Dealing with special needs – ADD/ADHD

Today I am going to talk about special needs, especially in children.  The number of children with special needs are increasing.  The reason? Personally, I think a big part of the reason is that there are more chemicals in our foods, more toxins in our environment, and also knowledge.  How can knowledge be one of the reasons for the increase in special needs?  Simple…it is recognized more now.

I know some people who are adults, in their 50s and 60s, who have some symptoms of special needs.  If they were been in the school system now, they would have been labeled.  Back in their school days they were labeled as ‘lazy’ or ‘mischevious trouble makers’.

The number of children labeled with ADD/ADHD have skyrocketed.  Drugs are being handed out like candy. I do believe some of these children do actually have ADD/ADHD. But some I think are just not challenged enough in the school system.  They are expected to sit for hours while their young bodies need movement.

As a society, we are putting our children into schools earlier and earlier.  We are sending them off to be taken care of and taught by someone else. 

If they don’t ‘fit’ in, then they are tested and labeled ADD/ADHD and given a drug to keep them quiet during the school hours.

Then what happens at home? All that stored energy goes wild. The children are all over the place. Parents are at a loss at how to handle them. I hear stories all the time.

There are children who honestly are ADD/ADHD.  They can be helped by diet in many cases before a drug is automatically issued.

I have a son with some special needs. ADD is one of them.  I don’t give him a single drug to handle that. I work with diet and supplements and good old exercise.  There are books out there that give good advice on how to treat the disorder without drugs.  As a parent, I would try the diet/supplement way before automatically giving drugs to a child.

I have heard of many serious side-effects from the drugs we are giving our children.  There are long-term issues we, as a society, need to face.

Coping with problems naturally isn’t easy.  It is hard work.  Many times the child himself may complain.

One of the things I have done recently is to cut out cow’s milk from our diet.  In several things I have read about treating ADD/ADHD naturally, they talk about the need to eliminate dairy products.  So far I have cut out milk.  We use soymilk now, although soon we will try almond milk.

My son has thrown many fits about the milk issue.  There have been tears and many complaints.  He says he is going to ask for milk for his birthday and Christmas.

On the otherhand, he is calmer than he had been.

We have also started some plant-based supplements this month.  I have already seen a change in him.  He has noticed and commented on the way he has felt.

With a change in diet, he has improved already. We still have the cheese to eliminate.  It is a slow, gradual process.

Any change you make in diet needs to be gradual, or you might have mutiny. The little things add up.

Next time I will discuss ways in which I handle some of the problems we have in homeschooling.

Until next time.