We heard back from Dr Dassel and Harry has been officially diagnosed with ADD. Not the Hyper type thank god! Its a lot to take in but I am more excited than sad, I know we have a direction to keep heading in and the more we can do and know the better we can help him!!!

http://add-adhd-education.suite101.com/article.cfm/individualized_education_plans

Renton School Districts policies for - 504's

http://www.renton.wednet.edu/resources/RSD%20504%20Manual.pdf

Today - First appointment with Dr Dassel

We finally met with Dr Dassel today, the pediatrician who specializes in kids with ADHD. Firstly what a wonderful man, kind of like the sweet old grandpa who loves kids. He has specialized in this field for over 40yrs and you can tell he still loves what he does. He really enjoyed chatting with Harry and was full of smiles and compliments for him. He said to Harry "you're a smart one aren't you?" Harry slightly blushed, very cute.

The purpose of our appointment today was to have a medical opinion and diagnosis of what Harry has. He is positive Harry has ADHD but can not 100% say that until the final stage of the diagnostic procedure is completed. This is a survey that needs to be completed by Dave, myself, his teachers and Master Chung. Once those come back he will be able to confirm the diagnosis.

He suggested 3 different styles of treatment:
- Behavior Therapy
- Non stimulant Therapy
- Stimulant Therapy

It feels so amazingly wonderful having a direction and a team of dedicated professionals in his life.

Behavior therapy is effective in helping manage symptoms of ADHD in children. A reward system is implemented with input from the child and new behaviors are taught to replace the old, maladaptive ones. When setting up a behavioral program, it is important to remember the “Three C’s.”

1. Clarity of Expectations
Keep rules and expectations simple, concise and clear. Make sure they are easily understood by the child.
2. Consistency
Follow through with consequences in a consistent manner.
3. Calmness
Approach situations calmly. Take a deep breath and make sure you are in control. Take a brief “time-out” if you need to get a better hold over your emotions. Children are especially sensitive if we lose our temper. A calm approach is most effective and won’t overstimulate the child or escalate the situation.

Two ADHD experts, Peter Jensen, Ph.D., a professor of child psychiatry at Columbia University, and Patricia Quinn, M.D., a developmental pediatrician in private practice in Washington, D.C., explain the importance of the Three C’s in this video interview:
Click on ADHD: Tips for Parents and Teachers to view video.

Additional Reading:
Parenting a Child with ADHD
School Tips for ADHD Kid

New Real food Blog.....

http://hellorealfood.blogspot.com

Real Food for our Family!
In our efforts for healthy living through food and helping Harry with his ADHD diet, all dietary finds will now be posted here instead of Harry's - one day at a time blog.

The goal for this blog, researching the effects of food on ADHD behavior, what is good for him and brings out his best in all aspects of growth. As well as the flip side, with what has a negative impact resulting in symptoms and behaviors associated with ADHD.

Our new passion, Real Food...mmm

Silly sounds, rude faces and talking back....
A sign of an episode?

I have really been watching for any patterns in Harry's behavior lately, to see if we can determine an episode of ADHD coming.
Something I have noticed....

Trigger
Milk? he had milk today for first time in 3 days (could be a coincidence)

Signs
Silly sounds, like bla bla bla bla, neh neh neh,
Along with silly faces, sticking out the tongue, the rolling eyes
His work becomes less focused, scribble and "out of control"
He will talk back and call names
Seems to have more energy, spins, flaps, rocks on chair, can not sit still
Everything seems to be more exaggerated, the voice is louder, the movements bigger, the emotions and drama over the top.

Interventions
At this point, short direct directions are the best for him.
Settling him in an activity that he enjoys, like drawing (maybe with a new book or crayon to make it seem exciting) TV is a great downer for him, the soothing effect is great when things are getting really high.

In an effort to keep this a blog about Harry and not a diet blog I will be starting....wait for it....Another Blog! One aimed at just our quest for a healthy diet. This will contain all the great info we come across out there on the web! I'll update soon with a link to our new blog.

But for now here is one more website I have come across....

http://www.becomehealthynow.com/faq.php?cat=conditionchildren&id=6

This has a great Q&A about the Feingold diet and his ideas behind the diet, really everything we want to know about it...good read!

Some interesting articles!
as if we didn't have enough to read on the topic already, right?

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/adhd/

http://newideas.net/adhd/adhd-diet

Allergy testing!

Harry had his appointment today at the Northwest Asthma and Allergy center. Talk about fun...NOT! trying to explain to him that this won't hurt like a shot and that it needs to be done so we can see if he's allergic to anything, not easy! Finally we got through to him with what worked. He wanted to see it, which I was a little worried about, but doing it on his back was stressing him out because he couldn't see it. so the arm it was. He now shows off a beautifully inked arm.

It was hard explaining to him today what was going on, he was very anxious as anyone would be, but was not wanting to listen to us. Its funny because he really does get it, you tell him not to scratch his arm and he won't do it. Even 3hrs later when we tell him its ok to touch he still won't touch it.

Anyway, his allergy testing came back negative. He was tested for all the perenial allergans in this area like dust, cat, dog, mold as well as some seasonal, Alder and Cottonwood trees.
Everything came back clear. Which I guess is good. Still no answer though as to why he has this horrible postnasal drip? At least we can now tick this off of our list of tests for him.

Now to do some food elimination testing at home to see if we can figure out if there is anything there acting as a trigger for the sinus and ADHD.

A rough start to the day!

Harry will have long periods where he is the normal, sweet, helpful, child that he is. Then every so often out of the blue with no warning he is completely an ADHD case.....

Today started out with yelling, nothing could be said in a normal voice, every thing was screamed even though the person he was speaking too was right next to him.

Very demanding, wants things then and there. Like breakfast, he appeared to be frustrated that I was doing something and not getting his breakfast straight away.

It was all about him this morning, if he wanted something he demanded it, if he was talking then he demanded to be listened too, if he was sitting at the table then Thomas could not sit there too.

He was all up in Thomas face today, with sounds and silly faces, just needed that attention.

Now he is running around the house, its like he has so much energy he has to burn off.
Eating breakfast he needed to stand next to his chair and shake around.
While not talking or having anything to say, he would continue to be vocal with silly sounds.

He wanted to be hit by his brother, he said he loved it and wanted him to keep doing it.
There was a cushion on the ground which he ran circles around for a few mins then ran out of the room, raring ready to go, like a race car!

He is now upstairs throwing toys around the playroom making more verbal noises.

This has been our morning!

I have just turned the tv on and ahhhhh, Silence! First time this morning. TV really is a grounding self soothing thing for Harry.

5mins while typing this and he is still sitting quietly on the couch watching tv, it really is this mama's saving grace this morning!

Because of the ups and downs where for a week he is fine and then a few days he is off the wall, it really is saying to me that he has triggers to his ADHD. What are these triggers? food, environmental, sleep? Maybe once we find these triggers we can better handle and predict his ADHD moments.

He hasn't been sleeping well, having late nights and not winding down at night, could this be a sign that he is about to have an ADHD episode? or could this be a cause? not enough sleep.

