(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best books about attention deficit disorder

>psychologist who I have only recently stopped seeing told me that a major symptom of ADHD was that I had to be unable to retain information

who the flying fuck quack of a psychologist is that? that's the most retarded bull shit I've ever heard.

>my dentist says that ADHD medication and SSRI usage has caused some permanent damage to my teeth (excessive grinding, plus the depression/ADHD made me rather apathetic to proper hygiene).

never heard that either. Perhaps the teeth grinding was caused by the anxiety that was caused by the Conceta? Likely.

Who am I? I read this comment of yours and have been reading your comment history. That was a truly incredible comment. I'm assuming that you've learned that being a history major. I'd like to learn more.

Oh, yeah. Me. I went to Landmark College, a school entirely for students with ADHD and learning disabilities like dyslexia, Asperger's, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, etc. I just graduated from there with my Associate's last year. (This is their first year starting a 4 year program but prior to that it was a two year school). I know all about ADHD and could talk to you about it for hours. In return for your amazing Roman history comment you get a little something from me. I gotta go to sleep soon, though and won't give that much.

Umm... oh shit. I'm on my other account. Message me at ceramicfiver for questions about landmark if you want. I don't know when i'll get back on to onelasttimeitry... if ever. Other me, ceramicfiver, is the mod of /r/landmarkcollege.

I have ADHD inattentive type, but I can still explain a lot. I've been on all sorts of meds for adhd, depression and anxiety and none of them seem to work for me. That doesn't mean the meds for you don't exist.

However the truly best medication is exercise. This is not some anecdotal story but it's consistently verified by science. Get out and run, swim, bike, lift weights, kayak, mountain bike, play tennis, basketball... do whatever the fuck you want, preferably at least 30 minutes 6 days a week. The benefits of exercise are truly astounding and give you the same and more of the benefits that meds give. Umm.. here's a source i quickly googled just now if you want, but just trust me. Exercise helps with your working (short term) memory, long term formation of memories, energy levels, ability to execute ideas into action, helps with everything in your frontal lobe, shifting attention, sustaining attention, initiating focus, time-management, organization, self-esteem, attitude, general health, etc. etc. etc.

What else? Well, common sense stuff like nutrition (eat lots of veggies!), sleeping well and enough, are often taken for granted but are so incredibly important. Try meditation too, and /r/meditation is a phenomenal subreddit btw.

What works? Google the Master Notebook system, as well as Two Column note taking.

The Master Notebook system is a brilliant way to organize your papers in binder. Basically, organize notes by subject into different three ring binders, and then by type within the binder. Like, have a Notes section, a Handouts section, a Papers section, tests, quizzes, whatever. Maybe you already do this and figured it out on your own. If you go to Landmark for a semester or summer, check it out.

Two column note taking is essentially putting all the main ideas on the left, and the details on the right. I advise using lots of color too! Humans are very visual animals. Make use of that, and once you're done taking notes in class, go home and redo the notes into a graphic organizer, mapping out Historical cause and effect with color, big arrows, diagrams, charts, pictures, pictures, pictures. Expressing your thoughts into a different language (visual) is amazing for note taking and memory. By language, I meant the language of turning words into pictures and diagrams. Re-writing your notes into your own words is essential for understanding and comprehension. Putting it into fancy pictures is even better. It sounds childish but it works amazingly. And remember white space! Do NOT cram everything into one paper. Spread ideas out, make big ideas literally big and small details literally small.

The best way to remember something is making flash cards with the word on one side and on the other side, a definition, an example, and a picture. That trio cements the word into your brain.

