One reason we've probably seen this increase is that, at our pediatrician's recommendation, we've started giving her melatonin at bedtime to help her relax. It's been a true godsend to have drastically shortened the bedtime routine and made it way easier. But the flip side is that, now that Anna's getting a full night's sleep on a consistent basis, we are seeing her at maximum energy capacity during the day. And it's simply astounding.
But we're not just talking about energy. It's also the ease with which she becomes distracted, the length of time it takes her to finish a meal because she's constantly up and down from the table, her rapid movement from activity to activity without finishing prior activities, her incredible restlessness even when she IS focused on a task....you get the picture.
So, before she starts kindergarten this fall, we've decided to have her screened by Child Development Services. Best case scenario, she doesn't have ADHD or a similar issue, and we learn some strategies for managing and channeling her energy. Worst case, she does have this type of challenge and we learn how to help her navigate it and succeed. Either way, only good things can come of it.
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| "Princess Merida" teaching her class of Care Bears |
Still, I'd love to hear from our readers on this topic. Do your children have ADHD? If so, have you found ways to manage it that still allow your children to reach their full potential?
If not, do your children simply have incredibly high energy levels? Are they easily distracted? How can you refocus them? What I wish I knew was how much distraction/ short attention span/ frantic energy is normal for preschool age children, and how much is above that baseline level.
Like so many things, I wish there were an easy answer for this question. Either way, hopefully we will get some better insight soon and figure out how to make sure our super bright kiddo can do well in school, sports, or whatever she chooses to do.
I was going to recommend that you have her screened before I saw that you are doing just that. I agree with you in that there is no harm in a screening. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteIt is so weird that you posted this the same week we are studying this in my "Intro to the Exceptional Child" class. Also I have a lot to say personally on this issue as I have AT LEAST one child who is undiagnosed ADHD.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is no harm in screening, particularly as she is about to enter school and there are many ways she may need support in school.
My one caution is medication. I am personally against medicating kids, but I have a friend whose daughter is diagnosed ADHD and she is medicating her. Her daughter is highly unorganized and distractable so the medication seems to help her. I also have a very unorganized daughter who is easily distracted, but I choose not to medicate her. I would never judge anyone who goes that route, but I personally think it is not necessary for my kids.
That is the big issue really, do we medicate or not. I have found that there are other ways to help kids who "can't sit still". When my oldest was in 1st grade she literally could not sit still ever. The school she goes to has been so super about accommodating her and she was lucky enough to have a teacher who has been trained in montessori. Her teacher would send her on "errands" like taking a sheet of paper to the office, or have a visit with the principal (who was so great about kids visiting him). I remember one day he told me, "I realized early on that when Maddie came for one of her visits she would come to my office and she just NEEDED to touch everything and then she was fine". She has also had teachers that allow her to take tests in quiet separate rooms so she is not distracted by the other kids.
At home I am really strict about sticking to a schedule, for everything. To help keep her organized I have a place for her to put everything. She has a binder for school that has a folder for every subject and she has gotten pretty good about keeping her papers where they belong. She still forgets things, like permission slips, or her glasses, and I find myself going to the school to bring her things she left.
There are lots of little ways to help kids like this and if Anna is diagnosed, there will be lots of services available to her through public school. Sometimes you will have to fight for them, and make yourself heard, but I am sure you will do that anyway! I am anxious to hear how it all goes.
I wanted to share this video I was assigned for my class this week. While it is a bit dated, the information and statistics have remained constant, if not increased.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/watch/
If you have concerns, the screening is a good idea. From what you write about her, it's clear that Anna is very bright. In my experience, children who are gifted sometimes have challenges with focus and physical energy that mimic ADHD. We're dealing with this at our house. We have our own little someone who seems unable to control his impulses, who jumps up and down and off of every piece of furniture, who plugs up drains in sinks and then runs the water until they overflow "just to see what happens," who memorizes everything about space he can find, rattles off the Galilean moons like it's nothing, who reads independently at a high level. He can't stay put at the dinner table, either - he gets down to pace when he starts talking about something he feels passionately about (which might be anything). He makes me crazy sometimes because I feel like of all the kids I have ever worked with, he is the most challenging. We aren't having him tested yet, but we have decided that we'll be homeschooling in the fall, partly because of his impulsivity (and other factors, including his late birthday, which falls four days before the cutoff).
ReplyDeleteDoes it mean Anna doesn't have ADHD? No, but there is possibly another explanation- it might be worth checking out.
Here are some links that might be helpful: http://www.stephanietolan.com/dabrowskis.htm
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/adhd.htm
I'm about to write about this whole thing...mind if I link to your post?
By the way, the average preschool attention span is about 4-8 minutes focused on task without a break. :-) Those library story times that last 20-30 minutes are really too long for active, wiggly four year olds.
Thanks, everyone, for all the insight! It's very helpful. I don't want to rush to diagnose or to medicate. I definitely think some of this is normal, active preschooler stuff. But to the extent it seems like more, and I hope it's not ADHD, I will be grateful for tips on how to manage it and provide a better structure for currently unstructured time at home because that's so important.
ReplyDeleteThat would be great if you link to the post, and thanks for sharing some other sites with me as well! 4-8 minutes sounds pretty accurate. :) Anna is so bright, as is Sam, and I don't want her level of distractability to hurt her academically. Although in true anxious mom form, I am probably worrying about that a bit too early!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that Maddie's school is accommodating like that. I don't think medication is usually the answer, although I have some children in my family that it has definitely helped. I would not want to do that with Anna unless her problems proved to be extreme. I think there's a rush to medicate in adults as well for all sorts of things!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it can't hurt! I'm looking forward to getting the ball rolling and will write a follow-up post after it's done.
ReplyDelete