posted August 27, 2004 03:33 PM         

#1, Meds. His brain is so young. I worry that medicating these kids will do more harm than good.

#2, It might not be ADD. This is a sad story

When he was 4 months old, his dad dropped him on his head in the grocery store. He had a severe concussion, and 4 minor fractures in his skull. There was also some fluid leakage.

That being said, some of his issues and mannerisms remind me of my friends son and my husband's uncle who both have differnt kinds of Autism. Hubby's uncle also has CP.

My nephew is VERY emotional. I can't stress how VERY emotional he is. SUPER sensitive. Especially to loud noises. If all of the adults bust out laughing loudly while he's in the room, he'll TOTALLY freak out. Cover his ears, maybe even cry... but will most definately say something like, "STOP!!! You're scaring me!"

He's not an aggressive child. He never acts out violently. He's a good boy with some emotional issues.

Can you make any suggestions for his mom? I know she doesn't want him on meds either. So, that's good. I know she'd be open to any kind of natural solution. We've already talked about going to a Naturpath.

Thanks in advance.

posted August 27, 2004 08:16 PM         

If autism is ruled out, and it is ADD, I can only suggest what I posted for Philbird; http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/003561.html

Here is more background on the usual drugs that are supplied so you're aware; http://www.psychiatry24x7.com/bgdisplay.jhtml?file=ADHD_nonprof&s=3

I'm sure Gia will add some good insight too

posted August 28, 2004 08:24 PM         

Thanks for your response. He's 6 years old. He's a Cancer/Scorp Moon/Libra Asc... if that's of any help.

posted August 28, 2004 09:45 PM         

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

It's about an 8 year old autistic boy, and how he tries to solve the mystery of the neighbour's dog being killed and it's written through his eyes. It explains how he sees things and breaks down data, how factual he is, amazing memory, very intelligent, but cannot understand emotions, he gets confused by too much activity he's not used to, he has to cover his ears and make a noise to block out the confusion -

quote:

---

I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes and rolled forward till I was hunched up with my forehead pressed onto the grass. The grass was wet and cold. It was nice.

---

It's so interesting because it's an eye opener into the mind of an autistic child, please read it if you can - the book states the character was hyperactive too. This is originally a child's book, but they wrote the adult version since it was so popular, plus it's be controversial to display the parental stresses/arguments/swearing etc. This link shows the 1st 10 pages - the page numbers are numbered by prime numbers since the character loves numbers;

http://www.bookbrowse.com/index.cfm?page=title&titleID=1252&view=excerpt

I say this because it may be the same symptons as your nephew, and it the doctors need to spot it quickly (as the Chatzy conv. it may be overlooked)

posted August 29, 2004 08:51 PM         

I took my time over this one. I waited until my brother in law came back from his hols. He happens to be an expert within this field. He is chief therapist for a place that deals with both mentally and physically handicapped children in the United Kingdom. He is well regarded in his field and often travels around the world to assist parents who file medical malpractice against hospitals and doctors.

He seems to agree with me that there is no disease as such with ADD and therefore to hand out medication to kids often as young as three, is beyond foolish. He believes, as indeed I do, that it will come back to haunt us big in the future. That these children may eventually need to be medicated for life. Which will of course result in mega huge profits for the pharmaceutical industries.

I should also like to mention, that the drugs given to these kids are classed as Methylphenidate Hydrochlorides which work on nerve impulses in the brain. They are basically tranquilizers, and these drugs were originally developed to treat narcolepsy.

It is with great alarm that the same drugs that are supposed to make you feel calm, decrease restlessness and increase attention in both adults and children, have very well known side effects of loss of appetite, insomnia, and guess what? Nervousness! Those are the very common side effects. The less common are reaaally scary. Uncontrolled body movements, bad vision in long term use, seizures and more. The alternatives, such as Dexadrine, have been restricted because of extensive liver damage. Some researchers are worried about these drugs inflicting parkinsons in later life.

Well Libra, since I think that ADD is not a sickness but merely a symptom, then I think natural diet changes are the best way to treat it. I certainly agree with all that Sheaa posted. I would also add that in natural therapies when dealing with this symptom it is best that the following are added:

EFA ATTENTION FORMULA - Purchased from "HEALTH FROM THE SUN"

This formula contain nutrients needed for normal brain, nerve and eye function. Very suitable for both children and adults. It includes essential fatty acids and minerals.

ATTEND FORMULA - VAXA INTERNATIONAL

Addresses specific nutrients that are totally specific dietary and nureochemical deficiencies in ADD/AHD

My view on autisim.

It is not a brain disease. It is a developemental brain disorder. Now there are kids who are very autistic and there are kids who are too often diagnosed as autistic when they are most definately NOT. The criteria used to diagnose autisim makes me cringe.

According to the National Institute of Nuerological Disorders, it could include the following:

Impaired ability to make friends - shy

Impaired ability to converse for long periods of time - most men

Restricted patterns of interest - hobbies?

Inflexability to change routines and rituals - most of the population

Some kids are labelled autistic when they are different. When will we understand, that we don't all dance to the beat of the "common" drum? Some of us dance to our own beat and our own drum. Thank God!

I knew one child [ me ] who was extremely sensitive to mindless noise. I still am. I was very intense in my interests. Still am.

I'm not saying autism does not exsist, only that we are starting to label our children needlessly. Some kids are naturally shy, perhaps they have undeveloped hearing, or speech skills, are withdrawn and are loners.

In truth children are integrating less. They do not have the social skills they once did. My brother in law wrote a paper for the British Educational Board on this very subject. He led a group of therapists throughout the United Kingdom that went into primary schools to teach children how to play. Long ago children played games and they interacted with one another. Now they play alone, or with electronic games and computerised characters. How sad that is. They don't even have to interact face to face these days. They call each other from across the room on mobile phones. What did we do before Prozac and Ritalin?

These are only my views. I'm sure others may differ. However since you did ask me in particular, I do hope I've been of some practical help to you.

With love Gia

posted August 31, 2004 03:02 AM         

I'd also like to know your (or anyone else willing to give an opinion) about how likely these issues are related to the scull fractures as an infant. Basically all the Pediatritian has told her is that we'll have to wait and see if he has seizures. They should surface by the time he's 8, if they will at all.