*Parents of ADD/ADHD children*I need your opinions plz?

We recently had our 6 y/o daughter tested for ADD/ADHD and she shows significant signs, but especially in areas like following through with directions, etc. She is sometimes hyper-active, but not like people generally think when they hear the term ADHD. She's a good kid and you can tell that she struggles to do the right thing; things that are asked of her; she has a lot of trouble with getting her homework done. Last night she worked on HW from 4 to 7, tonight from 4 to 7:30. I help her when she is really stuck on something, but I'm not going to sit there and walk her thru it~how is that teaching her independence and responsibility? She sits there and zones out, plays around, etc.
So....we're taking her to the Dr. and I think our best & quickest solution right now would be medication. We have tried ever disciplining and rewarding technique we can think of to no avail. I do NOT want her to set this pattern for her life. My ? to you is: what meds have you found to work? What meds have you found to make your child into a mini-zombie (which we DON'T want)? How did your child handle being put on meds? How old is your child/children? Any other relevant info would be great, and thanks in advance for the answers!

iychick5~I believe I clearly stated that her problems are more oriented towards focusing and concentration and not hyperactivity, so I feel that your hidden accusation that I want to turn her into a zombie is not only hurtful but really off the mark. I specifically said that I didn't want her like that. It's not her activity or lack thereof or too much of that I'm trying to deal with, I'm trying to get her in good school and life habits so that she can become a successful, responsible adult.

As for the others, thank you for your input.

Hey girl! You will find out that every medication reacts differently with different kids. I will also tell you that with her being ADD you will have to sit there with her while she is doing her work. At least until she gets her medication in her system. This generally takes about 2-3 weeks. Jacob has been on and off meds for years. I don't like the side effets, so I don't currently have him on anything. I am considering putting him back on something mild. Don't give up, though. Message me later! XOXOX

First no child should be bringing home that amount of HW at her age.
There is nothing wrong with giving her help with HW.
From what you have told us here, I would highly suggest keeping away from the medications.
Too many children are taking drugs these days. Too many children are being classed as ADHD or ADD these days. Too easy to just drug the child.
( Connie Mom of 4 and 5th. Grade Teacher )

You want my opinion? I think she lacks a stable parental figure. You want me to advocate to you and tell you go ahead, be a lazy parent and stick your kid on drugs at an early age and set her up for failure for the rest of her life? Well my friend, you have come to the wrong place.

yeah i agree with tammy. You should be there to help your little girl when she has trouble with her homework. No where does it say that you can't help her.

When it comes to focusing in on homework, have you tried to let her work in intervals? It is hard for a child without the tendencies you describe to sit for more than an hour on homework. What you could try to do is first, after she is ready to do homework (more on that in a sec), is ask her which subject she feels is the hardest? Then have her work on that first, for no more than 15 minutes. Then let her stretch for a minute, go to the bathroom, grab a snack or whatever, and the have her get back to it. Always ask her how she is doing about every 5 minutes to help her not zone out as much. For the second interval, let her work on something that she considers easier and have her finish that work. Allow another minute break or so. Tell her it is time to buckle down to finish the hard stuff that she started with. Reward her when she finishes with a half hour break/cool down. Let her watch a favorite show or listen to some music or to chill in her room for awhile. Then after that half hour, she has to get the rest of her work done. since the hard stuff is out of the way, she may quickly finish the rest of her homework.

(That is a lot of homework for it to take from 4-7 zoning out or not. It may still take just as long with these intervals at first, but then she will catch on and be able to focus more.)

Now, as far as her being ready to do homework: Do you make her start her homework right away when she gets home from school? If so, then that may be a main problem as far as homework goes. Many kids need a time to grab a drink of water and relax for few minutes before cracking down on homework. Some people need longer. Of course, do not allow her to tell you when she is ready. just test the water with this one, allowing her a half hour after school to get herself situated and relaxed before cracking down on homework. If you find it is too much of a break, then lower the amount of time you give her.

Also, does she have her own quiet space dedicated to just homework and other creative ventures? If she has to do homework at the family table, with everyone running about, that is a distraction enough for someone without the tendencies you mention, so it may drive her batty.

wow - did not realize she was 6... that is way too much homework. Try to help her at first with the homework to see if she understand what she needs to do, then give her the space to do it until she calls for help on specific problems.

