Anecdotally, my 7 year old son has significant ADHD and treatment with stimulant medication makes him feel so much ‘less attacky’ and allows his sweet personality to shine through, it also allows him to struggle through hard things academically. The difference is striking, he takes it happily and ‘feels awesome’ when it’s working. I think he’s going to need to get some dopamine extrinsically lifelong. ADHD is highly heritable and I think a trial of stimulant medication (prescribed by a physician) is a worthwhile experiment for many people with symptoms. (I’m a physician but this is not medical advice). Protein in the morning also seems helpful and this makes sense as it can be metabolized to increase dopamine (I’ve been shown a pathway but can’t reproduce it on the spot).
Of course, we’ve also done various types of therapy to varying degrees of success. Interestingly, here in Canada, high functioning autism qualifies as a disability for schools and tax purposes, allowing funding for services, while ADHD does not. So if there’s co-occurring autism (usually high-functioning) then it’s worth it to get that diagnosis for access to resources.
I’ve read a lot about ADHD in the last 2 years, the most helpful book for our family was Russell Barclay’s 12 Principles for Raising a Child with ADHD. Also helpful, and aimed more widely, is How to ADHD Youtube channel’s ‘How to fix the motivation bridge’.
A med school classmate of mine, with ADHD diagnosed in adulthood (life changing) describes it well as an attention modulation problem. The diagnosis helped her understand herself and her children.
If I could pay for another kid like mine to have medication for ADHD, I would.
If you happen to be a parent of a kid with ADHD/ASD, feel free to reach out because I’ve become an pretty knowledgeable case manager:)
I agree that treating ADHD is worth doing.
This is our story and some resources.
Anecdotally, my 7 year old son has significant ADHD and treatment with stimulant medication makes him feel so much ‘less attacky’ and allows his sweet personality to shine through, it also allows him to struggle through hard things academically. The difference is striking, he takes it happily and ‘feels awesome’ when it’s working. I think he’s going to need to get some dopamine extrinsically lifelong. ADHD is highly heritable and I think a trial of stimulant medication (prescribed by a physician) is a worthwhile experiment for many people with symptoms. (I’m a physician but this is not medical advice). Protein in the morning also seems helpful and this makes sense as it can be metabolized to increase dopamine (I’ve been shown a pathway but can’t reproduce it on the spot).
Of course, we’ve also done various types of therapy to varying degrees of success. Interestingly, here in Canada, high functioning autism qualifies as a disability for schools and tax purposes, allowing funding for services, while ADHD does not. So if there’s co-occurring autism (usually high-functioning) then it’s worth it to get that diagnosis for access to resources.
I’ve read a lot about ADHD in the last 2 years, the most helpful book for our family was Russell Barclay’s 12 Principles for Raising a Child with ADHD. Also helpful, and aimed more widely, is How to ADHD Youtube channel’s ‘How to fix the motivation bridge’.
A med school classmate of mine, with ADHD diagnosed in adulthood (life changing) describes it well as an attention modulation problem. The diagnosis helped her understand herself and her children.
If I could pay for another kid like mine to have medication for ADHD, I would.
If you happen to be a parent of a kid with ADHD/ASD, feel free to reach out because I’ve become an pretty knowledgeable case manager:)