Close

You must be logged in to love this post! Please sign in:

Close

You must be logged in to follow this post! Please sign in:

Sue (Lehigh Valley, PA) on 08/27/2008

Parents have separate opinions on medicating their autistic ADHD son. I know medicating my son is my choice and no one can tell me to do so. I do not want to medicate him and my ex spouse wants to in a bad way. He is trying to get documentation to his advantage to get ready to take me to court because he says I am neglecting to do what is best for him by not medicating him. HELP!
REPLY   2      

Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 08/27/2008

To Sue from Lehigh Valley: Hello Sue, you do have a battle ahead, but I side with you. When the doctor wrote a Ritalin prescription for my then 5 year old son - I took it in my hand, left, tore it in half and threw it in his waste can on the way out. If you and your son's father can sit down and talk - I mean really calmly discuss this situation without yelling and screaming and hurling accusations - do so. If not write him a letter beginning with "I know you love our son as much as I do and I think we both want to do our best to protect him and keep him healthy" then proceed to ask him to at least look at why you feel differently about medicating him than he does. Then either print out references your opinions based on or give him sites and topics to look up for himself if he has a computer and on line. One site I highly recommend is International Medical Veritas Association (IMVA) and the free down-loadable "The Terror of Pediatric Medicine". There are many web sites by doctors such as Dr. Mercola, Dr. Jonathan Wright and many others to gather information from. Printing out copies for yourself & your lawyer in the event that you do go to court will also be helpful. If you know the name of the medication he is wanting to put him on - be sure and get a complete report on it and any unwanted side effects, both for you and his father. You will also probably find helpful information on educate-yourself.com. I have seen many questionable medications for children - one of the most dangerous was when a mother brought her 6 month old in and showed me a prescription to start him on one of the hypercholesterol drugs for adults, and asked my opinion. After looking up the drug in the PDR, I told her about the possible side effects and after telling her that I wouldn't tell her not to do it, but if it was my baby, I definitely wouldn't give it to him. Hopefully you and co-parent look at why you have different opinions and what they are based on and make an intelligent decision and keep this child out of the courts.
REPLY   3      

Replied By Deirdre (Atlanta, GA) on 08/27/2008

Sue, I am not sure how helpful this will be for you, but there's a book called NonViolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg that I want to suggest. There may be some techniques to help you with your situation. Funnily enough, I heard one of the guests on Charlie Rose last week (the mayor of Denver, Colorado re the Democratic Convention) talk about how he deals with an angry person and sure enough, it was an NVC technique. Charlie Rose asked the mayor to give an example of how he would respond to an angry person he encountered in the public and the mayor's response was exactly how Rosenberg would have you do it - to repeat back what the person just told you (which validates that you heard everything they just said). It has an instantly calming effect in most cases. Anyway, that's just one of several NVC techniques, but I thought it was quite remarkable to hear it employed by a public figure!

Please keep us updated...

REPLY   2      

Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 08/29/2008

To Sue from LeHigh: Hello again Sue, I just left a site that I want you to visit. Mercola.com. He has something that you might find you really need in talking with the other parent. The head of the CDC admitting that vaccines can cause autism in subsets of children. Another one that will probably come in handy is the recent case where the federal government settled a claim for damages to their child from the vaccines. I don't remember when it was but it was probably in the last 6 months. Probably will turn up somewhere, if you just search on-line for autism. Dr. Mercola also mentions a book written by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock about childrens' neurological problems related to vaccines. I have a lot of respect for this man and think if you do land in court, this book will come in very handy. In discussing this with the other parent, all the ammunition you can find to back up the fact that the vaccines recommended by the CDC is what caused the autism, should at least make him want to look a little deeper into less harmful ways of helpin his son to get better health through nutrition and other non-medicated routes, because there are no medicines without unwanted side effects. I think EC posted a release from health authorities in Atlanta (which was probably the CDC although they weren't named)a week ago and I found in our newspaper the next day. I think if you look at what they said and what I found wrong with this picture - it will make the other partner more willing to dig deeper and look at your opinion. Go to Mercola.com and click on autism, vaccines, and any other thing you find relevant. One very important question you might give the other parent to think about is "Have you ever heard or read about any autistic child who had not had the vaccines?" If anyone has ever asked that question, it nor its answer was not released. The answer to the question would definitely provide the answer as to whether the vaccines are the cause of it.
REPLY   3      

Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 08/29/2008

From Dr. Jonathan Wright's Health e-tips for Sue from Lehigh Valley:

"Many of your kids or grandkids probably headed back to school this week. And on that first day back -- and every day since -- half of his or her classmates probably made a trip to the nurse's office for their daily dose of Ritalin or Adderall.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become such a common diagnosis and the drugs are looked at as such a cure-all that it seems like both are taking over the school systems in this country.

But the fact is, these drugs are powerful stimulants that mimic things like speed, which I'm positive most grandparents and parents would do anything to keep their little ones away from. The good news is, you can keep the kids in your life away from these medications and improve, if not completely reverse, their ADHD....For nearly 30 years, Dr. Wright and his colleagues at the Tahoma Clinic have been using natural approaches to help parents do just that. In the upcoming September issue of Nutrition & Healing he outlines the various approaches they've used with such tremendous success over the years. It's an issue no parent or grandparent should miss, so keep an eye out for it to arrive in your mailbox soon. (And if you're not already a subscriber, visit www.wrightnewsletter.com for details on how you can become one).

