ADHD Awareness Week
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Hey Friends!
This week is National ADHD Awareness Week and to celebrate a friend and I created this new website. You may have heard that recent gold medalist Michael Phelps has ADHD, but did you know that Steven Spielberg, Benjamin Franklin, Bill Cosby, & Walt Disney also fall into the ranks?
We’d like to spend this week gathering and highlighting stories of success, of thriving & of triumph in the face of ADD/ADHD.
Please lend your support by joining us in one or more of the following ways:
- First, send everyone you know, esp. anyone who has ADD/ADHD, to this page! Just click on the little “ShareThis” button at the bottom of this page. Email it, Digg it, or share it on Facebook!
- If you have ADD/ADHD jump on over here to record your story. All entries will be entered to win one of the several prizes we’ll be giving out this week!
- After you record your story and it’s approved – share it with family and friends!
- Donate a little money for prizes.
Thanks so much for helping us spread the word!
Sincerely,
Ryan & Jess
I’m excited about Awareness Week! Though this blog will grow slowly over time, we’re hoping that it will gain some sweet coverage this week! Please leave your thoughts here or submit a story!! I really wanna give away some prizes!
Comment by King Arthur — September 16, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
ADHD can drive you crazy or make your life more fun. It can create either a ripple or a tidal wave in a family or a classroom. A lot depends on how you react to it and how well you understand it.
My son was diagnosed as having ADHD at about 10 years of age. I promptly set about educating myself on the subject. I read everything I could find for months – the stuff for parents, the stuff for teachers and the stuff for doctors. My research changed the way I looked at my son. I no longer expected of him what he couldn’t do, and my frustration evaporated.
I found he could do most things in a different way, if I could just figure out the way to work with his strengths. ADHD kids have many strengths. They are often brilliant, logical thinkers, imaginative, creative and fun. I learned to focus on the positives and understand the differences as limitations to be worked around, rather than walls to knock my head against.
I didn’t want to give my son the medications many use, so we investigated alternatives. One alternative health practitioner recommended some things that worked very well for him, and his concentration grew and he began to have more control over his impulsivity and restlessness. I don’t remember the whole list of what he took for years until he could gradually taper off and didn’t need them anymore. So don’t go using this as a basis for self medication. Find a good health professional who knows how to deal with ADHD. But to give you an idea: Certain minerals really helped, especially magnesium, calcium and some trace minerals. The homeopathic mineral salts produced amazing results. Products for detoxifying and antioxidants had a good effect over time. Fish oils, L-glutamine and Gaba all helped. Niacin helped but he found the side effects on his digestive system meant he couldn’t take it very often. But I think it was finding the right combination of these and constantly adjusting them to his body needs that made it work for us. So don’t go it alone. This was a more expensive alternative to the drugs, but we felt happier giving him natural products that could produce a gradual but permanent improvement.
We found many teachers didn’t understand ADHD. I know it’s not easy for teachers trying to channel the energies of an exuberant bunch of lively young minds and bodies so they can help them learn the required information for the year. We decided to home school our son. This proved very successful, and he recently graduated from High School with very high marks, and is working with us in a family business. His many skills and strengths are a real boon to the business.
My advice to parents with ADHD kids: educate yourself so you understand your kid. Don’t expect him to fit into the regular mold. He will have some abilities that surpass those of most people. Don’t be blind to them just because he can’t sit still, prefers doing two things at once, or has a hard time keeping his room tidy. Discover his interests and encourage his strengths. He will learn the social skills, but you’ll need to teach them to him instead of expecting him to just absorb them from his surroundings. Take the time to do that, and you’ll be proud of him forever.
Comment by Miriam Reed — September 20, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Looks like an interesting blog – a different take on ADHD.
Comment by wrongshoes — October 3, 2008 @ 5:23 pm