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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our child was diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing speed about six years ago.  He/she was more of the inattentive type and is very bright, so it went unnoticed by us (we didn't really even know what ADHD was) or by his/her school until late elementary school.  Since then, it has been a roller coaster of ups and downs.  We have been through different changes in medications, several psychatrists, a talk therapist to help him/her learning coping strategies, and have enrolled him/her in a school that (while it is mainstream) is known to be good at dealing with ADHD students.  As he/she has progressed to high school, we have had some "normal" years where he/she does fairly well, is relatively happy, and is excited about at least a few of his/her classes.  Then, we have the "nightmare" years with C's, D's, and F's even in classes where his/her strangths lie, a seeming inability to manage the workload, and an unwillingness to go to the teachers for help.  It is overwhelming for our child, and we at times feel that nothing has truly helped.  Our child is unhappy, and dealing with the constant stress of his/her emotional outbursts, reports from teachers, etc. has begun to take its toll on our own mental health at times.  We have other children as well, and I hate to see the effect that this has at times on them.  We have to keep plugging along to try to find something that works for him/her, but I sometimes want to just curl up into a ball and wish all these issue would just disappear.  How do you keep plugging along, even with it seems that there is so little success for all your efforts?  [/quote]

Does anybody in your family have these issues? How did they turn out?

If you don't know anyone in the family with these issues, what about friends and co-workers? You probably know someone who went through this and became a successful adult.

If you can't look to people you know, look to famous people. There are a ton of people with ADHD and slow processing speed who have great lives. They were often late bloomers.  Here's one list: http://www.addadult.com/add-education-center/famous-people-with-adhd/

What are your child's strengths and talents? Start focusing on those and thinking about ways for him to rely more on his strengths.  What does he like to do? ADHD people can be very, very focused on a special interest. Let him have at it.  One of the worst suggestions that I EVER got from a teacher was that we should restrict my son's robotics club activity until he improved his behavior and his grades.  It was the only thing making school bearable for him. He loves robotics. Taking that away would take a struggling kid and make him even more miserable than he already was.[/quote]

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