Attention Deficit Disorder

[Riekie]

For those of you interested and close enough to attend, there will be talks for parents held by Rick Lavoie (a dynamic speaker form the US and known for his video: How difficult can this be) - a specialist in learning disabilities & ADD

23 Aug in Liverpool (Sydney)

26 Aug in Chatswood (Sydney)

Details & bookings: 9144 7977 or Email enquiries@speldnsw.org.au (Website www.speldnsw.org.au) It's a bit short notice, but I only found out about this now...

[Riekie]

Hey Dreamy, ek het gewonder of jy toe daarvan gekry het en of jy al enige resultate gesien het?...

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi Riekie,

Ja ek het gekry dankie, maar ons vergeet om dit elke dag te gee so ek sien nog nie resultate nie. Sodra ek dit vir 2 weke aaneen gebruik het, sal ek jou laat weet.

Jy weet mos maar hoe dit gaan jong, net as mens begin dink jy gaan nou jou dinge in orde kry, dan word jy in die rede geval met iets anders wat gebeur. Die vrou saam met wie ek werk, (pure Aussie) sê gister vir my, my lewe is darem baie eventful. Haar lewe lyk skoon saai en eentonig teen myne, en sy is nogal 'n besige mens! Net jammer die meeste events is nie baie positief nie. Maar nou ja, dit maak die lewe interessant.

Groetnis,

Dreamy

[sonnetjie]

Thought this might be of interest to people who have children with autism or children with ADHD or learning disabilities http://www.autism.org/leakygut.html I don’t have autism, but have found that the implementation of a gluten free diet has made a world of difference to me. If you have a child with a number of learning disabilities it is well worth your while to look into this matter as many of the theories these days are saying that they possibly could have a leaky gut. If you interested there is a Gluten free gourmet expo in Sydney Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September 20 Sydney Showground Olympic Park , admission is free http://www.nswcoeliac.org.au/Expo.htm If you want to find out more about the leaky gut theory you can follow up with Dr Dyson or Dr Schloeffel. I have posted their details before.

[Sam]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,,1924088,00.html

Interesting article on Omega 3 essential fatty acids and how it can help behavioural problems in society.

[Guest rika]

Hi, my son of 3 has also been diagnosed with ADD. We live in the platteland in NSW and he is going to pre-school next year. They have applied for an assisstant for him and I have been taking him to Early Intervention for the past 5 months, with tremendous results. I have seen 3 ped's and they 2 are not sure and 1 says he doesn't have ADD. In Nov they will run a few tests. But yes here is lots of help and many willing and friendly people. Good luck. Rika

[Chris & Susan]

Hi Peepee

Before you search any further for a school, I would suggest you first take your daugther for a few Braingym sessions to a registered Braingym practitioner. There are many Braingym sites on Google - read up on it a bit. It WILL change your life and your daughter's. You can expect miracles. I SERIOUSLY urge you to try it!!

I am busy doing the Braingym course and have seen unbelievable improvements in children and grown ups who have been to every kind of therapist you can imagine.

Please let me know if you have tried it and what the outcome was.

Kind Regards

[Trevor & Hayley]

Hi Pam and everyone else,

I am quite surprised that a private school could suggest your child be better suited for a special school. Perhaps because of concentration problems and the learning difficulties he/she is facing, a school specialized for helping such a child might be an option temporarily. But as far as I'm concerned your child should in no way be placed with severely handicapped children. I know Durban has a very reputable short term remedial school for children with learning difficulties and yes, alot of them have ADD/ADHD. Their results are incredible. However, being a remedial teacher myself and having just completed a course on a big drive for inclusion ie not categorising and giving all children no matter what their difficulties equal opportunities in mainstream education, I'm somewhat surprised at these staff members. Unfortunately, I can't say much because I don't know the whole story/situation. But my advice to you would be to seek the professional advice and follow your intuition. After all, you know your child better than anyone else!!! Having a learning problem is by no means a 'bad' thing and too many people have silly ideas about it. There are SO many children with learning problems now and yes as people have mentioned, alot can be solved with love and attention, good nutrition and care! In my studies i did much research and Australia is actively working with inclusion! Please, pursue your dreams for your child and don't let a teachers comments hold you back from immigrating. In fact I'm quite sure your child will have a far better future in Australia in the long term than here in SA, sadly!

At the end of the day all children want and NEED is to be loved appreciated and accepted for who they are and to have a loving, caring and interested family to tend to their many needs! Watch your child's precious self-esteem and nurture it!!!

If I can help in any other way please let me know,

Hayley

[Erica]

Hi Peepee,

I can empathise with you completely. We’ve gone through all the same hoops as you, except it’s been with my younger son, now nearly 11.

