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Kailuamom
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13 Sep 2012, 11:11 am

Boy - is this our issue too! One thing we have found helpful (when we can get him to do it), deep pressure type activities first. When he was in school they had this thing called a cuddle swing - it was a spandex swing, like a cocoon - provides deep pressure through his whole body. At home we accomplish this with the trampoline. It's not as good, but it works. Even bike riding will do it. We find an easier time focusing after he has received deep pressure.



CWA
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13 Sep 2012, 12:49 pm

Mummy_of_Peanut wrote:
My daughter has Aspergers and she is very easily distracted. Everything distracts her, even the colours of pencils or things on the wall. It need not be moving or making a noise. We were trying to get her homework finished last night and, within seconds, she was off her seat, drinking water, standing on the seat, shouting 'I can't concentrate' and was completely 'ants in her pants'. We were writing sentences (choose 5 spelling words and write a sentence for each). As we were trying to come up with ideas, she started to draw pictures. So we incorporated what she was drawing into the ideas and we managed to come up with sentences. She did not sit still for the duration, she was still overly distracted, but the work got done in a quicker time than usual. This worked for us last night, but I don't know if it will work again.

She has the same issues at school, but she somehow manages to sit still, whilst her mind, eyes and ears are off somewhere else. On Monday, they introduced a new reward scheme for her. She has a chart and every time she finishes a piece of work, she gets a sticker. Tomorrow, if she has enough stickers (and I think she might), she has to go to the head teacher, to get a prize - probably an eraser or something similar. We've tried reward charts at home, but they've only worked for a short time, but I'm hopeful that it will work at school.

This is the most difficult thing we have to deal with, in our house. She gets distracted whilst in the middle of doing absolutely everything, including dressing, bushing her teeth, eating and walking a short distance. If they teachers knew what we went through each week with her homework, they'd be astonished that she ever handed anything in, never mind that she completes it.

sounds like my dd5. She has homework already for Kindergarten. Seems crazy, but I'm guessing it's just to get the kids used to it. I have to sit with her while she does it. She does the same ants in the pants stuff. One thing that has worked is to tell her that if she can sit still and REALLY do the homework for five minutes, then she can play angry birds for five minutes. Then, she has to do 5 more minutes of really earnest homework, then she can have 5 minutes of angry birds. This actually works really well. I thought of doing this because it's how I sort of operate. I can maintain focus on something I don't like, but it's really super hard. It's easier if it's only for short bouts of time, like for me 10-15 minutes maybe borken up with other activities that I actually enjoy. It keeps the stress down and gives me something to look forward to. I also feel recharged when I go back to the thing I don't like. When she gets older, I plan to increase the focus time and decrease the "special interest" time.

If "5 minutes" seems "like forever" for them, which sometimes my dd5 whines about, then instead of saying "5 minutes" I say "do 3 problems" (or whatever I estimate will take about 5 minutes). This helps. I think that "3 problems" is more tangible and there fore seems more achievable or something.



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14 Sep 2012, 2:53 pm

Kailuamom wrote:
Boy - is this our issue too! One thing we have found helpful (when we can get him to do it), deep pressure type activities first. When he was in school they had this thing called a cuddle swing - it was a spandex swing, like a cocoon - provides deep pressure through his whole body. At home we accomplish this with the trampoline. It's not as good, but it works. Even bike riding will do it. We find an easier time focusing after he has received deep pressure.


Deep pressure or other proprioceptive activities help us too. Bear hugs, lifting, pushing or pulling heavy items. We have a thing we do called flip overs, kinda hard to explain, maybe I'll have to video it sometime. It really works the large joints of the shoulders.

Just a total layperson's suggestion but give it some thought. I have heard that people who are considering trying medication for ADHD sometimes try just giving coffee and observing what effect it has. Ritalin is a stimulant similar to caffeine and the thinking is if the caffeine has a positive effect on focus and attention, then Ritalin or other similar drugs are likely to be beneficial. If the caffeine has no effect whatsoever, the same might be true for stimulant medication. Just a thought anyway.