One of the most important things I could tell you is the importance of self-advocating. In high school, it's the school's responsibility to make sure you don't fall through the cracks. But once you're in college, you are all on your own. Do not expect a college to do anything for you. You have to reach out and get the help you need on your own volition. The big problem is that disabled students enter college not knowing a single fucking idea how to go about getting the support they need. Advocating for your needs requires you to know the things you want to ask for. When you don't know the questions to ask, you won't get the right support. You gotta explore, push the boundaries, practically interrogate your school's disability support department and squeeze every bit of information and any accommodation they can give you. Ask for extra time on tests, separate, quiet rooms for tests, reduced course load (and retain financial aid. Some schools require a minimum credit amount for financial aid), priority registration (you choose your classes before everyone else does), a note taker, free software and hardware to help you out like Kurzweil 3000 that reads textbooks to you as mp3s, DragonNaturally Speaking where you dictate papers into a microphone, LiveScribe Pen that records lectures as you take notes, and plays back lectures when you click at a specific spot on the paper you are taking notes.

There use to be this amazing research paper open to the public here but it's behind some privacy wall for the time being... hope it comes out soon. It's titled, "A Model of Vocational Success for Adults with Learning Disabilities." a couple months ago. I found it here behind a paywall with an abstract: basically, control your environment as much as possible and you'll find success.

If you want to learn about landmark college, I wrote a shit ton about it here a couple months ago.

If anything, I would most recommend doing their [Five Week Summer Session for Visiting College Students] rather than doing a bridge semester in the Fall or Spring, so you can get a less expensive taste of landmark before you take the 30k a semester plunge.

Books! Check out:
Read everything this guy wrote, most especially Delivered from Distraction.
My psychologist actually wrote this book, Survival Guide for College Students with ADHD or LD.
Learning Outside the Lines is a classic.


Umm.. I just found this list of books... there's tons out there. Read the newer ones, at least within the past ten years. Before that, generally disregard it. There's been a ton of research in the past decade that has practically flipped upside down traditionally held views.

Hm.. I gotta sleep. Cya!

I have ADHD, and I was diagnosed as an adult.

I do well on a low dose of stimulants but too high dose causes side effects.
I personally do better on nonstimulants.

Pretty much I had to research in order to better understand plus plain curiosity.

Effectively I summarized the 2015 Harvard Medical Schools / Massachusetts General Hospitals Textbook on ADHD meds. Other sources also have similar information it is not just them but I am linking it below if you want a more definitive source to talk to your doctors with.

https://books.google.com/books?id=CCZ1CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA99&lpg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false

I also recommend this book for beginners.
https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-ebook-dp-B00A4CE6N6/dp/B00A4CE6N6/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

It is well worth buying it for $28 dollars plus tax or renting it for $11 dollars.

That said half of the book is available for free here [in a previous version.]

Links to a PDF 2008: Everything You Wanted to Know About ...But Forgot You Wanted to Ask

http://cdn.neiglobal.com/content/monographs/2008_adhd_booklet.pdf

Getting off of reddit helps. But seriously, make time to study. Best way is to make a chart of the week. Something like this Mark each block from when you get up to when you go so sleep (for example7 am to 11 pm) Now, shade in every block of the week for when you're doing something you can't change. Shade in school hours, after school stuff, family time etc... What's left over is your free time. That's the time to do homework, study, have fun etc... Now if you're finding you don't have enough, then you have a few choices: get rid of something to free up more blocks, get up earlier, etc.... Use the time wisely. Hope that helps. In terms of study advice, there are some great books on how to study when you deal with issues like adhd. Find one that works for you. Have your parents read it too so they can help you learn. Good luck man.

I'm sorry, but this attitude is not helpful, ADHD is a spectrum, and if you have it better than some others, it's not due to your intelligence, it's due to you falling closer to the "normal" side of the spectrum. As I said in my previous comment, it does not counteract symptoms, it may allow you to hide them better, or cope with them better, but it does not counteract them, I believe Dr. Barkley touches on this in his "Executive Functions" book, (http://www.amazon.com/Executive-Functions-What-They-Evolved-ebook/dp/B008CONJUY) and I'm sorry, but you will never be as good at executive functioning as you would be if you didn't have ADHD. No amount of "High IQ" will help that, you have a chemical dysfunction in your brain.

You can not compensate for a physical defect in your brain by being smart and trying harder, just like you can not compensate for being diabetic by exercising more, the two are barely related, no matter how much you run your pancreas is still going to have a dysfunction, and no matter how smart you are your executive functions are always going to be deficient. If you wish to disagree with this sentiment that's fine, I simply think you should reconsider your stance.

