Son with ADHD.
 

Hi,We have a 12yr old son with ADHD, Does anyone else have kids with the same/similar conditions,Does anyone know how Dimia view this condition?
Our son was diagnosed with this when he was 3yrs,been on medication since he was 4yrs.
He is not too bad,his main problem is lack of concentration,easilly distracted etc..Has done very well at school barn the odd hiccup.
We have our meds next week.
Andrews specialist says he will probably need specialist guidance when we get to Oz.
Would love to get some feedback from anybody going through the visa process or already been through it in a similar situation.
Thanx,Donna.

My 14 year old has it.
We've done Rittalin and Concerta with him. rittalin just made him a zombie, and was more concerning than the ADHD.
Concerta was as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I recently read this book
"Therapy for ADHD children and their effec...............QUICK LETS GO RIDE OUR BIKES!"

;)

seriously though, I dunno how DIMIA views it, but it appears that every other kid here in the USA gets diagnosed with it..........
makes me wonder if Glaxo are in the pockets of the school system here.

Hevs and Hup have a son with dyspraxia and mild ADD. They will no doubt respond themselves but meanwhile you can read this fairly recent (rather long) thread on the subject which discusses their situation and in which others have mentioned similar problems.

As manc1976 says, Ritalin is to be avoided!

Additional edit: for anyone coming to this thread now, I've had several strips torn off me for making the above overly unequivocal statement about Ritalin. Please ignore that statement and please don't add to my pile of guilt about it. Thanks.

Our son has dyspraxia, add and mild autism and weve just been granted our visa.

He was on medication and had intensive physio until he left school last year and went to college. He is now at art college and in an environment that he can get up and wander round, go for a drink etc when ever he wants and is loving it. Hes also at the age where he recognises how he needs to treat his problems and the limitations they place on him.

We got a letter of the specialist saying what treatment he had had to date and the expectations for the future. We sent this off with his extensive doctors notes and this was sufficient for dimia to grant us our visas.

I can send you more detailed info if you want to pm me. Good luck.

Laura

Hi, Believe it or not,Andrew has been on ritalin since he was 4yrs & we have found it a great help & can certainly notice the difference if he forgets to take a dose!
He started off with 10mg,now he is on 30mg daily.Never had any probs with the drug,eats like a horse!,bp fine& now the teenage years are creeping up on him he finally needs sleep!! & find this greatly takes the edge off his problems,helps us cope a little bit better with him anyway!
As Andrew has had it so young it a part of life for us,& its certainly doesnt make it easier to cope with day to day,he has good days & bad days,(i should of said good minutes & bad minutes!!)
We have looked into Concerta,which is supposed to be an easier alternative to the ritalin so the specialist says,we are just not ready to upset things & be back to square one.
I will go& read that thread,
Thanx,
Donna.

Hi Donna,

I wouldnt worry to much. My daughter who is now 11 had a really bad case of ADHD and she was diagnosed from the age of 3. She was prescribed Ritalin and then Dexamphetamine (excuse the spelling).

Luckly she was discharged over 1 year ago as she is now in remission and off treatment. We were told that if she had still been on medication etc all we would need was a specialist letter from her doctor explaining everything . When we had our medicals about 4 weeks ago she was not on medication but did have another complaint but the doctor who took us for our medicals told us not to worry as the problems were not serious enough to be refused a visa. She lives a normal life and attends a main stream school.

Dont worry and the best of luck to you all.

Andrea

Re: Son with ADHD.
 

Hi

Hope this helps: It's about definitions

In my work we do not "class" children with ADHD/ ADD as having a disability but as having a condition.

There would have been an issue with DIMIA if the condition was a disability if you see what I mean.

Because ADHD/ADD is controlled in some circustances by medication I don't think it would be problem.

Anyway 9 times out of 10 the doctor doing the meds won't have a clue about the condition, believe me they won't.

As far as education is concerned check out the schools on the web where you are hoping to settle, they nearly all have individual sites, the schools have been very helpful with us. Ask them what provision they have for Special Education Needs.

Walla

My seven year old also has dyspraxia. I do not give her medication though. She does take eye q though and I an wondering if I will be able to get it in Australia. She is very bright but she cannot sit still in the classroom. We were not aware of this when we went for the meds though.

Good luck.

Thanx Walla,
We are going to Brissie,Kallanguer area, So i will check out what Secondary Schools they have & hopefully get some background.
Luckily enough he hasnt needed any help in school as yet,(all through his schooling we,ve had to point out he has a problem) i think he stores it all up for when he comes home!
What you,ve said makes a lot of sense & helpfull.
Thanx again,
Donna.