Yesterday he said he drank a lot of milk at school. Could he be lactose intolerant? Another trigger maybe? was there a color or flavor in a food yesterday? Something really did trigger him off yesterday....but what? Maybe when we find out this we can really help him.

10 Reasons Why Your Kids Don't Listen to You

November 9, 2009

Do you feel that your kids never listen to you?

Do you need to ask them to do something 5 times before they acknowledge the request?

Does it take your screaming your head off to get your kids to do ANYTHING?

There are 10 reasons (at least) why your kids aren't listening.

In no particular order:

1. They don't hear you. Really. Some kids have processing disorders that make it difficult for them to register that you are asking them to do something.

2. You talk too much. Are you a parent who likes to work things out or process issues verbally? If your child has any LD or ADHD he isn't processing half of what you say. Use. Fewer. Words.

3. You are not giving them enough lead time that you need them to do something. Kids often get very absorbed in what they are doing. If you walk into the room and ask them to set the table and you have the expectation they will do it immediately, your expectations are way too high. Better to say, "I need you to set the table in 5 minutes, " and then remind them 2 more times before you absolutely need the chore done.

4. There is no consequence for not getting the chore done. Kids know when they MUST do a task and when they can get away with slacking off. They will tolerate your nagging all day long if they know they can watch TV, have friends over, play video games regardless of whether or not they listen to you.

5. There are no positive outcomes for getting things done. Your child will be much more motivated to listen and follow directions if after they get something done, you acknowledge their efforts in a positive manner. When my son puts silverware away, I give him high fives and thank him for being so helpful. I do *not* reprimand him for putting some spoons in the fork slot. Cheer on their efforts and they will continue to try to be helpful.

6. They know they can wait until you are screaming and freaking out before they need to move it. Kids learn quickly that you will give them 3 (or 4, 5, 6) chances before you "really mean it." Mean it from the get go and avoid the ongoing nag fest.

7. You make too many requests. I know it may not seem like too much to ask your child to get dressed, make their bed, get the backpack, do a few chores, walk the dog, be polite, turn off the TV on time, eat their veggies..... But kids can only do so much correctly and on time (add ADHD or executive dysfunction in there and the ability to balance all these tasks is diminished further). Pick a few things you absolutely MUST have your child do every day and hold them to it. The rest is "nice to do" but not something you will demand of them day after day.

8. You are too critical. I know your child can be frustrating. I know you're tired. But sometimes we can get in a cycle with our kids where everything we say to them is a correction or "constructive feedback." No one will listen to an ongoing litany of what they can't do or what they have done wrong. Be aware of what you are saying and how you are saying it (tone of voice) to your kids. If your criticisms are more than your compliments, immediately start to turn that around.

9. You're yelling all the time. Kids quickly tune out yelling. It just becomes background noise. Plus, when you're yelling, you're not saying nice things and no one wants to hear that. Yelling accomplishes nothing. Ever. If you don't have any other parenting techniques, it might be time to consult a professional to develop a wider range of discipline and parenting skills.

10. Your kids tried to please you at some point, but realized it wasn't enough. Here is a secret: ALL kids want to please their parents. No child starts life saying, "Screw it. I'm just not going to listen to you." They want your approval. They want their efforts recognized. Kids often fall short of our expectations, but we need to always celebrate that they TRIED. If your kids tried and didn't do things exactly right, did you thank them for the effort or criticize their attempt? If you are more critical than complimentary, kids eventually say to themselves, "Why bother? Mom/Dad won't like what I do anyway. Better to stay watching TV and listen to their complaints than try to do it and STILL listen to complaints."

How do you turn this around?

Talk with your kids (no yelling). Set clear expectations. Have consequences for not following through (TV goes off, no video games, etc.). Reward effort with compliments and thanks. Never criticize an attempt, no matter how small. Give them time to transition and check for understanding of the request.

Even when you do all the techniques above, there will still be times when your kids don't listen. That is when deep breathing and meditation come in handy for parents :-).

ADHD diet

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/adhd-diet

Scary what we eat!

In my efforts to find a diet that is doable and will make a difference with Harry's ADD, I have been coming across some pretty alarming foods and additives that we put in our body!

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/feingold-diet

Here is a list of things that we will never eat again! I will be adding to this list as I come across things, scary to think so much coloring and flavor is a derivative of poison, crude oils and chemical waste....see above link

Red 40
Yellow 5

Explanations Appointment...

What happened? Dave, Harry and myself met with Cindy Dupuy to get further help with Harry.
She sat with him and interacted one on one with him, asking him questions and getting to know him. After about 20mins Harry went to the next room and played with her assistant so that Dave and I could talk to her. Straight away, she brings up ADD. Did not even ask us questions, or look at past evals, just straight away, it was that obvious to her. As it was becoming that way to us too. Finally someone who has hit the nail on the head who can help us!!!

Harry has huge problems with focus and attention that effects every facet of his life. And until we get this under control we will not be able to evaluate him properly. His school evals are miss leading his true potential as they are language based tests, which comes to his next problem area, Language!
Language is a huge problem as well, he's got it all in there but just does not know how to get it out properly. His comprehension is a real problem for him.

Cindy states though that we can not do anything until his focus and attention are being addressed. Her advice was the med route! Scary!!! She said until we get the ADD side under control that the rest will just fall to the way side.

Client consultation outcome...

1. Get the attention and focus issue under control
2. Get the help with Language and Speech
3. Come back and get him evaluated again with an appropriate test

Steps for us to take....

1. Make an Appointment with Dr Dassel - Pediatrician

2. Call Deb Cooper/Sonja - Speech Pathology
Rose Mary White - Sensory Integration
Dr Kwon - Psych

3. Hold diagnostic testing for 6mths

4. 6mth mark come back to Explanations for an IEE



Dr Dassel - Pediatrician
Ph:206 525 8000
Address:Sandpoint ped
Appointment:
website:

Deb Cooper/Sonia - Speech & Language Pathologist
Ph: 206 232 2046 /
Address:
Appointment:
Website: www.mispeech.com

Sonjia Bradford
Ph: 206 232 2046
Address: Mercer Island (same building as explanations)
Mercer island speach pathology

Rosemary White - Sensory Integration
Ph: 206 367 5853
Address: Shoreline
Appointment:

Dr Kwon - Psychologist
Ph: 425 454 2911
Address:
Appointment:

Dr Klokeid - Family Doctor
425 271 4910

Northwest Asthma and Allergy specialist
425 235 1716

All-Natural with ADD

http://www.all-natural.com/add.html

http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/attend_formula_highlights.htm

I would like to give something like this a try! What do you think?
There are hundreds of these type of product out there, its finding the best and most trusted one!
The more I read about the Rx Meds the more I am convinced that we are not taking that path!!!

I would love to look into, what causes ADD to see if we can prevent/change it, not just mask it with drugs.
This is the start of a long but exciting path honey, I am excited to working on it with you =)

Time for an update!

Volunteering in class
It was a good day...call from Mrs Baumgartner
A better understanding....things are clicking
Appointment with Cindy...plan to get things going! ADHD

A Harry funny....