On topic, I am on adderall, and for the most part it calms me, allows me to stop worrying, allows me to remember things. I am the person I've always wanted to be when on my medication, the person I always told myself that "one day" I would be, I run, I go to bed early, I pay my bills when they come in, I don't impulse buy, I don't eat like shit anymore. I am happy, becuase I am able to think forward.

And in addition, I am able to focus, I am able to decide what to think about, I am able to tell myself "Okay, I'm gonna work on this for an hour, and not open reddit" and then do it. When I am not on my medication I can not do these things. I ma happy, becuase I am able to accomplish my goals.

Ritalin may not be the medication for you, as it is different than adderall or vyvanse, I can't comment on it much as I've never taken it, but everything you describe sounds like me premedication. Medication for ADHD is interesting in a lot of ways though, I know for a fact that too high of a dosage of Adderall can cause worrying and anxiety. Also, you may wish to talk to your doctor about any kind of birth control you are on, while it probably varies from person to person, the BC I was on when combined with adderall made me depressed in the afternoons. Just a thought.

I don't have time at the moment to write a longer comment, but I HIGHLY recommend reading Women With Attention Deficit Disoder by Sari Solden. I'm about halfway through it myself and it's amazing, validating, and more helpful than I could've ever imagined. It's also arranged in a very ADHD friendly way. The sections are clearly explained, well organized, and broken into manageable chunks, and the paper is very highlighter-friendly (I've come across so many books lately that aren't that yes, the highlighter-friendly paper matters!). There's also audio and e-book versions if you prefer.

And if you like that book, this year she released a companion workbook (I also have that, diving into it after I finish the first one!).

Edit: fixed a word

Quote from "Integrative treatment for adult ADHD: A Practical Easy to Use Guide for Clinicians" by Ari Tuckman:

> There has been some debate on whether tolerance develops to the stimulants resulting in decreased therapeutic effect and thus necessitating a higher dose to achieve the same result. However, research from the National Institute of Mental Health's Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD found that the therapeutic benefits continue at a given dose and that tolerance does not develop (Prince et al., 2006)

> To the extent that tolerance is found in clinical practice, it may be due to some amount of true biological tolerance, as well as to other factors, such as decreased compliance with the medication regimen, weight gain, unrelated life changes that require greater performance, such as a job change or the birth of a child, the development of a comorbid condition, or altered expectations for the person's functioning whereby the person is held to higher standards when his/her medicated performance has improved (by themselves and others). (Connor, 2006a).

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Integrative-Treatment-Adult-ADHD-Easy-To-Use/dp/1572245212

This echos conversations I have had with my psychiatrist which he says once people find their best dose of Adderall, they usually stick to that for years. I recently THOUGHT my Adderall was less effective, but I now realize my standards and workload increase are probably the cause.

There ARE some effects which do seem to have tolerance (energy and motivation). Nearly every stimulant has this occurrence (caffeine especially). The attention part of stimulants does not tolerate I believe. I'll try to find some better sources for this.



Just going to link the active discussion we had on this topic just a week ago...

• I'm not sure r/ADHD is certain whether you can develop a tolerance against medication or not and I sure as hell am not. Can we reach a definitive conclusion?

Hard-set routines for bedtime and wake-up time. Honestly as much as a lot of us ADHDers abhor routines they work really well for us when we’ve found the right one and can stick to it. Setting timers usually helps me a lot.

To being his routines, sit down with him and plot out an appropriate amount of time that he should strive for in getting to bed and getting up in the morning.

It may be good to start off with just the very basics like: “got out of bed in minutes. Dressed in minutes. Teeth brushed and came down stairs for breakfast in ___.” Or whatever the basics may look like for night time.

*One note here is that these routines can feed into each other! Like having him set out clothes for tomorrow the night before.

