What is ADHD?

ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Definition ADHD is a disorder of the higher brains function. This disorder causes inattention, impulsive behavior and increased motor activity (needing to be always on-the-go).

Common behaviors: 1.Poor attention skills2.Hyperactivity3.Chronic forgetfulness 4.Impulsiveness 5.Anxiety6.Depression7.Constant restlessness 8.Low self esteem

ADHD is the most common disorder of childhood and adolescence today. Although, several people are not diagnosed until adulthood.

The number of adult ADHD diagnoses are on the rise.

Florida is number 36 out of the 50 states for having the most childhood diagonses of ADHD.11.9 million and counting...

80% of all diagonsed children with ADHD have a parent with ADHD.

Diagnosing ADHD involves many people

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Parents

Teacher

Physican

Child

Double-click to add title Medication is the most common way to control ADHD symptoms.Parents often struggle with this decision. Several try:• Removing all gluten from their diet• Avoiding fluroide and aluminum• Not allowing their child to injest dyes• Keeping their child "sugar-free"• Adding B vitamins to the diet• Newest fad- giving their children coffee

Why Coffee??

Many parents would look down on a mother giving their child a cup of Joe but, mothers with an ADHD child understand why.

The mind of a ADHD child is working too fast and by giving a child a stimulant they are able to calm down. You would think they would be even more hyper but, the opposite occurs. Many doctors are concerned with this approach. They insist that increased amounts of caffiene is bad for childens overall growth. Furthermore, the coffee will loose it's effectiveness with normal useage.

How are we finanically affected in Florida by ADHD?Children on goverment paid health insurance (Medicaid) are more likely than privately insured children to have a diagnosis of ADHD. Annual cost per child is approximately $14,500. This is a heavy burden on our state considering that 38% of all Florida

children are on Medicaid.

"We the people" are picking up the tab.

Parents of diagnosed children may be loosing some of their rights. Did you know in the U.S. judges can consititutionally order ADHD medication be given to a child over the opposition of their parents? Some parents medicate thier children in fear of loosing them to child protective service. U.K. parents can face jail time for not following the physicans medication orders.Most people feel it is a parents choice, not the goverments.

Judges have to follow the law. If a child was diabetic and the parent withheld insulin we would want the law to step in. What is the difference? Disease= something physical, something we can touch (liver, kidney)Disorder= more psychological, see the reaction only

Disease-is something physical, something we can touch (liver, kidney)Disorder- is more psychological, see the reaction onlySome people have a hard time believing something exist that they can not touch.

Myths1.ADHD is a result of bad parenting. 2.Teachers want most kids on ADHD medications.3.It is easy to get a child diagnosed with ADHD.4.Children will outgrow ADHD.5.ADHD children just don't try hard enough.

Personal experienceI chose this topic because I worked in a high-need classroom for a few years as an aide. High-need is the politicaly correct term we have come up for children with behavior problems. All of the children in the classroom I worked in had ADHD except for one. That ADHD free child was growing up in a home filled with chaos and in turn she was chaotic at school. The class was small, we had 12 students. Only 2 students were female. How tough could a class room filled with 10 hyperactive firstgrade boys be? Let me just say, on my first day I was ready to quit. Most of the children did not have a seat. This was a smart move on the teachers part (at first I thought they were being punished). Children with ADHD fidget constantly, they just cant be still. Removing their seat gave them a little "wiggle room." The teacher I worked with was awesome. She worked hard to convince parents the medication was the answer. All the parents were hesitant and most said "NO" everytime it was mentioned but, she never gave up hope. She would send documentation in with parents when they went to their pediatricians, classroom videos of their child and reference letters from the princpal. Any parent that asked her to come along for the doctor appointment, she glady agreed. Why did she want all these children on medication? and why am I allowing myself to be a part of this?

Personal experience

As time went on I was able to see the miracle that medication could be to a child with ADHD. A boy named Collin was in our class. He, like the others fidgeted, called out, was easliy distracted, and had undiagnosed ADHD. He was a bright first grader whom came into our class reading on a 0.9 grade level (meaning ninth month in the kindergarten year) He had a head full of blonde curls which his hands were often in. He was in our class, occupational therapy , and speech. He lived with his greatgrandmother who was 86. He was one of the first kids I got to see transform into the child he always could be. After his greatgrandmother got very sick and she was unable to control Collin anymore, she aggred to see the physican about Collins hyperactivity. She was sure he was just being a "boy" and would grow out of this phase. The physican looked at all the evidence and diagnosed Collin with ADHD. Collin struggled the first few days on his medication. He was sick to his stomach, zombie like, and very quiet. I was sure the medication was doing him more harm than good. I was told to wait it out, the first few days were the toughest. Collin returned to school on Monday morning after 5 days on his medicine and he was a new child. He was all smiles as he came into the class room. He went over to the stack of chairs in the corner and chose a seat. He quitley worked at his desk and raised his hand to answer the teacher. His reading level began to change. Collin went for a 0.9 reading level to a 3.4 (third grade- fourth month) in less than 5 months. Collin was moved into regular class for the first time and flurished. He is an exceptional little boy but, he always was, he just needed some medicine to help hime control his body. With his body in check his mind is quiter and he could focus. Collins' Greatgrandmother died when he was in second grade and I tried hard to adopt him. His uncle from out west moved to our little town to take custody of Collin. This story is a true one and some parts are sad. The teacher I worked with has a nasty reputation in our town as a "pill pusher". People just don not understand ADHD. People do not know what I know. Some things you just got to see to believe. I hope you now have a better understanding of ADHD.