Sara! Nope, I sure don't, but I'll try to find that article.
Yep, after researching the med prescribed for our son, I was VERY concerned about trying. We'd rather try other methods first.
OT has been GREAT! Well worth it! We've only been going for 3 weeks, and I see a difference.
Have a great weekend!!!
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