Hi Debsy, I dont think you should have any problem getting eye q in Oz, or something very similar.You will definately get it online if all else fails?
Donna.

Thanks Donna.

Hi Donna

Good luck for Brissie

And oh yes, angels at school, devils at home, could give you a million stories!!

Have you heard of Contact a Family? Check them on the web. They are a National Organisation in the UK but have worldwide contacts and I'm sure they will have some in Oz. Let me know what region you live in in the UK and I will pass you on the name of your regional contact by PM. They are fantastic, they can find out loads of info for you to save you the trouble.

Walla

Hiya madsad,

Try fishing around on here

http://www.education.qld.gov.au

They have a section on policies and have a policy on children with ADHD. If schools don't find it an issue, then neither should DIMIA.
Good luck
Sarah

Mark, unless you know what you are talking about perhaps you shouldnt make sweeping generalizations like that? :rolleyes:

I was merely re-iterating a point that came across quite strongly both in the hevs/hup thread and in stuff that I have read about elsewhere. I do have some first-hand exposure to Asperger's and I have read up about the subject so although I may not be a suffering parent I'm not exactly ignorant either.

Still, making sweeping generalisations is something I'm the first to tick other people off about. Quite out of character for me to indulge in it. Sorry, don't know what came over me. Let me rephrase it, Ritalin is something that many (perhaps most) people have found to be less than helpful. The inducing of a zombie-like state is far from rare, it seems. If OTOH Ritalin seems to help in a particular case then of course I wouldn't say its use should be stopped simply on principle.

Sorry, but I disagree. Those people who dont give their children medication (whatever their reasons are they are their own) are entitled to their choice, but why make such a sweeping statement like that? Trust me, having a child with ADHD is bloody hard work & there is already enough stigma attached to it without people who dont know any better making comments like that, even if it is only on an internet forum.

Thank you, although I do disgree on the *most* part, there are many many kids who take Ritalin & for them (& their parents!) its literally lifesaving.

I know how hard it is, I've witnessed it as I say. I don't understand why you think it necessary to label me as "someone who doesn't know any better" and I don't see why what I said increases the stigma. I also don't see why it should only be the long-suffering parents who are allowed to express an opnion on the subject. Perhaps you would like the doctors to keep quiet too?

I take my hat off to all the parents and the children. I have nothing but admiration for your never-ending efforts and your battle against those medics who think they know better than either they or you do. But I see no reason not to express my feelings on a particular matter if I think they may be helpful.

Of course none of this is particularly relevant to the original question, which was whether it would be seen as a problem for the medicals. I think we've firmly established that the answer to that is "no", and I hope all the long-suffering parents can cross that one off their list of things to worry about!

Ok, that's probably enough crossed postings. Can we kiss and make up now?

Mrs Dagboy,Thankyou for your support on this,
any parent giving their kids Ritalin or any other type of medication go through turmoil making that decision in the first place,we struggled for over a year & finally made the decision to try him on Ritalin,I have never seen any signs of zombie like behaviour from Andrew,every child is different however & ive heard so many horror stories.
Having a child with ADHD,you go down every route possible,hoping for a solution,medication was a last resort for us,but certainly not a cure,you still live with it everyday & cope best you can.
I honestly dont know what kind of state our family life would be in if it was,nt for Ritalin.
Donna.

Ok, ok, I wish I'd never mentioned the stuff now. I was only passing on other people's experiences. I thought it might help. I mean that's what this forum's for, isn't it, trying to be helpful?

Madsad, no worries. :)

Mark, honestly, I know that you were trying to help, but there is a serious stigma attached to not only the disease (although it does depend on the form it takes), but mostly on parents that *drug* their children ( Im talking about ADHD here, not the others). Sorry for jumping on you, but it is a very very emotive issue for most of us & most of us feel that constantly having to defend our decision & field comments that the medications are somehow *bad* doesnt really help.

Im just telling you how it feels from my side, now wheres that kiss you promised me? :p

Madsad, FWIW, I have 6½ year old twins with severe ADHD, the full spectrum from behaviour problems to attention deficit & everything in between. Medicated at 4½ years used Ritalin for quite a while, but have now switched to Dexamphetamine. We found that Ritalin very much affected their sleep patterns & wasnt quite as effective on their behavioural problems as the Dex, although its not perfect either & I would like to try a couple of the other drugs to see if theres any improvement. But I know exactly what you mean by your last sentence about not knowing where your family would be without Ritalin.