Something that’s helping me get out of bed is having a breakfast I look forward to! I have a bowl of Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oates 😋

I just found an awesome book on this kinda thing if you’re interested! here it is

This is a copy paste of an email I've sent a couple of friends. My child has dyslexia and I found these resources useful. The Amazon links are not affiliate links or anything, just links to the books. The first two books were especially intersting and useful, and will apply even as an adult!

Dyslexic Advantage - by Brock and Fernette Eide


Overcoming Dyslexia - by Sally Shaywitz - the first part of the book is the most interesting - it's the science of dyslexia - the second is strategies for teaching/learning


Some other books:
I read them all - at least mostly - but I can't separate the info in my memory to remember which was best at what

• http://www.amazon.com/Bright-Kids-Who-Cant-Keep/dp/1609184726
  
• http://www.amazon.com/The-Dyslexia-Empowerment-Plan-Confidence/dp/0345541235
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Smart-but-Scattered-Revolutionary-Executive/dp/1593854455
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Right-Brained-Children-Left-Brained-World-Unlocking/dp/0684847930
  
  Some good websites:
  
  
• http://dyslexia.yale.edu/
  
• http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10435.aspx
  
• http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm
  
• https://www.understood.org/en
  
• https://www.understood.org/en/tools/tech-finder
  
• http://www.dyslexiaresourcegroup.com/
  
• http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_signs.html < the yale site is good in general
  

Yes! Music and eye-hand-coordination stuff does help. I do 30 sec and 1 min gesture drawings to get myself back to balance.

Also the safe-place-visualization works occasionally. I don’t know if there is a good instructions for it online, but one variant can be found from a book focused forward.

I found the safe place (and other methods in the book) to be much more effective when constructed with a support of someone else. Using the methods alone did not provide as good support.

Sure!

• Healing ADD by Daniel Amen - some really great brain science here, well written and totally easy to grasp. The first one I read and one of the most helpful.
  
• Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and Ratey - it was really valuable to see the focus on patient stories and on compassion for the ways people struggle with it in here. Reading about many different ways ADHD can manifest was super reassuring for me.
  
• Women with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sari Holden - this one is definitely dated a little, but I wish I had read it sooner than I did, because there can be significant gender differences in how ADHD presents and women are often diagnosed much later in life because they are less likely to be disruptive and less likely to be hyperactive. This was the one that made me feel completely sure that I wasn't faking it or deceiving myself and that I had the right diagnosis.

If you are in the UK/Europe I would highly recommend the British Association of Psychopharmacology masterclasses or postgraduate courses. Here is a link to a list of psychopharmacology journals sorted by popularity. Go to the library and regularly get into the habit of reading at least the review articles.

Although again it is UK focussed, The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines is an excellent resource for practical features of various drugs, especially for things that might be outside guidelines or off the wall. Stahl's Prescribers Guide is similar and his two volume case studies textbooks are fantastic for practical "real world" tips.

For neuroscience of psychiatric diseases, I found this book really helpful when I was in training.

This might help: https://www.amazon.com/Thriving-Adult-ADHD-Strengthen-Functioning-ebook/dp/B07KZJ9WS4

It's a book by an ADHD specialist that consists of only specific strategies, exercises, and techniques to tackle what you're describing. I feel like you're seeking a meatier, more tangible answer to the question of "how" than what OP is describing, and this is a great resource for it.

That said, don't discount OP's advice because you feel it's incompatible with you, because it isn't. I can sympathize with the feeling that some obstacles or impediments are bigger or more permanent than people on the outside realize. But at the end of the day, if you believe that ADD will always keep you down without resistance, you turn that into the reality. Believing that it's possible to manage and work around it is a prerequisite to that becoming your reality. Hopefully this book can give credibility to that more empowered sentiment and help you believe it. Best of luck!

I didn't notice any cursing or insults in your post, so I can spare a few minutes for a reply...

• "The burden of proof is on the accuser." Well, if we were in a court of law, I suppose, but we're not. We're on a social networking site, and I have better things to do with my time than assemble those links for you. I assume you have some researching skills of your own. My claim here is that, when all is said and done, there will be shock and surprise that this diagnosis and its pharmacological aftermath were as widespread as they have become...
  
