ADHD Information Resources

Several of my sponsors have donated some wonder products to help readers start the New Year off right! We will be raffling off 12 prizes through a random drawing on December 20, 1999. They are:
5 one year subscriptions to ADHD Research Update donated by Dr. Dave RabinerFilled with the latest research concerning ADHD and how to apply it to your child.
1 set of Parent Coaching Cards: A Social and Emotional Tool for Children, Donated by Dr. Steven Richfield.
A copy of Advocating For Your Child With ADD/ADHD. This 75 page manual has over 100 specific steps we have used successfully that can get your child the program they need. Donated by Attorney Reed Martin.
A copy of the manual, ASK REED - ANSWERS to Special Education Questions (Including Strategies to Get the Services YOU Need) (Volume One).Donated by Attorney Reed Martin.
A copy of the book, Surviving your Adolescents. How to manage and let go of your 13-18 year olds by Dr. Thomas Phelan. Donated by Brandi Valentine.
A copy of the book, All About Attention Deficit Disorder. Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment: Children and Adults by Dr. Thomas Phelan. Donated by Brandi Valentine.
A copy of the book, Shadow Syndromes by Dr. John Ratey and Catherine Johnson Ph.D. Donated by Brandi Valentine.
A copy of the book, Worry by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. donated by Brandi Valentine

To enter this drawing, send a note, postcard, letter, christmas card or anything! to Brandi Valentine, P.O. Box 473, Browns Valley, CA 95918. Please include a way to contact you if your card or letter should be chosen and also your first and second choice as to which prize you would like to have. If we're going to send you something to help make the new year more successful, we want to make sure it's something you'd like to have :). Winners will be chosen by a random drawing to be held on December 20, 1999. Entries without contact information will be discarded and a new winner drawn. Enter as many times as you wish. Only one prize per household. For more information, you can contact me at Contact Us Thank you and GOOD LUCK!

I have created a new list. This list is for ADDults with ADDiction issues. Whether it be food, alcohol, spending, drugs etc, this list is for you. I have tried to keep this list private. It is not listed, the member database is not viewable and there are no archives, public or private. If you are interested in joining this list, send an email message to addicts-subscribe@onelist.com

News!

As many of you know, we will soon be losing the Message boards due to a server change. In their place, ADDFlower has generously offered her Forum board over at Delphi for our use. ADDFlower and I are co-moderators of this forum and I'm sure you'll find lots of valuable support and information. To sign up (free of charge) and join in the discussions visit http://www.delphi.com/addflower/start.

Dr. Gabor Mate, Author of Scattered Minds:

ADHDNEWS.com and ADD Message Messpile is excited to announce that Dr. Gabor Matè will be joining us as a special guest for chat scheduled for Thursday, October 21 at 6 p.m. Pacific / 9 p.m. Eastern. He will be speaking to us about his book and experiences, which will be followed by an hour long Q & A.

In order to participate in the chat you will need to register with at Delphi, which you can easily do from our forum at http://www.delphi.com/addflower/start .

Dr. Matè is a medical columnist for the Canadian publication The Globe and Mail; and is the author of Scattered Minds: A Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder (recently published in the U.S. under the title Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It). Dr. Matè, an ADDer himself and the father of three ADD children, writes in the first chapter of his book:

Until four years ago, I understood attention deficit disorder about as well as the average North American doctor, which is to say hardly at all. I came to learn more through one of those accidents of fate that are no accidents. As medical columnist for The Globe and Mail, I decided to write an article about this strange condition after a social worker acquaintance, recently diagnosed, invited me to hear her story. She had thought I would be interested-or more likely she sensed it, with a gut-level affinity. The planned column became a series of four.

To dip my toe in was to know that, unawares, I had been immersed in it all my life, up to my neck.

Of his book he says "I wrote Scattered Minds to explore the roots of ADD in life experience, and to investigate how we can help children and adults develop beyond the impairments ADD imposes. The long term objective is not just symptom control or even behavior control, but development."

