Samuel's WorldSamuel's ADHD
What is ADHD for Samuel
Have you ever watched a fly in your house as it enters through a open window or door – flying in different directions, trying to find the way it came in – or have you ever sat and listened to the sound a kettle makes on the stove as the water starts to heat and boil, gradually getting louder and louder resulting in a low whistle which gets higher and higher in pitch until you take it off the stove and make yourself a cup of tea! Well that’s part of Samuel’s world.
Dashing, darting, I can’t sit still
Since starting school at 4 years old Samuel has been the fly, the kettle and most of the time the thunderstorm and lightening – Samuel can never just sit still, he has to be moving all the time, even when watching the television Samuel will at odd times suddenly just get up dash about and sit back down again. He talks as quick as he runs, interrupting conversations and finds it difficult to listen to other people’s opinions and views.
Tourettes and ADHD
It has been said that children who have Tourettes usually have ADHD as well – in Samuel’s case all of his disorders are genetic coming from both sides of our families. Thankfully it does not seem to have affected Grace, his sister and I have been told it can affect boys more than girls.
Board Games – What fun!
Samuel finds this extremely hard as although he loves games – to sit and wait for his turn would be a big challenge for him and to lose is usually a disaster waiting to happen!! Samuel’s attention span is low if he is having to socialize in a group, he does not listen to instructions/rules and often gets angry if the group he is playing with has run off because he has not understood the concept behind the game being played.
Anger, Frustration Tears and Meltdowns!
As a parent/carer you find yourself constantly stepping in to sort out an argument or situation, to comfort or advise and to reward and praise – that’s part of parenting. But the most difficult time of all for us as parents is to sometimes feel that you just cannot comfort enough or understand what that child is thinking or feeling. Samuel gets anxious very rapidly often leading to full scale meltdowns which result in an attack of his tics which virtually cause him to fit. These can last from 5 to 30 minutes and are scary for Samuel and for us. They can be triggered over any simple irrational circumstance – wanting sweets before dinner with the answer being “no” springs to mind – and is probably a classic! He does not realise these anger moments as we call them are happening until they start and that is worrying, he wants to stop but for those 5 or 30 minutes he is in another world, chucking any object in his path, hitting, kicking, biting, not thinking of the consequences behind what he is doing could be dangerous.
How to stop these – what to do?
We have tried many ways – but this method seems the best so far – to avoid getting hurt ourselves and to prevent Samuel from hurting himself as well, we try and hug him with him sitting between our legs – counting to 10 slowly with Samuel – getting him to focus on an object has also helped. Samuel has many aids in his room which help him to relax and calm down – we have so many I will write another article about them listing where to purchase these great helpers!!!!
The Vicious Circle
Tourettes and ADHD just do not get along as friends and often when Samuel gets angry all the tics decide to appear and say hello with force. Its like a sudden surge of energy that has been trapped or a volcano waiting to errupt. Once the energy is released and the volcano has shed its larva all is quiet and still and Samuel has gone to sleep.
What will be the Outcome!
With family and professional support Samuel’s ADHD could go away completely – we all have funny habits and sometimes strange quirky ways we do things – that’s what makes us all different and unique!
I am only 13 and my opinion may have no relevance at all but: i am interested in child pschology and being a teenager i can relate to the stresses of adolecents but just to imagine the extra troubles to have this many disorders-i don’t think i can imagine! It has really given me an incentive- reading all about samuel, just makes me more enthusiastic about child psychology! Thank you!!!
Ellie | Feb 18, 10:42 AM | 1Hi Sonya – I am glad you have found my site very useful! I wish you and your family well – please email me at any time if you need to have a chat and please feel free to join the forum!
lynette xx