  
• I have no idea why you're having such a struggle finding out who Dr. Armstrong is. [Here's his LinkedIn page.] (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/thomas-armstrong-ph-d/8/4a3/1b6) Before we get too far into the credentialist weeds, though, I want to state for the record that what I'm interested in on this subject is facts and logic. If we're going to turn it into a "who's qualified to speak and who's not" conversation, I'll pass. Again, I'm not interested in turning a comment thread into a footnote-generating contest. If it is your belief that only people who have submitted writings to peer-reviewed journals can hold informed opinions on these issues, we can stop right here...
  
  
• It is not my claim that "every doctor..." anything. Doctors are human beings, just like anyone else. But, to a large extent, they are responsive to what they see in the professional literature. And to the extent that the marketing campaign for both the ADHD diagnosis and the drugs to "manage" it have been successful, it is hardly surprising that well-meaning professionals have been taken in. Obviously, one can't expect such professionals to perform their own double-blind studies every time they have to deal with a patient. So the issue isn't the motivation of the doctors, it is the quality (and the provenance) of the information on which they base their decisions. This forms a significant part of Dr. Armstrong's critique, for instance...
  
  
• This isn't ELI5, so it really wasn't necessary for you to explain to me the difference between treating symptoms and curing underlying disorders. My issue with the ADHD "diagnosis" is that it is, almost entirely, tied to observable behaviors (things like " inattention, excessive motor hyperactivity or restlessness, and poor impulse control," [as a recent article put it] (http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0025712505703394?via=sd)), but mighty scant in terms of being able to identify differences in brain function that allegedly produce the undesirable behavior. The more honest advocates for the diagnosis ([Dr. Russell Barkley, for instance] (http://www.amazon.com/ADHD-Nature-Self-Control-Russell-Barkley/dp/157230250X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374850923&sr=1-1&keywords=157230250X)), freely admit that there is much controversy about both the diagnosis itself and the putative causes of it. These controversies are not tinfoil-hat conspiracy talk, are they?
  
  
• There are many, many aspects of this issue I find troubling, but in particular I am chagrined by what you call the "mitigation" approach, which typically involves prescribing one or more psychoactive drugs to help "control" the ADHD child. As I've said, when the history of this period is written, I have no doubt that a major focus will be on the degree to which the creation and marketing of these medications drove the whole process.
  
  Have a great weekend...

Thanks! I've definitely seen some of that as I've read articles and things. Lol the stacks of books I have.... this is what I ordered. I asked a counselor friend for recommendations, and she didn't have any on hand but looked and liked the look of this (which I happened to already have in my cart!)

Thriving with Adult ADHD: Skills to Strengthen Executive Functioning https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1641522720/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EHdBDb8P5DH99

I have read this book about the long-term damages caused by ADHD medication, it just blew my mind: https://www.amazon.com/LONG-TERM-EFFECTS-DRUGS-Antidepressants-ebook/dp/B01MTB5I9T
I highly recommend reading this out this before your child's future is destroyed by addictive and abusable stimulants the DEA keeps in the same class as meth and cocaine (Schedule II) due to their high abuse potential. Did you know that Canada recalled amphetamine based adhd meds off the market in 2005 but was persuaded to put them back on after the efforts of Addreall's manufacturer? Do not ignore that there is a black box warning on the labels of all amphetamine based ADHD drugs about how their high abuse potential can lead to sudden death, do not ignore how another black box warning on non-stimulant ADHD drugs like Strattera states the drugs can increase suicide rates. It will only take about an hour or so of your time to check out and prevent your child from living his or her life addicted to these drugs, and getting depression, anxiety and perhaps heart problems in about a year or two, all of this happened to my niece after 18 months on stimulants, parents need to beware. This is not fear mongering, the author supports her claim so well, like i said, it has blown my mind. Just wanted to share and encourage all parents to do their homework now instead of blindly trusting drug-pushers and taking chances on their own children's health. There are so many drug free options that work, as books like this demonstrate. This New Your Times article explains that psychiatrists only push drug treatments because of corrupted insurance laws that give them financial benefits if they prescribe drugs only: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html?pagewanted=all
Now, do you really want to sacrifice your child's future to such vested interests for profit?

