[Ivriniel]

In regards to your hydrocephalus question, this website says that ADHD is a common learning disorder in children who have the condition.

http://www.patientcenters.com/hydrocephalus/news/learning_1.html

Whether that is what happened in your case or not, I don’t know if anyone can say.

As far as getting a diagnosis for your daughter goes, as a teacher, I was told to suggest to parents that are concerned about ADHD that get a referral to a Developmental Pediatrician. They have a wider scope than a Psychiatrist, and can do tests to rule out conditions like anemia that can look like ADHD.

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[Ivriniel]

I use an iPod touch, and I find it very helpful. The one thing I found is that you need to find a way to attach it to yourself so that you don’t misplace it, that at the same time doesn’t restrict your movement. I find holders that clip on to my belt either get into the way of my bending over, or pop off at awkward moments.

I would not recommend a laptop, because unless you’re running around with it on all the time, you’ll have to wait for it to boot up before you do something, and the wait will probably deter you from actually using it.

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[Ivriniel]

I was diagnosed with a Learning Disability at the same time as my ADHD. (I don’t have a name for it like dyslexia, because those terms are a) considered outdated and b) never really were used in Canada in the first place. In any case, I’m pretty sure I don’t meet the criteria for dyslexic).

As a child I was good early reader, I just could not use phonics. (Hooked on Phonics would NOT work for me!) Instead I had a large bank of sight words, and would use context and syntactic cues to figure out unfamiliar words. If it was a word I already used in my daily language, I’d know how to say it, but often I would be in a situation where I could understand what a new word meant, but have no clue how to pronounce it. When I came to a word I didn’t know how to pronounce, I’d try to get someone to tell me how to say it. Then I would stare at the word and repeat the pronounciation until I could remember it.

My handwriting is a mess. They used to pull me out of class during spelling time to practice my handwriting with the Special Ed teacher. Then I’d get behind on spelling (which I was also terrible at, surprise, surprise ) and they’d pull me out of art to get caught up on spelling exercises. Looking back on it, letting me participate in art probably would have helped my fine motor skills more than making me sit writing out line after line of letters.

It was also the era when teachers taught by writing out notes on the blackboard, which the students dutifully copied out. They’d fill two blackboards, and then go back and erase the first one so they could continue. Invariably, I wouldn’t be done the first board by the time the teacher was ready to erase it, and then I would given a hard time for being too slow. I spent many a recess catching up on my note copying.

Did ok in Math, with the exception of Transformational Geometry until Grade 10. After that I didn’t have a clue what was going on a fair amount of the time. OAC Algebra Geometry with it’s X,Y and X axes made my brain hurt.

My biggest program has been though that I have always been an organizational disaster. How much of this is the LD and how much is the ADHD, I have no clue. In the end, does it matter?

Anyways, no one ever considered that I might have a problem (except for the handwriting, but then that was attributed to my left-handedness, rather that anything else.) because my verbal skills also happen to be in the 97th percentile, and I have an excellent memory for things I read. (My friends call me the human encyclopedia.). All my problems with organization were me being lazy, wilful, etc as far as my family was concerned. Heck, even my sister, who had a BA in Psychology, and teaching certification in Special Education in Virginia didn’t think I had anything wrong with me.

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[Ivriniel]

Rick said:

“So let’s say I have a 700 word article to write. Rather than wait for inspiration and a two hour gap to sit down and write it, I can convince myself to at least create a Word document on my computer. “I’ll just open a document, and write the title. And throw down three ideas.” I won’t spend more than five minutes. (And by the way, i don’t do this if I really only have five minutes. I do this when I have all day but can’t get started.) Three minutes later I’ve got the document, a title, and a couple of ideas… Then another idea, perhaps one that makes me smile, so I expand that with a couple of more thoughts… and that often triggers something… And I’m writing. Sometimes I’m not, but most times I find myself doing way more than five minutes. Even if I go 20 minutes rather than 2 hours, I’ve now done more than I thought.”

