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My mother was so laid back that my brother being mute did not throw her. When he was 4 he told me not to push him off the chair. Clear as a bell. When my mother asked him why he had never talked he said he didn’t have anything to say. His IQ was off the charts. His grandson had that same speech delay.

I, on the other hand, never stopped talking and at the request of my co-workers got tested in my 40s. Yep. ADHD. Was on Ritalin for about a year and decided I could do just fine with my brain the way it is. So far, so good.

We over diagnose kids. None of us are “normal” . If your child grows up happy with life you have done your job.

Controlled environment, meaning in a quiet room with no windows. My daughter scored 12 th grade reading in 3 rd grade, in that environment. When she was in the class she barely made grade level.

How do you get an ADD kid to practice? Asking for a friend.

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I never could get myself to practice, perhaps because I played so badly. Maybe I didn't believe practice really would make me play less badly.

I used to be able to listen really well, though, before my hearing deteriorated. Hearing aids just don't do music very well.

Sorry for the T/J. My opening question is real, even though it's a T/J.

How do you get ADD kids to practice?

You make them. 30 minutes a day before any TV computer or play. Period.

I can tell you for me and the Sax it was torture for myself and the entire family. When it came to piano though I loved it, and the extra stimulation of reading two lines of music and doing something with both hands simultaneously was about as addictive as video games are today. I would go practice, and soon an hour had gone by. I had bypassed my sister's level of ability within 6 months of starting, she had been playing for 3 years at that point. But she a non ADD kid rocked the clarinet, first chair, all state band, blah blah blah. But she was awful at the piano and for her to learn a piece it usually meant learning one hand at a time and then putting them together so she plateaued early.

Anyway you make them do it, until they really like it, or give it up but when we started in band it was mandatory 2 year commitment otherwise our parents wouldn't pay for it.

You make them. 30 minutes a day before any TV computer or play. Period.

Yep. Missed quite a few soccer practices until it sunk in that I was not backing down.

It was exhausting.

I just wanted to reiterate - and yes, this is possibly me being a bit defensive - yes kids are possibly overdiagnosed as ADD/ADHD, but he was evaluated on the advice of his neurologist, and he's under the care of a neurologist due to daily seizures and abnormal EEG readings . . . this isn't gee, my kid is distractable, it's my kid has a brain that is electrically misfiring multiple times every day and we need to do due diligence to make sure we have a good idea of the scope of his issues. I'm fully on board with the psychologist's recommendation of not medicating unless necessary.

Your situation is different. Your child has deeper issues than I. I never want anyone to feel they aren’t doing the best they can. In my case I had a college degree, long marriage and kids with ADHD diagnoses. One uses Ritalin, the other does not. Both love their work. Both have children with this and some are medicated and some are not. Seizures are an entirely different matter and children need mama and papa bears to get the best help out there.

My reaction has to do with pigeonholing kids. All that info is written in records on the internet. For children like yours you want a record but so many kids, like my nephew, are doing fine but there is a permanent record on him somewhere. Also, we are all on a continuum of one sort or another. I guess I am uncomfortable with so many opinions of kids that are written somewhere even though the issues are long gone.

I wish you the best of luck.

[This message edited by Cooley2here at 12:12 PM, April 19th (Monday)]

Thanks Cooley I'm definitely of the mind of wait and see how he does before trying to get any official ADD diagnosis - my family members who are school nurses and Spec Ed teacher strongly advised not getting an "official" label unless we need one.

I'm on a low dose of adderall myself. No judgement either way.

Sorry I got a little mama bear lol.

Re: labels and records...I don't know about other places, but in NJ that scary "permanent record" contains little of substance. Just grades, test scores, demographic information like address, patents' names, etc. Anything subjective, comments, etc. are purged. Likewise, special education folders and ieps, etc are purged and the information shredded.

Just FYI...