I think I have a mild form of autism, noting thats been diagnosed however I was "held back" from first grade because I was "socially unready" and put into readiness (for those for you who don’t know a post kindergarden/pre first grade class) I literally had no friends from 2nd – 8th grade. In high school in the beginning of my junior year they put me in special ed classes once a day in the "resource room" By this time I had failed a number of classes freshman social studies twice, freshman science twice and sophomore science once 2 english classes (the list goes on). I barely graduated with 21 credits. the average student (taking 7 classes a semester) has the chance for 28 credits so I failed 12+ classes in my high school year and they refused to have me tested to see if I could get an IEP the entire time.
I also have mild OCD mild Bipolar and ADD.

But anyways I do think that there is something wrong with me, what are your thoughts.
Uhm what dos ADD have to do with smiling? and I don’t go to school so how can i go to a school person?

my thought are: if u want a professional opinion u go to a professional. also i had been working with autistic children and got some courses plus to my master degree in philosophy. so anyway, if a person is autistic a person stays in his/her own world and prefers his/her company. also autism doesn’t affect intelectual abilities. so u being autistic can’t be an excuse for failing in studies. to me u don’t sound autistic at all. also those people never smile. they don’t knwo how. and they do not have any emotional feelings whatsoever. u having add says the opposite. but i am educated only to teach them, not to diagnose them. so u want a diagnose – go to school shrink.

Whats wrong with me??? I am so frustrated with myself ! I am doing poorly in school. I have NO self confidence in my self and my anxiety is unbearable ! Lately Ive been unable to concentrate and its interfering with my studying and exam taking !!! i seriously feel so ANGERY at my self that i want to harm my self, i want to punish my self!! For some reason i am doing the worst academically this year in high school then any of the other years! i don’t think its because the curriculum is difficult i just think maybe there something wrong with me! Ive been trying different alternatives to try to concentrate but hasn’t worked!! Ive drank coffee, it doesn’t really help, Ive tried sleeping earlier and ive tried studying and honestly when i study it takes me FOREVER to memorize or learn a few things. I am very stressed and its only getting worse. Please is there any one out there that has gone through this??? and please give advise and suggestions. thank you .

P.s. I don’t know if this matters but When I was younger i always struggled in math and till this day i still do and i learned how to read when i was 8 and that’s only after my mother payed thousands of dollars for a tutor !!! in elementary school and up in till the Sixth grade i did horrible in school my grades were in 40s 50s and 60s ( sometimes less!) Then all of a suddenly i was doing well ( I took resource form elementary till middle school) now its like dajavu again!!! Could there be a good explanation as to why i did bad all through elementary school and 6th grade, and now Again! I am seriously getting failing grades in some of my classes .
Is it like an on and off condition of academic failure?

First of all, start loving your self. never ever think of hurting yourself ….

Everything is there in your mind set..
if you think you loose, you loose.
If you think you win , you win….
just study your subjects with interest, don’t worry about grades when you start to study. Believe me when you do some thing with interest the results are quite amazing. Gradually you will find your grades increasing and you will be the best in your class. All the best….

I am a twenty year old woman and I think I have ADD. The thing is, I always have a huge drive to finish everything – but usually take on too many tasks and end up saying to myself "get this done, and this, and this too, and you need to do this too" until it has been days or weeks later. There are at least 10 highly important things that I have to do as of now, but I just can’t find my way around to do them. It has been very hard for me in the past couple semesters of college, during my first year people told me over and over my difficulties were due to the transition into university, and ever since then I feel like I just can’t do anything right. I know when something is coming up and I am a champion at list and to do making, I just cannot focus.

I reached out to my adviser last year and she bombarded me with loads of information, but no resources. I am afraid to ask my parents because, well, I am embarrassed about it. It is not easy admitting you think you have a disorder and need help. Has anyone else gone through this? I just would like to know what further steps to take.

(Serious answers only please)

Thank you
I realize that medication would be very helpful, but how do I go about finding the correct type of doctor and so on?
I never said I needed or even wanted to use "drugs". I just am having a really difficult time. I feel like this is ruining my life.

This doesn’t really sound like ADD/ADHD to me. It just sounds like you’ve taken on too many responsibilities because you can’t say no and haven’t figured out a good way to manage your time. And now you’re overwhelmed to the point that you just don’t even know where to start. Instead of looking at what you need to do as a whole big project of I need to do X,Y, and Z to get this done. Try just doing X and when you’re done with that then look at Y and then Z. Before you know it you’ll have all those things done and then things won’t be so overwhelming. Just try not to keep saying Yes or you’re just going to end up in the same boat again.

My wife doesn’t want our son be put on medication. I don’t want to go to a doctor…yet. Y? I don’t trust them. let say I had some bad experiences with those guys.

Could you give me some sites where I can find some good resources for research. I need to get some printouts to show my wife so we can discuss our son’s situation.

… and thanks to those people who replied to my question. God bless you all.

ADD and ADHD is not cureable. Be sure your son was tested at a clinic that specificially tests for these things. THere is no need to put him on medication if you don’t want to. Things you can do that will help though are to eliminate all the toxic cleaners and laundry products you use in the home as many of these things are registered pesticides and quite toxic. Once you replace all of the cleaners etc in your home clean the home thoroughly with the all natural cleaners. Feed your son lots of fresh foods without dyes and artificial ingredients. Also try using a good grape seed extract product with him and also a good multivitamin but preferably one without lots of dyes and addatives.

My wife doesn’t want our son be put on medication. I don’t want to go to a doctor…yet. Y? I don’t trust them. let say I had some bad experiences with those guys.

Could you give me some sites where I can find some good resources for research. I need to get some printouts to show my wife so we can discuss our son’s situation.