This Halloween, one of his favorite costumes was the Harry Potter one. It came with a pair of reading glasses, that when worn, amazingly helped him read better! He was so funny, at night time when reading his school book, he decided to ware them. Look mommy I can read, he tried extra hard to read the words and was getting quite a few of them right without any prompting...way to go! He would then take them off and pretend that he could not read or sound out at all, it was very funny! He's totally convinced that they help him read and is now taking them to school to wear in his reading class. I'll have to find out what his teacher thinks of that...lol!

Harry is also now taking Omega 3 supplements, he asked us what they are for, so we told him what they do. He call's them brain candies and will not go to school unless he has them. It will be great to see what kind of a difference these can/will make. He's been on them for 2 weeks now400mg a day, twice as much as the recommendation on the bottle, but when there are others out there with 1200mg I think upping his dose is ok.

This weeks Diet...

IMPROVING OUT OF SIGHT!!!!

Harry ate breakfast everyday this week.
Consisting of french toast or cereal with milk.

He ate lunch everyday this week too.
Nutella sandwich, yogurt, cheese and crackers, fruit snacks and apple juice.

Snacks after school have been, cookies and milk, yogurts, ritz crackers, juice, sandwich.

Dinner, he is doing a lot better too.
He had 3 peices of pizza one night
He loves, cous cous, rice, chicken, broccoli, carrots, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, lasagna, pasta with no sauce, sausage, ravioli, I try and get him to try anything once, but these are all a winner! Not bad Harry =)

Tickle Monsters....

Tummy tickles are the best! I love giving them to my boys. Thomas screams...more! More! I usually sit on his legs, pin his arms back and tickle tickle tickle the belly! So fun! He will then with tears of laughter say, that's enough! And so I stop and then he says again! we have a great time doing this.

The other day Harry saw me doing it to Harry and he started to tickle my back while I was tickling Thomas, so I let him tickle me and I laughed. Then I turned around and thought I will do the same thing to Harry, I pinned him down and started tickling, it was hilarious. He did the "I need to go potty" so off he went. In the mean time I was chasing Thomas around the house trying to catch him, Thomas was laughing and running around. Harry joined in saying, you can't get me! So I chased them both up stairs, we chased Thomas into his bedroom and tickled him on his bed. Then it was Thomas and my turn to chase Harry into his bedroom. He jumped up on his bed and the tickling began, Thomas was more just watching as I tickled Harry on the belly.

He then started screaming, mind you I always look for the cues to say it is getting to much for them or they have had enough, no signs this time. He went from laughing to screaming bloody murder! I jumped off of him really quickly, he continued to cry uncontrollably, screaming get out of my room, the joy and the fun, the playing had gone. He seemed to be furious and very upset. I asked him if he was ok and he said just leave me alone. So I left the room with him crying on his bed. Not exactly the outcome to a fun moment I was looking for. I was shocked how quickly he had gone from fun to sadness. I really didn't understand?

Not sure if he was too overwhelmed? Was feeling scarred in his safe place, his bedroom? Really didn't know why the tears and anger arouse so quickly? This mom is still puzzled over this moment!

Social Skills for Kids with ADD (ADHD)

by Cathi Cohen, LCSW

"Nobody wants to play with me."

"I never get invited to birthday parties."

"The kids were teasing me today at school."

"I don't fit in."

Sound familiar? We've all heard children say these things from time to time. Comments like these usually reflect normal growing pains. In some cases, however, children say these things on a regular basis. If that's true for your child, he may be communicating a need for help.

I have spent the last ten years as a professional counselor working with children and their parents in the area of helping children make and keep friends. So many of the children I was seeing alone in counseling had the same problem - feeling that they didn't fit in with their friends and schoolmates. I recall one eight-year-old boy saying, "I feel like I live on my OWN planet, and everyone else lives on THIS one."

Feeling alone and disconnected from peers is a distressing thing for a child to experience. And it's not only the children that suffer. Many parents also feel frustrated and hopeless at not knowing how to help their children make the friends they so strongly desire.

That's why I created Stepping Stones, a social skills group training program for children aged 7 to 12 and their parents. I have found that teaching children basic social skills not only enables them to make and keep friends more easily, it gives the children a feeling of acceptance and a sense that they're not alone in their troubles. It also helps significantly improve their self-esteem.

Having a high "Social I.Q." is extremely important for children. Good social skills enable children to get along well with others. Unfortunately, children rarely have opportunities to learn good social skills. Cooperation, empathy, conflict resolution, managing emotions, and listening skills are not commonly taught in our schools. Yet somehow society assumes that children can learn how to get along with others simply by observing others. But that doesn't always happen. For many children, complex mathematics is easier than carrying on a conversation with a peer. Learning a foreign language is a snap compared to expressing anger with words rather than actions. Solving advanced computer games is a blast while listening and responding appropriately to a friend's problem is torture. The good news is that social skills CAN be taught to children, the same way you can teach a child to read or spell. Parents can learn easy training techniques to work on with their child, and the positive results are often immediate and dramatic.

A new book entitled "Raising Your Child's Social I.Q.: Stepping Stones to People Skills for Kids," offers you tips and techniques for helping your child develop the social skills necessary to make and maintain friendships. Each chapter focuses on a specific social skill. In addition to tips on skill building,there are easy practice exercises you can do with your child to make sure he can transfer this newfound knowledge into actual social situations.

Does my child need help?

The first step in raising your child's Social I.Q. is determining whether your child exhibits specific behaviors that could be causing problems with his peers. Following are some simple questions you can ask yourself to ascertain if your child might need a little help in developing social skills:

• Does your child have trouble approaching a new group of children?

• Does your child wait for an appropriate break in the conversation before saying something?

• Does your child look others directly in the eye when speaking?

• Does your child "go with the flow" of the group - try to do what others are doing, and at the speed they're doing it?

• Does your child stand too close or too far away from other children?

• Is your child able to manage his or her emotions appropriately - without losing his cool often?

Children who have difficulty with social skills can exhibit a wide variety of behaviors. For example, your child might be like Jennifer, who doesn't have a shy bone in her body. She thinks nothing of barreling into a group of children playing kickball, grabbing the ball away, and saying, "C'mon, let's play Spud." Being too pushy or trying to change the group's activities too quickly can cause other children to react negatively to your child. At the other extreme, you may have a child like Alex, who always remains on the sidelines, watching and waiting for someone to ask him to join in. When he is asked, Alex is unsure of what role to take in the game. Alex would like to play with others, but he doesn't know how to do so. He is more comfortable playing by himself than rising to the challenge of the social arena.

DOs and DON'Ts of Social Skills

Regardless of your child's personality type, your goal is to help your child understand what constitutes good social skills. Following is a list of DOs and DON'Ts for how to join in with a group of children and make a good first impression:

DO:

• Watch others - check out what the group is doing first and determine if it's a group that you'd like to join.

• Watch yourself - make sure you appear friendly and approachable, especially in your tone of voice and your posture.

• Think of what to say ahead of time.

• Think of when to say it - wait for a break in the conversation or the game before speaking.