I was wondering if he is equally distractable all day long or might there be times of the day that are better for him than others. Have you tried doing your lessons at various times of day?



Kailuamom
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17 Sep 2012, 7:12 pm

On Bombaloo's point, my DS can't tolerate stimulant meds BUT the neurologist encouraged us to use caffeinated drinks as it is a stimulant, but less than the smallest dosage he can prescribe, and shorter acting.

My son loves to have an energy drink that has caffeine and all sorts of vitamins. I fell like a bad mom letting him, but the DR said..... He doesn't have them often since he's home schooled. He does when he has a group function requiring focus. I still think it makes him more hyper but he says he can focus better.



MMJMOM
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17 Sep 2012, 7:16 pm

I would try the caffeine drinks, but my son cant stand anything but water, and on a rare occasion, milk with vanilla syrup. NO juice, NO soda, NO lemonade, NO iced tea...nothng but water!


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Dara, mom to my beautiful kids:
J- 8, diagnosed Aspergers and ADHD possible learning disability due to porcessing speed, born with a cleft lip and palate.
M- 5
M-, who would be 6 1/2, my forever angel baby
E- 1 year old!! !


Mummy_of_Peanut
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18 Sep 2012, 3:45 am

This is interesting. But, how does it tend to affect hyperactivity or episodes of 'ants in their pants'? I thought it would make this worse, If anyone has any experience of this, please advise. Thanks


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AshleyT
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18 Sep 2012, 12:02 pm

MMJMOM wrote:
I am not asking him to sit for hours, he does get up...thats one of the issues. He is up and drinking water, going to the bathroom, falling out of his chair. Thats why it takes him hours casue he is so distracted, cannot sit, cannot focus, he is up ever 2 seconds, etc... Had he just sit and done his work, he would be done on 15 minutes with one, and another 15-20 with the other. That is reasonable for a 2nd grader. In school they are required to sit at their desks and complete an assignment of this amount of time at his age. He just cannot.

I have tired timers, letting him get up, taking breaks, etc...he has OT but that is just for fine motor activitie and muscle strengthening. It just takes forever to do anything school work wise. He is homeschooled, so he isnt sitting in a class all day. He literally has to just do his work and he can be done for the day to do whatever, but it is like torture for him to sit and focus on work for any amount of time. Be is 5 minutes or 20.


We are seeing a new psychologist and might be considering ADHD meds. Something has to give. He is miserable, crying, and I dont know how to help him. I try to control the envt as much as possible, but no matter how quiet it is he still cant focus.

Thanks for the book recs, I will look into them!


Hey there, I'm a 21 year old with ADHD.

Could I please ask, what is it you need him to sit and do?

If it's homework - why not make it more fun, interactive with movement involved? If it's maths and the answer is '5' get him to jump up 5 times whilst you write the answer in. If it's English and reading a book - get him to act the characters out. You need to make it fun and keep him mentally stimulated.

There's no point trying to force him to sit and do something boring - i'm 21 and still can't do it. Instead I have to find ways around this problem. There's no point telling him '15-20 minutes and you'll be done'. We don't understand time like that as such which is known as 'time blindness' - we only have 'now' and 'later' and if the 'now' is boring it doesn't matter how great later may be. This is one of the reasons why many people with adhd leave coursework deadlines so late and won't start until the night/few hours before even though we KNEW for weeks it was due.

You'll find that those with adhd learn sooo much better with visual aids and kinematic type learning - even as adults. If he can learn in this way - he'll probably also remember it far better.

Sorry, hope this post didn't come across rude etc. :)



Eureka-C
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18 Sep 2012, 12:33 pm

I was wondering around on the internet and came across these top 10 tips for teaching children with ADHD. You've probably already seen them or something like them, but I thought I would share them just in case you hadn't.

http://www.westfieldacademy.org/adhd/



bjtao
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18 Sep 2012, 1:35 pm

Been there, done that. After trying different parenting techniques, therapy, punishments, rewards, etc...for years with no success, ended up using Attentive Child, 2 chewable wafers per day.