We hope you will join us to meet and listen to an exciting new voice in ADD treatment and research. You can visit his web site at http://www.scatteredminds.com

New Sponsors

We have several new sponsors at the site. Sponsors that I think have wonderful products and services to offer.

ldlearning.com offers educational tools for Learning Disabled and ADHD students. The products they offer are unique and are collected from classrooms around the nation and help with memory skills, homework, reading, math and more!
· Also new to ADHDNews is www.the-add-clinic.com The ADD Clinic offers a catalogue with books, videos, audiotapes, software, tests, rating forms, behavior management forms, as well as electronic assist devices and therapeutic games to aid parents, teachers, and counselors in dealing with children who present ADD / ADHD and/or behavior disorders. The ADD Clinic also offers year-round assessment and treatment of ADD behaviors in children, adolescents and adults. For more information about an intensive Summer Program, Summer Camp, resource materials, workshops for parents of children with ADD / ADHD.
· Calm Focus an Alternative to medication is also a new sponsor. For contact information: Calm Focus 16 Warren CT. , Cranston, RI 02920 . Toll Free - 1-800-413-2256. Dietary Supplement for ADHD. Approved by the Feingold Program. www.biz99.com/adhd

For many children with ADHD, behavioral treatment will be an important part of their overall treatment plan. Effective behavioral treatment at school, particularly for children who do not respond to medication, or who continue to have problems despite obtaining some benefits from medication (or alternative treatments), can play an enormously important role in promoting a child's long-term success.

What is involved in setting up an effective school-based behavioral intervention for children with ADHD? A recently published paper describing a program developed by Dr. James Swanson at the University of California at Irvine describes one promising approach (Kotkin, R. (1998). The Irvine paraprofessional program: Promising practice for serving students with ADHD. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31, 556-564.) Although this program may be more intensive than what can be easily implemented in many public school settings, it provides an excellent model to emulate, and offers a good idea of what effective behavioral treatment may need to include.

The program is designed to serve students with ADHD in grades K-6 and has these primary components:

1. Training paraprofessionals to work directly with ADHD children in the classroom an to serve as instructional aides under teacher supervision; 2. Consultation by the school psychologist with teachers about developing and implementing the behavioral plan with each child. These school psychologists have received specialized training about how to provide this consultation effectively; 3. Implementing a behavioral point system in the classroom by the paraprofessional aide and the child's teacher; 4. Twice-weekly skills training sessions with students; 5. Follow-up with the child's next year teacher.

The backbone of this approach is a very intensive and systematic point system that is implemented in the child's classroom by the trained paraprofessional. In designing this program for each child, the school psychologist, paraprofessional, and teacher first decide on the specific behaviors that will be targeted on the child's "daily report card". These "target" behaviors are determined based on direct observation of the child's behavior and the completion of standardized ratings scales. The goal is to identify those specific behavioral that are most problematic for the individual child, and which most-strongly compromise the child's ability to succeed.

This careful attention to identifying the specific behaviors that are most problematic for the child being treated, and documenting the pretreatment (i.e. baseline) severity of those behaviors should be a part of any child's behavioral treatment. There is no "one size fits all" approach that can or should be used.

Before treatment is initiated, the child is informed about the specific behaviors that are being targeted (e.g. not talking out of turn, completing assigned work, etc.). It is explained to the child that he/she can earn points for demonstrating the desired behaviors (or refraining from the undesired ones) and that these points can be used to obtained different kinds of rewards. When treatment is first initiated, the child receives feedback about each target behavior EVERY 15 MINUTES. Thus, every 15 minutes the child is informed about whether he or she earned points for the behavior (up to 4) on their daily report card. In addition to earning points, the child is prompted or praised verbally a predesignated number of times during each 15-minute interval. This feedback is provided by the trained paraprofessional as it is not realistic to expect the classroom teacher to provide this level of feedback. When the paraprofessional is not in the classroom, similar feedback is provided by the classroom teacher at 60-minute intervals, which is a more reasonable schedule for teachers to adhere to.

This very-frequent feedback, which includes a combination of something tangible (i.e. points on the report card) and intangible (i.e. attention and verbal praise), is another key element of effective behavioral treatment for elementary school children with ADHD. Less-frequent feedback is unlikely to be as effective in shaping the child to engage in more of the desired behaviors. Daily points earned on the report card are turned in for reinforcement during the last 20 minutes of the school day. The school principal assigns a staff member to design, implement, and maintain a daily reinforcement program to be used with targeted children as part of the behavior management program. Children bring their report cards to the "reinforcement center" and exchange their points for the opportunity to participate in a 20-minute activity of their choice. The number of points required to earn each different activity would, of course, have been worked out in advance.

