[Dr. Art]

Hi, I am Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D. I, will be moderating this forum.

I have been a Moderator for a few years now. I have a Master of Social Work degree. I also have a Ph.D., from the University of Maryland’s Institute for Child Study. I have been helping adoptive and foster families for over twenty-five years now. I am the Director of The Center For Family Development, www.Center4FamilyDevelop.com, which specialize in evaluating and treating adopted and foster families and children with attachment disorders. On a personal note, I was adopted as a child, a “kinship” adoption, and am the parent of three children, one of whom was adopted.

I would like to see an open and free ranging discussion on this Forum. I am happy to answer questions and would like to see others contribute their experience and expertise. I hope that, even when the topic generates strong feelings, that everyone will remain respectful and avoid personal comments against others. I will lend my expertise as an expert on attachment, attachment disorders, mental health issues, and about adoptive and foster families. As a licensed mental health professional in several states I will provide information about treatment, effective strategies, and what the professional literature may bring to bear on questions of interest to participants of this Forum.

[castiron64]

My 16 yr old was misdiagnosed ADHD at age 6-12. The doc could not find out what was wrong. Basically nothing-just being a typical boy. He is fine,makes good grades, teaches teakwondo,plays guitar,and very active.
My 11 yr old son however. was supposedly diagnosed when he was in 2nd grade-I was skeptical though. Going through it all with my older son,med doses up and down,max calls from the school etc... Zach is my 11yr old, he does have difficulty staying on task,very active,can be manipulative to a certain extent, thinks everybody is against him when he gets into trouble, does not make friends very easily-but does have several good friends. He can be sarcastic at times. He has trouble listening and following some directions. Otherwise he is a good kid with a heart of gold, but seems to be having difficult areas. He is improving alittle in some areas. Could he be concidered ADHD? Or another behavior disorder? I just hate to go through all the calls from the school again reguesting to up or decrease the dose. When my oldest was on Ritalin, I was called to the school after 25 calls to increase his dose-per MD- I found him sitting in class with a blank stare and he did not have alot of verbal response. That is when I had enough-found out nothing was wrong in the first place. So, you see, I dread going through that again. Any suggestions?

[Dr. Art]

Yes, I have some suggestions, based on what you've described. Your son could have ADHD, could just be oppositional, could have sensory-integration difficulties, could have a trauma-induced condition, or could have some subtle learning/neurological difficulties. Therefore, I strongly urge you to get a thorough evaluation by a therapist who has lots of training and experience evaluating and treating adopted and foster children. You need someone like that to rule out/in the various difficulties that such children can have that are often misdiangosed. The therapist should be a licensed mental health provider and have had specific training working with such children. You can find someone in your area (or who can recommend somone closer to home) at www.attach.org

Best of luck

Hi Dr. Art

This forum has been quite informative. As I posted earlier I am seeking a non-medication solution for my adopted 10-Y-O son recently diagnosed with ADHD/ODD. I came upon some interesting concepts on the difficultchild.com website. I am very much intereted in the Nurtured Heart Approach as presented by Dr. Howard Glasser in his book Transforming the Difficult Child. Are you familiar with his technique? If so, what are your thoughts?

[Dr. Art]

No, I'm not familiar with Dr. G's approach. My own reading and experience is that ADHD, and ADD, when properly diagnosed is a real biochemical problem like diabetus, and requires medication interventions when social interventions don't work...just like when exercise and diet don't work, insulin is needed for diabetus.

regards,

[briandnic]

Have you ever wondered why more and more children are becoming drug addicts? Did you know that Ritalin is basically in the same catagory as cocaine? No one in their right mind would make their child snort a line of cocaine, but it seems to be ok to give them ritalin. And it's actually pushed upon parents that don't do their research and put all their trust in doctors. Parents get educated. Find out what you are putting into your childs body. You think you're helping them, but how can a drug that has side effects of depression and psychosis be helping? Remeber the boys from the columbine shooting? They were on it. Just something to think about.

I guess then you would say I am looking to try some social intervention before my choice of last resort—medication. Dr. Glasser's approach sounds promising. If you are interested in learning more, the website has excerpts from his book, a recommendation from Patch Adams and a link to reader reviews on Amazon.

As you mentioned, some diabetics can manage the disease with diet and exercise and do not require insulin. We want to try managing the ADHD with other means—such as diet and behavior modification—before resorting to meds.

Brian, I couldn't agee with you more. That's why I am feverishly reading everything I can find about the treatment of ADHD. Did you read last week's issue of Time magazine? If not, get a hold of it. The cover story is on this very topic. I was interested to read that there are no good longitudinal studies on the effects of these drugs. Also, scientist now believe that the brain develops until age 30. How the developing brain is effected by years of stimulants remains to be seen and studied.

[helton6]

Hi Dr Art,
I have a 10 year old son that has ADHD and depression( stemming from finding an aunt who had passed away in our home unexpectedly) but my question is, he takes Concerta, zoloft in the AM and Trazodone at night. My problem is before the meds have a chance to work in the am is where all our problems start. He's woke up at 6:30 am and at 7 am i'm still trying to drag him out of bed. then when he's out of bed he takes his pills then its a race of pullin my hair out. He's constantly acting up at breakfast(ex. taking other kids food or mouthing off to me when I tell him to sit at the table.) Its to the point I have him eating in the dining room while we are in the kitchen eating, it breaks my heart. What should I try next? we have tried to take the trazodone away but he has nightmares with out it and is very restless. Any other ideas?

[donnamom]

I read a suggestion on another board somewhere that may help. The parent woke the child up a little early and gave them thier medication in bed, then let them go back to sleep until it kicked in.

If you don't have any issues with your son eating once he has taken the meds, this might work.

Also, you might consider implemention some type of reward system. My son's behavior specialist helped me implement a system when he earns chips for good behaviors and chores. This was a great motivator for my boy. When he gets enough chips, he gets his allowance. You can very the rewards based on what works for your family/kid.

Good luck.

[Dr. Art]

Yes, that parent suggested the thing that she and I had previously discussed. Wake your child up a hour before wake up, give the meds and let him go back to bed...you'll see it makes a big difference.

regards,

[helton6]

I have been waking my son up 1/2 hour before he needs to be up. Giving him his meds and letting him fall back to sleep. For the past week everything has been working. But some of his behavior has not changed. could it be the medication or just him? Ex. when he is asked to do something he first acts like I'm not talking to him like I'm seeing through him, then he says he didn't hear me(has a hearing problem in one ear) and then throws a fit when asked to follow through and do the simple task, like i'm puling his teeth out to put his dishes in the sink. It takes a good 20 minutes of discussion and still no result. He does see a therapist 2 times a month. What should I do? talk to him about what should be done? Talk about med changes? I'm lost and having 3 other children I don't want them to think its okay to act the way he has been.

[Dr. Art]

What you describe is "more" than just ADHD and there is probably more complex issues going on. I'd suggest you have him evaluated by a licensed mental health professional who has substantial experience and training in helping adopted and foster children, particularily children with trauma-attachment issues. You can find such a person at Association for the Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children . If there is not someone near you, contact the nearest person on their list of registered clinicians and that person can probably recommend a more local person.

regards,

[Katedrew]

Dr. Art (or anyone who knows the answer!):

What's the likelihood of a child developing ADHD if one of his/her birthparents has it? Very likely? Or only slightly more likely than a child of birthparents without ADHD?

Thanks.

[Dr. Art]

The chances of having ADHD is one or both of your birth parents has it is higher than if none do.

The average risk of ADHD of ADHD among the first-degree biological relatives of ADHD children is between 25% and 37%; about five to seven times the risk in the general population.