Yours in good health,

Amanda Ross
Editor
Nutrition & Healing

REPLY   2      

Replied By Susan (Ohio, Il) on 01/21/2010

My son has autism spec. Disorder. I have taken him to every specialist imaginable. Psych neuro chiro holistic I found the most benefit was from a center where the biologically balance. Lots of blood urine stool hair was taken and the results showed he had pyroll disorder. We went gluten Carsin free. We cannot eat or drink sugars even in juice. We take melatonin to sleep. A vitamin was made us for his personal needs. He takes ltyrosine acetyllcarotine primrose oil pro dha insitol cal/mag liquid insitol methionine

The most dramatic results occured with injections of b methalcobalamine. This allowed him to make sentences. He receives ot and speech. To address his sensory integration disfunction. He still suffers from auditory processing disorder which causes him to have significant learning disability. GABA did not work for him nystatin helps his chronic internal yeast I fection most of the time. We also use enzymes with meals. He is able to attend school and was down graded from profound autism to his separate ailments. It is costly but very beneficial to determine the weak spots in an individual bio chemical make up.

REPLY   2      

Replied By Susan (Ohio, Il) on 12/15/2010

In follow up to my son's treatment. Nystatin was not very effective in eliminating his systemic fungal imbalance. We have started lemon, baking soda, and sea salt drink. We noticed a DRAMATIC Improvement in overall neuro function by substituting a cayanne capsul for the b injections and other b supplements. The cayenne has had such a huge impact on my sons behavior. He stopped spinning, putting holes in the walls and making disjointed sentances. He is no longer considered autistic, the ADHD label stands. I have high hopes for tumeric and the baking soda drink. Curiously he craves apples and sunflower seeds.

Would he be best served by magnesium gluconate or citrate, granulated lecithin or kelp? He refuses to take so many supplements and the cost of a taylored multiple is not possible. Also. I know he has heavy metal poisoning. He reacts severly to changes in his chemistry. Would Epsom salt cream applications suffice? It seems the more you learn the more your realize you do not understard. I am grateful for this site.

Ps I cant remember my password sorry

REPLY   3      

Replied By Rhonda (Columbus, Ohio) on 01/31/2011

My son dealt with Add his school years. Most people with this are low on EFA. Take evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil is good too. B complex helps, as well as melatonin 5 mg TR (time release) at night. Its hard to relax and wind down at night, this will help you sleep and keep you sleeping all night but not too much to wake up in the AM. Good luck and I hope this helps.
REPLY   2      

Replied By Amazinggrace (Yucca Valley, Ca) on 02/14/2011

I saw a special on CBNnewschannel.com where l-theanine was used to replace drugs to treat ADHD. The testimonies were very convincing.
REPLY   2      

Replied By Crazydogjack (New Castle, Pa) on 02/22/2011

Thank you to Amazinggrace... I just went online and watched the clip on l-theanine. Just placed an order and I am hopeful that this will help my son with his ADHD. I will post my results.
REPLY   3      

Replied By Tracy (Olympia, Wa) on 07/08/2011

Be careful trying Theanine, for my son it caused him to be groggy(sp) and grumpy - you know like when a child is overly tired. He may have been calmer after taking it but like a tired child he was not able to function emotionally. Someone else wrote on this site that for ADD/ADHD stimulants (like caffine) usually work better than calming remedies (such as theanine) and that is what I have found as well. Green and Black tea both have theanine in them. I wonder, since they both contain caffine too, if it wouldn't be better to try that instead of the theanine supplement.
REPLY   2      

Replied By Donna (Walnut Creek, Ca) on 01/11/2012

Very interesting post Ted, and thank you for the advice! Another great site with information about ADHD, including how to use a symptom rating scale, can be found at onlineceucredit.com/edu/ADHD-td. I found it very helpful!
REPLY   2      

Replied By Carol (Cumming, Ga) on 04/16/2014

Our family too has been trying many ADHD therapies over the years for our son who is now 15. Some of the therapies we have done are: eye therapy, after doing a free questionnaire @ cookvisiontherapy.com and an appointment with Dr. Cook it was found that our son had convergence insuffiency in the left eye, after nine months of eye therapy his eyes were 100% corrected. Yet he still couldn't read well enough to get passing grades. A hearing test by an audiologist confirmed Auditory Processing Disorder. We did 40 visits of Brain Core therapy which is biofeedback. The changes were slight. He was put in an online therapy for auditory processing called fastforword by gemm learning. This is a good reading program but our son still struggled so much. After reading 'Disconnected Kids by Dr Millello' we had an evaluation done at Brain Balance. The results showed the left hemisphere of his brain was under developed. It was explained that the right hemisphere was doing the work of both sides, on some levels he was at second and third grade. He is currently doing 36 weeks at Brain Balance therapy. We do therapy at home and bring him in 3 times a week. Basically the idea is to stimulate the senses on the right side of the body to effect the left side of the brain to grow and change, (or stimulate the left side if the right brain is weak). Along with diet changes, eye therapy, suppliments, drastically cutting back on screen time, adding movement during the day. During his sessions they have him do physical therapy first immediately followed by academic work. We have high hopes. The testimonials for autistic children are really good. I wish I had known about this when my son was younger, I may not have chosen the other therapies.
REPLY   2