Hi. My husband haas ADHD that was diagnosed at age 33. We now have two kids, ages 4 and 2. I have read on this site that there is a strong environmental component, but I don't really know what that means specifically. What I'm wondering, are there things I can do in our household that would help my children at this stage? Neither has a diagnosis and I don't have any particular concerns. If there's anything I can do to help them, (not get ADHD? present more mildly? cope with it if they ever are diagnosed?) I want to do it.
I would also be interested in hearing what I should be watching for in my children. In so many things, the earlier people are diagnosed the better, so I don't want them to go until age 33 before they find out they have ADHD.
Thanks!
Environmental?
Submitted by Clarity on
I haven't heard... like green products or clutter? That would be fascinating... anyone?
never heard of it
Submitted by arwen on
Wonderfun, I have never heard of an environmental cause for ADHD that has been substantiated by any studies or clinical tests, with the possible exception of leaded paint (some research has suggested a connection, but even that is not clearly established). While the environment that a child who already has ADHD lives in can make the child's ADHD-related *behaviors* better or worse, it can't *cause* it, as far as I know. ADHD is a neurological condition of the brain, in which the neurotransmitter activity functions abnormally. There is a strong hereditary tendency -- in my ADHD husband's family, it seems to be sex-linked, too, although I know that's not necessarily the case in other families. (Like your spouse, my husband was also diagnosed as an adult, in his 40's.) Some research seems to indicate that there could also be some prenatal factors in ADHD, such as alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy, but that obviously wouldn't be a factor at this point with your two youngsters.
It's typically difficult to detect ADHD in very young children. I'm not saying that ADHD behaviors are not present, but it's hard to determine whether a behavior is an ADHD manifestation, or just a normal phase that the child may be passing through. My (now adult) son has ADHD, and although in hindsight I can see what some of his ADHD behaviors were in childhood, at the time they didn't seem especially odd. As a toddler, he loved to walk and run so much that he really didn't hear any warnings or people calling him -- he was hyperfocused on the walking and running to the detriment of everything else -- but at the time it just seemed like a kid having fun and not wanting to stop. He was crazy about cars and knew all the makes and models by sight at a very young age -- well, I've known plenty of other youngsters who didn't have ADHD who had "crazes", and since our son was very very bright, it didn't seem that strange that he would know so much about something he liked so much -- now we realize that this was another instance of hyperfocusing. It really wasn't until he was in elementary school and started having trouble with homework assignments and defiant behavior in school that we began to realize there was some kind of problem. This is a very common sequence of events with ADHD kids.
If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now (i.e., the ADHD genetics of my husband's family, what are typical ADHD problems, etc.), I think I would try to set up a more structured environment for my son, and try to teach him simple organizational skills at a younger age. Memory problems are often a part of ADHD, so I would also try to teach my son about how to deliberately make strong memories. There are useful articles about these approaches at http://specialed.about.com/od/addandadhd/p/Teach-ADD.htm and http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/teacher.shtml that are geared for school teachers but can also be helpful for parents.
Good luck!
"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." Albus Dumbledore