Morning exercises for ADD like symptoms?

[Ladybug]

Every morning when my 7 yr old son wakes up, he looks great and then his eyes get more hazy and he totally gets overwhelmed with multiple sequencing to get himself out the door and ready for school. I have to give him one instruction at a time and follow him to keep directing him and reminding him of what to do or he loses focus and gets distracted by something else. If I give him a couple things to do (get dressed, get your books in your backpack, and finish breakfast), he gets emotionally overwhelmed and has a tantrum and nothing gets done. Does anyone have cognitive or other exercises they know of or have been given by therapists to get the kid mentally and physically ready to go in the morning and better prepared for starting class immediately after getting up? I can't get him up earlier to ease him into the morning as he is worse with less sleep and doesn't sleep well as it is. Any suggestions or tricks you have learned along the way (even acupressure or alternative therapy) would be great. His spectracell testing is pending, so vitamin and enzyme deficiencies will be addressed shortly, but I need this other aspect addressed desperately.

[momster]

Hi Ladybug - I have a comment and a suggestion after reading your post. Sleep issues and adhd are tied in many ways. Studies show that sleep deprivation and adhd share many common symptoms. Some cases of adhd may in fact be sleep disorders. One avenue to explore is to try to get him to sleep better, to see if some of his symptoms improve. Melatonin has actually helped my son quite a bit, and I would recommend asking your doctor about it (maybe that's part of the plan you're about to implement). Whether or not that's the approach you take, you need to get him some rest to tease out which symptoms are strictly adhd and which are sleep related. The flip side of this issue is that it is very typical of adhd kids to have problems sleeping. My son is thinking about so many things so much of the time, I think it's hard to shut it off.

The suggestion I have for you is pretty simple. Make a poster of his moring routine, even better make a few. Post one in his room, one in the kitchen, and one by the front door. Break his routine into simple but clear steps. Then keep referring to the schedule. It willtake a while for him to get used to using it (okay, maybe a long while :D), but he will eventually internalize it. This has several advantages: it makes things simple and predictable for him, it may take some of the burden (eventually) off of you, and maybe most importantly, it makes him more self-reliant.

My son really struggled in the morning. If it makes you feel any better, I think he functions, if anything, like an older teen now that he is (13). He can jump out of bed, stuff a concerta and muffin in his mouth, and be out the door in 5 minutes......not ideal but it works.

good lukc, I hope this helps some.

- momster

[Ladybug]

Apologies for the delay, where did 2 months go by? :confused: His language therapist also suggested a daily schedule and family rules chart as you did. The family rules chart is showing some success, the language therapist thought it would because of the control factor in kids and they like when it is inclusive of everyone. I have to rework the daily chart, because I can't get the first step of getting up on time accomplished, so the rest of the day is a disaster of failures. The sleep issue seems to be prevalent and the neurology team now thinks they misdiagnosed his epileptic encephalopathy with hypersomnia and/or narcolepsy (also apparently has spike and wave abnormality). Thanks for the feedback and I will keep working on it!

[need2talk]

Hi Ladybug, I'm brandy new here. Just thought I would let you know what I did that worked out well. Of course, I got myself up a bit earlier and slowly wake my son up in the morning - usually with rubbing his back and of course some kisses. As for the chart in his bedroom in order to get dressed: I took pictures of him - one with his socks on, shirt on, etc.. I placed the checklist in a plastic holder and the wipe off markers work on it to clean with a wet cloth. So he actually enjoys looking at the pictures of himself and checking off what he did. We are almost finished with an alternative program and it's working. We also, which I'm sure most concerned already know are giving our son supplemental omega-3 vitamins. The best one we saw was made by Dr. Sears - it's made with apples instead of the first ingredient being glucose.

[Lavandula Canadensis]

Any suggestions or tricks you have learned along the way (even acupressure or alternative therapy) would be great.

hi Ladybug

i am a very hyperactive person who can only sit when driving, on the toilet or at the computer… I knock myself on furniture corners and on doorframes on a regular basis... I suffer from anxiety disorder and weird sleeping patterns… the only thing that helps me calm down when meditation and visualization would not work because I feel like a crazy mouse turning in her wheel in her cage http://bestsmileys.com/exercising/10.gif is Reiki, i do self-Reiki treatments… children respond well to Reiki, either direct or distance… i wish all moms and dads learn Reiki… to the best of my knowledge, this is my best suggestion… Reiki does not interfere with any medication, treatment or any activity the child might be doing, including sleeping…

hope this suggestion helps… :)