I have read all the threads that I can find on the subject of ADHD and PR but wondered if anyone has had any recent experience of the effect of declaring ADHD at the medical.

I have recently had my 16 yr old son assessed for ADHD after many challenging years. As other posters on here have mentioned, dingbat was one I think, schools have labelled him as badly behaved and just kicked him out, despite me asking for help.

My OH and I have accepted responsibility and have done such alot to try to improve my son's behaviour but the cycle continued through 3 schools, as a result of which he is now attending a pupil referral unit.

We also have a daughter who does not exhibit any of the behaviour patterns that my son does so FINALLY I had to accept that there could be something wrong with him rather than with our parenting skills.

I did some research on the internet. As a result he is now on concerta, which is giving him thinking time before reacting to anything and is certainly moderating the volatility/aggression/oppositional behaviour, which was more than just normal teenage behaviour.

By the time we go to Canada he may have gone through and come out of the other side of these difficult years but for the moment concerta seems to be helping.

I know that these issues are considered on a case-by-case basis but like I said......has anyone had any recent experiences that they would be prepared to share on here????

Actually what I really need is a support group, where parents of kids with ADHD can discuss tactics on dealing with challenging behaviour other than the not-very-useful.....'just give him a good slap' and 'teach him who's the boss'.....oh, and of course the, 'well I do think that you should have hit him as a means of discipline when he was little'. More recently it's been the......'just pack him off to the army, that will instil discipline'......

Any comments anyone?

Well they let Butch in.

I'll leave now and wait for the serious answers.

just pack him off to the army, that will instil discipline'......

If the military would even let him in. I have adult ADHD (once I turned 18 they added adult) and the US military turned me down citing they didn't believe I would react well in the military due to adult ADHD.

I listed on my application but I was sponsored under family class, so the rules are far less strict when it comes to health issues when compared to other immigration categories.

I've worked with lots of kids with ADHD. I taught a class for many years where, on average, half had the condition.

There's a couple of issues you are bringing up.

Your child's assessment, and support for you and your child.

First:

You have to be careful who is assessing your child - it takes a medical diagnosis. And sometimes schools and other institutions tend to medicalize behaviours.

The fact that concerta seems to be helping with his impulse control is a good thing.

If you don't have a medical diagnosis, however, then you cannot for certain write on your app. that your child has ADHD. And a doctor can't just chat with you, the parent, and then proscribe a pill, there's diagnostic tools that they use, over here at least, before they can declare someone with ADHD.

Now, I'm not saying that your child does not have that condition: I'm coming from a "what do I have to declare on my app?" point of view.

Second:

You will find lots of support when you arrive here, once your child is assessed.

Now don't go all "hyper" on the school , they have to start with a baseline behaviour and move through the process. Work with 'em, not agin' em!

There's also parents' groups available. In fact, you could look them up on the web and connect right now, just to get things in place for your support.

Reading your post made me feel very sad that you have had to cope with this for so long - but I can understand why, what with the mixed understanding of the 'condition' and the many approaches to it - including the explosion of putting kids on drugs automatically for the past few years.

We were past ourselves when a close relative aged 8 started to show really aggressive behaiour out of nowhere. she had always been strong willed, but this was a different ball game - total rage and violence.

I don't want to go into detail here but after much anguish and lots of (very expensive) visits to a child phsychologist, she said to the parents one day, "I think this child is showing classic symptoms for a syndrome which really hasn't been given a proper name yet". The writer, Ross W. Greene Ph. D first wrote the book in 1998. a second revised edition is now in print.

We quickly orded the book from Amazon - three copies in fact and the whole family began the strategy. It was very hard, and still is for me but the parents get great results. there have only been a couple of outbursts in the past few weeks and the outcome overall is astounding.

In the beginning, brain scans, MRI's were all part of the investigations with no results. She had to be drugged to get her to the hospitals, but ONLY for that.

Her headmistress used to have to meet us in the school car park after us forcing her into the car to school as it is very important to get her out socialising. She had been very withdrawn and wouldn't even get dressed. The headmistress was a gem and used to take her into her office with a couple of her friends until she agreed to go to class.

Now she has read and bought the book for the school staff as they do have a couple of other children showing, not the same, not as bad, but similar behaviour. The staff are becoming proficient at using the approaches described.

In case the Mods view this as advertising, please feel free to PM me and I will share any information you may need. It may not help, but is well worth a read.

"Anyone can become angry, that is easy...but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way...that is not easy".
Arisotle

(Part of the preface of the book)

God bless

Triumphguy - am I right in saying that you work with these children - I seem to remember reading that somewhere, but perhaps I'm way off.

Used to.

Now I work with adults in business, but the skills remain the same

So pleased you picked this one up - makes anyone feel as though they have something to grasp onto. Well not literally, but you know what I mean! Better than all the duff information that's out there!

During my younger years I am sure they didn't have an official name as I was a kid and not really aware of what was going on, it wasn't til I became an adult that I knew/realized why I was always going to the doctor and taking pills.

I remember spending more time in school with the psychologist then actually learning anything (wonder why my grades were so low, probably from that.) or at the doctor having so sort of test done.

The only one I can remember clearly from a kid was and I probably dont remember it all since I was young, but I would have things attached to my head and would just be left in a room in a bed, no clue if I was sleeping or drugged up, but I did that several times.