The opportunity to earn short-term rewards for meeting behavioral expectations is another hallmark of behavioral treatment for children with ADHD. The short-term time horizon helps to maintain children's motivation to succeed and will be much more effective than requiring a long interval (e.g. a week) before the reward can be earned. As noted above, this is how the program begins. It would clearly not be possible, however, to maintain this level of treatment over an entire school year. For this reason, the Irvine program employs a "level system" that children move through as they experience success.

These levels are as follows:

Level 1 - The child receives feedback and points every 15 minutes from the paraprofessional as well as verbal prompts and social reinforcement (i.e. praise) for each targeted behavior during each interval. When the paraprofessional is not available, teachers provide this feedback on a 45-60 minute schedule. When the child has earned an average of 90% of possible daily points over a 10-day period, they move up to level 2. Level 2 - Feedback and points are provided every 30 minutes as are verbal prompts and social reinforcement. The child also begins to set goals for each interval (e.g. "I think I can finish 2 pages of math, work quietly, and get along with other kids") and attempts to match the paraprofessional's evaluation when the feedback for that interval is given. In addition, as permitted, the child gets to mark his or her points on the report card while the paraprofessional supervises. The child returns to Level 1 if fewer than 75% of possible points are earned on average over a 10-day period. When over 90% of possible points are earned over this period, the child advances to Level 3.

Several important behavioral treatment principles are illustrated here. First, as success is experienced, an effort is made to gradually "fade" the frequency with which feedback is provided. The goal is to gradually reduce the child's dependence on external feedback. Second, efforts are made to have the child set behavioral goals and to monitor his or her own behavior. This represents an effort to have the child begin to carefully attend to his/her own behavior and its consequences. Finally, careful records are kept (i.e. the daily report card) of the child's success - there are actual points than can be counted up rather than relying on a more general impression of how things are going. If treatment is not going well, an alteration is made (i.e. the return to level 1). If it is going well, new requirement are made on the child (i.e. the move to level 3).

It is also important to note that the target behaviors may not be the same ones as they were at level 1. The goal is to focus on the behaviors that one is trying to promote, and these may change over time. As during level 1, points continue to be exchanged for rewards at the end of the day. This would be an ongoing part of the program and apply to the levels listed below as well.

Level 3 - The frequency of feedback is increased to every 45 minutes and the feedback is now routinely provided by both the para- professional and the classroom teacher. The child continues to be required to set clear behavioral goals for each interval, and to provide ratings of his or her own behavior that match those of the paraprofessional. If fewer than 75% of possible points are earned over a 10-day period, the child drops back to level 2. When over 90% of points are earned over this interval, the child moves to the "challenge" level.

Increasing the time interval continues in an effort to reduce the child's reliance on external feedback. The teacher becomes more directly involved in providing feedback so that the paraprofessional can be a less important part of the program in preparation for the teacher taking over. Continued attention is placed on goal setting and monitoring one's behavior.

Challenge level - This is identical to level 3 except that feedback is now provided at 60-minute intervals. If fewer than 75% of possible points are earned over a 5-day period, the child returns to level 3. When 90% of points are earned over a 5-day period, the program moves to the "transition level".

Transition level - At this level, the teacher alone is responsible for implementing the program. The teacher alone provides feedback about points earned or not earned, and does so at 90-minute intervals, a realistic schedule to adhere to. Ideally, movement to the transition level would occur during a 12- week period. At this point, the paraprofessional is removed from the classroom (unless there is another child to implement the program with). Next, the child's treatment plan would be modified as needed in consultation with the school psychologist. The teacher and school psychologist would meet with the child's new teacher at the start of a new year in order to help adapt the plan to the new teacher's classroom program.

