Monday, August 20, 2007

Hyperactive kids and getting checkups

As the mother of two hyperactive kids, now in their thirties, I guess I have to admit to rather a unique practice. We didn't give the kids dope.

Yeh, ritalin is dope and it does have a behavior/mind altering quality. It is suggested by teachers, who are supposed to be authorities in the subject. Since my son's first grade teacher in Montgomery County, MD, spelled Ameruca as you just saw it, well, you can imagine how much weight I gave to her opinion.

It is convenient to have a child in class who is zoned out. It is less convenient to have a kid who is bouncing off the walls.

So shoot me.

My kids had to learn to deal with their own difficulties. It wasn't easy for them or for me or for their classmates/teachers/administrators. But it happened.

Right now I am posting very short pieces because of a situation I'm having to deal with. Sorry 'bout that. My ex has assisted breathing for pneumonia contracted while having a tumor removed from his brain. Yep, I'm staying offline so the phone can ring if I'm needed.

And I hope that if you don't now get regular checkups for colon cancer, you will start now. Because this started as colon cancer, then went into his lungs, and the latest is the brain tumor. Please get checked. Don't let things go until you are messed up.

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

May the Goddess guard you. Off to light incense on my personal altar for you.

6:41 PM  
Blogger BlueKat said...

You have my very best wishes and positive thoughts for both your husband and yourself.

I hope that you and your children will do some further research about ADD/ADHD. I have had ADD all my life but was only recently diagnosed with it. Yes, diagnosed. It is not a "difficulty", it is a medical condition tied to dopamine receptors in the brain.

I am 50 years old. All my life, I went around locking myself out of my house and car, losing things, having car accidents (especially rear ending people due to inattention), making rash decisions, having poor impulse control, and having extreme difficulty focusing and setting and achieving goals, and making poor grades although possessing a high IQ. It hindered my education, my work life and my interpersonal relationships.

Ritalin does have a behavior and mind altering quality but it is not "dope". In people who do not have a chemical deficiency of dopamine in the brain, Ritalin will make them nervous, jumpy, hyper, and unable to concentrate. It will have an effect like speed. For those of us lacking dopamine, it has exactly the opposite effect. I stop figgiting, feel calm and self possessed, am able to focus on one thing instead of thinking about two dozen things at once, can sleep better and go to sleep much quicker, and basically am able to function as a normal person at a normal level. We do NOT "zone out". We zone IN.

Lacking health insurance at present, I have been off Ritalin for several months now. Which is why I am up and posting this comment at 4:49 AM.

No one knows what causes it, but it could be due to environmental factors or any number of things could account for the rise in the condition.

So, please, I urge you and your adult children to check into this medical condition more deeply. Just because some people over medicate their children, and some children who should not be on medication are, does not mean that some of us cannot benefit from it.

I hope your children will not find out that they have a medical condition that could be easily controlled with medication only after they have struggled with it for over half of their natural lives like me.

Again, my heart goes out to you, your husband, and your family.

2:00 AM  
Blogger Feral said...

Ruth, I'm back from vacation and noticed your absence on the morning threads over at the crack den. Hope all works out well soon.

I'll have some bird pics for you later this week. Take Care!

9:26 AM  
Blogger Ruth said...

Thanks, all, for your caring. And Bluekat, I hope you can handle the situation you describe, as well. The ADD wasn't so serious that my kids absolutely had to have medication, and as I mentioned, they did learn to handle it. Their doctor was one who tried not to medicate, and I am really glad for his help.

10:35 AM  

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