This reminded me of a Doctor I know. He’s made a commitment to do 2 minutes of Yoga every day. He says that way, on days when he doesn’t feel like doing Yoga, he gets up and does the two minutes, and usually, by then, it’s feeling good enough that he continues on for a whole hour. If however, at the end of two minutes, he still really feels like he doesn’t want to do Yoga that day, he’ll stop. Then instead of beating himself up for not doing an hour of yoga, he’ll congratulate himself for fulfilling his commitment.

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[Ivriniel]

I find it very hard to motivate myself to walk without a concrete goal of some sort. I can walk to the store to get something, but to walk for walking sake makes my brain want to explode.

For a while I was able to keep to walking by taking Part in the Walk to Rivendell, which is an online Tolkien fan walking program of sorts. Basically, using the Atlas of Middle Earth, someone figured out how many miles it was to various locations in Middle Earth, and as you accumulate miles, you get to say things like “Oooh, now I’m in Bree!”

It worked for a while, but then winter came and the sun started setting at 4:30 and everyone says you shouldn’t walk around at night on your own. Then to top it off, I lost my notes of how far I had gotten. I haven’t been able to get motivated to get restarted.

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[Ivriniel]

In regards to talking to your Doctor, talk to your child’s teacher first. See if you can get her/him to write a letter that you can show to the Doctor, describing what not only the classroom teacher sees in your child, but also any other teachers who have regular contact with her, gym teacher/music teacher/special ed/ reading recovery, etc.

Schools are sometimes hesitant to write this type of letter, because of fears that they might be left on the hook to pay for any treatment. If your teacher or their principal is concerned about this, get them to write the letter addressed to you. That way you have something else to show the Doctor.

Here’s a letter of this type that I wrote a number of years back for a parent, just to give you an idea:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. X,

As you requested at our meeting on (date), here is a summary of the behaviours that have been observed in your son, ***.

*** is a friendly, happy boy who is constantly in motion. In the classroom I find he frequently has difficulty remembering to raise his hand before speaking and will often blurt things out in class. During seat work, *** often has difficulty remaining focused, and is frequently out of his chair. He has been observed on many occasions chewing on things such as pencils and his clothing. On the playground, *** has difficulty controlling his impulses and frequently has difficulties with the other children as a result.

Mrs. AAA , ***’s Reading Recovery Teacher reports that during their daily one on one reading lessons *** has difficulty sitting still. He has trouble focussing on the book being read, and is often looking around the room. *** regularly loses his place in the middle of sentence. When *** does writing with Mrs. Reynolds he will frequently forget what he was going to write even after he has rehearsed it several times orally.

Miss BBB, ***’s Physical Education Teacher indicates that *** struggles to listen and follow instructions during class. She finds that he makes impulsive choices that put his own safety or the safety of others at risk.

In a variety of settings throughout the day, *** exhibits impulsivity, difficulty concentrating and poor attention span. These behaviours are having a negative impact on *** in academic and social settings. I hope that together we can find solutions to help *** have a happy and successful school career.

Sincerely,

Me

In regards to what sort of referral you want, I’ve been told to recommend to parents that they ask to see a Developmental Pediatrician.

In my experience a lot of GP’s don’t see enough of kids to really know when a kid’s behaviour or development is not quite where it should be for their age.

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[Ivriniel]

“Albert Einstein was obviously a genius … but he couldn’t maintain any sort of relationship and eventually lost the woman he loved.”

I’m sorry, but I don’t think the idea that he couldn’t maintain relationships is true. Einstein married his second wife in 1919 and they marriage lasted until her death in 1936.

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[Ivriniel]

Sounds to me like the same old “blame the parents” crap. Does he also say that Autism is caused by “Refrigerator Mothers”? *rolleyes*

ETA: Ok, having read the interview, I think he is genuinely concerned about society, but is mixing ideology with his science:

“Well, if people’s behaviors and dysfunctions are regulated, controlled and determined by genes, we don’t have to look at child welfare policies, we don’t have to look at the kind of support that we give to pregnant women, we don’t have to look at the kind of non-support that we give to families, so that, you know, most children in North America now have to be away from their parents from an early age on because of economic considerations. And especially in the States, because of the welfare laws, women are forced to go find low-paying jobs far away from home, often single women, and not see their kids for most of the day. Under those conditions, kids’ brains don’t develop the way they need to.

