Epilepsy and ADD
 

Hi there,
Felix who's almost seven has recently been diagnosed with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy and as such has been on Tegretol since Dec 2007.

He's dosed at 15ml per day, alas the medication has bought to the fore the extreme probability that the little lad has to cope with ADD too. We are getting him assessed at present and his school are very, very supportive. We have the Education dept on the case too. We await news from the specialist re more possible medication for the new issue.

Has anyone any advice they can offer re the way to cope with the ADD in the home, strategies, attitude etc??

All info most gratefully received. Anything to make Felix's life a bit easier aye?

Thanking you warmly in anticipation.

Dom Kate and the Children X 3.

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

Some kids are quite affected by factors such as lack of sleep and dietary additives such as colours and preservates so looking after those is a good start.

More mite though, it's a lot to handle at such a young age isn't it.

I guess without the H added to the ADD the key will be to find the things that do draw and maintain his interest: finding out how to get him to switch himself on rather than having to be asked to all the time. Maybe breaking longer activities into manageable sized chunks could be useful and then slowly extending the time?

A good steady routine is great too, keep things on an even keel as much as you can and give him as much notice as you can if things need to change.

I've just searched on this form of epilepsy and found a mention that children do outgrow it around puberty - some time off unfortunately but it's something to hope for.

http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/benign.html

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

Thank you Nerine, we do have all the children on an addative free no colourant no flavourant type of diet so we know that we are on the right track there. yes apparently Felix will outgrow the epilepsy and did you know Mr W Churchill was an ADD...so there's hope yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again,

Warm regards, Dom.

ADD help
 

Can't comment on the epilepsy but I worked in a special needs behavioural school where 90% of the lads had either ADHD or ADD. Without the H you have a better chance of getting somewhere. As Nerine says, lots of smaller tasks, make each activity reward based (a cuddle is a reward), LOADS of positive praise, set firm boundaries etc.

The stuff that worked best for us at school was a particular behaviour management technique. Can't remember its official name, but basically it was about choices. Not in do this or this but making the child aware that they were the ones that controlled their choices. So for example, if we asked them to complete some work, their choices were a) to complie and get some kind of reward or b) not to compy and therefore be chosing a punishment (detention in our case) for themselves. My middle daughter exhibits signs of ODD, and this technique works quite well with her. Also when they are all het up a reflection technique works well, i.e.

child: I hate you!
mum/dad: I understand you are feeling upset right now. (ref;lection and understanding - NO judgement)
child: You like child b more than me.
mum/dad: I understand that you feel I like child b more than you (don't try to justify or placate - it won't work)(take a breath)You need to do X.
child: I won't do X
mum/dad: I understand you don't want to do X and feel cross that I am asking you to do X. However, X needs to be done.
child: YOu hate me!
mum/dad: I understand you think I hate you, X still needs to be done. When you have done X c will happen. If you chose not to do X d will happen. (d can be a withdrawal of a priviledge, or the parents choice not to do something for the child)

The key here is acceptance of the child's state of mind - they are cross/ upset etc and even if you feel it is unreasonable it is still how they feel and you (as the adult)need to show the child that his rage/ anger/ sadness doesn't impinge upon you but understand the validity of thier feelings. Of course it does and can hurt you; you just don't show it. All the time you repeat what needs to be accomplished, calmly. Be gently assertive, and always accepting of the child. It gets VERY boring - but this boringness brings the childs aggitated state of mind down and into a receptive state. Once the standoff has ended there are no recriminations, no talking about what happened etc just aaceptance that the battle is ended and you still love each other. Move onwards.