Over time, the goal has been to bring the child's behavior under sufficient control so that the regular classroom teacher alone can fully manage it by him or herself. Note that specific feedback continues to be provided to the child, as it is not reasonable to expect that such feedback could be completely eliminated for the vast majority of children with ADHD. Also note that careful attention is paid to providing some continuity in how teachers are dealing with the child from year to year. The program described above has been shown to produce significant behavioral improvements in children with ADHD in several evaluation studies. It is my understanding that this program served as the model for the school-based behavioral intervention that was implemented in the large NIMH multi-site treatment study of ADHD. There is little doubt that a well-designed program like this one would be helpful to the vast majority of students with ADHD. Even so, however, it is important to remember that current evidence suggests that well-executed medication treatment is likely to be more effective for most children with ADHD. For children who do not respond to medication, who refuse to take medication, or who continue to display important behavioral problems even if medication is helpful, however, a program such as this can be very, very important. As noted at the beginning of this article, the vast majority of school systems do not have a program such as this available to students. This is unfortunate because this program can be implemented in a cost-effective way and make an important difference for children, parents, and teachers.

Even if your child's school does not have such a program, however, the general principals on which this program is based can be used to guide the development and implementation of behavioral interventions for any child with ADHD. I hope this summary was helpful in delineating those principles, and in providing an overview of a very promising model for helping children with ADHD to succeed at school. David Rabiner, PhD http://www.helpforadd.com

It is critical that coaching consider a child's temperament. Temperament can be likened to a rubber band that has definite form but also stretches to some extent to accommodate what is being asked of it. The form of the rubber band symbolizes the inborn nature that our kids bring to the world, such as (1) how easy going vs. easily frustrated are they? Or (2) how much do they pursue challenge vs. recoil from it? These temperamental characteristics can be modified to some degree especially if the adults in their world don't try to stretch kids too far.

Just like rubber bands, some children can adjust to more stretching than others. One of the coaching tasks is to figure out how far we, as parents, can go in our expectations and attempts to help them adapt to a world that expects them to be pretty flexible. One example is the 4 year old who doesn't get to sit next to his favorite friend at burger king during the friend's birthday party - what I called the "I want it my way problem." He demands to sit next to the other boy and creates a scene. Some parents face these close encounters with 4 year old rubber bands that don't want to stretch, everyday.

The next issue I want to cover is what I call the developmental agenda. This concept refers to the typical behaviors and environmental expectations that are tied to a child's age. Each stage of childhood has it's own built-in goals that produce behaviors that can easily produce conflict with us as parents. I'm sure that all of you can attest to the fact that children in the 3-6 year old age range have a definite agenda. Sometimes, their burgeoning sense of independence makes them want to wield control over their environment like little adults who actually look more like little dictators. Other times they retreat from their new found abilities and willfulness to the dependency and insecurity of prior years. And adding more spice to the developmental mix, we also find that peers begin to play an important developmental role at this time. Peers require that our 3 to 6 year olds learn about give and take, cause and effect, perspective taking, competition, boundaries, and other critical social skills. All this and more make up the agenda of what they want from the world and what the world wants from them. But our coaching efforts should be consistent with the developmental agenda. For instance, the parent in burger king removes her son from the table after he won't quiet his demands. But should she exclude him from the entire party if he won't accept sitting next to another child? Or should she simply sit with him elsewhere until the lunch is over, help him to handle the frustration, and then allow him to join the kids on the outside play structure? In my mind, the answer is the latter: sit with him, coach settling down, and allow him to join the kids later. This is consistent with the developmental agenda of setting limits without being overly punitive. This example also points to one of the key coaching goals with kids of all ages: to stay emotionally involved with our nurturing and coaching while also setting limits.

I refer to the third issue as the communication pathway. This means that whenever a parent wants to relay important coaching messages it's important to consider the age appropriate communication routes. At this age we must remember that play is a central pathway of communication, and fantasy play, in particular, offers a place for parents to help young children assimilate skills. For instance, through participation in children's play, parents can demonstrate important social interactions between puppets or dolls, help kids test out self-control with action figures, or show kids how to read signals that others send to them. Play is the place for kids to observe how social skills fit into the bigger picture of relationships and smooth times. Our 3 to 6 year olds are beginning to learn how feelings and behaviors are connected; which behaviors are associated with happy interactions, which one's with angry ones. And as we watch their play, they communicate to us where they need help. For instance, if our 3 1/2 year old is running around with his light saber, chasing the family dog until he's growling and ready to bite, that tells us something. He needs our help with self-control during play, respecting boundaries, and observing important clues in his environment.

