ADHD & Aspergers Forum

ADHD, Aspergers and related disorders :- Post your questions, or just make your opinion known. Tell us if you have ADHD/Aspergers and what life is like for you. Or are you a parent who would like to share your experiences or need advice from others. Feel free to post your comments but remember to consider the feelings of others. The opinions expressed here are those of individuals and not those of professionals and may not reflect the views of the host. Discression is advised when ascertaining the validity of message contents. Stay safe - do not give out your address or phone number. :-)

ADHD & Aspergers Forum
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For Sally Ann

Hi Sally Ann. Sorry, been away for a couple of days. Given that your son is so bright, have you tried taking him to DCU? They run courses for gifted children. My son goes and loves it. They are well used to ADHD/AS children. Check out the website www.dcu.ie/ctyi.
Speak soon

Assumpta

Re: For Sally Ann

Assumpta, We were told about the courses in DCU two years ago when he was in 6th class,but he was having a really tough time in school and to him it just seemed like more school. Then when he started secondry school it was mentioned to him again and he still wasn't keen. He was told there was an assessment /test to get in and I think that put him off as sometimes he gets mental and can't do stuff that he is usually well capable of.
He might consider it again though if he knew more about it. Is it very expensive?

Re: Re: For Sally Ann

Sally Ann. My son went through the same thing about DCU. He also hates school and was in no way interested in more of the same. I have to admit I bribed him to sit the assessment test! Cost me a fortune - dinner at his favourite restaurant, new gameboy game and a visit to the Aquarium in Bray. Have to say though it was well worth it as he just loves it there. And the thing is, when you hear all the other kids chatting in their breaks, they sound just like him! Your son would be with the older group and would sit SATS (American college entrance). I think the entry date has just passed but you could perhaps ring them and see if they'd let him do it. The way I put it to my son was that all I'd ask him to do was the test, he didn't need to do any of the courses. Of course when he saw what was on offer, he couldn't resist! I know for the yourger group, if you already have an assessment done by Ed Psych they will accept that instead of their assessment. Wouldn't do any harm to ring and see if the same applies for the older kids. Their number is: 01 700 5634. They are very knowledgeable and so easy to speak to. I feel it has helped my lad by offering him something school can't. I was away this weekend and he still insisted on going although he didn't have to. Initially he did a summer course which was €120 for a week - half days. At 8 I thought a full day was too long, as they study 2 subjects in the morning and a different 2 in the afternoon. He did this for 2 weeks in July. At the moment he is in Saturday mornings studying Archaeology from 10am to 12.30pm. It's 9 weeks and costs €160. The great thing is I don't have to force him into some summer camp for soccer or art or anything else that drives him mad, to keep him busy during the summer months. I read your earlier post about the PC. My boy seems to have put the PC aside for the last few months in favour of TV and Playstation. We limit the playstation to weekends only and then only an hour at a time ( we might let him do an hour twice a day if we need the peace and quiet). I managed to do this as he got the PS2 from Santa 2 years ago and he 'wrote' him a letter saying that any smart kids he knew didn't play every day! When he was into PC, I usually let him have as long as he wanted because all his games were educational. He would spend hours building Jurassic Park and trying to make it a profitable business - totally mad about dinosaurs...
Just realised how long this is - better stop!
Speak soon

Assumpta

Re: Re: Re: For Sally Ann

Thanks for the advice I might look into that again.At the moment my son seems to prefer the PC to the ps2. when he does spend what I think is too much time on either of them I try to talk to him about it and sometimes just tell him to take a break but I think it may have been easier when he was 8! Do you mind me asking have you any other children? I have two others a boy and a girl.

Re: Re: Re: Re: For Sally Ann

Hi Sally Ann. I have a 2 year old daughter, who we think is a total 'lunatic'. She's so noisy and wants to be played with all the time. She's completely different to DS who never was a bother (until this last year!) although people tell me she's more like a 'normal' 2 year old and DS was far too quiet. She's great though, but some sleep once in a while would be nice.. averaging 5 hours per night for the last 2 years, while my DS is great to sleep late (though murder to get to bed at night). There are lots of things I'm noticing about DS which have only come to mind since his dx. He was always a little 'odd' but nothing major, and we just put it down to personality, being an only child for 6 yrs and the fact that he was brighter than the other kids we knew. Now, the more I read, the more AS characteristics I notice in him. My husband says I'm just searching for the AS where we had not noticed anything before. Generally he's great behaviour-wise at school, though a little withdrawn which was put down to shyness. Have had the occasional outburst, usually once a year when the bullying/ teasing gets too much, but we had 2 just last week, which is worrying. Has your son's school made allowances for his behaviour or is he treated like the others and given the same punishments? This is something I want to raise with the school myself as I think a recent punishment was quite harsh given the circumstances of his diagnosis.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: For Sally Ann

my son doesn't have any problems since he went to secondary school as I said but they are only aware that he has ADHD so far. as a young child he was always a bit odd could sit in front of the tv for hours or read but very hyper otherwise always got lost when we went out. Ran around the shops touched everything but very shy also didn't like strangers or visitors or visiting(still doesn't).BY the time he got to 6th class his frustration and outbursts got worse he was supended 6 times for silly things and they were constantly ringing me to take him home. His teacher then was very strict and had no time for him.She relented a little when we got the diagnoses and when he was leaving the school she wished us luck( and added that we were going to need it) I found this insulting. I met her in town recently and she was suprised at how well he was doing.
He is my youngest child my other two are 18 and 16.My husband and I always knew he was different but getting other people to believe it was like banging our heads off a brick wall.