ADHD and Brain Balace

Our boys have both been diagnosed with ADHD. Jaiden was diagnosed when he was in first grade after a long time of me procrastinating because of denial. Treyce was diagnosed at the beginning of second grade, last fall.  Both boys were put on medication, Concerta.  I felt like the medication helped Jaiden 100%.  However, with Treyce it helped some, especially at school, but we were still having a lot of problems with him like he's extremely irrational, overly emotional, he chews on his clothes and other objects, he rarely appears happy, he has extreme ups and downs, he doesn't seem to understand basic instructions or understand basic concepts.

The big side effect of the medication is loss of appetite.  Jaiden & Treyce eat in the morning and at night but hardly any thing all day.  I just don't feel like they get the nutrition they need to grow and be healthy.  I also hate the fact that my kids need a pill in order for them to function and for us to be able to handle being around them.  I feel like the medication is masking the problem.  I used to believe ADHD was a chemical imbalance in the brain that is hereditary and medication is the only thing you can do to treat the symptoms.  I believed this because it's what I was told by doctors and I read in books and online.  I was also told that my kids would need to be on medication for the rest of their life.

Since Treyce's diagnosis I've found Brain Balance which was created and founded by Dr. Robert Melillo.  Basically, it puts all neurological disorders such as; ADHD, Autism, Asbergers Syndrom, OCD, Dyslexia etc. into one category called Functional Disconnect Syndrome.  Brain Balance takes a more natural approach to these issues and helps solve the underlying problem instead of masking the symptoms.  The underlying problem is a disconnection in the brain.  Meaning, the left brain and right aren't communicating properly or as quickly as they should.  This is due to the fact that one side of the brain has become stronger and faster and the other side is weaker and slower.  This lack of balance is the cause of the problems which show up as social, behavioral and academic problems.

The closest center to us just opened (270 miles away) in St. George.  Kyle's cousin Tammy is the Center Director.  She opened this center after seeing drastic improvements in her kids after attending the program.  Her story is really amazing, you can read it here ourbrainbalancejourney.blogspot.com

We had our appointments for assessment on Friday (17th) and Saturday.  The assessment consists of over 1,200 different sensory, motor, and cognitive tests or markers.  Tammy met with me for about three hours to discuss the results and explained how the program works.  It was amazing to see how they do all these tests and what they mean.  I would like to do one for me.  It's interesting.  Then, they put together a tailored program to meet our needs and showed us what we need to do to get results.

Jaiden's test results came back better than I thought.  In general it made me realize he has some work to do but really doesn't physically need his medication as much as I thought he did.  Really, I give him his pill to help him settle down and focus at school.  Also, when he's not on his medication he tends to be jittery, constantly trying to get in to trouble, start fights and is defiant.  His test results showed some of why that may be and gave us what to work on.  I tried not giving him his pill for a couple days but I have now decided we need to work on his program, nutrition etc. first then we will start taking away his medication.

Treyce is more off balance so to speak.  His fine motor skills need work. There are so many factors that no one would ever know with out this assessment but it all makes sense.

We now have exercises we are supposed to do two to three times a day.  Next week we will have blood work done to determine food allergies etc.  About 85% of children with neurological disorder also have some type of food allergy.  Not the type of major allergy where they will go into shock something but enough to cause inflammation in the body and effect overall nutrition.  This week we have started cutting back on sugar and trying to eat more natural foods.  But I think the nutrition becomes a big part of the program after we get the results back.  Brain Balance really covers all aspects.  I feel like I now have a new job trying to help my kids reach their full potential.

