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Original poster

ADHD - programme on BBC2 last night..... HORIZON

29 replies

MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 10:00

Just wondered who watched this- and how did it compare to your experiences LIVING with ADHD???

For me it was very like my life....and actually hit home very hard what 'others' must think when they 'look in' like i did by watching the families last night... one of the families is from warminster- 20 mins down the road from me....so near yet so far.....don't suppose she's reading this?????!!!!

Also having Asperger's in our home makes things a bit different to 'pure ADHD' etc ...but this programme reminded me only too well that ADHD is just as disabling.

They even touched on the ADULTS with it too....

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beccaboo · 04/02/2005 10:10

I thought the mother with ADHD was really interesting, she wasn't diagnosed as a child and got into all sorts of problems, ending up as an addict because she was self-medicating with Class A drugs. When she started reading up about ADHD when her kids were diagnosed, she realised that she has it too - and loads of adults in her family do too, including her father.

Merlot · 04/02/2005 10:12

Didn't see this Mrs F, but nice to see you posting again

How are things with you? (hmm, sorry to go off track and all that...)

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MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 10:19

yes- i thought that was good too- as following on from t's dx i have pretty much felt i have his dx too....as i had a difficult childhood and have been treated for anxiety/depression/obsessive tendancies for 9 years now...but thankfully gradually the professionals are beginning to notice my similarities to my son...and maybe in time i will get the support i really need...however i am thankful that i have a dx of anxiety etc (even if it's the 'wrong label')as this gets me a psychologist appt every week- a visit from a psychiatric nurse monthly AND I AM ABOUT TO SEE the 'same' PSYCHIATRIST 6 monthly- instead of seeing a different one every time...and there's even talk that i will be put on the eating disorder dietician's waiting list .....so right or wrong dx doesn't really matter at the moment!!!! It's the strategies that count and for that i am gratefull to having my boys as without their 'correct' diagnosis i would have never learnt the strategies that are helping me- and would have forever carried on hating myself for all the behaviours i show which i now believe are to do with ADHD/AS!!!!

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Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 10:23

hi merlot!!!

thanks for that!

I've posted a couple of other threads today...so won't go on about things here!!!

that programme is being repeated on sunday night....recommend it highly!

even T enjoyed it- he identified with the adult with ADHD too! (more worrying he has now 'diagnosed' my youngest with it too....so maybe i AM right ....'A' is NOT 'just' ATTENTION SEEKING......i am 99% sure he has ADHD...and now after watching that programme i am 100%...and have T to back me up!!!

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coppertop · 04/02/2005 10:41

It's great to see you back, MrsF!

I watched the programme with dh. I posted on another thread about this but the scene(s) where the little boy (Liam?) kept running off on the way into town was exactly like ds1. We have to keep calling him back and reminding him to either hold hands or to hold on to the pushchair. Ds2 is the very active one, although I doubt very much that he would be classed as hyperactive in the medical sense. Ds2 also flits about from one thing to another unless he's drawing. He can concentrate on drawing for about an hour or so - not bad for a 2yr-old.

binkie · 04/02/2005 13:51

I missed and will watch on Sunday - thanks for that.

Please tell me what you think, from your experience: would a child with ADHD be able to sit through nearly an hour's serious talking-to (about impulsive behaviour hurting other children, incidentally)? Or would that be impossible?

Jimjams · 04/02/2005 13:56

impossible and pointless (as I doubt it would prevent it happening again) binkie- why?

wlecome back MrsF

binkie · 04/02/2005 14:04

Attacked someone at school w/out provocation. (For the second time in a week.)

Did sit through it - was a two-way kind of talking-through rather than talking-to, should say - and took his part in it seriously. Seemed to end up understanding and caring.

I think his behaviour's not severe enough to be ADHD, but I realise there are always variations. So I wondered if this could be a kind of benchmark.

Blossomhill · 04/02/2005 14:58

Just made me realise how wrong the professional were that diagnosed my dd with Adhd to bo honest. I mean the 5 yr old boy who had it mild was so much more severe than dd. We have never had that kind of aggression with dd, ever. I do however feel that dd does have concentration problems although has settled down a lot this term at school and home.

donnie · 04/02/2005 15:03

I watched this programme and was full of admiration for the families - especially the single mum who had 2 kids with ADHD. What interested me also was the intricate art work her daughter did and how much concentration and time that would require. I speak as someone with no real knowledge or experience of this condition. I found it very compelling.

Jimjams · 04/02/2005 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mummylonglegs · 04/02/2005 16:49

Did anyone watching this think that ANY of the kids were severely ADHD? With the single mum family it seemed so borderline, especially with the little girl (I couldn't work out why she was diagnosed as she seemed, to me, to be bright and well, 'normal'). Given also that the mum admitted to having her own problems and we did see her lose her patience and be 'inconsistent', couldn't their behaviour problems also be put down to their environment? I'm asking innocently here by the way. The 5-year-old boy in the other family showed more characteristic ADHD as I know of it, in that he couldn't focus and hold eye-contact very well and also seemed more at odds with himself. But even then I've seen much much much worse cases of ADHD. Although I think it was a good programme I think it might have benefitted from a wider range of families to compare.

binkie · 04/02/2005 16:59

Working to control impulses - the holy grail! What does your friend use, do you know?