In South Africa, he was also diagnosed by a bunch of ‘professionals’, starting with his teacher, at the age of 6. We also did the OT / Speech Therapy / Neurologist / Psychologist / Psychiatrist / Developmental Specialist / every other ‘ist’ in the province, trying to find a solution. We also tried Ritalin in desperation. All the labels and being dragged around to all the doctors knocked his self-esteem and his performance dropped off even more, and he acted out more. After days, or even months, of research, I stumbled across something called Applied Scholastics. This is where you need to keep an open mind. It is a study methodology founded by L. Ron Hubbard. Yes – that L. Ron Hubbard – the one that is the founder of Scientology. That word alone was enough to have me running for the hills, but I was at the point where, if they’d told me that standing on my head twice a day while whistling God Save the Queen would have helped, I would have tried it! After going through the books on what Applied Scholastics is, I decided to give it a bash and I enrolled him. One of the clauses included in the contract that you entered into with the school was an undertaking from the parents that your child was not on any psychiatric medication (read Ritalin). They simply don’t believe that ADD / ADHD is something that should be treated by medication – and can be addressed through other means. Whether or not you agree with that (and I don’t want to get into a debate about Tom Cruises outburst against anti-depressants here!!), it worked for my son. He blossomed at his new school and was a different child. His performance improved dramatically – there is no question about that. Unfortunately, he’d only been there a year before we made the decision to move to Australia, and the only Applied Scholastics school here in Sydney is too far away for me to get him to. He’s back at a regular school, and we are starting to see some of the same problems present themselves. We’ve found a really good psychologist though, and are hoping that we can navigate through this again.

If you go to www.appliedscholastics.org, you can find the nearest training centre / expert in your area. They might not be fully fledged schools, but offer training and additional tuition.

The other school that seems to have a different approach, and which seems more prevalent here (maybe because of the lack of link to a left-wing religion…) is Rudolph Steiner (www.steiner-australia.org) – they seem to be linked to Waldorf Schools as well. They also seem to have an approach that deals with the children as individuals, as opposed to one homogenous mass of little people!

If you want to PM me for more info, I’d be more than happy to help out as much as I can.

Best of luck

Ajay

Hi Ajay

Your conversation here although old intrigues us. My son is a definite ADHD after 3 children he definitely stands out in our home and general everywhere he goes - a striking child with incredibly energy radiating from him - NAUGHTY OH YES but hard to get angry with every person who meets him laughs they say it is so hard to get mad with him there is just something that is hard not to love - definite indigo child if people believe in this methology - BUT YES as an ADHD labelled SA child we have spent alot of time researching, seeing dr , prof, mr and othe types of professed ADHD healers with our boy. Weird one day i woke up and said enough - he is a child with an incredible mind just does not meet society norm (or SA norm school requirements) and that is where our journey stopped - we stayed with his Paediatrician a man with 4boys of his own with similar mannerism understands us well and has told us to sit back and enjoy the ride . And what a ride - the child is a born business man his ideas are incredible yet he battles with basic functions of normal school expections - yes he pass and gets average marks but a lot of hard work goes into this

BUT GIVE HIM A FUND RAISING TASK and the boy comes top in his class it makes us all smile - you need t o do a fund raiser you know who to call his ideas are incredible and the energy in assisting to make them happen is amazing yet ask him to get up and dressed in the morning well - the 6 year old manages the task better .

I am a firm believer that they are very special children and will excel as adults - I have learnt not to listen to much to other people on ADHD - i have learnt to listen to my boy and his surroundings - the wrong teacher and enviroment is detrimental to these children they need to feel needed loved and wanted - some teachers battle with there energy and can damage the child school year -

Your boy will mature and yes he will always be and ADHD or ADD ( or whatever you or anyone else may callit) but he will excel as a human being based on his differences - HARD TO BE DIFFERENT MAKES CHILDREN MORE DETERMINED TO PROVE THE WORLD WRONG

Sorry i know this string is old but i am very passionate about the subject due to 12 nearly 13 years of labels and to many words of advise GO WITH YOUR GUT INSTINCT - no child is a bad child only bad teachers and parents - teachers need to learn to adjust to the changes in children they are evolving and the world needs to evolve with them

Edited May 3, 2007 by Erica

[Paula]

Hi Peepee

I am a School Counsellor working for the NSW Education Department. I just wanted to provide you with some information I have gained through my experience of working in the Sydney area for 5 years. The public schools ( I'm quite sure Queensland Education department is quite similiar) provide a very good support program for children with all types of learning difficulties. The teachers are very experienced in meeting the needs of those children who may require extra support or assistance. Your child would not be placed in a'special school or class', she would not qualify anyway, because she DOES NOT have a disability. Many of the school and teachers would have plenty of experience when dealing with children who are diagnosed with ADD. So don't be too concerned I am sure everything will be fine. If you do run into some problems with the teachers or school, make sure you contact the School Counsellor - I'm sure they can help you out (Every public school has a school counsellor).

Paula