re: ADHD our experience

#1 · August 25, 2001, 11:04 am

Quote from Forum Archives on August 25, 2001, 11:04 am
Posted by: empalo <empalo@...>

Greetings in the Lord, Jesus Christ !

My husband and I adopted to boys when they were ages 5 and 8. Both came with the diagnosis of ADHD. The older boy was in special ed. He had repeated kindergarten, did not know his alphabet until he was 7, had an uneven IQ. Tested some where around 110 on the Stanford binet test. He was so hyper you couldn't hold him still for more than two minutes and even during that time he was making faces. He was immature in growth and actions. Our younger son was more the fidgety type yet was a good learner. The schools suggested medication and justifiably so, since they were both difficult to manage. Finally we tried Zololf for the older one, which made him psychotic. Then ritalin which made him sick, then we tried the natural herb valerian, which is used extensively in Germany for ADD and ADHD. It worked, along with a small cup of coffee before school on seemly more difficult days. Caffeine has the opposite reaction on these kids. Now our oldest is 16, he is brilliant, skipped a grade, knows Latin, recites poetry, wants to be a minister, his IQ scores are now in the 130 range and he is on no medications, herbal or otherwise. The reason, he needed more time to mature than most for some reason and when we decided to homeschool him after the adoption was final and taking the over-stimulation of the classroom away from him (all the activity and other children) and giving him quiet, he was able to blossom, all be it late, he is a model child. Committed to Christ, hard working, loving, and able to recognize times when things can get a bit overwhelming for him and then he retreats to a quiet place. Dorothy and Raymond Moore, speak quiet a bit about the physiological aspects of boys nerve development compared to girls and why they often have problems in school and in behavior. They recommend late enrollment or a more unstructured home schooling for the boys in general but for children who seem to have a nervous system like my boys they say it is especially imperative.. Our youngest son, is doing fine with school except math. He has many emotional scars and serious mental health problems from his years of abuse before he came to us. His behaviors demands that we be consistent with all our rules ! Just a bit about our situation and how it has worked out. My heart feels for you as I understand the frustration you feel.

May God give you strength to do what is best for your family and comfort in knowing that God is ever there for us with a strong but gentle arm to guide us.

humbly seeking Him,

Pat

Posted by: empalo <empalo@...>

Greetings in the Lord, Jesus Christ !

My husband and I adopted to boys when they were ages 5 and 8. Both came with the diagnosis of ADHD. The older boy was in special ed. He had repeated kindergarten, did not know his alphabet until he was 7, had an uneven IQ. Tested some where around 110 on the Stanford binet test. He was so hyper you couldn't hold him still for more than two minutes and even during that time he was making faces. He was immature in growth and actions. Our younger son was more the fidgety type yet was a good learner. The schools suggested medication and justifiably so, since they were both difficult to manage. Finally we tried Zololf for the older one, which made him psychotic. Then ritalin which made him sick, then we tried the natural herb valerian, which is used extensively in Germany for ADD and ADHD. It worked, along with a small cup of coffee before school on seemly more difficult days. Caffeine has the opposite reaction on these kids. Now our oldest is 16, he is brilliant, skipped a grade, knows Latin, recites poetry, wants to be a minister, his IQ scores are now in the 130 range and he is on no medications, herbal or otherwise. The reason, he needed more time to mature than most for some reason and when we decided to homeschool him after the adoption was final and taking the over-stimulation of the classroom away from him (all the activity and other children) and giving him quiet, he was able to blossom, all be it late, he is a model child. Committed to Christ, hard working, loving, and able to recognize times when things can get a bit overwhelming for him and then he retreats to a quiet place. Dorothy and Raymond Moore, speak quiet a bit about the physiological aspects of boys nerve development compared to girls and why they often have problems in school and in behavior. They recommend late enrollment or a more unstructured home schooling for the boys in general but for children who seem to have a nervous system like my boys they say it is especially imperative.. Our youngest son, is doing fine with school except math. He has many emotional scars and serious mental health problems from his years of abuse before he came to us. His behaviors demands that we be consistent with all our rules ! Just a bit about our situation and how it has worked out. My heart feels for you as I understand the frustration you feel.

May God give you strength to do what is best for your family and comfort in knowing that God is ever there for us with a strong but gentle arm to guide us.

humbly seeking Him,

Pat