… and thanks to those people who replied to my question. God bless you all.

ADD and ADHD is not cureable. Be sure your son was tested at a clinic that specificially tests for these things. THere is no need to put him on medication if you don’t want to. Things you can do that will help though are to eliminate all the toxic cleaners and laundry products you use in the home as many of these things are registered pesticides and quite toxic. Once you replace all of the cleaners etc in your home clean the home thoroughly with the all natural cleaners. Feed your son lots of fresh foods without dyes and artificial ingredients. Also try using a good grape seed extract product with him and also a good multivitamin but preferably one without lots of dyes and addatives.

I’m a social work student and as one of my assignments next semester I have to facilitate a group.

I want to teach age appropriate social skills to teenage boys where I work. The boys have behavior problems ranging from ADHD, Fetal Alcohol Effects, oppositional defiant disorder and Tourettes along with many many others.

Has anyone ever run a group like this that could give me some tips or lesson ideas? Where can I find resources on how to run a group like this?

I would work on targeted skills and do role play instruction. I work in a class with kids much like you describe. We’ve picked specific skills that would help them in a variety of situations.

Stop and Think. This one is huge with this population, for everyone actually. If people would stop and think before reacting, imagine how different things would be. Pick a situation and roll play how they would normally react. Then do it again using "Stop and Think" see if they can come up with a better way to react without getting into trouble.

IGNORE: This one is also pretty big. Often thewe kids are easily distracted, drawn into conflict, etc. If they can learn to ignore rather than add to the situation, many times they’ll be better off. Again, role play with typical reactions, then with ignore. Discuss how often people like to push others buttons, but if there’s no reaction, there’s no payoff so they move on.

I have more, but have to go for now.

Ok, more skills to target:

Accepting a compliment gracefully:
It’s suprising how many people have a problem with just saying "thank you" to a compliment rather than putting themselves down. When you compliment someone and they respond with personal put downs, how does that make you feel?

Agree to disagree, and disagree respectfully.
These are really important skills. You don’t always have to be right, and you don’t always have to agree, but you do need to be respectfull.

Random acts of kindness.
This is teaching them that sometimes you do something for someone else just because you know it would make them happy, not for some payoff you will receive.

So much of this can be done by presenting the targeted skill, then having a discussion where the skill was/wasn’t used, and then roll playing so they can learn how to use the skill.

When you see them using the targeted skills, it’s important to recognize and use positive reinforcement. If other people working with the boys are in on it, know the targeted skills and can recognize and reinforce when the behavior is used, it will be successfull.

http://www.hetwebsite.com Mandy talks about the improvements she has seen in a child exhibiting ADHD type behaviour with complications using an alternative approach

Duration : 6 min 11 sec

(more…)

Technorati Tags: ADHD

Many of you have been judgemental because of my desire to do well in dental school through trying to increase my focus. I tried Adderall once which is why I mentioned that one specifically in looking for an MD to write me a script. Have I been diagnosed? No. Did it help when I took it? Absolutely. I studied for 8 hour straight and aced my exam. Who is to say I don’t have an attention deficit issue? and regardless, what is the harm in trying out medicine that helps one focus? Wouldn’t you want your dentist to have used all the resources available to help him/her achieve the highest level of knowledge he/she is able to attain? Now I can’t tell the MD that I tried Adderall and it worked. Once I took antibiotics without a prescription and they didn’t work. When my throat started bleeding, I had to go to the emergency clinic at my school. They were not pleased.

You can go to the doctor and tell him that at one point in the past you took non prescription amphetamines (Adderall is amphetamines) and that you found that your focus was improved by it, and you would like the doctor to screen you for ADHD. Or just ask for a screening.

The screening is done in the office, at least it was with my three kids, just by asking a series of questions.

According to two different doctors I have talked to, the main way that ADHD is diagnosed is by prescribing the meds and finding out if they help the situation. If they do, then the diagnosis is confirmed. If they don’t, then they look further to see what else might be causing the problems.

where do i find trustworthy adhd books for professionals? (im not a pro but i have alot of knowledge about adhd)

i cant study it as i would like because i dont know where to look for reliable resources
im not going to go to my psychiatrist just to ask for his recommendations of what to read

Books for Professionals with ADD Gender Issues and ADHD: Research, Diagnosis, and Treatment … This ground-breaking book is the first book for professionals on the diagnosis and treatment …
www.addvance.com › Online Bookstore – Cached
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Macmillan: The Disorganized Mind: Coaching Your ADHD Brain to Take … In her book, The Disorganized Mind, Ratey skillfully guides the reader through a … Life Coach who specializes in coaching professionals with ADHD. …
us.macmillan.com/thedisorganizedmind – Cached
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[PDF] Books for Teachers of Students with ADHD File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
parents of children with ADHD. They have carefully selected relevant credible … Professionals will find the book a useful guide in speaking to families …
www.calgarylearningcentre.com/files/pdf/books%20for%20parents.pdf

Take care as always!!

My mother has two little boys(5 & 7) by her current husband. I am 16 and she expects me to babysit. I wouldn’t mind but the problems is these two kids are animals. They have went through 4 babysitters I am a last resource. One of my brothers(5 year old) has been diagnosed with ADHD but they refure to give him medication. He constantlys pours out liquids, destroy clothing, and furniture. And doesn’t react to punishment. Then one(7) is a brat. If something doesn’t go exactly his way he throws a tempter tantrum and will physically attack you verbally berate you. How can I tell my mother I can’t babysit them? Because I feel if I have to keep babysitting them I might hurt them because they have made me lose my temper more than once and swear at them.

Tell her exactly what you just said here, you’ve just explained it so well. She should be able to understand. I know it’s hard being the last resort but if you can’t do it, you just can’t.