• Look at others straight in the eye when speaking to them.

• Go with the flow of the group.

• Find common interests and talk about them.

• Ask a question that shows interest - this makes the other child feel very special.

DON'T:

• Tease others.

• Brag about yourself.

• Criticize others.

• Take charge and try to control the behavior of other children.

• Stand too close or too far away from other children.

• Disrupt the game.

Sit down with your child and review the DOs and DON'Ts lists. Ask your child if he can come up with other DOs and DON'Ts to add to the list. Focus on the DOs of good social skills, praising your child when he exhibits an appropriate behavior.

One way to reinforce good behavior is to role-play at home. Reverse roles often so that your child gets the chance to play not only himself, but also the role of the other person. This gives your child the opportunity to see things from another person's perspective - an essential element in a child's understanding of his behavior and its impact on others.

How Parents Can Help

Often children are unable to manage the details of running a social life on their own. With a little bit of advance planning, you can help make your child's social life more like a playground than a battlefield. The following tips will help:

• Work on ONLY one social skill at a time - wait until one goal is mastered before you move on to the next goal.

• Reward your child when he makes progress. Look HARD to find any small, yet noticeable, signs of improvement.

• Carefully arrange a supervised, time-limited, date for your child to spend with other children to practice newly learned social skills.

• Review social goals with your child PRIOR to social outings. For instance, "Tell me, Andrew, what are you going to do when you first get to the birthday party?" "Well, Dad, I'm going to walk up to the birthday boy and wish him a Happy Birthday. Then I'm going to walk over to where the other kids are playing and ask them if I can join them." "That's right, Andrew, you've got it!"

• Help your child nurture ONE or TWO friendships through more regular contact.

• Involve your child's teachers and guidance counselors in helping to reinforce social goals. For example, teachers can use check-off sheets to give you daily feedback on progress, as well as to encourage accountability and consistency in your child.

• Invite your child's friend to a HIGHLY attractive activity - for instance, the movies or an amusement park. This type of invitation is more likely to be accepted rather than rejected.

• Videotape or audiotape your child at home. Reviewing these tapes with your child allows children to see themselves as others see them.

• Encourage sibling cooperation. Sibling relationships often provide a "safer" arena in which to practice new social skills.

• Continually stress the importance of keeping promises and commitments to others.

• With gentle reminders, help your child return phone calls to friends.

With concerted effort and diligent practice, children CAN learn social skills and raise their Social I.Q. When children have good social skills, they get along better with their peers, develop positive self-esteem, and are more likely to experience both social and professional success as adults.

Fish Oil....need those Omega 3's

http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=5937

Need to get some ASAP!!!!

5 Simple Things

September 11th, 2009 | Author: Brenda

Living life with ADHD can be hard at times, but hey, life can be hard for anyone, ADD or not.

You can take medication to manage your ADHD, hire a coach or see a therapist, or you can just try to get along the best you can.

Here are 5 simple things that can help your ADHD as well as some of the other “gifts” that might come with it.

1. Take your vitamins. Vitamin C and the B vitamins are especially important. Vitamin D can help with depression if that comes along with your ADHD. A combination of flaxseed and vitamin C has been shown to be effective in managing behavior, restlessness, and impulsivity. Zinc has also been shown to be effective. Start with a good multi-vitamin and take it from there. Oh, and some fish oil would be helpful, too.

2. Drink more water. (No, Diet Coke doesn’t count.) It’s my personal belief that adequate hydration throughout the day helps your brain function more efficiently. Try to get your 6-8 glasses throughout the day. Instead of filling up one of those giant sized water bottles, use a small Dixie cup instead. The ones they sell for the kitchen are about 7-9 ounces – one serving of water – and they’re far less intimidating.

3. Move! No – don’t sell your house – move your body. This isn’t exercise for weight loss or punishment, this is moving for your brain. Exercise can have a significant effect on your ADHD symptoms, and unlike exercising for weight control, you don’t have to do intense cardio for 30 minutes to see results. Take a walk most days and try to speed up the pace just a little. Walking outside is the best; I think being out in nature really soothes the ADD soul.

4. Make protein a priority. ADHD brains function better on a diet that is high in lean protein. Having some protein at breakfast and lunch is most effective, since most of us use our brains more during that part of the day. Protein doesn’t have to mean meat – there are lots of other sources out there including protein drinks.

5. Be who you are. As ADDers, we can spend a lot of our time focusing on our symptoms and monitoring ourselves for slip ups or ADD moments. You are who you are for a reason, and it’s OK for you to be you, ADD and all. Spend less time thinking about how ADHD makes life harder and more time appreciating the unique and wonderful person that you are.

Head Phones

I can't rememeber if we have posted about this before, but when Harry is in a overwhelming situation with too much audio stimulation we have started giving him an old set of headphones to wear to block out the sound. It has helped prevent his emotional outbursts while playing greatly. It also helps him to stay calm in a otherwise over whelming environment, like the school bus.
He now has a small MP3 player that he takes on the bus with him, it has a relaxing sounds cd on it, to help him stay calm and focused. It has made the difference. His anxiety has dropped a little too, when it came time to getting on the bus or playing with his brother he always showed signs of worry about the noise level that comes with doing these things, the headphones have made it one less thing for him to stress over. I say they are a hit! success!

Harry's first visit to see Dr. Klokeid.

Besides the flu shot at the end of the appointment, it went really well.
I was able to share a lot about Harry's medical/special needs history with her, as well as talking, she got to see his quirky behavior first hand. He headbutted the wall and was acting a little hyper during the visit today. It was nice to feel like it wasn't all in my head but yes it really does happen.

I had to explain to her that he converses and interacts best with adults, especially when it is in a one on one environment like this. Its when there is a lot of distraction, in a uncontrolled environment, with lots of people ie, his class or school bus, he just doesn't cope, he will not make eye contact with others and will not easily talk with other children. He finds it very hard to make friends because of this. So in seeing him in such a wonderful environment that brings out his best, that she may not see the real Harry. but luckily he did come out!

I shared all the normal stuff that share with all the dr's we've seen. His behavior/emotional/social/cognitive/OT issues. She was surprised that it has taken this long to get the right help for him and was more than shocked when I shared with her the findings from Children's.

Dr K has suggested he sees a neurophysiology who we will try and set up with next. Also to get an allergy test as he has horrible postnasal drip which could also be adding to his behavior and problems. He needs on going therapy and someone working on his case to give him the on going help he needs. Hopefully then we will figure out how to help him best.

I loved how Dr K says this is a new start, that we will do everything we can to get him the help he needs. such a difference to Pediatrics Ass. We are moving ahead, boy it feels great!!!

Now just waiting to get some contacts from her, she is all about getting us referrals and making it work!!! He is also on a antihistamine for the nasal drip, so will call them in a week to let them know who that is going.

Dr Guy Oram Neurophysiology
Could be a good option for getting further testing on Harrison. Seems to have a more thourgh procedure than children's hospital. Initial visit, meeting parents, child and teacher, second and third meeting with the child and fourth is the evaluation findings. So much better than a 20min eval. lets cross our fingers on this lead.

