ADHD Road Map

by Maggie Vink (Subscribe to Maggie Vink's posts)
Mar 3rd 2008 6:45AM

My son has ADHD. He has an awesome teacher, but he is one of 32 students in his class. I know that he takes a significant amount of encouragement and redirection from his teacher. I think it's safe to say that he's the most ill-behaved kid in class. As a parent, I always hope that his teacher can remember that -- behind the behaviors -- is an incredibly bright boy with enormous potential. My son struggles to focus on work, to pay attention, and to sit still. But he is not a bad student.

Early this morning I saw a commercial on TV for a free "ADHD Road Map." When you register to receive your copy, you also gain access to online information about their four steps: taking a snapshot of how your child is currently doing, setting goals, taking action, and tracking/rewarding progress.

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Comments (4)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

eckre 3-03-2008 @ 12:42PM

average american thinks: "Ugh, 4 steps, goal setting, taking action?, keeping track? ugh, can't I just pop a pill in him instead"

ah... Better life thought "chemistry."

yes, good behavior is the result of a ritalin deficiency.

how about, stop feeing him or her sugar? DUHHHH.

Michael 3-03-2008 @ 1:50PM

Maggie,

With your concern about ADHD, I thought I'd direct your toward a feature at The Issue today on "Academic Steroids", which examines issues of ADHD medication use, and abuse, by students, many of whom have grown up with the drug. The "Issue of the Day" features first hand insight from a former user, an analysis, and an experts opinion on heart risk and ADHD medication. I think you and your readers may enjoy the piece.

Cheers,

Mike McGregor
Editor
The Issue|The Issue

Maggie Vink 3-03-2008 @ 1:57PM

Ahh, if only it was as simple as sugar eckre. My son has ADHD and it's not caused by sugar. (Though sugar does exacerbate his symptoms.) I make major efforts nutritionally and in our schedule to help him manage his symptoms. (Avoid sugar, increase protein, increase Omega 3s, minimize artificial additives, etc.) We also work a lot on self control and he gets tons of exercise. I'm all about anything that we can do naturally to manage his ADHD symptoms. But, for some, (including my son) medication is necessary.

Andrea 3-08-2008 @ 3:37PM

Necessary? Hm. Seems to me like there was life before ADHD meds. When kids used to be afraid of the punishment of disobeying, they used to listen. Timeout isn't all that scary. Sure, some people have more natural energy than others, but with good strong parenting mountains can be moved. You can say that striking a child in the process of discipline is child abuse, but I'd say drugging him is worse.