I have two kids, one is 7, girl, and has pretty classic adhd (I have adhd too but the more internal kind that is common with girls and women). My other kid, 4, girl, I’m pretty positive does not have adhd but maybe time will tell. She’s a pretty textbook toddler and I can see a very striking difference in the two, it’s like raising a kid for the first time all over again.
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The most challenging moments on a day to day basis is getting her out the door. She never can find her shoes, she gets distracted and is always spacey, takes like 7 minutes just to walk down the stairs. She wakes up sooo early and gets dressed by herself but the shoe thing makes us late a lot. I do my best but she’s 7 so she is very particular about what shoes she wants to wear, and they’re always missing.
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My child does not have aggression, but rather emotional disregulation. When she gets upset she doesn’t know what to do with herself and will express this is as extreme frustration and end up burying her head in a pillow. She is naturally a very kind and caring person, I’ve never seen her be aggressive towards someone else.
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When she is having trouble managing emotions, we ask her to stop, breathe, think. We practice breathing techniques and she uses them on her own sometimes when she needs to.
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There are two ways her adhd effects me personally. One is that is hard for me to watch her struggle because she going through the same things I did. Even though me and her dad are understanding, I know it can be a very isolating experience. Another way it effects me is her lack of spatial awareness drives me insane. She’s constantly under my feet, too close to me, making me feel overwhelmed (I can’t handle too much touching, it overstimulates me) I own my own business so I can’t work when she’s around, talking my ear off, hanging on me. I ask her to stop and she will, and then will come right back in 3 minutes, totally forgetting my earlier frustration.
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The biggest thing that would help is more understanding from other people. My mom recently watched both of my girls and was like “omg you have GOT to get her medicated, she’s so hyper and spaced out” but the way I see it, is that’s her, it’s who she is. I think medication would help her navigate school, but i want to do things that are good for her, not because it makes other people more comfortable. Her school is very accommodating, and her current teacher is understanding as she has adhd kids herself. Her teacher last year, however, was not. She’s having a much better school year. Teaching her methods of cleaning, emotional regulation, and non-medication ways of making life easier is helpful. My husband and I are only going off of our own experiences though, as we’re not professionals.
I legitimately didn’t know what the steam OS was, so thanks. I was very curious about something that has very little to do with my interests, but I like playing games have always been curious about the steamdeck