Ph.D. 4 Kids!

30th March by

Types of Medication Commonly Used to Treat ADHD in Children

21st March by

Children and ADHD Medication

The first thing I want to say about medication and attention problems is that I have no affiliation with any drug company. Everything I discuss is based on anecdotal evidence based on seeing hundreds of kids with attention problems and personal experience with my own children, not scientific research. I am a psychologist so I do not prescribe medication. Psychiatrists, and sometimes pediatricians or general physicians, prescribe medication for attention deficits. I work in the same office with a group of six pediatricians that have

2nd March by

ADHD and Defiance

After I randomly go through the diagnostic criteria for ADHD with parents, I show them how many their child met, based on their responses, on form I created. Oppositional and Defiance Disorder (ODD) is the column right next to the ADHD columns. Many parents will say, “He fits the ones you checked, but he really fits the ones in the ODD column!” I don’t even ask those questions because 95% of children in America, including my own, would fit that diagnostic category at least once

23rd February by

That Looks Like OCD not ADHD!

Sensory Integration and ADHD Most, ballpark, 90% of the kids I see, including my own children and myself, have what I call sensory issues. Sensory Integration Deficit almost made it into the psychology “bible” last time it was updated. Keyword: almost. It’s really a shame that it did not. I believe it did not because most of the people making those decisions are academics and aren’t in the trenches seeing kids. Kids with sensory issues are usually pretty to extremely intuitive. I would not have

15th February by

ADHD – It’s a Temperament!

I want to make it clear from the beginning of this post that everyone understands that I am writing my opinion as a person who has all of the symptoms of ADD, mom of two kids with “focus problems”, and a clinician who has seen hundreds of kids of all ages with ADD and ADHD. Everything I write is based on anecdotal evidence not research based evidence. What I have come to believe over time is that there are more than the three diagnosable types

19th January by

Time-Out That Works

This is the second part of a two-part post about Time-Out. If you haven’t read the first one, Time-Out Doesn’t Work, you will not be using the most critical part of Time-Out. Please read it first, if you haven’t and implement those changes first. If those steps are not followed, Time-Out will NEVER work. It’s not Time-Out’s fault. I hate using the F word (fault, come on now!), but it’s true. I have seen it over and over in my office. People come back and

9th January by

Time-Out Doesn’t Work!

This is the first in a two-part post about discipline. The second of the two is titled: Time-Out that Works. Time-Out will never work if you don’t use the two posts as what I think of as a lifestyle. Similar to the advice, diets don’t work. Just implementing discipline for a while won’t work. I find families that use a plan for a while and then “fall off the wagon” are the most frustrated and have a lot of discipline “events.” Years ago a mom

22nd December by

How to Get Kids to Sleep

What I learned in Graduate School About Sleep Sleep is a natural state most mammals, especially babies, seek as a restorative state needed for the body to repair all the horrible things that came at it while it was awake. There are two main schools of thought about sleeping. Parents who fallow the Attachment Parenting philosophy advocate for a family bed until each child decides they want to sleep on their own. I do not personally ascribe to this approach, but to each his or

7th December by

Why Toddlers Seem Terrible

Toddlers get a really bad rap. How would you like it if everyone just chalked your 10 year midlife crisis up to the terrible 40s! Once you look at what is happening with development from one to four years of age, toddlers are actually pretty funny in sort of a sick way. They can’t help it! Sick, because I was usually laughing inside when my children were tantruming, because I knew what was going on and did not take their behavior personally. Children are born

3rd December by

Oh Baby!

Pregnancy I really thought I was pretty prepared when I had my first child. I used to tell parents that I was working with in a hospital setting, “You don’t need to know how to drive a car to fix a car.” I was horribly wrong. I do not want to be offensive, because I believe parents who have adopted are just as much as a parent as I am. However, my brain changed while I was pregnant. There has to be a biological, chemical

Newer Posts

Practical Parenting Crib2College ********** A Huffington Post Parents Contributor

Types of Medication Commonly Used to Treat ADHD in Children

Children and ADHD Medication

ADHD and Defiance

That Looks Like OCD not ADHD!

ADHD – It’s a Temperament!

Time-Out That Works

Time-Out Doesn’t Work!

How to Get Kids to Sleep

Why Toddlers Seem Terrible

Oh Baby!

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