All About ADHD : Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

[Alex75]

Do you know any help centers that would help parents like me to deal with an ADHD case. My twins were diagnosed with ADHD. I feel like I am about to give up because of stress from work and with their case. How do you deal with these problems with your child?

[Specialkids]

Hi Sammybammy and Alex75,


Most people have a misconception about ADHD being a behavioural issue when it actually is more of a brain-processing issue.

As one with ADHD myself, and having helped students off Ritalin yet not lose focus, I’d like to assure you that ADHD is easily manageable and as like Autism, needs are on a spectrum, what works for one kid need not work for another.

PM me if you’d like any more information on helps. I will definitely stay clear of meds unless the kid is violently harming himself or others. Meds have side effects & studies on their long term effects have more negative than positive effect.

[zac's mum]

Good morning. I would like to have my 9 year old assessed to see whether he has ADHD. Does anyone have a good, impartial private medical professional to recommend?


My child is not impulsive but he is extremely hyperactive. Has not mellowed much over the years, still very high energy and talks incessantly. Behaviorally, in school and at home, he is unable to sit still and focus on his written work or even eat a meal without being distracted by some toy or book or conversation topic that he’s thinking about. So the brain drifts off at a tangent quite frequently.

He did not clear the recent GEP Round 1, which is why I want to find out what’s wrong with his brain (leading to this behavior all these years, which is supposed to mature & focus more by this age, but no…).

Recommendations please. I am desperate to have an answer.

[sky minecrafter]

@zm. Try the Child Guidance Clinic at HPB.

https://www.imh.com.sg/clinical/page.aspx?id=283
You can get an appointment swiftly if you register as a private patient.

[MrsKiasu]

zac’s mum, hope there is nothing serious there…

[zac's mum]

Thank u. Nothing serious as in it is not emergency case lah. He is non-impulsive and thus will not harm others or himself.


I spent the whole weekend thinking…and trying to figure out why why why…he has been such a difficult child for me to handle with his boundless energy & endless complaints from teachers about his inattention + talking in class. When he was younger maybe I could attribute it to immaturity. But now it is quite obvious to me that other 9 year old boys can sit through 3-hour exams properly with focus. Mine cannot. Some red flags going off in my mind.

[doodbug]

zac’s mum, you may want to consider bringing him to a private (best if they do not share any patient or medical records) psychologist to get tested. One of my friend’s was wondering for the longest time why her daughter cannot focus. It’s been, for years. Younger days, she attributed it to immaturity. And she is by nature a kind girl, not a difficult child or anything. But she cannot read or focus for long. The long and short is, in Sec 2, she finally brought her girl for testing, and to the whole family’s shock, the girl has very serious Irlen Syndrome. Words fly across the page and one needs to expend like 10 ot 100 times the effort to read compared to a normal person. The fortunate thing is Irlen can be corrected immediately with using prescribed lens, and the person’s vision is normal with the lens! So there may be lots of unknown, strange conditions, not all of which cannot be mitigated.


If for nothing, at the very least, the tests (expensive I have to say, over $1k) can quantitatively put the child on a spectrum, so you know where your child is in terms of reading, focus, certain processing functions, sensitivities etc vis-a-vis other kids in the age group.

Don’t read too much into the GEP testing. Only 10% of kids make it past Round 1 - by definition, most normal kids will not make it through. My two kids made it through Round 1 but eventually, for PSLE, the elder child’s PSLE score was super duper below the 10% mark. Duh lol!

[Specialkids]

Zac's mum, you may wish to consult a behaviourist instead. Whether the child has ADHD, the final decision would be to understand and manage the behaviours.


The cases of ADHD and ADHD-suspects that I have handled in the past show that because the kids come from diverse backgrounds and may have different difficulties, the approach to each case will largely be different.

However, in all the cases, careful consideration of the factors result in positive outcomes. :lovesite:

[MrsKiasu]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1940076\" time=\"1570409572\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1940076 time=1570409572 user_id=53606]
Thank u. Nothing serious as in it is not emergency case lah. He is non-impulsive and thus will not harm others or himself.

I spent the whole weekend thinking...and trying to figure out why why why...he has been such a difficult child for me to handle with his boundless energy & endless complaints from teachers about his inattention + talking in class. When he was younger maybe I could attribute it to immaturity. But now it is quite obvious to me that other 9 year old boys can sit through 3-hour exams properly with focus. Mine cannot. Some red flags going off in my mind.[/quote]

zac's mum :hugs: , I hope it is not that you placed too much hope on the gep thing therefore feeling a bit too disappointed over the weekend, therefore this decision.. is ds having too much difference from many boys his age?

Follow own guts feel..get tested early has its own benefits too..

[sky minecrafter]

@zm, MKS. Oh no, please don't think of a visit to the psychologist as branding your child ill/something not right; consider it a lesson to learn coping mechanisms in order to improve quality of life. IF the behaviours are affecting daily routine, & more aggressive intervention is deemed necessary, then a medical name may be attached in the treatment process. (Medical records are confidential.)