The 3 to 6 year old is busy displaying behavior that begins with the letters "ex" - exploring, experimenting, expressing, and exploding. And we, the parents, have our "ex's" - our expectations: we need them to do things. But if we predominantly use direct commands or force we are more likely to produce kids who are openly defiant. So we need to be flexible to some degree, to chose our battles, to let them express their individuality within acceptable parameters. Their early experiences in the art of compromise help pave the way for a smoother time in school, since they'll have more of the skills needed to cope with the increased structure and competition. Here are some of the most important coaching jobs at this young age:

1. When duty calls and the rubber band is about to break, take time to find your coaching voice. It's calm, clear, affectionate, and when necessary- firm. The calming qualities soothe the child's anxiety; the clarity focuses their attention on your words, and the affection supports the image of us as being on their side against the problem behavior. The coaching voice supplies a container for the 3-6 year olds free floating energy. And one more thing, try to match your coaching gestures up with affection in your coaching voice. This way we display disapproval without withdrawal of love. 2. Offer broad parameters for them to appropriately play out a range of developmental issues. Play is a wonderful place for them to sublimate or take the emotional charge out of issues that might get them into trouble in the real world. 3. Offer narrow parameters for them to learn the rules of age appropriate social interaction. We must not condone or overlook social behavior in our home that will not be tolerated outside our homes. 4. Label feelings and give them the words to discharge their impulses and emotions without acting on them. 5. Try to anticipate the challenges that our children will confront and help them prepare, such as by rehearsing expected behaviors, planting self-control messages in their minds, offering discharge paths, and using coaching tools and explanations. Some of the Coaching Card that I often make use of at this age include "Find The Brakes, Thinking Side And Reacting Side, Cooperation, and When Words Pop Out Watch Out!"

(C) Dr. Steven Richfield- Oct 1999 The Parent Coach: A Column For Proactive Parents www.parentcoachcards.com

It is no secret that children who have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have difficulty managing adversity and making the correct choices as they solve problems. As educators, we tend to handle discipline by waiting for the behavior that violates classroom rules and then reacting as we impose a logical consequence. The key to changing behavior is not teaching children how to deal with consequences for negative behaviors, but in teaching children correct responses to the problems before they occur. This is the essence of proactive problem solving. The ability to act in anticipation of future problems.

There is no question that ADHD, or ADD children have self - control issues. Ritalin will speed up the judgement centers of the frontal lobe of the brain so these children will be less likely to act on impulse. Just having impulse under control does not guarantee a correct response to a stimulus. It keeps the child from engaging in inappropriate behavior but does not teach what to do as an alternative, or offer instruction on what to do when they are in stressful situations. The key to helping students with ADHD is teaching them how to subordinate an impulse to a value. Answers that we build into a youngster's memory, proactively become the resources that a child draws from as he problem solves. Problem solving is not a haphazard episodic event that reacts to a situation, but a planned set of events that allows a person to see further down the road to the ultimate consequences of chosen behaviors. Children need to learn how to be proactive, so that they will be able to realize success, as they grow older. True education can only take place when there has been the requisite training. Training means to put in; education is what can be drawn out

If we spend the necessary time training students in the following five areas and if we implement a few simple techniques, the ADHD child will develop a bank of information he can draw from, and he will respond to situations based upon values, not impulse.

Self - Acceptance - Remember you can't esteem what you don't accept. Build successful experiences into the child's life. Praise the initiation of compliance and recognize the child's positive behavior.

Authority - Teach the child the concept authority and build relationships with the authority structures in the community. Emphasize that potential employers are more interested in hiring young people that can take orders or follow instructions, who can be on time, and who are hard workers.

Relationships - Teach the child about friendships first and then transition to more involved relationships. To often, adolescents move into serious relationship more quickly than they should, because they don't recognize the foundation of a solid relationship needs to be based on a friendship first.

Anger Management - Help the child recognize anger and teach him how to channel it correctly. To often we discourage or deny the emotion of anger. What we should be doing is discouraging the actions associated with the emotion. Teach the child that he does not have to act out the emotion he feels.

Managing through Adversity - Problems will come. Most of the problems that children face deal with their interactions with other people. Types of personalities that children do not deal with successfully become the same types of personalities they will not be able to deal with as adults. Help the child resolve any past problems they may have had with parents, siblings, or classmates. This will lay the foundation for improved future relationships.

