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[quote=Anonymous]DC did not go on meds until 5th grade.  He is on a non-stimulant medicine because he is allergic to the stimulant medicine. Medicine is not 100%. He has other issues that contribute to impact of the ADHD and are benefitted by the medication.  He is in HS and we have started the practice of lowering the dosage.  So far so good.

The things we did before medicine and continue to do after are:

[b]Daily exercise[/b].  Very important.  DC walks the almost 2 miles home from school.  In ES, we walked to school in the am- it was about 3/4 of a ile.  SOmetimes we took the longer way.  We also have a treadmill and a elliptical.  Others I know have personal trampolines- excellent investment.  If your school does not have one, buy it for them.  Put it into your DC"s IEP to have trampoline breaks as part of his routine, working to as necessary.  A ten minute jump in the middle of the day can do wonders.

[b]Set homework and set homework place[/b].   DC generally starts homework about 15 minutes after getting home from school.  He has a desk set up in our family room.  It is the homework room for both of our children.  It is open to the kitchen, so I can get things ready for dinner and help with homework at the same time.  (Not so much helping anymore, but in ES and MS I was his scribe and reader)

If he has trouble with getting his ideas down on paper.  Use a [b]graphic organizer[/b] and have him [b]dictate[/b] to you.  Then have him [b]copy[/b] what you have scribed for him.  This eliminated our son's tendency to self edit to the fewest words possible. It helped him concentrate on the writing aspect and the writing down aspect separately, until he was able to write/type as fast as his thought came.   Get his keyboarding skills up to snuff as soon as possible.  We found that summers were the best time to do this.

[b]Sleep.[/b]  Bedtime is solid here.  Both my children are in HS and get up at 6:00am; so they go to bed between 9:00 and 9:30.  Lights out.  This means they have fewer ECs, but their grades are higher.

[b]Eating[/b]- very little junk food.  Family dinners.  Breakfast and lunch.  No skipping meals. Healthy good food.

[b]Fidgets[/b] are great.  They are inexpensive, buy a variety to see what he likes.  DC uses a deck of cards that he shuffles.

Relaxation and guided meditation CDs.  We use these during times of stress. We should do it more.  Don't get the CDs with waterfalls/streams, it just makes have to pee.  :)  I taught both boys how to relax to sleep.  "Quiet your body, quiet you mind, quiet your mouth....close your eyes.  breathe in......and out....breathe in......and out.........tighten your toes, now relax them, tighten your calves, now relax them, tighten your thighs, now relax them.......tighten your shoulders now relax them, tighten your face, now relax........breathe in..............breathe out..............."  Slow soothing voice.  then have them do it on their own after they get the hang of it.

Good luck!  Find what works the best for your DC.  They are all different.

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