This section of our E-Newsletter is dedicated to keeping you informed about new and fascinating discoveries and treatments currently discussed in medical publications. While our goal has been to provide medical information on ADHD and other behavioral traits, we realize that in order to be successful in all aspects of your life, that you need information on other health related problems. So, starting with this issue of Health Tips for Success, we are including other topics of current literature interest.

Another one of our goals in producing Health Tips for Success is to help you and your family find solutions to those little ups and downs in life that tend to keep all of us from being as successful as possible. We hope you find this issue of Health Tips for Success to be useful in some small way, as you and your loved ones travel life’s different paths. All articles are derived from published materials, educational sources and years of experience for each author. Of course, in times of need, no e-newsletter should ever take the place of your family doctor or professional counselor. If you have comments or questions, please drop me a line at drfrank@drhuggiebear.com.

In a recent report, about twenty double blind, randomized trials involving over 3100 men, have shown strong evidence the herb, Saw Palmetto (dwarf palm plant), in a dose of 160 milligrams twice daily helps improve urine flow in men experiencing enlargement of the prostate or benign prostatic hypertrophy. Enlargement of the prostate normally occurs as a result of aging and causes straining when trying to pass urine. The drug’s long term use safety and ability to prevent the condition is currently being studied.

As school is about to start again, we should all think of ways to help improve our ADHD child’s educational experience. One of the best ways is for parents to visit the child’s teacher prior to the start of school and explain his or her personality, strengths and weaknesses. By establishing good lines of early communication, teachers and parents can deal together with those little annoying ADHD traits and habits before they snowball into an avalanche.
Dr. Frank

Sometimes it’s like the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. This time it’s just more than you can take. You’re stuck between grabbing him by the neck and shaking some sense into that “can’t seem to remember” brain or pulling your last gray hair out! You have to fight back the urge to use physical violence in response to her uncaring attitude. It’s like the world’s going to explode if she says “duh, mom” one more time.

Well, don’t feel alone, millions of parents are in the same boat. And they tell me it feels like it’s sinking a lot of times. They express frustration and feelings of guilt about not being able to control their ADHDer’s behavior or getting them to “think before they leap”. Since we don’t want our ship to hit an iceberg and sink, let’s take a look at a few common ADHD problems that cause parents to become frustrated. Then, we’ll look at ways to solve some of those problems and relieve family anxiety and frustration.

You’ve told your child to clean up his or her room at least ten times. He just doesn’t seem to understand that part of success in life is learning to organize and that you want your home to look nice in case friends drop by or family visits.

Since ADHDers are by nature poor organizers, the cleaning up the bedroom problem is very common. It’s in the same trait category as not cleaning up toys in the family room, forgetting to feed the cat, and forgetting pencils and paper for school. What can you do to keep from getting angry and frustrated over the situation and help your ADHDer at the same time?

Most of us learn to organize by repeating and practicing the skills over and over. The fact that your ADHD child has a chemical problem with “executive memory processing” means that he or she will require much more practice in learning organizational habits. For ADHD children and even adults, practice makes better and perfect practice makes perfect habits. Spend time everyday with your ADHDer practicing feeding the dog, cleaning up his room or making a ritual out of taking her medications, until the perfect habits are automatic.

Always involve your child in the decision-making that goes into getting organized. Ask your child where he would like his toys stored or his school supplies placed for him to easily find them. Get her to use paper and crayon to write reminders to feed her pets or take her pills. Teach them to get clothes ready for school the night before and place them where they can be easily found.

You’ve called her five times to get out of bed. You even went into her bedroom and shook her leg. You cut her alarm clock off thirty minutes ago. It just seems like this child enjoys making the whole family run late. Your other kids are angry because they’re going to be late for school again. Two of them had to do extra homework for being late last week and it was “all his fault”. How can you be fair to your other children when you have to contend with him?

If your ADHDer is frequently late for school or work, buy a no-snooze setting alarm clock that helps them “get up on time”. There’s no doubt ADHDers are hard to get out of bed, unless something they really wish to do follows. So, consider rewarding “getting out of bed on time behavior” with a favorite breakfast food or a “special immediately rewarded privilege”. Yes, such can cause problems with your other children. So, in order to be absolutely fair, your kids should agree on how rewards are to be given. One family I know lets the child who is first dressed and ready to go to school ride in the front seat on the way to school.

You’ve reminded her a hundred times not to interrupt when adults are talking to each other. But she does, just one more time than your patience can stand. You’ve threatened punishment before time and time again, but this time you mean it. This is a common annoying habit of ADHDers. When they think of something, they feel that it’s urgent to express their thoughts right away. A lot of this behavior has to do with “executive processing” and it’s called impulsiveness. It falls into the same category as breaking in line, cheating, shoplifting, lying, speeding on a bike or driving too fast, and running out into the street without looking.

So what are you to do when your child is interrupting almost every word you say to your best friend? You reinforce the idea that interrupting someone when they are speaking should only be done in cases of urgency. One parent in my practice stops his conversation and asks “where’s the fire, son”? Patience is learned by observing patient people. If you speed, then expect your child to speed. If you constantly look at your watch wishing things to go faster, guess what you teach your children? Parents who want to teach their ADHDers to be patient have to teach the how, why and where of patience.

Patience is based on learning to postpone something for future reward.

Now, let’s discuss manipulation. A medical school professor once told me that some abused children actually seek abuse, because the attention they received was better than no attention at all. ADHD kids have a similar attitude about punishment, whether physical or emotional. ADHD kids require a lot of attention and when they don’t get it, they seek it in the only way they “know” how. I know it’s hard to believe that when you yell or scream at your ADHDer you are giving him or her attention, but you are. It may be a negative form of recognition, but it is attention just the same. So, what are you to do?

You should practice recognizing when your child needs that dose of special attention and turn the event into a positive self-esteem building experience. When your ADHD son interrupts you, ask where the fire is, point out that interruptions should be for urgent events, and remind him that he has been smart to spot urgencies in the past and his observations are important. Then if what he has to say isn’t urgent, do it again, and thank him for pointing out his observations.

ADHD kids really do march to the beat of a different drummer. Avoid comparing your ADHDer to your other children, because they are not alike. Your ADHD child must have his own personality, strengths and weaknesses. If you recognize your child’s traits, prepare in advance, and spot problems before they really get started, then you may totally avoid frustration and anger. If you have some unusual life skills training tips, please share them.

Valuable resources and newsletters for your family!

Kid Safe Web Surfing

 

Worried about your 6 to 14 year old surfing the web safely?  Then Garfield Island may be the answer! This software application is easy to install and lets parents protect their children while having loads of fun on the web. Garfield Island includes kid safe browsers, “talking e-mail”, closed chat rooms, and allows parents to select and allow or restrict access from a list of over 7,500 pre-screened websites. You can even customize the access list to expand your kid’s on-line experience. Garfield Island may just provide you with peace of mind while allowing your child the freedom to explore his.

Printed and video learning materials for behavior problems of all types are available from the A.D.D. Warehouse. This is one of the best sources for ADHD books and learning-teaching programs.