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 My husband and I recently attended our son's parent/teacher conference at school. We met with all of our son's teachers and found that he is not focusing in any of his classes. He is not destruptive to the other students or anything, he cannot stay on task and cannot focus on what is being taught. Since 2nd grade, we have been told that he "doesn't sit still", he "fiddle's with things (paperclips, etc)", "he doesn't stay on task and cannot focus", but whether it was just my husband and I not wanting to admit their was a true problem, we would talk to our son, explain that he needs to stay focused, etc. etc. Now that he has entered this new world of "middle school", we are now hearing the same thing that we have heard for the past 4 years from his elementary teachers, to hearing it from ALL of his middle school teachers. They al say how polite he is, what a wonderful boy he is, very respectful BUT he cannot stay focused in class. He is failing math, and just keeping his head above water in English and writing. No parent wants to hear this, and unfortunately we have been hearing this for years and just keep saying to ourselves that "he will grow out of it", "he is an active boy", etc. We think it may be much more than that. We are sickened by this and don't know where to turn, other than going to his pediatrician. We don't want to medicate him, but don't know what else to do if in fact it is a ADD/ADHD problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Have any of you heard of a website called www.3stepsadd.com? Is this site the real deal or just a scam? If anyone can help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for your help.

Lovemyfamily

 Hello there,

      Focusing problems, and ADD/ADHD are unfortunately becoming more and more common in children, but there is hope. Many people have found a connection between sugar, food dyes and additives, but there are other factors as well. If you are interested in a natural approach to helping your son you can get some good information from others who have walked a similar path with their kids and are doing fine.

   I would suggest you call a company called "The Frontrunners" at 1 800 237 5199 and ask for Dr. Anne White's tape called "Back to School Without Ritilan" or Dr.Steffan Cameron's tape on childrens health & nutrition, ADD. I believe they also have a CD by Dr. Linda Rodriguez MD on ADD and childrens nutrition. These are doctors and parents who have had success with natural approaches:Their CDs&tapes are not expensive 

                Hope this helps,

     Susan Epstein, Woodstock, NY   www.sueatsmartmomsnetwork.com 

 Dear Lovemyfamily,

I have just joined this forum and read your posting from November.  In addition to looking at what you can do, you should be asking what the school is doing for your son.  Has he been formally evaluated to determine whether he qualifies for services to help him with his attention issues and high activity levels?  (Note:  Evaluation involves formal testing and written reports of results, with recommendations - not a casual observation discussed at a meeting.)  Has the school convened a formal meeting to discuss whether he qualifies for services under Section 504 or under the IDEA (both are federal laws that require services to be provided if certain criteria are met)?  These issues are clearly affecting him educationally, and it is more than fair -- especially after four years as you've described in your posting -- for you to expect them to do this.

If they have not, and you want to pursue this course, you may want to look for help in going through the process.  As a fellow parent and a professional advocate, II would recommend www.copaa.org, a website devoted to advocacy and information for parents of children with special needs, including ADD/ADHD, as a place to start.

Carol Courtadon

Suffern, NY 

Hi I understand what you are going through. I just got back from meeting with my sons teacher and principal for the 6th time this year. I am at my witts end. He was on a high dosage and would not eat or socialize with anyone so I had the doctor lower his meds and now agian he is out of control. He has been through so much in the past three years. He is in the first grade and really smart but I think I need to resort to other kind of doctors instead of his peditrictian. I have bi polar and its heratery I am just trying to really figure out what is going on with him. I am so lost. I have tried to find a doctor or a specialist in the Atlanta area that could possiable do a FULL exam on him. Even checking him for asperger syndrome. When he is at school one minute he is right on task and the next he will be just breaking his crayons or just not doing nothing. So the teacher started this system that when she starts her timer and says that you have 1 hour to write a story (a first grader story - a few sentences) he would only maybe have his name on the paper. He can not focus. He is a genius at math. I just dont know. If you have ideas please let me know or if you might now of a place let me know.

Thanks,

Lisa