ABOUT US: Our
Attention Deficit Disorder ADD ADHD Story.
My journey to
researching ADD medications, and specifically the drug
Adderall and
Ritalin,
began with a second grade teacher suggesting that my son might have
Attention Deficit Disorder.
I was shocked. Sure, my guy
would leave his head at the door if it weren’t attached and his
impulsivity was hard to ignore, but Attention Deficit Disorder? No way.
I quickly rejected this
teacher’s suggestion for diagnosis, mostly because I strongly opposed
ADD medications like the drug Adderall, Ritalin and others in the list
of ADD medications.
Yet, with each year the
struggles increased along with the teacher complaints about impulsivity
and inattention. This highly intelligent boy struggled to get Cs, at
best, and hated school. I feared that if nothing changed, this bright
child would not make it through high school, let alone college.
In the sixth grade, I finally
had my son tested for Attention Deficit Disorder. After 15 minutes in
the doctor’s office, we walked out with a drug Adderall prescription,
one of many ADD medications used for Attention Deficit symptoms.
Teachers, his tutor and his
doctor worked to calm my concerns about placing my son on the drug
Adderall prescription or other ADD medications. They told me my son
would likely self-medicate with street drugs later if I did not fill the
Adderall prescription and provide ADD medications to my son. They told
me he would not succeed in school without ADD medications. They told me
I would never see an end to his impulsivity and inattention without ADD
medications. One teacher told me I would ruin my son if I did not place
him on ADD medications. They all told me alternatives to ADD medications
do not work.
Faced with dooming threats of
school failure, eventual drug use and continued impulsivity and
inattention, I filled the drug Adderall prescription (and was quite
surprised by the $63 per month price tag attached to the Adderall
prescription). But, what choice did I have?
My gut feeling and continued
concerns about ADD medications sent me searching for options beyond the
drug Adderall prescription to help my son’s impulsivity, inattention
and school decline. I wanted choices.
As a journalist who spends
hours each day researching and verifying information, I thought this
would be an easy task. Instead, I found myself wading through countless
Attention Deficit web sites offering alternatives to Ritalin and other
ADD medications.
Some alternatives to ADD
medications offered only a few ingredients proven beneficial for the
impulsivity, hyperactivity and other symptoms of Attention Deficit
Disorder. Other alternatives to ADD medications made great claims in
easing impulsivity, hyperactivity and other symptoms but did not provide
supporting evidence of their claims.
My “Eureka Moment” came
when I found Attend, which provided
almost every
ingredient proven to help with impulsivity, hyperactivity and
other symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder.
The positive personal
experience that followed verified this belief.
My son began taking the
Attend
supplement during the summer. I saw positive changes but the true test
would come with school starting back up again.
I took a deep breath and hoped
for the best at the beginning of this school year.
This year - after years of
school struggles, failures and teacher complaints - I did not receive
“the phone call” within weeks of school starting.
Not one to break a well
established back-to-school routine of early and often teacher
conferences, I called the school guidance counselor and scheduled a
meeting with my son’s seventh grade teachers.
Not once did teachers use the
words “impulsivity,” “inattention” or any other words typically
used to describe ADD or ADHD symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder.
I walked away amazed and
filled with hope. I felt, probably for the first time since he entered
kindergarten, that my son would succeed in school despite the Attention
Deficit Disorder diagnosis doctors handed down and teachers fully agreed
with.
As the weeks passed by, my
son’s backpack remained organized instead of filled with crumpled
papers. His social circle included friends that I approved of. Nightly
he sat down to homework with infrequent complaints. One day he asked how
he could receive an academic scholarship for college.
What I found that help does
not always need to come from and Adderall prescription or other ADD
medications.
I remain uncomfortable with
the use of the drug Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta and other ADD
medications for impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention, though I do
not oppose the use of ADD medications as strongly as I once did.
In the absence of any other
choices for impulsivity, hyperactivity and other symptoms related to
Attention Deficit Disorder, something (when properly prescribed) is
usually better than nothing.
My goal is to provide parents
similarly struggling with the “ADD medications or nothing” quandary
with solid choices and sound information.
This web site consolidates the
Attention Deficit Disorder information found in my research. It also
provides information about, what I believe is, the highest quality
nutritional supplement on the market today for the symptoms of Attention
Deficit Disorder.
I wish for you the same level
of success that we found in managing and effectively channeling the
talents of children labeled “Attention Deficit.” I also encourage you to
sign up for our free monthly newsletters that contain a broad
range of information about Attention Deficit related issues.