Dr Guy Oram
Kirkland
ph. 425 576 1817
e. droram@droram.net
www.droram.net

Another good website

http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/child-add-symptoms-info.html?ysmchn=GGL&ysmcpn=Google+Main&ysmgrp=ADD+Split+Test+Phrase&ysmtac=PPC

ADD?

I think a lot of people think that ADD or ADHD is a a Hyperactive disorder. but there is an "attention" component that was missing.

Check this link:
https://www.google.com/health/ref/Attention+deficit+hyperactivity+disorder+%28ADHD%29

To be diagnosed with ADHD, children should have at least 6 attention symptoms or 6 activity and impulsivity symptoms -- to a degree beyond what would be expected for children their age.

Inattention symptoms:

Fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork - YES

Difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play - YES

Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly - YES

Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace - YES

Difficulty organizing tasks and activities - YES

Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork) - YES!

Often loses toys, assignments, pencils, books, or tools needed for tasks or activities - YES!

Easily distracted - YES!

Often forgetful in daily activities - YES!

I see all these symptoms in Harry.

Apart from medication, these are also suggested:

The following may also help:

• Limit distractions in the child's environment.
• Provide one-on-one instruction with the teacher.
• Make sure the child gets enough sleep.
• Make sure the child gets a healthy, varied diet, with plenty of fiber and basic nutrients.

Volunteering in Harry's Class - Day 1

Today was a wonderful 2hrs spent with Harry in his class environment. His teacher had mentioned that he was not very productive in the afternoons and was not focusing or producing work like his peers. I thought I would take the opportunity to go and take a look and to see if there was anything I could help with or learn about him. these were my findings.

The main thing I noticed today was the lack of attention he gave his teacher, not once did he look up and listen or look in her direction when she spoke. When she gave the directions to the class for the next activity they were to complete he was off in the clouds. He was fidgeting with a clip on his desk, the rest of the class was going on with what was asked (there were a few exceptions) it was like he had not even noticed that he was meant to be doing something. He needs some type of prompting or cuing to get him to sit up and pay attention.

He would slouch in his seat, usually with arms folded and head on the table. He would look around the room swinging his legs and would not be aware of what his table was doing, the class work he should be doing. The teacher asked his table to put there work away and come join her on the mat, he put the work under his desk and then just sat there looking around at the ceiling. While the rest of his table had been on the mat for a few mins already. He was not aware of what he should be doing. I intervened a few times with directing and showing him what the teacher has asked everyone to do. They had work on the over head projector which I sat with him and helped him complete. Without that one on one he would just sit there and look around the room with the work sheet in front of him, waiting to be worked on.

As a result of Harry's unawareness, he is missing out on getting tasks done, the sense of achieving at school, the reward of finishing a task and letting his table down for not showing he is ready by sitting there with work away and arms crossed. He misses the cues.

I also had the opportunity to meet with his reading tutor today Heather Cook, she is a wonderful resource teacher who will work with Harry one on one with his reading, letters, phonetics and writing skills. I believe 20mins every afternoon.

Tuesday afternoons will be his social group time for 1 hour. Yet to start, I think next week is the kick off for that. This will take place with Mrs Jones.

During Writing time, I sat with Harry and helped him through the process the teacher has put in place to get the kids journalling, thinking, drawing, writing. To this day all Harry had achieved was the drawing stage, but today, I sat with him and made it fun and achievable, helping him every step of the way, in the end he finished it and you should have seen the sense of accomplishment. In fact it is now 6pm and he is still talking about it. He could not wait to show his teacher, he put his hand up to get her attention, she came over. Harry could not contain himself, I finished it!!! He was so proud! She was beaming too, that is great Harry! what did you write about, can you tell me what it says? he shared it with her with a smile on his face.
He had a few hurdles along the way, one was the motivation to see it through to the end, he wanted to give up a number of times. Saying its too hard, I don't know how to do it. I eased him through one small step at a time, looked at a word rather than everything he had to write. I also made it exciting for him, by encouraging him to draw and write about something that he found fun over the weekend. Daddy cutting down a tree...cool!

This was a very rewarding time for both of us, we both learnt a lot about each other. I want to help him and see this as a great way of giving him something he needs.

Covering his ears.

I have noticed lately that sound seems to be bothering him a great deal.
We can not complete an activity without him commenting on a sound that is distracting him or the act of covering his ears with his hands. Its as if he can not filter out all the noise that is going on around him while he is trying to do work.
I try and think what he must be hearing, is it louder than what we hear it at? is it too much at once? all at the same level of loudness? What is the noise that he hates so much?
We have used the headphones a number of times lately and these seem to be doing the trick, if Thomas is annoying him ie, just being in the same room. He can put the headphones on and make it go away.

So the Play therapist didn't work out!

I went in for an interview without Harry. It turns out she does not help special needs children? Which was kind of puzzling as Harry is not "labeled" as special Needs, just quirky! So not sure why normal happy children would go see her.
But anyway, it really sounded like a bunch of hooey! She would sit and play with the children in the corner of her small office. One small box of toys some coloring in books and Hi Ho cherio is what consisted of her play area. All she would do is observe and make factual comments based on what they are doing. Other than that no communication. Its a little strange if you ask me. But hey I'm not the professional here.

On a positive note I did tell her quite a bit about Harry and what we have been through so far on our quest for help. She was totally appalled by Children's for not having him tested further or at least seen by a Dr.

She was positive and very encouraging of me and the hardships a mom goes through, she herself has a son with ADD. So all in all, yes it was a waste of time for Harry and any progression there. But for me it was a very therapeutic session for me to keep me going on my quest!

One thing she did say was that because a Nurse Practitioner had refered Harry to be seen at Childrens, that that may be why we were seen by a ANP rather than a Dr. Very frustrating.

Fight Tonight to get to TKD

Well, going to TKD was hard tonight.

Asked Harry to get ready for TKD at 4.35. We normally leave at 4.45 to get there. Instant panicked "No, no I dont want to go". Then I said well you can play for 5 minutes and then get ready.

When the 5 minutes were up we got increasingly steady opposition to going to TKD. "I dont wanmt to waste my day. I hate TKD." etc. He wanted to stay home and play with his Lego.

I eventually forced harry into his uniform, put him the car. As soon as he was seated in front of master chueng it all changed. He focus was better and he was happy when he was able to do the exercises. His reactions tonight to the focus exercise were actually good. This exercise he has to dodge a pool noodle swung at him from different directions. He did well at this. Big smiles and lots of encouragement from Daddy.

We then went to parent teacher night. Met his teacher and Resource teacher Mrs Brumley. Noticed harry like puzzles - he found one and had put together some of the pieces. He was using a try and see approach rather look at the puzzle picture to see what piece went where.

Dave

Good morning!!

Well, I got Harry ready today.

He got up straight away and got dressed in his room. He was even proud of how he got up so fast. He ate his while bowl of cereal (fruit cheerios) and drank a full juice. I showed him his lunch and he was quite excited.

He put his two stuffed toys in his bag to sleep in the bag and stay with him. Off he went, very proud of his ability to get himself to the bus stop and get to school.

