New parent

[KarateMom321]

My 7 year old son was diagnosed on Friday and it has been a lot to take in. His lack of focus has always been an underlying issue since he started school. I always assumed he was bored in class but it flowed into our time at home. He is my only one so I didn’t have a reference point. I’m his mother so I learned to be patient. Even If that meant it took 3 hours to do homework. So much has been throw at me over the last few weeks that I feel like I’m in a tornado that won’t let me go. I’m hoping to learn and find the resources to help my family the best way I can.

[Hidden]

Hang in there. It is a lot to take in and there are many options to try along the journey. There are many others here to help.

[Pajamasam36]

Your name karate mom is quite appropriate for ADHD aggression! My child has adhd along with 4 other diagnoses.

I like to rate his diagnoses on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst symptoms. His adhd is at a 12 he is off the charts. We are in the middle of a huge legal battle with the school because he won’t let him go back in his class room. Right now they are educating him in the public library. We are beside ourselves on how to get him to do his school work. He flat out refuses. It takes a lot of persuasion to convince him he should do it. He has to earn screen time and bathroom time for doing his work. He uses the bathroom as his safe place to reduce his anxiety from on task demands. You will find many people here who can relate to your situation . The struggle is real! I had no idea adhd is such a complex diagnosis. I was reading that it is not so much a focus problem as a problem to get them to do things that they're not interested in!. Motivation is a a huge factor in changing behavior. Keep me updated on how you calm your tornado. I would be very interested!

[Hidden in reply to Pajamasam36]

I always thought it was a focus problem. It appears that way. But when I see him rejecting things he doesn’t want to do I thought that was him being spoiled or undisciplined. Thank you for informing me that it’s s motivation problem.

God bless all of us who are raising children with ADHD/ADDD

[Elijah1]

Read about ADHD - Russell Barkley's book Taking Charge of ADHD is one option. The National Resource Center on ADHD at help4adhd.org is a federally funded option for info. They have a weekly newsletter about new things in ADHD.

[sonicpixie]

You came to right place for more information and resources. CHADD is great and additudemag.com/ has a wealth of knowledge too. I was in your shoes in October. Hang in there. It gets better (and then I'm guessing it changes again and again) The diagnosis was one thing but then there was no direction for resources or gaining knowledge.