No help with DIMIA & the visa though, sorry, we are all Aussies, so havent had to go through that :) .

Our boys have only started school this year, so I cant help with the secondary schools etc but if you want any help/support/general info just drop me a PM :) .

Apology gladly accepted. I can sleep more easily now. (See I do hate to upset people.)

I didn't mean to suggest that all medications are bad, far from it, just that I did get an overall impression that Ritalin was something to be approached with extreme caution.

I was asking for a kiss, not offering one. Well ok maybe that's two sides of the same coin! Er, how do you spell that squelchy kissing noise? Mmmmspppwww!

*mwaaaaaaaah*

Now, if you are off to bed, thats sure to give you nightmares all night :scared: :p ;)

Missed it, so it was a good morning kiss. Now I'll get daymares instead!

Er, sorry madsad, in danger of hijacking now. I'll hush.

What a fab thread, you read our minds, we have a son of 7 who was diagnosed 6 months ago with ADHD, and has been on concerta first, which was fab for school, but too strong for appetite and sleeping, so we have just switched to ritalin 5mg morning and lunchtime. The school thinks a miracle has occured because now Adam can sit and write.
I have just secured a job and will get a LBTV but we were worried we may be turned down for PR, good news it seems
Louise:p

Hi everyone,

We have a number of children in our school who have ADD and ADHD. All are currently on various doses of Ritalin. Some took to it like a duck to water, others had to have the doses juggled around a bit. All I'm glad to say are different children on it. They can actually have some sort of normality in their lives. I personally have taught 2 of them (one of which I pushed for an assessment as he was 'just a naughty boy' sad but true) and from a teacher's point of view it makes life so much easier, also the parents of these children seem less worn out. It must be hell for you all living with children who have this condition, I really do take my hat off to you. As much as you love your children I bet there are days when you think why us. I wish you all luck when you get to Oz, your children should all be fine, as I said on a previous post most schools have a policy on how children with ADD and ADHD should be treated.
Hugs
Sarah

Sarah,
Thanks for your post its great to hear positive remarks and as I said our son is doing great on his ritalin
Louise x

Thanx Teach,
Its such a pleasure to actually hear from a teacher with some understanding of the condition,Andrews teachers throughout primary have either been ignorant or just dont know anything about the condition & a case of "boys will be boys"
His head teacher is a joke & put her case forward as "These days ever child has a label attatched to them" & Andrew is her "Model" pupil!-Boy is she eating her words now!But wont even admit it?
For me its been since day one with Andrew,something just wasnt right,(but it took my hubby to point it out to me before we got help)I feel mentally & physically exhausted with him,hes just "constantly on the go,fidgeting,talking giberish nonsense! etc..Its a little easier now hes actually sleeping more than an hour a night,no sleep makes the problems tenfold!
I know Oz is going to make the world of difference to him,he will benefit so much.
Thankyou very much for your understanding & i hope Andrews new school in 0z has many more like you.
Donna.

I don't know if its of any use, but has anyone with kids with any of these conditions tried Omega3 oils in addition to the "drugs". My daughter hasn't been diagnosed with having anything thank god but she drifts - one teacher called her a cloud - sweet but not terribly helpful. Watched a tv prog year or so ago with Robert Winston doing tests and that worked brilliantly.

My girl has now been on it for just over 6 months and everyone has suddenly noticed a difference in behaviour, attention, conversation etc etc.

Might be nothing, but she doesn't know why she is taking it, just does so not pschological (I know that's not right but its late!).

I take it as well but no change with me.:scared:

Yes,Have tried various fish oils etc..still with eye Q for Andrew,but to be honest,dont know if there is any difference,some days i think yeah thats improved "is it because of the oils or a,b,c if you know what i mean?
You get to a stage where you will try any alternative but again what works with one child,doesnt work with another.
But i know i would rather give my child a natural treatment(if it worked)rather than a drug & if anything becomes available,i will be the first in the que to try it!
Donna.

Hi All,
I am so happy that this thread has come up. I tried to start a similar one and got some good replies but nowhere near as many as this.

It sounds as though ADD is not regarded as a problem by DIMIA which is a relief.

