Favourite Fidgets

Being Sunday night and I'm thinking about getting back to school tomorrow, I got thinking about my class.  In my class I have a few students who are diagnosed ADHD already and I few more that I think may be in the near future.  I have tried many different types of fidget toys in my room to try to help students stay focused while getting in their movement at the same time.  Here are a few of my favourites...

• A wiggle cushion, OK that's just what I call it.  There are many different brand names of them, but they are essentially all the same.  They are air filled rubbery seat cushions for students to sit on.  My daughters first tried sitting on yoga balls as their classroom chairs.  While this worked incredibly well, their obnoxious classmates took to trying to kick it out from under them.  The wiggle cushions are more inconspicuous, but provide the same movement while sitting! 
• A jumpsy rope.  You remember, when we knotted all the rubber bands together to make the big stretchy jumpsy rope?  Well I knot together thick rubber bands.  I make it just big enough to wrap around the front two legs of the students chairs.  The first time I made them I assumed that students would keep it behind their legs to kick their feet against it.  However, the majority of the kids decided to put their feet in between the front and back elastics, then they could swing their legs forward or backward with resistance either way.
• Silly bands!  The new trend with all the kids makes a great fidget!  The kids collect them, so they seem to always have lots.  The wear them, fiddle with them, and stretch them.  This is another one that keeps their hands busy.  And, there is limit to how far they stretch as apposed to silly putty or the like that go on forever.

Well those are just a few of my faves.  Let me know if you have others. I love having new things to add to my repertoire.

Ideal School?

Yesterday I was reading a blog post that essentially was claiming that parents are the best advocates and experts of our own children.  Right! Of course!  Perhaps this is why school is so incredibly difficult for our ADHD and FASD children, we don't rely enough on information from the parents about their own children!

In Ontario schools, parents are involved in the IPRC process and get input into the development of their child's IEP.  Check, yep, we do that.  But, do we really allow the parents to be the experts?  I mean truly.  Or, perhaps, for the most part do teachers and administrators listen politely and nod and smile at the parents advice and then carry on with the standard, cookie cutter IEP drop box suggestions?  I dare say in most cases it's the latter.

Please hear me loud and clear, I am NOT saying this is true in all cases!!!  I have had amazing teachers that thought of accommodations for my children that I would have never come up with.  Alternatively, as a teacher I have come across parents that have not taken the time to educate themselves about their child's relative issues.  Then throw in the fact that, as teachers, we have to teach about 15 neuro-typical children (who still all progress at different rates) and about 5 more neuro-atypical children who probably all have different needs from each other.  Getting it exactly right everytime is an impossible task.

I am NOT blaming teachers for not getting it right.  I am NOT blaming parents for being uneducated.  I am saying that the current school system on the whole is inherently flawed, especially for our atypical children!!!

Parents you are the most accurate experts where your own children are concerned.  What would be the most ideal school setting for your ADHD or FASD child?  Shoot for the moon, I'm asking for pie in the sky wishes.  I'd love to hear the wish list!!!

The Great Med Debate

My first child was diagnosed ADHD over 6 years ago now, but we also struggled...to medicate or not to medicate that was the question... We already had a very structured home routine and my brother-in-law had been on Ritalin as a kid.  Therefore, my husband had many preconceived notions about it.  “No way are we medicating my kid!”

Like many others, we also tried to control the ADHD with diet.  It turned out that her triggers were dye, sugar, and dairy.  OK, so, doubled with the fact that she was already a very picky eater, it pretty much eliminated anything that she would eat.  Also, as a 7-year-old little girl, she felt absolutely deprived!  She was not wise enough to see the benefits in herself yet.  (Around age 10 she finally could.)

After about 3 month I convinced my husband to do a short trial of Concerta, two weeks.  It was brilliant!! It was our magic bullet, so to speak.  She was having terrible difficulty learning to read.  Her brain would not let her slow down to look at words carefully enough to read them.  At the end of the trial, the Special Education teacher sought me out to share her delight that reading has finally “clicked” for Courtney.  Yes, after just a two-week trial period.  My husband conceded that I might just be necessary.  After being medicated through the end of grade two and three, she actually caught up to her grade level peers!  There was no denying the success of the meds.

This is why over the years, when both of our other children were diagnosed we didn't hesitate to medicate.  We saw first hand that we did not turn our child into a "zombie", we allowed her to be her best self!  This is how I always put it to parents that ask me. (I am a grade two teacher so I do get asked a lot.)

  "You are not drugging your kid to make them sit still and be quiet.  You are medicating the disorder that does not allow them to be as successful as they might otherwise be.  You are preventing future school problems and potential failures.  You are doing your child a disservice by not at least giving them a trial of medication."

My favourite story of all in the great med debate is from when Courtney was at the beginning of grade five.  It was nearing the end of September and Courtney’s teacher was noticing that she wasn’t herself.  She had the same teacher for grade four, so I strongly trusted his judgement.  I thought that maybe it was finally time for a stronger dose of her meds.  She had been on the same dose since grade two, her initial trial dose.  I called the doctor and made the necessary changes.  The first day that Courtney came home from school on her new dose she hugged me and thanked me!!!  She said it was her best day ever!

Stigma

Why is there still such stigma about ADHD?  I have seen so many parents disregard the idea that their child might have it.  Yes, developmentally children progress at different rates.  I don't think that anyone would ever dispute that.  However, if a teacher is indicating to you that your child may have further issues, don't you think they might have a clue?  They have 20 other children to compare what they see.  And, if they have been teaching for any length of time, they may have experience with hundreds of other children.  Teachers have a pretty good baseline for what is "average". 
Here is how I always explain my observations for parents.  I start by telling them what I see inside and outside of the classroom, in the most positive light possible.  Parents want to hear that their kids are trying.  If a child is consistently inattentive, I assure the parent that I know their child is not making a choice to ignore me.  It seems as though they didn't even realize that I was talking.  Kids with ADHD are not (typically) making a choice to not pay attention, their brain doesn't let them pay attention, even when they want to.  I remember that frustration!  I would be thinking so much about how I needed to start paying attention that I would still not be paying attention!! 
Also I make sure to let parents know that I'm sure that their children could be getting better grades and learning much more than they are currently.  I find that typically children with ADHD are at least of average intelligence and often above average.  However, since their school performance usually suffers from their inattention, they don't get grades and report cards that reflect how smart they are.  It's very important to parents that their kids are doing their best.  I try to impress upon parents that it would be a terrible shame if their child had a medical reason that was preventing them from doing their best.  Wouldn't you want to know if your child was physically not able to do their best?  I would!  I did!
These were the reasons that I convinced myself that my children needed to be referred to a pediatrician.  When I tell parents that, it also seems to reassure them.  I am a mom before I'm a teacher.  I understand.  I care.  I'm NOT just trying to make your kids sit still and be quiet.  I want to see all children be the very best they can be.  Mine and yours!