Here's an article for anyone that wants to learn more to understand the program etc.  It's Dr. Robert Melillo the creator of brain balance. He's speaking at a Autism conference of some sort but it really explains it all.

http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/what-is-functional-disconnection-syndrome/

         

Good 'Ol Poppa Tone

We love having my dad here (AKA Poppa Tone).  This morning he came downstairs while I was getting the boys ready for school.  Acting in the usually way making random comments like, "hey I had one of those be-three" and singing "I'm looking over a four leaf clover.... that I over looked besix".  He had the boys laughing, I don't even recall what all he was saying.  But as I'm making sandwiches and Jaiden is sitting at the counter he looks up at me with his big eyes and a slight grin and asks in a almost whisper, "Can I take him to school with me?"
I died laughing. It was so cute.

Disconnected

I sat in on a conference call today with Tammy.  Brain Balance is amazing. I'm learning so much. I know it's going to help us. I'm very excited and hopeful.

A mouth Piece would get in the way

It took me a minute to notice but ya gotta love this picture of Treyce sticking his tongue out.

Tryece's First Football Season

We had a BUSY and fun football season this year with both of the boys playing.

Treyce got to play on Dakoda's team (thankfully) otherwise I don't know if he would've made it.
The coach said Treyce told him he wanted to touch the ball so coach put him at center. Which means he got to hike it to his best buddy Dakoda. On defense he was linebacker.  He was so cute because he would always be back there behind the line holding his hands out in front of him, ready for whomever was coming at him.
This age is so cute and fun to watch they just don't have as much drama as the older teams. Most times after the game one of the players would ask,"did we win?" or "did we do good?". All I can say is God bless the coaches and people who love football and kids enough to volunteer so much time and energy to teach these kids all about the game. Treyce was lucky to have a good coach and meet some new friends on his team.


 BIG THANK YOU to Shannon for taking most of the pictures.

First some PRACTICE....

GAME TIME

 

Always LOVE and support from Family and friends

What a great season we can hardly wait for next year.

Shooting

Today we went shooting and Bentley got to shoot her new gun (from her dad for her b-day) for the first time.

Treyce Feels Bad For A Kid

Me and Treyce were sitting across from each other on the living room floor.  I was putting pads in his football pants he was in deep thought then he says, "Mom, I feel so bad for this one kid at school."
I responded with the same thing I did last week when he made this exact same comment, "Why?"
Treyce says, "because....(pause).. okay..... " Then Treyce continues to go into this re-enactment of what happened while playing soccer at school.  Picture Ace Ventura when he's in the mental institution and he's wearing the tutu and calling out plays etc.  That's how Treyce tells his story, he re-enacts it.  The story ended with,  "..... and the kid went POW and landed on the ground like this." Treyce continues showing me every detail by shoving his hands onto the floor then falling down so he is laying on his side. Treyce continues his story  "And he was like, (Treyce starts to scream and is rolling back and forth holding his hand "AAAAHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!!!" Then Treyce stops and says, "Oh wait he's an Asian kid so it was more like EEEEeeeeeee!!"
I lost it. I started laughing and looked straight down at the floor trying to hide the fact that I was starting to tear up because I was laughing so hard. Treyce was looking pretty confused but if you know Treyce nothing stops him from finishing his story. So he continues, "I even saw the kid after school and he looked like he had tears in his eyes. I think he may have had a big rock stuck in his hand"
 I was able to pull myself back together enough to throw a lot of questions at Treyce, "Was he okay? did you ask him if he was okay? Were you a good friend to him?" Treyce says that he asked if he was okay etc and the kid said he was okay but he just seemed sad.
But lets face it he lost me at the "oh yeah it was an Asian kid so it was more like......"

Way to Dream Big Kid

Story as told by Jaiden.

My teacher put us into groups today. We had to go around the group and say what our favorite car is. One kid was like a Corvette, I said my favorite is a Ferrari, the next kid said a Lamborgini, another kid said a supped up monster truck then this kid says a honda Civic. Who says a freakin Honda Civic is their favorite car? We were all picking these cool cars and he says Honda Civic. Me and the other kids just looked at each other and tried not to laugh but I couldn't help it, I started laughing and was like, "DUDE! a Honda Civic?" The kid was like "yeah my mom drives one and it's pretty nice."