On Ritalin, my 8 year old has been on 10 miligrams a day since last Decenber. We all suffered years of misery with Rhys being humiliated and constantly punished for his inability to sit still, concentrate and write lines of work from the age of 5. He has had to suffer teachers who thought the best course of action for him was to throw his reading book across the room when he couldn't remember a word and make him pick it up (age 5), tell him he is stupid and poke him in his back to make him work age 7.

The headmaster at his current school was fantastic he arranged for him to have a series of tests as he recognised that he wasn't just a naughty boy, he spent hours talking to us and Rhys in an attempt to find out what was wrong. We all thought that Rhys had a learning difficulty and would have to switch to a state school to get classroom support.

Rhys displayed all the classic traits of ADD plus extremely low self esteam, no confidence and self loathing (made worse by the treatment he recieved from some of his teahcers) He often said he hated school, had no friends, he wished he was dead and he wanted to get a knife, split his belly and cut out the bad. We were desperate and I'm sorry but knowing someone whos child has it or reading about it does not even come close to actually seeing your own child go through it day after day.

I carried out extensive research and tried everything affirmation techniques, merit systems, fish oil and although we saw some improvement it was never significant enough for us to continue.

We eventually arranged for an Ed psych to observe and evaluate him at school. To our suprise she discovered that he had the fasted speed at processing information she had ever seen in any child in his and the year above his age group, his verbal and non verbal reasoning was in the upper 90's(the average being 45). She recognised the his self esteam issues and felt that the treatmet he recieved had undoubtedly made things worse.

He was diagnosed as having ADD, along with the full support of the school SENCO and the headmaster, who attended every meeting we had, she recommended Ritlalin. Rhys was the second child she had suggested this for in 13 years of practice.

For those of you that condem Ritalin come around to my house and see my son. Eight months ago he was on the verge of being expelled from school for fighting and he didn't want to live, now his behaviour and confidence has improved beyond measure, even when he is not taking it (he only takes it during term time). Since starting this treatment he has won awards for outstanding ability in science, French and maths and has also won awards for helpfullness and behaviour. He now has lots of friends, he looks forward to going to school, is liked by his teachers and loves his life and himself.

Ritalin works by helping the brain to focus on the task at hand. A child suffering with ADD has to cope with consantly changing thoughts and images, it is rather like a TV being continuously flicked from channel to channel with the radio going at the same time. It is not a cure all and doesn't suite everyone but I think it saved my boys life.

I don't know anyone in this situation so it is good to talk to people who understand as opposed to people who want to stand in judgement.

Sorry for the length of the post and thank you for reading.

ACE

ACE Good for you & Rhys!! the only true experts on Add & Adhd are the people who deal with it day in & day out, Our son Andrew is double quick & very clever, he just loses interest in things a lot quicker than other kids might, while my son frustrates the life out of me, i am fiercely proud of him and realise that every small battle for him is a war won. I am sure you feel the same way about Rhys. Good for you ace, if you want to talk further PM us any time.

Regards The Madsads.

I am not meaning to be controversial, but it is worth thinking about something that our specialist pointed out, and that is that the "non-natural" products (i.e. drugs like ritalin and dexamphetamine) usually undergo rigorous testing and trials and many of them are based on chemicals that have been used to treat this kind of disorder for many years. Not necessarily the same case for the "natural" products. Also, for some reason, people seem to equate "natural" with good. Parecetamol is a manufactured drug, the berries of deadly nightshade are a natural product - which would you rather give to your children?

Cheers,


DagBoy

God, so many things I can relate to in this thread. Agree totally with ACE, people can have empathy, but until you actually have to see your child suffer with it just doing the most simple task every single day, you really cant comprehend the magnitude of the problem. The day that things changed for me was the day that they could get dressed by themselves at almost 5 years old - before they started taking medication they had never ever been able to get any single piece of clothing on without me actually manipulating their body & their limbs because they literally couldnt concentrate long enough to be able to pick up their pants & put a leg in each hole.