Another good tip is - chose your battles carefully, is it worth it? I know one mother who couldn't accept that her daughter called a labrador an alsatian (the child was 6) and an almighty arguement ensued that lasted on and off all day. Upon reflection the mother realised that it didn't matter if the daughter wanted to call the dog by the wrong breed , she (the mother) had a) missed out on a learning experience by suggesting that they found out via books or the internet and b) they could have just agreed to disagree thus teaching the child that it is okay for people to have different opinions and c) the mother had effectively caused the arguement herself by being intractable and opinionated. The child continued to 'kick off' all day because she felt aggreived at her mother's behaviour and the mother feeling a bit guilty rose to the bait every time. Kids know how to push our buttons we (as adults) need to learn to resist the pushing.:eek: Rember who is the child and who is the adult.

I realise that my experiences may be much more 'battle' like than yours are but the techniques still have their uses. :thumbsup:

I saw a great cartoon once - son was diagonsed with ADD and father thought that this meant he had to give his son more attention ( therefore it was the fathers problem not the child's), he gave son lots more quality attention and the son improved dramitically.

I'm not implying this is you at all, Dom, but ADD kids do demand and need more attention, playing footie, going fishing, playing boardgames etc. Often the extra attention pays huge dividends. :) Physical activity is great for calming them down and using up extra energy, also helps them to concentrate. WHen the 'boys' used to get angsty, i used to send them to run round my classroom four times, cheering them on as they went, getting them to put in maximum effort. They loved it, we all had a good laugh and they settled to work again easily.

So main points,

lots of attention
lots and lots of praise
short interesting tasks
lots of physical activity
choices and consequences
consistant boundaries


PM me if you need more. Good luck.

Spid

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

Thanks Spid for that info - may be useful for us.
Hi Genesis, are you getting the diagnosis through the Marinoto Clinics (sp.?). We were at our local one last week trying to get some input on one of ours - oddly enough MrsL worked in a CAHMS in the UK diagnosing ADHD, ADD, ASD and related disorders, but we can't figure our big one out. He has just started running away (fro home and school) if he feels threatened (ie about to be told off, etc) - this prompted the Marinoto visit as if he runs off into the road I am not sure what might happen - he is only 6 as well.
They are due to give feedback tomorrow, so we'll know what diagnosis there may be - MrsL has thought about, ADD, ASD, dyspraxia, ADHD and some others over the past couple of years, clinicians we have seen are unsure but do acknowledge the problem.

A couple of things we found tended to help was to make sure he was well fed and watered at the high stress parts of the day, ie around evening meal time - being hungry, thirsty or tired reduced inhibitions further and getting something into him often diffused difficult situations.

Also we have given him the kid's fish oil suppliments are there is a differnece in the behaviour when he has taken the dose of that.

Another good thing is with sport - he does karate and that is helping with the confidence, balance and stability as well as getting some routine into him. His soccer is going really well and because of how the teams are made up he is the Wayne Rooney of his latest summer soccer team - a real battler, who runs around throughout and has scored about 8 goals (out of nine from the whole team) in five games, the encouragement from the coaches is helping confidence and pushing him in the right direction.

Otherwise it is behaviour management and providing clear systems for the day - a visual timetable for morning and evening routines really helps. You make a list of symbols for the routine so that he can see where he is and what needs to be done - strange, I know, but in spite of being a bright lad he does forget what needs to be done next.......

Hope some of that helps.
Here's wishing you the very best with Felix.

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

If you want more I'll dig out the manual. Isn't it fun having kids - especailly when they goa dn add and acronym to their personalilty - ADD, ADHA, ODD, OCD, and the one they are sending me . . . . MAD!:confused_smile:

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

Thanks very much, that would be useful - not sure what (if any) diagnosis we will get though - I'll keep you posted.
When the clinicians were taliking to MrsL it was a sort of "physician heal thyself" feeling for me......:(

Re: Epilepsy and ADD
 

Dear, dear everyone who has taken the time to reply..you are all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo kind, we are extremely grateful and a big thanks to Mrs Luvwelly for the PM. You have given us some great ideas to work on and you have really focussed us on what needs to be done. We have got lots of support from the education dept too.

May the sun shine on you all for an exceedingly lengthy period,

the warmest regards to y'all,

from Dom (Mr genesis!) and Kate (Mrs G)

XXXXX