We do lots of "drills": every road to cross gets preparation, and commentary, and praise afterwards, to give him a sort of internal auto-pilot that's more powerful than impulse. I don't worry he won't stop at the kerb now. That sort of thing.

Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 18:32

MUMMYLONGLEGS....I think the difference was that the brother and sister were on medication to control the negative behaviours and the 5yr wasn't.....

my 11yr old is on stimulant medication and the difference in his attitude/behaviour is vastwhen you compare how he is for the first hour each day (whilst the medicine kicks in)and around 7/8pm when it wears of.....as compared to the rest of the day when the medication 'stimulates the calming part of his brain'.

hope that clarifies the difference between the two families last niight.

p.s...bit like me- i am on antidepressants...and guess what people always say 'but your not depressed'....well.....funnily enough if i don't take the tablets...!

My 5 yr old is like the 5 yr old last night.....and the 7yr old is like my 8 yr old----and the girl is like my 11yr -when he is medicated.

so..........the plot thickens!!!

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tamum · 04/02/2005 18:35

MrsF I thought of you when I watched this! I knew the Warminster family were in your neck of the woods, and there was such a similarity with the mother realising once her children were diagnosed that she was affected too. I kept wishing you and she could be friends

I thought it was a good program, but I'm surprised it was a Horizon program- it was so different from the usual format. I wondered if it was a conscious choice to put it on as a science program to counteract the idea that it's all just "naughtiness" (not my view, I hasten to add).

Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 18:38

as to street safety...we used to have a 'system' where the boys ran from lampost to lampost- and got a smartie/choc button everytime they waited for me to catch up.....took alot of work- and then we changed to holding the puschair or my hand from lampost to lampost- the WORST bit however was when L was 2 or 3 and they dug up the paths to fit cable.....and then they filled it in with tarmac....and he then being Thomas the tank MAD would follow the 'black tracks'......ok till someone was in the way!!!! The worst place was right by our house...the 'cable track' followed the path right to the kerb edge and then went off at a 90 degree angle round the corner....so he would hurtle (making arm movements like a train) right up to the kerb edge in order to follow this track....nightmare.....he nevr once ran on the road there....but i got plenty of filthy looks from drivers...as i 'obviously had no control of my son'...AND TBH...it was a miracle that no car 'clipped the kerb' and hit him .

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Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 18:42

thanks tamum!!!

i agree that the format was different...so often these programmes are just 'Little Angels'...or 'children behaving badly' in disguise.

this to me was a refreshing change and though my 8 yr old is not ADHD he is very 'mobile'....and very similar to the 5yr old as far as clambering over thinmgs and not sitting still to eat etc.

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Chocol8 · 04/02/2005 19:02

Hellllooo, MrsF, so glad to see you again - i really missed you!

I taped and watched it too, and admit to feeling close to tears watching the little boy running off in the car park and the street. Very like my ds prior to medication.

I thought the mother of the 2 children was very calm in her way of dealing with the boy who had locked himself out and then dropped the key behind the freezer. I'm not so sure I would have dealt with that without panicking quite a bit.

Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 21:21

hellooooooo 2 u 2 !!!

i've done bugg*r all today...but who cares!!! It's been much more fun meeting my mates again!

The 'locked outside' bit rang too many bells to me....but rather being ME who does the 'getting locked out' and my boys climbing through the kitchen window to let me in!!!!

and then when he was crying and his sister lauged and he said 'its not funny' is exactly what A & L are like.... even to the point of A today hearing that boy crying on the video and he thought it was L crying- so ran in the room laughing- then was vey confused to see this lad crying on TV!!!

i think what i liked about the programme was that it didn't keep on about the 'usual' stuff....that being Additives/food colouring/e numbers etc.... and more about how time consuming the day to day care and management is....couldn't help thinking that we should send a copy of the video to the DLA offices...we could all then simply cross through the forms they send us and simply say 'please see enclosed video' for confirmation of 'how many minutes of how many hours' EVERY day i spend helping/stopping/encouraging my child'....

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Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 21:26

hi to JimJams! it's great to see that you and the gang are all still here!!!!

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Amanda3266 · 04/02/2005 21:32

Hi
I have ADD (without hyperactivity) and looking back can see the signs were there as a child in the seventies. I was diagnosed then as dypraxic but it appears I am both!!

I missed the programme last night but am hoping to catch it Saturday evening. It's very interesting reading some of the posts here. I am acutely and painfully aware that my son may have either condition because I have both but thatnkfully there's no sign yet (he's just 2)

Mandy

Chocol8 · 04/02/2005 22:26

I'll start mass copying the video then shall I MrsF? What a great idea, much more simple than writing out all those nasty forms!

Original poster
MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 22:47

i've got a horrible feeking that i got it wrong about the programme being repeated on saturday....i think it WAS THE REPEAT ON THURSDAY having been shown 1st last weekend!!!
sorry.... plese tell me if i am wrong!

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Amanda3266 · 04/02/2005 22:50

No - sure last Saturday was the Einstein one.

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MrsFROSTgetful · 04/02/2005 22:54

thanks!

just checked our 'on screen sky listing' and it's not there yet online i checked a t.v listing page and it says 21.00 saturday 6th feb...however on the BBC site- it's not there.

guess only time will tell!!!

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