> So what are your experiences, what do you recommend, and what personally worked for you?

I am in a process similar to yours right now too.

What I have learned is to educate myself. I am in a process of reading a half a dozen books on ADHD right now.

In brief, coping best with ADHD symptoms involves a multifaceted approach.

First, get expertly diagnosed (as ADHD has similar symptoms to some other conditions, and can also exist in conjunction with other conditions like addiction, depression and anxiety for instance.)

The four basic therapy strategies are:

1. medicine
   
   
2. mindfulness training (becoming more aware of what is going on in your mind).
   
   
3. CBT, learning new coping tricks and techniques.
   
   
4. Playing to the strong suit, emphasizing the positive attributes and strengths of ADHD. Creativity, etc..
   
   None of these four work strategies well alone, but in conjunction I feel hope.
   

Yes, forgetting things is common with ADHD. What needs to be done is externalize everything he needs to remember, like tasks, chores, and assignments. Anything that's time-sensitive. Make them physical and easy to see. Lists, calendars, whiteboards. Amputees need prosthetic limbs, crutches, or wheelchairs in order to get around, right? Well, people with ADHD need prosthetic tools to mitigate our disorder, too. Our prosthetics take the form of medication, external memory storage, and external motivating forces, among other things. As for losing things, it would be extremely helpful to have one single definitive place for each thing he loses. This book targeting ADHD-friendly organization systems might be helpful.

I find it disappointing that medication for most people seems to be the only method of treatment that most people are aware of. Medication is a viable treatment but on it's own is somewhat limited. I can tell you first hand that medication isn't really a solution for me since it just changes the problems that I have.

I've spent a lot of time learning about the biological issues that surround ADD and let me share some of what I've discovered. ADD is generally caused by poor functionality, generally in the prefrontal cortex of the brainl. This area of the brain is related to planning, self control, attention and executing function among other things. When you look at a SPECT scan (shows cerebral blood flow) of an individual with this disorder you see that when the person trys to focus, there is actually a decrease in the blood flow to that part of the brain. On an EEG which measures the electrical signals produced by brain waves you will see that the ratio between theta waves (low frequency daydreaming waves) and beta waves (high frequency attentive waves) is lower particularily in the frontal region of the brain.

For a period of time I had the idea in my head that ADD was just a label and wasn't really based on anything medical related and had more to do with maladjustment of certain individuals such as myself to our increasingly unhealthy system in which we bring up children. I was mainly caught up on the term "attention" because for me, I didn't have too much trouble with maintaining attention so much. Learning about how this actually relates to the brain and how it actually affects individuals has been illuminating for me.

Since medication doesn't really solve my problems and really only shifts my problems from one to another, I've been trying to find alternatives. I've done a lot of experimentation with supplements. The two that I recommend are Omega-3 (well know as an ADD supplement) and Tyrosine. I take these daily. Excercise is one of the best treatments available. There are numerous neurological benefits that excercise will bestow. For one, it increases cerebral blood flow. I've heard that 20 - 40 minutes of intense aerobic excercise 5 times a week is recommened and I believe that's a good figure. Looking at diet should certainly be taken into consideration. High protein diets are good for people with ADD. Carbs are not. Getting proper nutrients is of course important too.

One book that I recommend for anyone looking for alternatives to drugs is by Daniel Amen. He does clinical spect scans so he can see objectively what treatments are working and what isn't working. He's found 6 different patterns in brain scans that he's broken down into different types of ADD and gives specific treatment options for each one. http://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Breakthrough-Program-Allows/dp/0425183270

One radical treatment that I recently begun is neurofeedback. This is a means in which you can become aware of the brainwaves going on in your brain and through software you can strengthen the desired frequency bands. It is expensive, but it is worth investigating in. I purchased my own EEG unit to save on the long term costs and I'm also seeing a neurofeedback practioner to give me initial guidance so that I'm on the right track. I have encountered some skepticism from some people, but my impression was that any sort of radical medical treatment gets met with skepticism whether there's science behind it or not. Since I'm primary treating myself, I've read a few books on the subject and the main issue is not lack of solid science on the subject but lack of funding for things like double blind studies.