He was just as easy to get ready the day before. Two good days in a row.

His diet over the last few days has been great. He also got to sleep last night by 8.30pm. He had a story read to him and played a little while before hitting the sack.

I really seeing that having a consistent routine which includes a diet that he enjoys and will eat has made a big difference to his behaviour.

I have also made sure that when talking to him I am absolutely calm - almost stoic - when we discuss any inappropriate behavior. I know my getting upset with him verbally triggers withdrawal and he will rush to Julia. Trying so hard to not lose my patience or temper with him.

Pretty Good day today

Harry was pretty happy when he came home today. Quite manic and overexcited. He was screaming how he loved school, wanted to give thomas lots of hugs and generally very happy.

He ate all of his dinner tonight:
- Bratwurst, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli and Carrots. And ice cream for finishing his dinner.

I think possibly seems two things contributed to this. He ate very well the previous day and at breakfast that morning. He also met his new therapist today at school, Miss Brumley, for an hour with her. It sounds like that went well.

Only trouble tonight was bathtime which he refused to do. I eventually carried him into the bath and out him straight in. After 15 minutes of trying to get him to wash himself I gave up and let him out.

Update: search for Social worker/Therapist!

I contacted several therapist/counselors today, hoping they could see Harry for Anxiety/behavior. I was really crossing my fingers we could get into to see someone and soon. It turns out that they are either booked up until next year or they are not accepting new clients. I contacted the one I had posted about the other day and she is not accepting new patients either....grrr!

So after about 20 phone calls and 20 voice mail boxes later, I finally started to get some call backs and the chance to speak with some therapists. I have Harry booked into see Margaret McCulloch next week, she is a child therapist who works with children through play. It will be interesting to see what comes from this.

It feels great that we are rolling forward again with some interventions, fills me with hope and optimism that we can do something!!!

Contact details:
Margaret McCulloch
425 277 5492
level 3 Evergreen bld Grady way
Renton

Update, I really could be on here all day blogging!

So the headphones lasted a few mins, now Thomas is in his space. All Harry wants is to be left alone. He threatens with you are not going to be my friend. I don't want to play with you! Harry is out in the playroom in a shared space for him and his brother. I suggested that if he didn't want to be bothered by his brother that he move what he is playing into his own bedroom and close the door. He did not want that, he cried and said "I just want to be left alone"!

They are now out there playing quietly, lets see what happens.....

One of Harry's biggest complaints is the noise! He hates it when others are in the same space as he is while he is trying to work. The smallest little noise will set him off into a screaming, frustrated spiral of uncontrollable emotion. So today while playing lego with his brother, this can up again. He could not stand the sound Thomas was making while rummaging through the lego bin. Thomas was not talking or doing anything that would possibly be perceived as annoying, but man did it send Harry over the edge, crying screaming, breaking toy, all because of this sound he wanted stopped.

I ended up explaining to him that he needs to try and work with other people in the same room and to see if he could somehow block out the sound or egnore it. I then asked him what he does in his classroom when the school kids make noise, he said he asks them to be quiet and tells them he is getting a headache!

So for now I have given him a pair of old broken headphones that cover the whole ear. Lets see if this helps?

Although I can understand, I work in the same room with Dave and I just asked him to stop tapping, I wonder what I was like as a kid?

IEP evaluator/educator

Harry's resource teacher for the year is Mrs. Brumley and I totally adore her! She called here this afternoon to update us on what Harry is doing and how he will be attending her classroom every day (except Fri) from 8:30-9:30am. This is going to help Harry with getting the one on one attention he needs. The focus will be on his academics and social needs, providing a social group once a week.

Contact info:
Julie Brumley
Resource Room Teacher
425 204 4189
julie.brumley@rentonschools.us

Tuesday TKD

Watching Harry in TKD closely tonight I noticed one important thing.

Harry did not listen ONCE to what he was being told.

Everything he did he was visually copying either the teacher or another student. All verbal commands to him - even direct were ignored or uncomprehended until he was shown an example of what to do. It was like he didnt hear what was being said to him at all - completely tuned out.

Fortunately, the teacher Master Chueng moved Harry right to the front swapping another student out so that Harry could be right there at the front. This meant the teacher was able to correct Harry on each exercise and move. Even during the visual demonstrations Harry would look in the mirror rather than listen to the teacher. He would wait until everyone started moving and copy their actions.

Harry needs to go through the four steps of listening again - ears, eyes, mind, body again.

Harry's Birthday

2-4pm Saturday 26th of Sep
Here for a Super Hero, Ice cream sundae party...fun!

Today's Diet:

Breakfast: Glass of milk, bowl of fruit cheerios
Lunch: Nutella on whole grain sandwich, chocolate pudding cup, apple juice, crackers
Snack: Cheerios dry, fruit snack, apple juice
Dinner: 4 grilled pieces of grilled chicken breast (nugget size) 3 small broccoli, mac & cheese, apple juice
Desert: Ice cream

Today was a great eating day for him, I heard him say he was hungry and he ate everything he was given including seconds on mac & cheese. Way to go Harry!

Doing OK...but man is getting anxious about his birthday!
Troubles understanding time and length

Its almost not worth telling him its his birthday until the day of. Everyday he asks me over and over again, "Is it my birthday tomorrow?" We have made a calendar for him, counting down the days so he can clearly see how far off it is. Its as if he has no reality of time or days. When you say dinner will be in 5mins, he gets upset because he is hungry now, but if you told him after that, would an hour be better or 10 hrs he would be fine? I don't understand. We need to teach him to understand these concepts but its not an easy one for him.

I think we may need to tell him of big events a few days before, that way he is not disappointed everyday leading up to the event. Everyday at the moment is like one big disappointment, he just wants his birthday to be tomorrow and everything will be alright.

Another thing he is anxious about is the time he spends at school. He feels it is too long and is a big day. He is overwhelmed by spending his whole day at school almost as if it is hard for him to see the end of the day or understand time. I wonder if it seems like an eternity for him?

Harry's Birthday Party!

Friends:
Owen
Micky
Jayden
Greyson
Jack
Josh
Jamal

Science/invention/experiment party
Power Rangers Pizza Party!

ideas:

Playdough/slime/goo
Magnets (tied in with the Ikea as is)
Ikea - as-is odds and ends/pipe-cleaners
Lowes - build a workshop kits
Decorate a candy bag with science foamies
Mentos in diet coke
Birthday cake
Pinata - something science


Ideas from the Science Center:
Weird Science - Celebrate your birthday with weird science! Marvel as our expert science demonstrator gives you a private window into the electrifying invisible world of physical science in this all-new birthday party! As part of your one-hour interactive science workshop you’ll defy gravity with the power of magnetism, climb inside an electrostatic field, and make your own spinning, whirling science wonder to take home. Then, see just how delectable science can be as we make ice cream out of some of the coldest stuff on earth, right before your eyes! Don’t miss this hair-raising science experience!
Astronomy - Explore space. Visit the planets and stars as we talk about what's out there and what keeps us down here. Build your own rocket and find out what mix of "rocket fuel" will make a rocket go farthest!