It wasn't til high school that I actually got to start attending class and talking to psychologists less. At the time (maybe now too.) the schools had licensed psychologists as part of the staff in addition to the school RN.

Sometimes I wonder had I not had meningitis would I have had less issues later in life. I was only 4-5 days old when I was diagnosed with meningitis and spent over a month in the ICU fighting it. At one point the doctors told my parents to prepare for arrangements, but somehow I survived it, but I do wonder the damage it may have caused since I was so young when it happened..

Some links:

I'm not recommending, just browsing the internet.

http://www.ementalhealth.ca/site/bc-....php?m=1&ID=27

http://www.drshred.ca/adhd.php

http://www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/...rt.html#canada

http://www.islandfamilyinfo.ca/showcat.php?cat=32

This is how we have found it, my story about the AD part of ADHD

My eldest struggled for so long in the uk, she was way behind with her school work and many a week i would be there asking if there was anything i could do for her, felt like i was making stuff up at points, but i had a friend with a child who had ADHD and knew that she went through hell to get him some help.

When we moved over here, i spoke with her teacher and on her first school report he said that he was concerned with how she was learning, could he get her tested and see if they could help her
yes finally someone who thinks like me, she does have a problem with learning.

So after afew days they brought someone in and got her checked, they have a sheet that they work on and she was placed on mild AD list, they advised that if i wanted her checking for the HD factor that we needed to see our doctor, but they thought she didnt have this and was only concerned for her AD factor as she is a bright child, just lacks on how she learns.

Within a couple of days they had given her a spell checker, they had given her a IPP (which is a learning program for the child) and she has gone from really under grade to meeting her grade now.
There will be things put in place as the years go by and even though she has AD she is not labelled, as they totally have a different look on things here.
I am soooooooooooooooo happy with her teacher and within the 6mths of us being here he has managed to build so much for her, she has even made the school basketball, stands infront of class and reads, answers questions and is not the shy, none talking kid that we brought from the uk

Good luck, if he hasn't been given the medical note from the uk, i would wait until you got here, that way he can go through the process here, they really do not label them, well not in our area

LB

I'm glad your child is doing well LB! Congrats - it can be scary trying to figure things out for your kids.

Just a note on the labelling thing:

Sometimes they will "code" your child, but that is to get extra funding and help. Try not to see that as a label: good schools won't use it as a label.

Remember, the school is part of a team: see yourself as head of that team. That means you have to find out as muych as you can about what your child is going through - but don't be afraid to ask for help and advice from anyone - especially the "experts." When it comes down to it, you are the expert on your kid.

The teacher explained this to me, that they get the funding for the child via the code, also means that she maybe able to do without the help later, they will keep checking on her progress.
Must say that after banging my head amillion times in the uk, to get a teacher like this is a breath of fresh air, if i could box him and keep him with her for every year i would, but i am sure there is others just like him.
Just to give the balance bit as well, my son who is very bright has had the negative bit, where he was getting the help from the supply teacher (or whatever they call them out here) his normal teacher arrives back and now he is well under grade, considering he has been doing grade3 maths and grade 3 reading and he is in grade1, she didnt take the time to speak to me, saying that he is doing hassle in class, luckily they are changing schools nxt week, but there is good and bad in every country, thats life, but i think as parents like you said we know them the best.

Good luck OP, i hope it works out for you

Hi Robin

Another bit of Cr4p for you to deal with eh

I have also had dealings with ADHD - my best friend in the UK and her daughter. Be very glad that this has been diagnosed now as opposed to in the early 90's when it was just pushed to the side in the UK although it was widely accepted as a condition in the States.

My friends daughter went through hell - before she was 6 she had been expelled or rather asked to leave 3 schools as the behaviour aspect of this condition was just too severe for the teachers in the schools to actually deal with. They classed her as a problem child For years and I mean probably 8 years my friend battled her way through different specialists etc and finally at the age of 14 the daughter was prescribed the ADHD medication - which she is still taking to this day at 25 years old.

At 25 years old this young lady is the most beautiful girl to look at but due to her uncontrolable behaviour caused by the ADHD she is unable to live at home with her parents, cannot live independently and has to live in assisted living. She has no concept of any danger in life, doesnt understand relationships, and could be labeled as being mentally retared.

The most terrible thing about this story is that now with doctors and specialists widely accepting this condition my friend has been told that had the doctors known and accepted this condition earlier in the UK and the daughter been put on the medication as soon as something was found out to not quite right then the likelihood of the daughter having a more normal life is highly probable.

If you are worried about the med part of your PR it would boil down to whether your son would place "excessive demands" on the Canadian health system. As most ADHD cases are successfully treated with medication I would think that it would be looked on in the same respect as diabetes - medication only.

I also wholely agree with the poster who said about having it properly diagnosed - some people are only too quick to give things "labels" especially if it allows them to gain more public funds for the school for more Special Need teachers.

Suppose I am just reaffirming what everyone says - make sure that the proper diagnostic tests are done and he has been diagnosed by a specialist so that he is taking the correct medication and getting the right help.

Having met the young chap I think he is a great youngman.

Thanks for contributing Jsmth,

You're right, the army here will not accept anyone who is on an ADHD drug. I have already spoken to them because my son had been encouraged to complete an application for the army by his tutor at the time.

One has to be free of medication for 3 years. I agree that without medication my son would not have coped well with what would be required of him and no doubt would have just walked out as soon as something happened that he couldn't cope with.