ADHD - How occupational therapy may help
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive January-June 2003:
ADHD - How occupational therapy may help
I thought this article was interesting. It
explains why occupational therapy might help a child in ADHD. Makes sense to me....
http://www.add-adhd.org/attention_deficits_ADHD.html
My 2 youngest sons are ADHD but we missed it with the 26 year old but caught it with our 16 year old..After years of meds which were really taking a heavy toll on his life,we opted for a natural supplement,including regular martial arts .....Its been 3 years since we changed his diet,involved him in martial arts and now he even has a part-time job which he got on his own...He is entering grade 11,he's been invited to compete in the Eastern Country Martial Tournament in June (last year he won 3 trophies,a 1st,a 2nd and a 3rd place),he's grown a lot physically and mentally ,enjoys a healthy social life and is a lot more pleasant to have around....
I really believe the occupational therapy combined with the diet regiment did more for him than all the meds in the world.Of course it didn't happen overnight but it was worth every minute we spend at it....Now my older son 26 has taken a page from his brother's book and he's finding his life much more on an even keel.......
When did he start the martial arts?
He started in Oct of 2001,after he'd been off meds about 6 months...It took him a long time to trust his emotions and feelings..I have a hard time explaining this,but for years every time he got angry,or whiny or anything someone shoved a pill at him so now he had to learn all over again what was ok..Like if he got angry at something,for a good reason,like at a bully,that it was ok for him to speak up...For so long people had been shutting him up...
So once he got his emotions all straightened out,a lady on another board I belong too about ADHD kids suggested that because he was very small for his age,he had little self-confidence etc,she told me about martial arts and how if I got him into the right class,he would learn focus,take out his aggression in the right way and learn to walk away from bullies and troubles because in his head he would know he could beat them to their knees.
So I entered him in jukai jitsu which mainly strenghtens focus,exercise,and let me tell you ,it was not easy at first..He had a hard time keeping his mouth shut so he did a lot of jumping jacks and push ups but after about 5 months,he was good enough to qualify for his 1 st belt test.He's never looked back since and you'd think with a child with ADD,he'd be all over the place trying to show off the moves and stuff he learns but not one single time has he ever shown us his stuff or bragged about it,if it wasn't for the competition last year I wouldn't even know what he could do...Let's just say we were really impressed,he was the smallest and the youngest in his categorie and he wiped away the competition...I think martial arts is especially good for these kids because they can do very well with their personal efforts but yet be in a team atmosphere....He will be trying for his 4th belt in about a week,before the tournament but I'd like to say that it was the best piece of advise I'd ever gotten and many other moms have followed suit both with their girls and boys.....It seems to suit their temparement,just like swimming and gymnastics etc....
I think his instructor was very good. Sounds great! I love the discipline aspect and the exercise.
This is really interesting. What other board are you on? I Am the Mom of an ADHD ds as well. I have considered taking him off his med's, just for the summer, to see how he does, and to give his system a break!!
He too was in Taekwondo for about 6 mos but I had so many other commitments, I had a very hard time getting him there and ended up quitting. I wish I would have kept him in it. I may look at signing him up for the summer. And go from there.
Conni,
I think just the fact that my son could fit into a group of other people,some younger and many older than himself did for his self-confidence and self-respect and excel at something more than all the meds and therapy could...I keep him on potentiated bee pollen which is nothing but a food but its loaded with everything a body needs to stay healthy,its not a substitude for meds..When I did it,I also changed his whole diet,he was going to high school and looked like an underfed 8 year old...Now he is 5'8" and weighs in at a healthy 135 lbs so the natural way not only helped him mentally,it did wonders for him physically..His ped. dr. wouldn't even entertain the idea of removing him from meds,even though it was visible what a toll it was taking on him,the child had no life so I saw a naturopath..
As for the martial arts,I swear by it.And I would do so even if he'd stayed at the first level because he enjoyed it so much,the camaderie,the acceptance,the whole ball of wax...I'm not always in the mood to drive him to his classes twice a week,not counting the extra time they sometimes put in,this on top of driving him to his job but when we did the changes 3 years ago,we discussed it and made the commitment that he was going to get his shot at being treated fairly and decently..He had a real bad time of it in middle school,to this day I don''t know how he survived...
As for the group I belong too,we've been together over 3 years now,our kids talk to each time,either on IM or even by telephone and a couple of the moms along with their families made a trip up here 2 summers ago and we all got on like a house on fire..The only thing is that for privacy and protection because we do a lot of soul searching,reveal a lot of very very personal stuff its a closed community..Its too bad but a few weeks ago,we heard that people from the Montel show wanted to see how our group worked,why it worked so well and who were the moms there so the manager made the decision to close it at least till things cool down.If this is the kind of support group you would like ,as the support is not only about our kids but about each other ,we completely accept each other for who and what we are so I'll send you privately the addy for the manager,she's taking names and as soon as possible,she wil contact all those who've asked.Would that be ok with you?
Conni,
I checked your profile and see no email addy so if you want you can send one my way and I'll give out the address.....Ok? mine is tercoclu@nbnet.nb.ca
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