Food:

Colored drinks
Layered color Jello cups with green slime cool whip
Chocolate pudding cups with worms

Birthday cake + cupcakes to decorate?
Pizza party

Food Blogging...
Maybe diet could be a key to his behavior?

We will start blogging what he is eating/offered/not eating every day, it will be interesting to see if there is any correlation between certain foods and behavior

Breakfast: Two pieces of French Toast, apple juice
Lunch: Nutella sandwich on wholegrain, juice box, yogurt, cookies
Snack:
Dinner:

Unpredictability!

Words that come into my mind about Harry at the moment are....
Angry, confused, emotional, sensitive, frustrated, fragile, sad!
One second happy the next minute sad. Something that brought a smile to his face one second could bring complete oversensitiveness and frustration the next.

I don't know what the trigger is to setting him off or what I can do that will bring him joy? He is so unpredictable, it is scary to be around him. He hits his head, he screams, he slams doors, pushes his brother over, hits what ever is around (luckily he does not hit people) he threatens and cries.

I know I shouldn't take things personally, but it is hard when all I do is open my mouth to offer support and he starts screaming that he hates me. Like what happened outside yesterday...

Harry and Thomas were playing really nicely (laughing and not pushing each others buttons) outside together, they had been wrestling, swinging, digging in the dirt and playing with cars. Thomas lost a matchbox car in the rockwall, so Harry tried to help, he ran up stairs and got his flashlight, when he came back down stairs he came running out the patio and said I have my flashlight, Thomas started walking over towards him and before anything was said, he threw it on the hard patio out of some type of anger or frustration (not sure what happened as no one had said anything) The flashlight shattered and then Harry starts saying "Dam, I am so stupid!" He runs over to the clubhouse and starts crying his eyes out. A very upset and sad cry. I asked him if he was OK? He got up (still crying) walked over to his flashlight and held the broken pieces out to me, he said nothing at first as he was still crying and then he said again "I'm so stupid". I said, can I help you fix it? On that note, he went screaming inside saying "I hate you mom, your so frustrating me!" then "I'm going to go find a new mom!"

What do I do? I am completely confused, all I wanted to do was help. As I sit here typing this, all I can think is maybe I need to ask him what we should do, instead of asking him if I can fix the problem? I will try this next time to see how that goes...will post!

So after all the drama that took place with the flashlight, I gave him some space, after about 30mins I went upstairs to see what he was up to? He was very quiet and honestly I was a little scared for his safety, was he hurting himself? had he really run off?
Thank god he was just sitting in his bedroom playing with Lego, as I walked in, it startled him and he accidentally broke something off of his ship, oh no I thought, is this the next trigger for a meltdown? But no, all he said was "Oops! that goes on here!" I was relieved but once again completely confused.

How can we even try and help him academically at the moment when we are finding it so hard to cope with his emotions and behavior.

Dave tried to read with him last night at bedtime and the result of that was more screaming, tears and Harry running into my room screaming I want my mom! When all Dave did was ask "come on Harry its time to read!" They had not even read a word yet.

Its like we are falling backwards with his development, barley keeping our heads above water!

Next step....Psychiatric help! This is the Doc I am hoping to get Harry into see. I guess the blog is a great place to post contacts and bio's of people and Doc's Harry meets. Oakesdale Center 600 Oakesdale Avenue SW #104 Renton, WA 98057 (425) 228-5336 (425) 228-4540 (Fax)
Dr. Mary Hendrickson
	I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington. I went to the University of Washington as an undergraduate. I received my doctoral degree in psychology in 1997 from Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School in North Chicago, IL. My training included an emphasis on health psychology both in graduate school and during a one-year internship in pediatric psychology at Michigan State University. After graduation, I worked in private practice as a clinical psychologist and as a school psychologist in New Mexico. I work with children and their families, adolescents, and individual adults. Some of the issues I work with are depression, anxiety, child behavior problems, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, child abuse, adjustment problems (for example, family changes, loss, divorce), school problems, and coping with chronic illness. I also have experience in psychological evaluations for children and adults. I do not perform custody evaluations but can refer you to other professionals who do. My theoretical orientation is generally cognitive-behavioral but I also integrate other approaches, such as biological and developmental understanding and psychoeducational interventions.

Becoming Great Buddies...

Harry and Thomas are becoming really close, these last few weeks they have played more together than I have ever seen. They play together all the time, help each other with meals and getting dressed, they talk all the time, follow each other and yes bug and fight with each other too. They are brothers after all!

It has got to a point though where Harry will only go upstairs to play if Thomas goes with him. He says he doesn't want to be alone! He needs Thomas to go with him. Not sure if it is that he really wants Thomas to play with or if he really is unsure of being alone?

If Thomas does not to go upstairs then Harry will say, Thomas you are not looking after me! If you don't come, that is too bad, I will break this! As he holds out his lego ship and starts pulling it apart piece by piece.

The manipulation and attention seeking is getting to an all time high, along with the threats. What to do so that your other sibling is not effected by the emotional and mental state of your older child with needs?

Labor day weekend...what a weekend to forget!!

It's been along time since I have seen Harry so emotionally uncontrollable.
Today we needed to run some errands, I had to get somethings for his school, fun right? I explained to him that we needed to get some things for his class, in an effort to try and get him involved and interested. He did not want to leave the house, which has been happening a lot lately. Just does not want to go out!

After being in the store for not more than 5mins he starts to complain about being there. Sure, I understand and what child like's shopping with his mom? So I explained again to him what it was we were doing there and what we needed to get, he got more upset with the fact that we were still there and that my response was not one of "OK, lets go home". So I thought maybe time was an issue and he didn't want to be there all day, he could not understand that getting 4 items would only take about 10mins? In response to my calm explanation as too why we are still there he starts screaming in the store "I want to go home" arguing every time he opened his mouth "fine, if we don't go home I will break this" picking up a mug from the shelf as he motions to throw it on the floor if he doesn't get his way. "Can we go now!" Yelling in a demanding voice. Harrison we need to get these few things then we can go, please be patient while we get these, why don't you help me so we can get home faster. "I hate you mom! You're not looking after me!" screaming further at the top of his voice, making quite the seen in the store. I told him "This is not acceptable, but nothing it seemed was getting through, he was not listening, looking and furious!
A few minuets of silence passed and we found an item, mum I'm sorry for my acting, I'll be good. "Thank you Harry, I really appreciate that, I'm trying to make this quick, I understand you don't want to be here". Then not more than 30sec later "OK now can we go home?" I said, There is still a few things on the list, so we will leave in a few minuets. "I want to go home now!!!" I seriously thought his head was going to spin and he would spit up green pea soup! I was shocked, didn't know what to do and felt speachless, Before I could say anything, he said "I want to go home now or I will kill myself!" I said, please don't say that, we will be going in a minute, one last thing and we will go. Please stop this behavior, I hear you and I have told you what we need to do, then we can go home.

I had thought about actually not going to start with, as I knew this outing would not be easy. I also thought about going home on more than one time he screamed at me. But what do I do? Give into his demands and condone this behavior and give him the victory? I needed to get this done and leaving him at home was not an option. What do I do?



