Great topic!! I was planning on someday posting a thread about this subject, but just like
poeple hesitating to tell coaches and teachers, I was afraid to bring it up. Just a little
background about my situation. I never believed in ADD or ADHD until witnessing it first hand,
and after learning about it, realized that a few of my friends growing up have/had it and
were never diagnosed.
I have been with my girlfriend approx 5 years, her daughter which I call my DD here, has ADHD.
When we first started hanging out, I could tell DD was a little "different" then most kids her age.
She was a little shy around me at first, so it stayed hidden for a while. Six months or so into things,
I could tell something was very wrong. I could tell she was a very smart kid, but couldn't stay focused
on 1 thing for more than 10 seconds. She would lay on her stomach watching tv for an hour at a time
with her legs whipping in circles the whole time. When something wasn't occupying her time, her mouth
would never stop moving.
It got to a point where I had to bring ear plugs home from work to wear in the house because she was
so annoying. It was very hard for me to talk to mom about it, not wanting to hurt any feelings and such.
Finally, a few of her teachers told mom that DD was having problems staying focused in school. Between
the teachers calling and DD wandering over to the neighbors and deciding they needed a fresh coat of mud
on their garage door, mom finally caved in and got her tested. Once she was diagnosed it took a while to get
the correct meds and dosage, but what a difference. She is a very smart kid and has a great heart, but
definately has some personality issues and is a little nieve and immature compared to her classmates.
We tried and failed at letting her teachers know about it, so for the most part we don't say anything and
she seems to be doing fine at school. DD has told her last hour teacher this year on her own because she
can tell her meds start to wear off in the afternoon.
As far as sports go, we have always let her coaches know and they have all dealt with it very well. She
definately needs to be ridden harder than most girls in practices, but has always performed well.
I have not noticed a difference in reaction time on or off meds for her, but she definately focuses better
in games than in practice. She is a pitcher, so we struggle with focus occasionally during lessons or one on
one practice with her team catcher. She is a little chatty in group pitching, but stays more focused.
In her 3 years of B club ball, she was always in the top 3 in batting, so her hand/eye coordination seems
fine.
Last year (2nd year12U), I thought she had an advantage with the meds, she would absolutely never get
rattled. It might have been just her focusing more on every pitch rather than the game situation.
This year was a little different, first year 14U. She started out the year horrible, very nervous in the batter's
box. Went 0 for her first 12 or 14 AB's. She was complaining about ball and strike calls from blue, and I saw
her cry for the first time ever when she wasn't injured. She struck out with 2 on and 2 outs in a 1 run game.
Walked back to the dugout with tears in her eyes complaining about her arm hurting from getting hit by a
pitch in the previous game (an obvious cover up). We had the talk about having no control about blue's
calls and having to make adjustments, and she needed to be more confident at the plate.
Fast forward to the end of the season. She had a great year of pitching against some decent competition,
a lot of heartbreaking 1 run losses. A huge win against a team in the A club she is playing for next year,
and ended up with the highest batting average on her team.
Sorry such a long post, but I figuredI'd share my experience hoping to make other people comfortable
about sharing their stories.
I can say for a fact that she plays better medicated than not.
poeple hesitating to tell coaches and teachers, I was afraid to bring it up. Just a little
background about my situation. I never believed in ADD or ADHD until witnessing it first hand,
and after learning about it, realized that a few of my friends growing up have/had it and
were never diagnosed.
I have been with my girlfriend approx 5 years, her daughter which I call my DD here, has ADHD.
When we first started hanging out, I could tell DD was a little "different" then most kids her age.
She was a little shy around me at first, so it stayed hidden for a while. Six months or so into things,
I could tell something was very wrong. I could tell she was a very smart kid, but couldn't stay focused
on 1 thing for more than 10 seconds. She would lay on her stomach watching tv for an hour at a time
with her legs whipping in circles the whole time. When something wasn't occupying her time, her mouth
would never stop moving.
It got to a point where I had to bring ear plugs home from work to wear in the house because she was
so annoying. It was very hard for me to talk to mom about it, not wanting to hurt any feelings and such.
Finally, a few of her teachers told mom that DD was having problems staying focused in school. Between
the teachers calling and DD wandering over to the neighbors and deciding they needed a fresh coat of mud
on their garage door, mom finally caved in and got her tested. Once she was diagnosed it took a while to get
the correct meds and dosage, but what a difference. She is a very smart kid and has a great heart, but
definately has some personality issues and is a little nieve and immature compared to her classmates.
We tried and failed at letting her teachers know about it, so for the most part we don't say anything and
she seems to be doing fine at school. DD has told her last hour teacher this year on her own because she
can tell her meds start to wear off in the afternoon.
As far as sports go, we have always let her coaches know and they have all dealt with it very well. She
definately needs to be ridden harder than most girls in practices, but has always performed well.
I have not noticed a difference in reaction time on or off meds for her, but she definately focuses better
in games than in practice. She is a pitcher, so we struggle with focus occasionally during lessons or one on
one practice with her team catcher. She is a little chatty in group pitching, but stays more focused.
In her 3 years of B club ball, she was always in the top 3 in batting, so her hand/eye coordination seems
fine.
Last year (2nd year12U), I thought she had an advantage with the meds, she would absolutely never get
rattled. It might have been just her focusing more on every pitch rather than the game situation.
This year was a little different, first year 14U. She started out the year horrible, very nervous in the batter's
box. Went 0 for her first 12 or 14 AB's. She was complaining about ball and strike calls from blue, and I saw
her cry for the first time ever when she wasn't injured. She struck out with 2 on and 2 outs in a 1 run game.
Walked back to the dugout with tears in her eyes complaining about her arm hurting from getting hit by a
pitch in the previous game (an obvious cover up). We had the talk about having no control about blue's
calls and having to make adjustments, and she needed to be more confident at the plate.
Fast forward to the end of the season. She had a great year of pitching against some decent competition,
a lot of heartbreaking 1 run losses. A huge win against a team in the A club she is playing for next year,
and ended up with the highest batting average on her team.
Sorry such a long post, but I figuredI'd share my experience hoping to make other people comfortable
about sharing their stories.
I can say for a fact that she plays better medicated than not.