Healing ADD by Daniel Amen has a lot of great tips for using natural products. I haven't used them personally though.

ADD is where you need help. Here http://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Breakthrough-Program-Allows/dp/0425183270. Read this. Have a long lasting and healthy relationship. Case closed.

Yup.

SPECT scans show remarkable differences in an ADD/ADHD brain versus non-ADD/ADHD brains.

Healing ADD (Heal the 7 types of ADD) Dr Amen

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Revised-Breakthrough-Program-ebook/dp/B00C1N97EO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Healing+7+types+of+ADHD&qid=1558923863&s=books&sr=1-1

It breaks down ADHD into 7 types which helps you get more detailed info on your own types.

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Breakthrough-Program-Allows/dp/0425183270

Based upon this book, which has helped me tremendously there are 6 types. I am personally type 3, and I also have many of the symptoms that you do.

This is what you are looking for

I can't tell if your difficulty is trying to get him to regulate his own behavior -- i.e., you want him to pay attention more in school when he's there? or you are trying to get him to do homework with you at home? I think these things are different.

I have 8 year old twin boys, one adhd, one autistic. One thing I've come to realize recently is I've had a tendency to have inappropriate expectations. One book that helped me understand that was this one: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-ADHD-Third-Edition/dp/1462507891. It is for adhd, but I found this aspect of it definitely applied to my autistic son also.

Dr. Barkley talks a lot about executive functioning, and how when that is impaired or immature, you can't expect your kids to fix certain things by tell them over and over or by punishing them, etc., because their whole problem is that they don't have the ability to "make themselves" do things. It was spot on.

I don't know why it was hard for me to see it, but my son has no ability to "make himself" do anything. this makes perfect sense, because my own ability is incredibly limited (I have ADHD), and he is only 8!!

So, I can teach him the rule, and he can know the rule, but he still may not be able to FOLLOW it. This is really key. This really does apply to both my ADHD and my autistic son. honestly, it applies even MORE to my autistic son.

He requires "scaffolding" I think Dr. Barkley called it. He only does well with immediately, on-the-spot help to do whatever it is he needs to do.

On top of that, Dr. Barkley talks about how our brains get exhausted and we just can't focus on something for very long. We require breaks, with some extra glucose etc. And then maybe we can come back and do a tiny bit more.

So long stretches of sitting and doing nothing or long stretches of forced work are not going to get you anywhere, I think.

This actually sounds a lot like me. I always kind of had the feeling I was a little different than other people, and that socializing and forming relationships never came naturally to me. Turns out I have inattentive ADHD, hence the addictive personally, depression, and total lack of self awareness. I'm not trying to diagnose you or anything, I'm just putting the thought out there. Getting help seriously changed my life. This book is what really got me going on a road to recovery from all this. The specific kind of ADHD I have is called Limbic ADHD, which is inattentiveness, mixed with depression and the tendency to be socially isolated. I wish somebody had told me about it earlier in life, I got diagnosed at 19. Just something to think about...

There may be a link, but I think its still a little controversial. I read a book describing 6 types of ADHD, (based on brain scans if I remeber correctly) and I believe type IV or VI could be caused by an injury. The 6 types were:

Type I: Classic ADD (hyperactive, restless, distractible, impulsive) treated with psychostimulants.

Type II: Inattentive ADD (Space cadets, daydreamers, couch potatoes) treated with stimulants and stimulating anti-depressants

Type III: Overfocused ADD (Trouble shifting attention, stuck, obsessive and argumentative) , treated with SSRI/SNRI

Type IV: Temporal Lobe ADD (Aggressive, memory problems, headaches): treated with anticonvulsants

Type V: Limbic ADD (Depression, negativity, negative internal filter), treated with stimulant anti depressants

Type VI: Ring of Fire ADD (Angry overal sensitive, moody, oppositional) use of bi-polar meds.

Link to book