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Attention Parents: Active kids? ADD/ADHD? Listen up

hickslawns

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Ohio
Hopefully the thread title reaches anyone with children that have these issues. We have an 11yr old nephew living with us with severe ADD/ADHD. Our 7yr old son has always been that "active" or "busy" kid. We have had our son checked by doctors and teachers in this field several times and they have all said he does NOT have ADD. Despite the fact he does NOT have it, every year in school the teachers seem to want to label him. This year has been especially bad. Honestly, it makes one think she simply does not want to work and do her job. After some investigation and talking with the principal, I have learned she is actually one of the better ones to deal with if you have a child that is "active". However, it does irritate me that she feels the need to label him and tell us he has ADD. Not her job.

If you can relate to this story, listen closely here. My wife has been doing some reading and research. She reached out to many resources and learned of a problem some people have with tracking. Since this is a hunting website, I am sure some of you may have had problems with eye dominance in the past. I know I do. Right handed, but left eye dominant. My solution is to close my left eye. However, at 7yrs old, our son doesn't realize his eyes aren't working the way they are supposed to. Basically, they are fighting each other. When this happens, he tends to skip words, substitute words when reading (ex. say "the" instead of "a" or "these" instead of "them" or "there"), or he will read the first few letters of a big word and substitute another word which is similar. We have realized something was going on for awhile now, but have not been able to put our finger on it. Today we went to an Optometrist who specializes in such issues. The tests he gave our son made our jaws drop. When reading, we are always behind him or next to him. Today he read off the charts while the doctor faced him and we stood behind the doctor. Amazing to see his eyes fight each other while reading.

What we learned today is the majority of eye doctors test for near sightedness mainly, and very little exam is given to far sightedness if any at all. He told us most people are not tested for far sightedness until around age 40! Our son's prescription for his glasses is completely wrong. He sees just fine at a distance, yet his lenses are for poor vision looking out far.

If your child is having issues staying focused and on topic, sitting still, reading, writing, mixing up letters such as lower case B and D, or similar. . . you might consider looking into this. If you have been through the tests for ADD/ADHD and it has been determined this is not their problem. . . now you have something else to consider. Is your child clumsy? Hold their reading materials close to their face? Tilt their head to the side while reading? Close one eye while reading? Check into it. Something else interesting to learn: Does your child have bed wetting issues? They asked us this and we scratched our heads. Apparently the same part of the brain which controls the eye tracking is also what works to control the bladder or muscles used to keep from wetting the bed. Who woulda thunk? I never would have guessed unless I asked why this question was asked.

I hope by sharing this it saves someone some time and frustration. If just one person reads this and it helps a child out and enables them to learn better then I am glad to have shared it. Our children are everything to us. Today was an eye opener (pardon the pun) and we are feeling a lot of relief knowing what has been holding our son back from reading and writing as well as he could be. It will be so fulfilling watching him get excited about reading or seeing him breeze through his homework without struggling as bad.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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135
Glasses can change a kid's life.

Now, where are the fella that was complaining about not being able to contribute to the forum?? I think he knows something about this!
 

rgecko23

*Supporting Member*
7,466
0
Massillon, Ohio
People are so quick to label children with ADD anymore. I think I can rememebr one kid who had it when I was in school.

BTW Phil, good for your son! I bet he feels so much better
 

Tree Monkey

Member
1,825
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NW ohio
Good advice Phil......I read an article like this in class once.....on the whole label issue.....I agree labeling is very dangerous and its really easy to label a kid and move forward but if wrongly labeled it is much harder to remove it and it still remains once it is legally removed.Parents should know that there should be a series of test and examinations should all confirm a learning disability before signing off on any documents, every resource should be exhausted. Teachers that just say I can tell Johnny has an LD from what I have observed in the classroom, don't know what they are talking about. Test a kid and look at the results follow the steps because IEP's are helpfully to a kid that needs them but are very damaging to a kid that shouldn't be on one.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Only takes one kid to benefit from this to make it worth sharing it.

I should add, our son has been labeled by the school. He has NOT been diagnosed. We were never denying he is a busy kid. Tree Monkey has seen him, Bowhunter57 has seen him, and I am sure many of the others have heard me talk about what a busy kid he is. However, there is a big difference between a busy kid and one with ADD or ADHD. We have always known there was something hindering him in school. We just never could figure it out. We refused to medicate our son. He was not diagnosed with something which required medication. We are not medicating because a teacher feels more qualified than the doctor. It will be nice to move forward from here to see how he does. We have one more appointment before we can begin the therapy sessions. We are also waiting on different lenses for his glasses. I will keep you all posted to see how much it helps his schooling. I am curious to see if it also calms him down any. The doctor seemed to think he will not be as restless at school. Makes sense if his mind is focused on school work rather than wandering.

Other notes of interest:
How are desks set up in schools now? Little groups or rows all facing the board?

How much focus is an elementary student going to retain when they are 3-4' away from another child's face?

Pick up a piece of paper. Start to read it. Now look at the paper. Are you holding it flat (like the desks) or do you hold it at an angle? Now look at the desks our kids use. Are they on an angle like they used to be? Nope. They are flat. What does this do? Our kids lean forward head down, hunched up stomachs which reduces the volume of air brought into the diaphragm. In return, less oxygen going to the brain. Our doctor gave us some simple things such as this to think about and they were all very logical. There are some very simple things we can do to aide our kids. Posture, ergonomically correct desks, and classroom setup to keep the focus of the kids can go a long way. We are going to begin some of these basic differences and see how much our son improves. Pretty cool stuff.
 