I know you've probably heard this answer before, but put your child on the ADHD diet. I had a violin student that was near impossible to deal with until she went on the magic flax-seed-and-fish diet. I couldn't believe how focused she was the over the course of the following weeks. It was amazing. Everyone is different, so maybe this won't be enough for your child, but keep her on a strict schedual (easier said than done), and try a little bit of coffee. That works wonders on ADHD patients, I would know. She might be too young, but I'll let you be the judge. I guess it's best to think of ANYTHING that could possibly reduce the need for medication, since that's a pretty large step to take. I don't have any medication recommendations since I tried to avoid meds at all costs, sorry.

perhaps, this might just be, but you COULD just be THINKING your child has ADD. What your doctor isn't telling you, that every student learns in a basic psychology class, is that it is actually very hard to diagnosis and actually only occurs from, maybe, 3-5% percent of the population and there are a HUGE number of misdiagnoses every year. A study was done recently(which I am trying to find) that if parents THINK their children have had sugar, they will claim the child is more hyper active(even though the child had no sugar).
My brother was misdiagnosed, turns out he was just bored in class because he was too smart for the material. Try mentally challenging your daughter before drugging her because you don't want to deal with an active child.

Oh, and as a tutor I can say that if you continuously help a person work through a problem they will eventually pick it up. Sometimes people get it the first time, sometimes it takes 100 times. She is six, I THINK she is allowed to be dependent on her parents for help.
Sounds like the problem is with you and not with your daughter.

she's 6 years old. isn't it too early to be molding her to be a successful, responsible adult? just let her be a kid for a while!

sorry, but i'm not trying to be an insensitive prick here. i have 2 boys diagnosed with adhd myself. one is 5 (the hyper kind), the other 7 (the lack of focus variety). they both go to a regular school and attend its individualized special ed programs where their improvement is indeed by leaps and bounds. and they're both having fun because we're not rushing them into anything. they're being given special attention, but they're being allowed to enjoy life as children at the same time.

they used to attend therapy, too --and that did them great! plus, it gave us (the kids and us parents) a stronger bond because we're all in it together.

so drugs may be the best answer right now. but i'm only telling you that there are other ways other than those you mentioned you've already tried. i also agree with the adhd diet.

but, of course, that's just me. if you're decided on the medication, then i'm sorry if i've wasted your time. :(

I am 22 and when I was about 9 I was diagnosed ADHD/ADD. They tried me on Aderrol, and just about everything they could. Ritalin worked for a while but they kept having to up my dosage. Eventually I was taking the max dosage of Ritalin and they had to add Tenex. That made me into a complete and total zombie. I couldn't even pick my head up off the couch because it made my blood pressure drop soooooo low. Just be very careful and keep close track of her dosage and anything they want to put her on to "boost" the ritalin. Trust me, it's not worth her being a zombie and nto enjoying life.

I had the same thing happen to me with my first child and I didn't know any better and put him on meds for ADD. It was in his nature to be interested in what he wanted to be interested in.
But, the school and the doctors could on paper diagnose as early as 6yrs with ADD but I held off until I think out 4-5 grade. It was a mistake that I hope to encourage others not to make. I finally weaned him off the meds by high school junior year. I could go on and on about the my feelings of wanting the meds to be the answer..but they just were not and he really suffered through middle school from it. Now, he 27 years old, a college grad with a great career making over 100k and it was not because of the meds--he really excel in his junior and senior year of High school because he was "clean" off meds
It is normal for your (OMG she's only 6) to be overwhelmed with school work. The amount and content is often so much to for a child to learn at once that they will naturally disengage. They are two young to come to you with an adult perspective and say "Mom, I am just too stressed out on the amount of work I am required to learn:" Children will either act out in different ways or resign to relieve themselves from the stress --it the same defense mechanism as "fight and flight".
So, please reconsider the drugs--it really complicates and always always has side effects! You will experience you child coming down from there "high" from the drugs.
Try a fun tutor for her or any other way to relieve her from the stress she may not be mature enough yet for the school expectations--give her outlets of free expression, play and a specialized educational plan without drugs-----she is just to young for this to make sense yet.
best regards, Trish mother of 4 (27, 15, 10 and 5)

All four of my sons are considered ADD. Having known many people on Meth and Cocaine I refused the drugs. These drugs work on the same places in the brain. Some young adults go from ADD drugs to Meth or Cocaine to feel the normal they are used to feeling with ADD drugs. I wanted my sons to feel normal drug free and learn self control

We tried karate, and were thrilled. The organization ATA is an excellent system that teaches self discipline and self respect. A good self esteem is a bonus for the child who finds parents and teachers often disappointed in them.

My oldest just got a full academic scholarship to Ga Tech. The fact that he achieved second degree black belt added to his college application, and he is firmly against drugs after watching me stand up to teachers on the matter of the ADD drugs. He has never taken them.