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18 Sep 2012, 5:58 pm

In the last few days I have tried a different approach with my little girls home work. I left the tv on, let her carry on doing what she was doing and just casually stuck the letter card infront of her and didnt pressure her to concentrate. She got all of them right without jumping up and down and getting all crazy shouting in my face like usual lol! Worth a go :lol:



MMJMOM
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18 Sep 2012, 6:41 pm

AshleyT wrote:
MMJMOM wrote:
I am not asking him to sit for hours, he does get up...thats one of the issues. He is up and drinking water, going to the bathroom, falling out of his chair. Thats why it takes him hours casue he is so distracted, cannot sit, cannot focus, he is up ever 2 seconds, etc... Had he just sit and done his work, he would be done on 15 minutes with one, and another 15-20 with the other. That is reasonable for a 2nd grader. In school they are required to sit at their desks and complete an assignment of this amount of time at his age. He just cannot.

I have tired timers, letting him get up, taking breaks, etc...he has OT but that is just for fine motor activitie and muscle strengthening. It just takes forever to do anything school work wise. He is homeschooled, so he isnt sitting in a class all day. He literally has to just do his work and he can be done for the day to do whatever, but it is like torture for him to sit and focus on work for any amount of time. Be is 5 minutes or 20.


We are seeing a new psychologist and might be considering ADHD meds. Something has to give. He is miserable, crying, and I dont know how to help him. I try to control the envt as much as possible, but no matter how quiet it is he still cant focus.

Thanks for the book recs, I will look into them!


Hey there, I'm a 21 year old with ADHD.

Could I please ask, what is it you need him to sit and do?

If it's homework - why not make it more fun, interactive with movement involved? If it's maths and the answer is '5' get him to jump up 5 times whilst you write the answer in. If it's English and reading a book - get him to act the characters out. You need to make it fun and keep him mentally stimulated.

There's no point trying to force him to sit and do something boring - i'm 21 and still can't do it. Instead I have to find ways around this problem. There's no point telling him '15-20 minutes and you'll be done'. We don't understand time like that as such which is known as 'time blindness' - we only have 'now' and 'later' and if the 'now' is boring it doesn't matter how great later may be. This is one of the reasons why many people with adhd leave coursework deadlines so late and won't start until the night/few hours before even though we KNEW for weeks it was due.

You'll find that those with adhd learn sooo much better with visual aids and kinematic type learning - even as adults. If he can learn in this way - he'll probably also remember it far better.

Sorry, hope this post didn't come across rude etc. :)


the prob with my son is the more physically active he gets, the more overstimulated he is and the harder it is to reel him back in. I have a hard time even using manipulatives with him, casue he gets overstimulated with them and cannot complete the task. While I would love for him to hop and jump to get his work done, it makes him even harder to bring back. And with that I do allow for him to get up and move, I just have to be very careful about not crossing that line!

For instance, when using base ten blocks, he got so lost in breaking them apart and mixing them up, or having to make stories with them, or sticking them all otgether, etc...he couldnt complete his work with them out. Same when he was learning money. Having the coins for him to look at made learning money impossible. I had to get rid of the money casue he was sooo lost in playing with the money. Its not just play, its overstimulation. He is motor driven at those times, and you cannot reach him. He has to rub his hands all over the $ or blocks, or whatever the manipulative is, he then starts jumping, etc...it is a huge mess!! !


_________________
Dara, mom to my beautiful kids:
J- 8, diagnosed Aspergers and ADHD possible learning disability due to porcessing speed, born with a cleft lip and palate.
M- 5
M-, who would be 6 1/2, my forever angel baby
E- 1 year old!! !


FlintsDoorknob
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18 Sep 2012, 10:39 pm

deep pressure input...i'm so tired of having to write this in every post for everything i see on literally every autism board I go to.

Most of the problems are with sensory itnegration. Look up weighted blankets and stuff.