ADHD kids are not like others. The AD part of the acronym means they don’t concentrate well while H causes them to act without regard for the consequences of their actions. Put together you have a child that can’t stay on task and often moves, makes noises, or exhibits other potentially annoying behavior. They get in trouble often and almost as often can’t remember what they did that caused the problem. Thus we have the final D in the acronym; Disorder.
The AD kids are often highly creative and associative thinkers with a different approach and perspective to life. They live in the moment with their thoughts and actions not dictated by the past or future. Some have a unique ability to hyper-focus on a singular task, performing it to the exclusion of all else. Many highly accomplished intellectuals are ADD.
The Hyperactive child thrives on movement, input, and activity. In contrast to the sedate, couch-potato culture we find ourselves in today, these kids would rather be outside doing something. They need stimulus. If it isn't in their environment they’ll create it, often to the annoyance of others. Many highly accomplished athletes are ADHD.
Adults caught in the whirlwind of an ADHD child often find themselves correcting, coercing, cajoling the child to stay on task and out of trouble. Children tend to be harsher critics making it hard for ADD and ADHD kids to maintain friendships with others. This can lead to a low self-esteem which leads to depression as the child’s natural desire to please runs face first into their inability to conform.
The decision to medically treat ADHD is a lot like learning to cook. There are lots of books and ideas out there but you never know what works until you've tried it and each recipe works differently for each individual. There’s also a lot of room for adjustment to individual taste.
There are many voices with willing advice. The institutions taking care of your child will likely recommend medication since it reduces the number of resources these special children require. Young-adult ADHD suffers often state they went off their medication as soon as they were given the choice and never returned. Parents without ADHD kids say to never put your kids on drugs until they get irritated with your child and then become medication advocates. Doctors want to exhaust other methods first before treating the Disorder medically.
There is an even greater variety of advice for non-medical treatment. Diet, discipline, and behavior modification are popular topics of books and magazine article. Some activities work and others don’t depending on the child and the adult involved.
As a school administrator once told me, this is a journey unique to each child. The trick is to finding the key to will allow the child to succeed in life. Sometimes that means medication, other times it does not. In the end it is a journey you and your child take together. This blog will attempt to document Zack’s Journey. Our hope is to be informative and entertaining.
You’ll find stories about Zack’s life along with the lessons we've learned along the way. We hope the combination of these will encourage you to look at your own journey with your child and to share those experiences with others. Please feel free to leave comments.
We thank you for joining us on Zack’s Journey and wish you luck on your own.
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