The stigma thats attached to the disorder is strong isnt it? So many people dont believe that it exists or that a child has it. If a parent said "My child has schitzophrenia", "My child has asthma" or "My child is autistic" no one would even question it, yet as soon as someone says "My child has ADHD" there are people who will tell you that theres no such thing, it doesnt exist, its a "made-up" disease, children are misdiagnosed, all that they need is a good smacking, "spare the rod & spoil the child", parents let their kids get away with so many things these days, how can he have ADHD if he can play a computer game for hours on end blah blah blah :rolleyes:. For every person that reads this thread & believes that it exists, there will be someone who thinks one of the above thoughts. Ive lost track of the number of times I have had snide comments made to me about my kids behaviour, one woman told us once that obviously we needed to learn how to use a wooden spoon in our household (Dagboy reminded me of this one this afternoon). Even one of my boys teachers once referred to his "alleged ADHD", I told her that I was happy to send him to school without his medication one day. Once she saw him with his medication wearing off she soon changed her opinion. :scared:

Something that I noticed with most of the people who have posted in this thread is how little medication you seem to have to give your children. When ours were on Ritalin, Michael (whos the most badly affected) was on 2 x 20mg Ritalin LA per day (one in the morning & one at lunch). Hes now on Dex & takes 5 x 5mg tablets/day = 25mg/day (2½ in am, 1½ at lunch & 1 after school). Hes only 6. Has anyone else found that they have had to increase the dosage as the body gets used to the drug & it doesnt respond as well? C gets 3½ tabs/day (1½,1,1).

Ace, your story is great, gives focus to the problems that many of us face. Im so glad that Rhys is happy again, in alot of cases thats half the battle won :) .

Madsad, I know what you mean by mentally & physically exhausted, just being with them is so draining when they never stop (brain/mouth/hands/feet). I too knew from day one that there was something wrong but it took 4½ years to admit to someone else that my kids were "sick" & werent perfect & that I couldnt cope anymore.

Teach, thanx for the positive words as well, you're right, theres not a day goes by that I dont think "What did I ever do to deserve this?" but you just shrug your shoulders & get on with it. Sometimes people who see the enornmity of the problem ask me "How do you cope?" & my answer is "I dont know, but I have no choice, I have to cope, so I just do it". Im lucky that I have a fabulous & supportive husband :) . As hard as it is, I cant imagine my life any other way or without them, they are without doubt 2 of the most wonderful, affectionate, special & intelligent children Ive met (yeah yeah OK so maybe Im biased ;) ) but God, they are hard work! But I wouldnt swap them for the world :) .

Which, combined with Dagboy's comments about testing, moves me to wonder how much is known about the long-term effects of such drugs, particularly higher doses. I suppose that ADD and ADHD are relatively recently-recognised conditions and that therefore there aren't that many cases of actual long-term exposure? Although it's a moot point if you have no choice.

I had never knowingly met children with ADHD until I met the little Dagboys, and I don't feel I'm qualified to say much on the subject, but I've seen, over the last few months, just how well Dagboy and Mrs Dagboy deal with what must be a daily nightmare. I'm sure different children react differently and have to be dealt with in individual ways, but as far as drugs go, I know that family would go through hell without them. I've watched the boys turn from loving angels into completely uncontrollable monsters - and then back into lovely children when the drugs take effect again.
To know that you HAVE to drug your children can't be an easy decision, but its the only way for some children - and their parents - to have any quality of life at all.
My heart really goes out to parents who have to cope with this condition in their children. I watch Mrs D, and think "How DO you cope?" but as she has said, she copes because she has no choice, and because really they are gorgeous kids; its just so unfair that life has dealt some families such a rotten hand.

Can only hope that things improve as they get older, I guess, :) Meantime, heres a big hug for the Dagboys to thank them for putting up with me, as well as the kids, for the last 24 hours!!!

Mark, ADHD was first recognised by the medical profession is the early 1900s (1902 article in a medical journal I think has been mentioned) , the stimulant drugs have been in use for the last 50+ years. If you believe the pediatricians who specialize in ADHD, they are some of the most tested, scrutinized & discussed drugs on the market!

I keep being told that its normal to have to increase the dosage & for different children to need different amounts. But I guess its the guilt thing at work - if my child had asthma & most people needed 2 puffs of a drug to control it, but mine needed 3 do you think I would feel so worried? Most probably not, but that shows just how great the stigma can be. I feel guilty for not being able to *make* my child be normal & for not coping & for having to medicate my kids, so I question the fact that one needs a high dosage. Does that make any sense? :confused:

Polly :o thanx . I have to say, Id rather have you for 24 hrs than the kids LOL.

Madsad, since you are coming to Brisbane you might find this website useful
ADDAQ

2 things to be aware of in Qld at least[list=1][*]Diagnosis & treatment in Qld can only be made by a specialist pediatrician (theres a list on that website)[*]Ritalin in Australia is not on the PBS scheme, which means that you cant get it at a subsidised price. RitalinLA costs around $45/bottle of 30 caps at most pharmacies.[/list=1]