His way and thinking is the only way, if anyone else has a different thought or corrects him, he will scream and headbutt the floor. So aggravated and frustrated.

I don't want to watch the crocodile on tv, it might come into my dreams!

Tai Kwon Doe after school

Getting repared for TKD, Harry came home hungry and thirsty. Instead of eating his packed lunch he went and got a hot lunch (corn dog). When I came down to help Harry get ready for TKD, I asked him to come over to me to get his uniform on. "I am thirsty Daddy", "I will get your drink after we get your uniform on", "No but I'm thirsty", "We need to get dressed now" and then Harry started crying and losing control. At that point I went and got a drink for him. Until he had an apple juice, he wasnt able to cope with getting ready

It was obvious that Harry was tired. Half way through TKD, he wanted to stop saying "I'm tired Daddy". I was helping with TKD tonight , holding pads for HArry to kick.He wasnt doing a kick very right so I tried explaining it to him. then he did exactly the same wrong kick again. No matter what I told him, he would not try to change what he was doing. It was like he didnt see what I was doing or trying to learn what i was doing. None of it seemed to register.

He then went and kicked the bag and had both Master Chueng and another black belt show him how to do the kick. Yet he didnt change anything at all with his technique. nothing they said made any change to the way he kicked.

He seems to have a hard time focussing on what Master Chueng is saying to him. At the end of the class, they were asked to stand still, looking forward and concentrate on being quiet for 2 minutes. Harry immediately started moving about. MC even called out for Harrison to stay still and that worked for 10 seconds. Then he started moving again. I dont think he heard what MC said.

He had a lethargy about him today. It was his 2nd day at school so that was probably part of it.

I am wondering if the way the kids went to bed last night, Thomas came into Harry's bedroom a lot and kept him up beyond 8pm. Harry thought it was for a while. Maybe that also conributed.

First day back at school!

Considering what a huge transition this day is, Harry did surprisingly well! We have been preparing all week for this day so maybe the preparations have really paid off.

• We talked about first grade and going back to school everyday
• We cleaned out his room and got organized and cut the clutter
• prepared his closet and school clothes
  
• Bought the school supplies together
• worked out his lunches and shopped for fixings together
• Got him back into Tae Kwon Doe and the practice of listening and following insturctions
• Provided more structure around the house
• Helped him focus on the task at hand
• Talked about school scenarios that will need problem solving and how to handle it

All while trying to help him feel confident and not overwhelmed, to date I think this week has been one of our huge accomplishments. Feeling like we are breaking through with understanding and helping him.

Some things that were a real challenge today was listening, focusing and self confidence.

• When I asked him to get dressed into all the clothes we had layed out the night before, he could not remember where they were, he asked "what should I wear?" when I reminded him of the clothes he then had to be shown again where they were put.
• Getting dressed he needed reminding to focus on what he was doing, and the order of how to get dressed. He put his pants on without underpants, so he needed to redo.
• On redoing this he said "I'm just stupid!" and was very down on himself for not doing it right.
• I needed to provide prompting for every thing he had to do to prepare for today. Even with his printed out morning routine. I guess its the first day back and will get used to this again over the next few weeks. But without prompting at the moment he would be distracted and play with his lego's, anything that he would rather be doing and not what he should be doing.

Tomorrow he will catch the bus to school and will need an earlier wake up, I am hoping he will get into a routine and things just become habit for him. My goal at the moment is to keep the morning simple and focused. Providing the same routine day in day out with out distraction.

Contact details:
Sarah Baumgartner
Grade 1 teacher
425 204 4176
sarah.baumgartner@rentonschools.us

Camping Weekend

Having his space. During the camping weekend - Harry came up to Julia and said "I need space" and put himself into the tent for some time alone. We believe he was getting overwhelmed at the time.

He spent some time trying to make people laugh. Like going "cuckoo cuckoo".

He had a pretty good weekend all up though.

Bedtime Routine

Bedtime routine we now do 3 pages of exercises from a kindergarden workbook.

Everything goes well until he makes his first mistake. Then he is no longer interested. He immediately wants to either do a different page or do it tomorrow. He also slapped his head hard. He also said something along of the lines that he was stupid and he cant do it.

I persist with trying to correct the mistake and finish the page. This makes things worse. Harry insists on doing another page to the point of tantrum. This resulted in Harry wanting mummy and running out of the room.

Harry finds it very difficult to work through mistakes or correct himself. When I tried to correct his pronounciation of "yellow" from "lellow" - he could pronounce "yeh" and "ellow" but couldnt string them together. He then immediately lost interest in that page so I moved on.

This is a bit of a catch up! As we have just started this blog, we hope to be updating it daily. So this post is a bit of a catch up of the week.

• Behavior/Headbutting - Tonight, Something we haven't seen a lot of lately is the headbutting, but man did it make an appearance tonight! During dinner, which was going really well, he was eating all his chicken and sweet potato. And then all of a sudden. out of now where...BAM! Really hard against the tile table top (enough to crack the grout) I think it was because we told him he couldn't have my fry that I had put aside for him until he had finished his chicken, he ate some chicken and then tried to sneak the fry of my plate and I told him he had to eat the last two mouth fulls of chicken. This response was totally out of the blue! The more surprising thing was how quickly he moved on from it, no crying or attention on his part and was past as soon as it happened, almost as if it didn't happen. Very strange?
  

• Learning - When working in a kindergarten work book with dad, if its an exercise he can do in his book he is happy to do it, but when it's something he finds hard he says "can we do it tomorrow!" and there really is no compromise or talking him into it, even with help. Its hard to get him to even just try it!
  

• Learning - We have been doing a word of the day, this is to get him focused on a easy word, where he can practice reading, spelling and sounding out, keeping it all simple. We did the word "cat" yesterday and while he was great at sounding out the letters he could not tell me what the word said. when asked to write the word on the chalk board next to it, he did not want to and said he would do it later and that he was too tired. funny how he was awake enough to go play lego after that. Its like there is always something else he would rather be doing.

• Behavior/Social/Emotional - This week Harry's hardest moments have been when we are going out. I will tell him what we are doing for the day and straight away "I don't want to go out!" Getting him dressed and out the door has been a 30min plus process that is always a battle with tears, screaming and foot stomping. All that just to get out the door and then when we get there from the moment we arrive to the time we finally get back in the car to leave, all I hear is "mommy I don't want to stay, can we go home?" repeatedly until we go, makes for a fun time out...not!

• Behavior/Emotional - Tonight when asked to get in the bath, he didn't want to go upstairs and cried and said he just wants to be with his mommy, when asked to go up he said "please I want to stay with you!" then I suggested why don't you have a shower then, off he goes!
  
  

OK, so I just called the neurodevelopmental department at childrens to speak with someone there about the follow up, I spoke with Jason so I am hoping he can help? he seemed to know who it was that I needed to speak with, fingers crossed!

Today called childrens hospital to see the progress on Harrison's account and too see what the next step is to take?
Wish me luck!!!