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Newsletter #7 |
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for Parents and Teachers of ADD/ADHD Children IMPORTANT: Use this information at your own risk. This information is not to be used in place of appropriate medical advice. If there are problems, always consult your physician. Welcome to our Newsletter! Feel free to tell your friends about this service, or to forward this to them! Links to this Newsletter are sent to you via our auto-responder, so they will come to you automatically. If you have any problems with the service, please let us know right away by email. To subscribe, send an email to addnewsletter@webmailstation.com, and the link code to your first issue will arrive immediately via autoresponder, with following issues arriving about every five days. Please only subscribe once to our robot autoresponder. For more information on ADD or ADHD, visit the web's most comprehensive ADD ADHD Information Library for parents, teachers, and professionals, at NewIdeas.Net. |
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Announcing our three newest web sites!
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What Is Success? My wife and I had home schooled our daughter for eight years. The past two years, though, she's been enrolled in a small private school through a local church. This school requires a lot of parental involvement, and as a result I'm teaching three mornings each week. The theme of my class so far has been "Success," or rather "What Is Success?" It has made me much more aware of the concept of "Success." As a parent, how are you defining "success" for your children? As the parent of a child with ADD/ADHD, have you changed the definition of "success" for your ADD child? How do you define "success" for yourself as a parent? How have your ADD/ADHD children come to define "success" for themselves? Each of these questions is important for us to think through. Many of us, kids included, only define success in terms of what they have, or what they have accomplished so far in life. Some define success in terms of how society and culture define it, while others have chosen to define "success" through the eyes of God, as best as they can know it. As for me, I define "success" as "the progressive realization of moral, virtuous, or Godly goals." As I look at my kids and rate their levels of success, or rate myself as their parent, I want to keep in mind what my kids are becoming, rather than what they have accomplished in the past. As long as I can see my kids on a path toward becoming productive and honorable adults, then I will feel successful as a parent. I want to encourage each of you to take a long term view in regards to your role as parents. I have received many emails from parents of 4, 5, and 6 year old kids who are having trouble with attention span, or coloring in the lines, or reading, or whatever. Please relax. Focus on getting your child onto a road that will lead them to be productive as adults. Teach your children how to be good fathers and mothers to their children. Teach your kids how to love and serve other people. These are the major lessons. See life in the context of eternity, and your definition of success will change radically, both for your children and yourself. |
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FAMILY MATTERS was the headline that caught my attention in the newspaper. That's the name of my radio program here in California's central valley. It was interesting enough for me to buy the paper and read the story. The article was about a recent study called The National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, a survey of about 90,000 teenagers (age 12-18). The sub-headline was "Study debunks belief nothing works with teens." (Whose belief is that?) The reporter wrote as if a new revelation had just been handed down from heaven as a result of this study. As a result of this major study on adolescents, she wrote, we have found that "families are more important than previously thought, perhaps as important as peers... The primacy of peer relationships has been a widely held concept among professionals since the 1960's." Yes, the reporter, and the researchers, were shocked to find out that the family is still important! "These findings offer the parents of America a blueprint for what works in protecting their kids from harm," said Richard Udry of UNC Chapel Hill. What is this amazing, secret blueprint that will now be revealed to you parents who are assumed to not know any better? "The most significant finding is that the teenagers who reported feeling close to their families were the least likely to engage in any of the risky behaviors studied . . . Nearly as important were high expectations from the parents for their teenager's school performance."
They surveyed 90,000 kids to find out that families that love, care for, and nurture each other produce kids who don't get in trouble as much as families that cast their kids into the hands of other teenagers (the "peer group") to raise. Also, families where parents actually CARE about school performance, and expect their kids to work to their potential, also produce kids who don't get into trouble as much as families who don't care. I'm glad science has finally come around to this point of view. Oh, how bad are the problems across America? Using a sample size of 12,118 students interviewed, here's the picture of America today:
"The only factor that was linked with a lower risk factor across the board was a close-knit family, the study found." So, spend time with your kids. Be available for your kids. Make your kids a major priority in your life. Protect your family. |
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Web Site Reviews http://www.addmtc.com/index.html is a very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, site by a medical doctor in the California. The physician is an endocrinologist by training who now treats ADD/ADHD kids almost exclusively. The site is interesting because the doctor favors treating ADD/ADHD with dextroamphetamine and/or antidepressants over the use of Ritalin. It is troubling because he sites two university studies which suggest some possible significant problems with Ritalin use. Although my position is that Ritalin has been around long enough (about 50 years now) for us to know that long-term risks are very tiny, it makes for very interesting reading. But, do yourself a favor... Withhold judgment or even opinion until you track down the studies that he sites and read them for yourself. Since you are the parent, or educator, of an ADD child, you MUST always be a STUDENT of the ADD research world. Some things change, new "facts" are found, and old "facts" are discarded. You must stay current! Read, read, read! http://www.web-tv.co.uk/ is a helpful site from the United Kingdom with good information on both medical model treatments and also on some "alternative" treatments such as EEG biofeedback and even CES therapy (if you know what a CES unit is you get high marks for your alt.therapy knowledge!). If you are in England, looking for support groups, this is the place. Lots of useful information, and a valuable links page. This is a good site to bookmark. This site is also worth a visit. http://www.suncompsvc.com/johnd/50tips.htm is for all of you ADULT ADDers who are looking for a site with help for you. This is a GREAT SITE, from a great source. Download and print everything. *I can't believe it...just now the janitor walked in asking if I had any information that might help her 20 year old ADD son who struggled through school and is now going away to the job corps. I'm printing out THIS site and giving it to her. I know there are a lot of adults out there with ADD, but this was quite a coincidence* |
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Feedback from Readers... I receive about 20 emails per day from parents of ADD/ADHD kids (yes, that's about 300 per month). I try to answer them all as quickly as I can, but please be patient. Here are samples of what I receive on an average day...
ED- I have had lots of correspondence with LW since this letter. I really like homeschooling with families who will be committed to making it a success. We are all hoping that the homeschooling (1:1 teaching) and the Attend/Extress/Memorin will make this a great year for LW and her family. Here is a very interesting letter that I recently received. DO NOT consider it medical advice. But DO read it. Do any of you know the answer that this gentleman is looking for? Here's the letter...
** How interesting.... Now, please don't run out and give Sudafed to your kids!! I have heard that Sudafed is the most widely abused drug in the NFL among football players because it can have a significant effect (stimulant-like). If you are an adult and want to try it, that's different. But please don't try this with your kids. Doug
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Products, Books, Web Sites . . . Non-Ritalin approach to ADD/ADHD treatments discussed at these sites . . . For data from our study on the effectiveness of the ATTEND nutraceutical medicine, and for a comparison between ATTEND, and Ritalin, and EEG Biofeedback training, visit our new site at ADD-Products.com and then visit the RESEARCH section. Attend and Extress. Amino acid based nutraceutical medicines. Good products. For an in-depth discussion and product information go to NewIdeas.Net and visit the Treatment Options section.
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