Curran

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Central Ohio
Thanks for taking the time to share that info Phil!! In general, I think way too many problems are attempted to be solved by "a label" and the "a medication" these days. Not that it isn't the only or correct solution at times, however, I think that's become the default solution more often than not.
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
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Streetsboro
Unfortunately, the assessment they use to diagnose ADD is not as simple as a blood test or an x-ray. They are subjective questionaires that adults are asked to fill out about the child and their behavior. This "assessment tool" could be manipulated by people looking for a short cut or quick fix. My oldest son Ethan started developing problems in school. He was unable to keep up with his classmates and was falling way behind on reading and reading comprehension. I never though he was a "dumb" kid but it was easy to see he lacked the ability to focus. He exhibited some of the reading issues Phil described. My wife was very concerned about him being labled as an "ADD kid". I was more concerned with him reaching his potential. We enrolled him in summer reading programs, hired an after school tudor, did tons of one on one school work, he was enrolled in title I and only made marginal gains. After I convinced my wife to have him tested, we talked with our pediatrician, who my wife loves, and he was very informative about the process and we had him tested. As I expected he fell into the moderat to high group. Now having said this, my son in not hyperactive and is somewhat of an "inside kid". He just really lacked focus. He was started on Focalcin this winter and it made a world of difference. He nearly has staight A's on his report card and is now reading at grade level for the first time since first grade. Eventhough I think we are on the right path, I do plan on watching his eyes when we read this weekend. Thanks Phil....sometimes I think my wife and I are in these things alone.
 
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Huckleberry Finn

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It's so refreshing to hear parents that are active in their children's educations. Read to your kids fellas, it gets them into College.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
Awesome Scott! I should state, I am not totally against medication. Our nephew has behavior issues along with the ADD/ADHD. He REQUIRES medication. However, after learning of the tracking issues, we are going to check him out for the eye tracking problems as well. Nothing wrong with using the tools needed to fix the problem. If it is medication, then so be it. I am simply amazed at how many kids exhibit the same behaviors as our son, Garrett, yet are labeled as ADD/ADHD.

Garrett has also had tutors over the summer as well as being in the reading class and the remedial class at school. It would make me ecstatic to see him catch up to his grade level and stop struggling to keep up. You can see his intelligence, but when you can't figure out what is holding him back from his potential it is frustrating. We have attempted to keep him active in sports and scouts. He stays active on his own at home and such. Laziness is certainly not an issue. Even so, it is tough for him to keep his focus in school. This will be interesting to watch. I pray it is the missing ingredient to our son's success. Not that we aren't proud, but it is tough to watch the other kids sprint around the track while watching your son try to sprint with an anchor tied around his neck. It will be great to see him keep up with the other kids in his schooling without the anchor attached.
 
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Schu72

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Streetsboro
Awesome Scott! I should state, I am not totally against medication. Our nephew has behavior issues along with the ADD/ADHD. He REQUIRES

As with many things, there are varying degrees and different symptoms. Even in all the digging we did, I never saw anything about checking their vision. We did ask about dyslexia, but that wasn't the issue. Many different problems....and many different solutions. It just sucks how long it takes to find the right solution sometimes.
 

Mike

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Up Nort
My wife is a School Psychologist so I know a bit about what you guys are saying. You'd be surprised at how irate teachers and parents are when she doesn't qualify their kids because the tests show otherwise. They want a quick solution and like Shu said, it can take time to find the right solution.
 

Ohiosam

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Mahoning Co.
Good read.

As far as the meds go I believe they are way over used but there is a place for them for a minority of kids. I understand why parents and teachers like them because society has removed tools formally used for maintaining disciplined and now they can't control these kids with just "love and understanding".
 
Phil,
I'm very glad to hear the good news about Garrett! I've ran into my share of parents that wouldn't have put in as much time with their children as you and Erin have done. Congradulations to you both for your efforts and I commend you both, for doing what the rest of the planet should be doing. :smiley_clap:

For the lighter side...here's Carlos Mencia's idea of good parenting. Send them to Catholic school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzx6CAdUVYA&feature=related (slide the bar about 11 minutes into the show.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBbwl4ybtLM&feature=related

Bowhunter57
 

Schu72

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113
Streetsboro
Probably could have put this in the "What's good thread", but wanted to follow up here. Ethan finally got his report card for the 3rd grading period and brought home staight A's. I may have posted this elsewhere but he also met his AR reading goal and is reading at grade level for the first time ever.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
That is great Scott!

Might be time for an update on Garrett as well. Not all A's, but improving. His teacher, and reading teacher have both been very impressed. The different lenses in his glasses are helping. His fluency has already increased and he is at least caught up to his grade level. He has been to 3 weeks of vision therapy. 27 more to go. Ugh. Oh well, plenty worth it if it helps him to get back up to speed. One other note I should mention. He has always been a very "active" kid. The eye doctor said he would settle down as the vision therapy progressed. I have been skeptical to be honest. Not sure exactly how they are related. He is still plenty busy, but maybe just a fuzz less busy at home. Hardly noticeable. However, his teacher has noticed in the classroom he is not as fidgety. She said his focus is much better as well. This we have noticed at home while working on his schoolwork too. One day at a time. We are also going to make sure he has some form of schoolwork to do at home during the summer. He is going to hate it, but we really need to be sure he is up to speed and ready to take on third grade next year. He has come a long way and caught up a bunch, but we don't want him to start the school year rusty. Would love to see him take off running in the fall.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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Probably could have put this in the "What's good thread", but wanted to follow up here. Ethan finally got his report card for the 3rd grading period and brought home staight A's. I may have posted this elsewhere but he also met his AR reading goal and is reading at grade level for the first time ever.

Good job, Dad. Active parents are wonderful things!