And so, if it’s all caused by genetics, we don’t have to look at those social policies; we don’t have to look at our politics that disadvantage certain minority groups, so cause them more stress, cause them more pain, in other words, more predisposition for addictions; we don’t have to look at economic inequalities. If it’s all genes, it’s all—we’re all innocent, and society doesn’t have to take a hard look at its own attitudes and policies.”

The quote here reminds me of an essay I once read by Stephen Jay Gould on William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor in the “Scope’s Monkey Trial” (A trial that prosecuted an American teacher for teaching the theory of evolution to his students). Gould points out that until the trial, Bryan had been considered a progressive, and that most of his biographers consider his role in the trial to be an aberration. Gould on the other hand, sees Bryan’s role in the trial as consistent with his work on Social Justice. He says Bryan saw evolution being misapplied in the social realm and being used as an excuse for social inequities and it was this that he actually opposed.

I think Dr. Mate concern that society looks for ways to get itself off the hook for social injustice is valid. (If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin. – Charles Darwin) I do not think that this ideological stance should be used an excuse to ignore the science, which points to a genetic basis for ADHD.

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[Ivriniel]

Anybody who lists “famous dead people who had condition X” makes me suspicious. Doctors have a hard enough time teasing the symptoms of ADHD out from other similar conditions when the patient is sitting in front of them. For example, I have been diagnosed with an LD and ADHD, and my Psychologist told me that it’s very difficult to tease out how much of my executive function issues are related to the LD and how how much is related to the ADHD.

At best, I find that sort of thing as a sort of annoying pep rally. At worst, its a way for some people to minimize the effects of a condition. “Look, Einstein had LD/ADHD/No Fashion Sense/Etc just like you, and he revolutionized physics! Surely if he could do that, you can balance your chequebook!”

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[Ivriniel]

Hi ChrisL,

On the subject of finances, I have a suggestion. If impulsive spending is an issue for you, don’t carry your credit card around with you. Keep it somewhere safe, and only bring it out for emergencies.

As far as forgetting to pay bills go, sign up for e-billing, and don’t open the email that contains the bill until the moment you are going to pay it. Seeing a bill sitting at the top of your in your inbox every time you check your email can be a great reminder. (It also reduces the amount of paper clutter around the house.)

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[Ivriniel]

Thanks for your reply.

“This is where you need to advocate for yourself. Doctors are not gods, and they’re never always right. They’re your partners in health care, and you should work with them. Don’t be afraid to tell your doctor that the referral didn’t work out, and you need a new one.”

It’s not that I’m afraid to tell my GP it didn’t work out, I just don’t want to be on a merry-go-round of referrals. I’d rather go in and say “I’d like a referral to this Doctor please” rather than run the risk I’ll get another dud.

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[Ivriniel]

I’m a teacher, too, Briochick. I guess I’m lucky, in that I can usually tune out the stuff on the walls and whatnot when I’m working, but now that I think of it, my classroom does tend to be less on the decorated side than a lot of people’s. Part of this I imagine is because I also have a learning disability which affects my fine motor skills, so there’s no way I’m making a bunch of crap for the walls but maybe part of it is self-censoring so I don’t get overwhelmed.

My biggest problem has been Admin who don’t get that you can be messy and still be a good teacher. It was harassment from a Principal who was trying to get rid of me (in addition to having a messy room, I have the tendency to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, without realizing it until its out of my mouth. And let’s just say that this Principal, metaphorically speaking, goes around buck naked most of the time. ) that pushed me to stop going “Gee, I wonder if I have an LD or ADHD” and actually go out and get diagnosed.

Then the diagnosis came back as “both”.

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[Ivriniel]

I can totally relate to Rick’s concern about constantly losing his PDA. I find that the best way to avoid this is to find a really good case for the PDA that you can wear on your body. I like to clip mine to a belt loop.

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