Saturday, May 07, 2011
Taking My Own Advice
If I were giving someone advice on parenting a child with ADHD, I'd suggest keeping the family on a strict schedule. Children with ADHD can really benefit from following regular routines--the more consistency, the smoother life runs. In reality, I don't keep much of a schedule at all, and my girls always seem surprised when I announce that it's time for this activity or that task. We lead a haphazard, disorganized existence that is saved from complete chaos by the few coping mechanisms we've adopted. It's time for me to take my own advice, to set the example. I can rebel all I want to about the fact that I want to do what I want when I want, but it won't get supper on the table or tomorrow's clothes laid out tonight. Sometimes, a good, old-fashioned self-discipline is called for.
The Best Kept "Secret" in Managing ADHD
It drives me nuts that every article I read about ADHD never mentions diet and nutrition as a way to manage the disorder. I just read one of the Washington Post Magazine's features from May 1, titled "Scattered," [http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/more-women-have-adhd--or-is-it-the-stress-of-modern-life/2011/04/08/AFx1Vo8E_story.html] which highlights the plight of women with ADHD. Not to minimize the plight of these women--they remind me of my 13-year-old daughter--but none of them can match my eight-year-old.
This is the child who stripped off her shorts and underpants for a forbidden frolic in the sprinkler while yelling, "Looky meee!" (I require my girls to change into swimsuits before running through the sprinkler, an idea lost on an impulsive child.) This is the little girl who can barely read at eight, who, in fact, taught herself to vomit at will in order to get out of school during her first year of first grade.
The second year of first grade has been better, in part because my daughter does take medication. However, she is also on a strict diet prohibiting artificial colors and flavors, certain preservatives, and corn syrup. I don't know which part of this double strategy would work without the other, and at the moment, I don't want to know. All I care about right now is that it works.
The Feingold Program works for my daughter, it works for the other members of the Feingold Association, and it would work for the women in "Scattered" if they tried it. Yet doctors rarely mention it, and when patients suggest it they are either told with a dismissive shrug to feel free to try it as it can't hurt or that it doesn't work at all. The Feingold Program certainly doesn't earn millions of dollars for Big Pharma and its constituents, and its methods aren't popular among food manufacturers, either. This makes it the best kept "secret" in ADHD treatment.
In 21st century America, the Land of Processed Food, this sort of diet sounds like a nightmare. In order to help my daughter, I'm extraordinarily limited in the kinds of foods I can feed her. I shop with the Feingold Foodlist, carefully choosing the brands and flavors of everything from Trader Joe's chicken soup to Planters cashews to keep my daughter's behavior and learning resembling something close to typical. It is not easy, but compared to the alternative, it's the best option going.
So how can perennially distracted adults pull this off? Cold turkey. With a Feingold Foodlist and a trusted friend or relative, an adult struggling to focus can shop for a variety of convenience foods from breakfast cereals to frozen dinners. Combined with "acceptable" bread, peanut butter, and luncheon meat as a couple of dishes prepared from the Feingold Handbook, a person can go cold turkey in a week to see if the program makes a difference. An ample supply of "acceptable" junk food can be helpful in fighting any feelings of deprivation. Certain brands of plain potato chips and corn chips, premium chocolate bars and ice cream--these are all items that are deemed "acceptable," and therefore permissible. This is not a weight loss or general healthy eating diet, it's just a program for eliminating the foods that make you a little crazy or shroud you in an unfocused fog.
Yes, my own child takes medication to manage her severe ADHD. Still, if a person can relief from a disastrous level of disorganization by making alternative food choices, that can make a huge difference. If a lot of us made such choices, it could transform not only our lives but our society. Untreated ADHD is simply not "acceptable."
This is the child who stripped off her shorts and underpants for a forbidden frolic in the sprinkler while yelling, "Looky meee!" (I require my girls to change into swimsuits before running through the sprinkler, an idea lost on an impulsive child.) This is the little girl who can barely read at eight, who, in fact, taught herself to vomit at will in order to get out of school during her first year of first grade.
The second year of first grade has been better, in part because my daughter does take medication. However, she is also on a strict diet prohibiting artificial colors and flavors, certain preservatives, and corn syrup. I don't know which part of this double strategy would work without the other, and at the moment, I don't want to know. All I care about right now is that it works.
The Feingold Program works for my daughter, it works for the other members of the Feingold Association, and it would work for the women in "Scattered" if they tried it. Yet doctors rarely mention it, and when patients suggest it they are either told with a dismissive shrug to feel free to try it as it can't hurt or that it doesn't work at all. The Feingold Program certainly doesn't earn millions of dollars for Big Pharma and its constituents, and its methods aren't popular among food manufacturers, either. This makes it the best kept "secret" in ADHD treatment.
In 21st century America, the Land of Processed Food, this sort of diet sounds like a nightmare. In order to help my daughter, I'm extraordinarily limited in the kinds of foods I can feed her. I shop with the Feingold Foodlist, carefully choosing the brands and flavors of everything from Trader Joe's chicken soup to Planters cashews to keep my daughter's behavior and learning resembling something close to typical. It is not easy, but compared to the alternative, it's the best option going.
So how can perennially distracted adults pull this off? Cold turkey. With a Feingold Foodlist and a trusted friend or relative, an adult struggling to focus can shop for a variety of convenience foods from breakfast cereals to frozen dinners. Combined with "acceptable" bread, peanut butter, and luncheon meat as a couple of dishes prepared from the Feingold Handbook, a person can go cold turkey in a week to see if the program makes a difference. An ample supply of "acceptable" junk food can be helpful in fighting any feelings of deprivation. Certain brands of plain potato chips and corn chips, premium chocolate bars and ice cream--these are all items that are deemed "acceptable," and therefore permissible. This is not a weight loss or general healthy eating diet, it's just a program for eliminating the foods that make you a little crazy or shroud you in an unfocused fog.
Yes, my own child takes medication to manage her severe ADHD. Still, if a person can relief from a disastrous level of disorganization by making alternative food choices, that can make a huge difference. If a lot of us made such choices, it could transform not only our lives but our society. Untreated ADHD is simply not "acceptable."
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
The Meaning of Success
What does success look like for parents of children with ADHD/ADD?Success looks like a typical child bathed in the glow of a miracle. I can take my daughter to Girl Scout Encampment and watch her delight in nibbling garlic-mustard leaves as though it's magic. Her fingers reach tentatively to pet a tree frog, and she shivers at the feel its skin. She is focused, engaged, and I am filled with joy. The thrill of watching an eight-year-old slowly sound out short-vowel sounds that roll off the tongues of most literate five-year-olds, that's success. Walking hand-in-hand with a child who doesn't exhaust me by jumping and pulling on my arm, that's success. Spending a day in the woods with my child actually enjoying her company rather than chasing her and watching flocks of birds fly up wherever she goes, that's success. What other parents take for granted, I have learned to appreciate.
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