19:32 - who did you use for behavioral therapy and at what age?

Anonymous wrote:Combination of the right kindnof exercise (as a PP said, it needs to be mindful, controled motion), and enough sleep. We put him to be crazy early, he sleeps with white noise and blackout curtains and we almost never vary the bedtime or the routine. If he misses out on even 30-60 minutes of sleep symptoms are easily twice as severe.

My son has ASD diagnosis but as he gets older I see the ADHD diagnosis coming... Exercise is huge (indoor trampoline is great before school, hiking after school etc), bedtime routine/time is crucial and no food coloring.

Routine is critical, but that's also part of getting enough sleep.

It's hard to pick one thing because we've changed a lot in our parenting style to better meet their needs. Rethinking and overcoming our childhoods in very authoritarian households has been huge.

1. Special support in school: the preschool director gave our son a LOT of attention, she really went above and beyond. Then IEP in public school, special education teacher pulling out my son to work one-on-one with him in a quiet room, paraeducator in the classroom to keep him on task and help with organization.

2. Strict routine for mealtime and bedtime. No additives or preservatives, clean whole foods, not a ton of sugar at once. No snacking at all hours. Weekends, weekdays and vacations on similar schedules.

3. Daily exercise, particularly for primarily hyperactive children (not as critical for primarily inattentive children but still useful to self-regulate and sleep at night).

4. Medication. Truly life-changing.

5. Since ADHD is also co-morbid with other disorders, such as dyspexia, dyscalculia or dysgraphia (and general uncoordination), keep on top of these things. Sometimes a social skills group might be necessary when ADHD is severe and children cannot socialize fully and make/keep friendships.

Changing my parenting style to meet the needs of my kid.

Teach one skill at a time only (waiting your turn to talk, please/thank you, changing tone of voice) to the exclusion of all others. Focus for a week with lots of repetition and positive reinforcement. Ignore every other thing that definitely needs correction until that one thing is fixed.

Anonymous wrote:Medication, we started at five

NP. Adderall XR. We started at 5 too.

(DS already had lots of fitness/exercise time, diet changes, OT, positive reinforcement, sticker charts, etc. etc.)

Anonymous wrote:Melatonin. Just 1mg half an hour before bed. Goes to sleep without a fight, sleeps longer and wakes up happy. Sleep is a major problem for our ADHD kid.

Be cautious with melatonin - too much can cause nightmares. Good to work with your doctor on this. The smallest dose avail is 1 mg - start with 1/4 of that and slowly increase the dose until at therapeutic level.
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/melatonin

Time. Outgrew a lot of the hyperactivity symptoms in a few years. I know how tired and hopeless it must seem now. We were there but things do improve even if you need to medicate or do therapy like some PPs did.

Anonymous wrote:Medication, we started at five

+1 We started medication at 7 bc we thought the behaviors were due to his ASD diagnosis at 4. They weren't. Got diagnosed at 7 with ADHD and started Focalin and it has made life 1000% better. He already had a boatload of supports in his IEP for the ASD but medication made the most difference. Wish we had known sooner.

Melatonin. Just 1mg half an hour before bed. Goes to sleep without a fight, sleeps longer and wakes up happy. Sleep is a major problem for our ADHD kid.

Medication for us, too.

Combination of the right kindnof exercise (as a PP said, it needs to be mindful, controled motion), and enough sleep. We put him to be crazy early, he sleeps with white noise and blackout curtains and we almost never vary the bedtime or the routine. If he misses out on even 30-60 minutes of sleep symptoms are easily twice as severe.