Sunday, November 25, 2012

The week in ADHD news

One of the more aggravating things about ADHD is feeling like you have to constantly convince people that it's real. And not some made-up excuse to drug a bratty kid into submission. Or a way of justifying bad parenting. Etc.

Which was why it was sort of heartening to read about this study out of Sweden, which found that teens and adults with ADHD were more likely to commit criminal behavior -- but dramatically less likely to commit criminal behavior if they were still on ADHD medication. Said a professor who's researched ADHD but wasn't involved in this study:
"There definitely is a perception that it's a disease of childhood and you outgrow your need for medicines. We're beginning to understand that ADHD is a condition for many people that really lasts throughout their life."

Probably I should be flipping out about the idea that kiddo is more prone to criminal behavior, but I'm just delighted to see an article based on the idea that ADHD is real. As opposed to wondering whether it is real, or whether it's overdiagnosed, etc.

On the other hand, there was this story, which found that the youngest kids in a class were more likely to have trouble with academics and behavioral issues, and were also 50 percent more likely than the oldest kids in their class to be prescribed ADHD medications by the time they hit seventh grade.

In other words: 1. Maybe meds are overprescribed after all. 2. The parents who obsess about school cutoff dates and holding their kids back an extra year might actually have the right idea. Although the researchers said the study might not be conclusive across the board, and could possibly also mean that ADHD is undertreated in the older kids, not overtreated in the younger kids.

So, a bit of an up-and-down week in news stories.

In more local (ahem) news, kiddo had a couple of good days this week, thus proving that it's possible for him to have good days. We restarted the star chart and that seems to have made an impression. I also, for whatever it's worth, started giving him gluten-free foods. I'm not being completely strict about it -- if I were, I would've banned all gluten from his diet for a few weeks to see if it made a difference -- but I am keeping him gluten-free at school, just to see what happens. Supposedly ADHD kids sometimes have food sensitivities -- not allergies -- to gluten and/or dairy.  If I get the sense that any of his behavior is somehow food-related, I'll modify his diet further.

There is of course the possibility that he'll be this way no matter what he eats, so I'm not being too obsessive about it.

The OT at school finished her assessment so we should have some results this coming week, when we meet with the school again. Kiddo's teacher noted that the OT said he seemed distracted during the evaluation. Again, glad they're seeing what we're seeing. The in-class observation won't happen till December -- thanks a lot, Sandy -- and we'll meet on those results in January. Progress is progress.

At any rate, kiddo and kiddette had a lovely Thanksgiving and even tried to dance along with the Rockettes during the parade. And since all of our immediate neighbors have already put up their Christmas lights, it's time to move on to the December Month of Shopping Madness and Way Too Much Sugar. Um ... hooray?

2 comments:

  1. I just stumbled across this blog! I just wanted to to say THANK YOU! Up until this school year, our life was HE*L. This year, with a proper diagnosis and an IEP, life is much better!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading, and I'm so glad you got the IEP!

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