The overriding principle is to be able to see further down the road than those around us can. That includes our children. Children need to be taught how to share, forgive, defer, work as a team, and respond, not react. Taking the time to train children now in these key areas will pay huge dividends later when they have the necessary resources.

Jim Burns
Proactive Educational Concepts at www.rsts.net/proactive

by Wanda Schwandt

Our goals for our ADHD children are shared universally with all parents. We want our children to lead happy, productive lives. In our society, after their physical needs are met, our children develop through formal education, social interaction, and moral/spiritual foundations. Last month we began discussing the educational system, and in particular, ways we could help our child get organized for school. There are two other factors for academic success: the role of the schools and the responsibilities of the student. When all three areas come into play, success should not be far behind.

Our children's brains seem to learn in a different fashion than those of the majority. They bore easily, need hands-on experiences to reinforce verbal instruction, tolerate fewer distractions, and are attentive for shorter periods of time. While the jury is still out on what causes our ADHD children to be different, there is one thing on which we can all agree. The public school system is not currently set up to meet the needs of our challenging children. Lets face it, not everyone learns in a left brained, analytical, organized fashion. Legislation such as IDEA97 had to be created to address the needs of children with all types of physical and learning disabilities. The 1999 amendment called Other Health Impairments deals specifically with ADHD. This site and others can lead you to copies of the legislation and interpretations of it. Read it for yourself, talk to local advocates and get to know your rights. This is the first step in understanding what the public school system can do for your child.

If you suspect that your child may have other learning disabilities, may be gifted and in need of further challenges, or there is a disparity between his/her capabilities and grades, you can send a written request to the school principal and/or psychologist for testing. Outline in your letter the reasons for the request and keep copies of all correspondence from teachers and school officials. It differs by state, but they must respond to your request within a reasonable amount of time.

Now's the time to do your homework. Be sure to rule out other possible health problems like eyesight or hearing difficulties. Be a silent observer or active participant in your child's classroom for a few hours at the discretion of the teacher. Observe how he/she interacts with your child and how your child interacts with peers. Discuss behavior and educational issues with his/her teacher(s) and see if you can find some solutions there. School officials may also do a classroom observation and discuss progress with the teacher(s). Talk to your children. Regardless of age, they may have good ideas of their own.

Search the net and library for ideas on what could benefit your child with regards to his/her classroom and homework challenges. What will create a successful environment? What could the schools do to help? Local organizations like CHADD and mental health professionals have a wealth of information on classroom accommodations. The options are as wide open as there are learning styles, specific disabilities included with the ADHD, IQ level, and the degree to which ADHD interferes with classroom functioning. "Driven To Distraction," by Drs. Hallowell and Ratey, is a good place to start. Dr. Ratey's article entitled "50 Tips on the Management of ADD in the Classroom" can be found at http://member.aol.com/BevKPrice/HTML/web37.html . "The ADD Hyperactivity Workbook for Parents, Teachers, and Kids" and "The ADD Hyperactivity Handbook for Schools," both by Harvey C. Parker, Ph. D. are other great sources. An article written by Dr. Parker was featured in "In Focus" Fall 1999 newsletter entitled "Accommodations Help Students With ADD." A sample copy of this newsletter can be obtained by calling 1-800-429-4272. "Teaching Children with AD/HD, Update 1998," ERIC Digest pamphlet #E569 can be copied from http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index.html (search for ADHD). Links to these and other helpful sites can be found at http://www.voicenet.com/~daphni/support/addlinks.html.

From the testing, observations, and your own ideas, a 504 plan or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) can be developed by the school psychologist, outlining specific things that will be done for your child; by the teachers, by the parents, and items for which your child will be accountable. When you go into the meetings to discuss what will be included in the plan, bring along all correspondence and documents related to your child's education and a diagnosis written by his/her medical professional. Don't sign anything at the meeting, but take time to review the documents and discuss them with others acquainted with your child. Don't be afraid to ask questions or request additional meetings. Take along someone for moral support or an advocate to encourage you or speak for you.

A plan is only as good as the communication and cooperation of the participants. Insist on regular progress reports from the teacher(s) regardless of grade level. If at any point during the process you disagree or feel uncomfortable with the results, you have other options available to you. Contact a local advocate as to what is available in your area.

Next month we will take a look at our child's role in his/her education. Is it underachievement and where do we draw the line? When are we enabling our child's lack of responsibility and when are we accommodating a true problem? Email your thoughts and comments to Wanda at daphni@iname.com.

Dear Readers,

Recently my family has grown from two to five and with that adjustments in all areas have had to be addressed. Initially, my partner was not on any type of vitamins and was not eating balanced meals which results in fatigue along with other symptoms. Fast food was the diet of this single parent with two children.

I have gotten him on a program of vitamins, minerals, and herbs taken nightly. He's eating balanced meals and has cut way down on sodas which can make a big difference. The vitamins taken earlier on did not effect his sleeping habits since his body was deficient of many things but over several months that has changed. We have him taking his vitamins in the morning which helps give him the boost he no longer needs at night.

Our littlest edition to our family is seven years of age and has problems swallowing pills so what I decided to do since I've noticed a significant difference in him with diet changes is to just put him on a nutritious multiple vitamin and mineral that he can chew. I haven't seen evidence of learning problems so we'll work with the diet.

Too much candy and sodas that were unsupervised led to more outburst and hitting. No more full sodas are allowed only half a cup to possibly three quarters depending on the depth and generally decaffeinated with as little colorings as possible. He's a great kid but gets wound up like a top with too much of the above. My little one is doing much better at home and at school with the proper diet changes.

My second child is not a problem in any area and I have him on multiple vitamin/mineral, Calcium, B complex, and a 1,000 mg of Vitamin C. These are taken nightly with the other children .

The oldest child is mine which is the one much of my experience and research was based on is doing phenomenally well. His body from starting out having mega vitamins, minerals, and herbs earlier on when the deficiency was at it's peak resulting in compulsive behavior, attention deficit hyper disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder has been continually nourished over the past three years taking away three disorders along with the hyperactivity. He's no longer on such a stringent amount of the vitamins, minerals, and herbs. I believe that in the future he will no longer have to take his herbal drops to help with his attention span within a year or two if he keeps progressing. My son is gaining weight normally and he's much more alert then he has been in the past. He I have the three children take their vitamins together after dinner and for my son it has brought about a unity between them. My partner and I take them together in the morning since I now sleep better. The balanced meals I prepare for the family has only helped me to be more conscientious of what each of us needs nutritionally. Each individual is unique and should be treated as such.

That's it for this edition of ADDed Attractions. Please remember to visit my sponsors. It is because of their contributions and support that this site and newsletter remains FREE to anyone who wishes to use it.

LDLEARNING.COM: www.ldlearning.com
THE ADD CLINIC: www.the-add-clinic.com
ACROSS THE SPECTRUM: www.naceonline.com
ADD HOTLINE: COACH HARV 1-888-761-9541
GRANDMA'S PET WILDEBEAST ATE MY HOMEWORK: A practical guide for teaching and parenting adhd kids: www.adhdcounselorguy.com
ADDwarehouse: www.addwarehouse.com/indexbv.htm
DR. DAVE RABINER: www.helpforadd.com
DR. STEVEN RICHFIELD: www.parentcoachcards.com
POWER ORGANIZER SUCCESS SYSTEM: www.powerorganize.com/

Copyright 1999 Brandi Valentine. All rights reserved. This Newsletter is copyrighted by the authors and/or publisher.

ADDed Attractions may be used for non-commercial purposes only and may not be redistributed for commercial purposes without the express written consent of Brandi Valentine.

Appropriate credit should be given to this resource and it's authors if It is reproduced in any form. Brandi Valentine

The following Sponsors have been been faithful Supporters of this site and have made it possible for me to continue to provide this site, as well our FREE newsletter, ADDed Attractions to my readers. Without the support and contributions of these professionals who have dedicated themselves to ADD/ADHD. this would not have been possible.

Please take time to check out their sites and thank them for their efforts.

LDLearning.com -www.ldlearning.com
The ADD Clinic
ADHD Research Update www.helpforadd.com by Dr. Dave Rabiner Ph.D
Parent Coaching Cards www.parentcoachcards.com by Dr. Steven Richfield Ph.D
The Power Organizer www.powerorganize.com by Dr. Alice D'Antoni -Phillips

Rick Pierce The Hyperactive Teacher

Bob Seay ADD Guide at the Miningco

Jim Burns: Proactive

Reed Martin J.D Special Education Law

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