The Red 40 Diet: Is There a Link Between ADHD and Food Additives? [Also, how do you do an elimination diet with a child without giving them an eating disorder?? HELP ME PLEASE!]

son3a

Can you tell which one is the kid with the “hyperactivity issues”?

“I have to go potty!” Jelly Bean yelled.

Of course she does I grumbled to my husband. We were 10 hours into a 14-hour roadtrip, it was pitch dark, we were crawling through a white-out blizzard in nowheresville Kansas and we’d just passed the last rest stop 20 miles ago with nary another in sight for hours. Now I have to give Jelly Bean mad props: she’s an excellent squatter. Girl learned young from her brothers the benefit of being able to pee in the wild when the need arises. Sure she prefers a toilet but she can totally squat, pee, shake her tushie, stand back up and not even get her shoes wet. But this time it was -15 degrees outside and there was that whole blizzard thing going on.

“I have to pooooop!” she wailed. “It huuuuuurrrrts!” As we ventured off the highway into the hinterland in search of a gas station, outhouse or magic portal, I cursed under my breath. Do you know who’s fault this? FIBER ONE’S!! I HATE YOU FIBER ONE! (It’s always easier to blame a corporate entity than yourself.) But seriously, earlier that day I’d been looking for a treat to keep my kids occupied in the car and I ended up with a box of the new Fiber One fruit snacks. And those fiber-filled goodies wreaked havoc on all of our intestines! I’m not sure what the type of fiber is they used but we’d been “crop dusting” the poor Kansas crops with a cloud of flatulence and tummy pains for the past two hours. So why would I buy such a dubious “treat” in the first place, instead of, say, just buying an actual treat and telling my kids to enjoy it? One reason: Snowballs.

Okay, I have to back up. The week before winter break I’d gotten called to my kids’ school twice – both times because Son #3 got busted for throwing snowballs on the playground. (There’s snow! He’s 7! What do you expect??) And throwing snowballs is strictly verboten so said son got punished. The principal decided the best option was to take away his recess since that’s where the trouble occurred. For a whole week. I immediately set up a meeting with her and Son #3’s teacher to discuss this. Not because I wanted to be “that parent” who refuses to acknowledge their kid did anything bad – yeah he did it all right – but rather to point out that this method of discipline was going to end up punishing them way more.

While all three of my boys have always been very active, Son #3 makes Sonic the Hedgehog look lazy. He’s always building, climbing, jumping, running, tackling or just chasing his tail in circles. At home we deal with this by installing a rope swing and gymnastics rings in the basement, having a trampoline in the backyard and making him run around outside a lot. Unfortunately at school he needs to sit – quiet and still – for hours at a time. This basically goes against everything in his nature. So recess is his salvation. Often the playground monitor has him just run laps for the whole 20 minutes. Even then, sitting through class is tough for him. And now they took away recess. His teacher looked as scared as I did.

“Please,” I begged, “make him wipe down lunch tables or empty garbage cans or clean chalkboards (that are now all “smart” white boards that don’t need cleaning oops)! Anything but make him sit still!!” The principal, while very nice and attentive to my concerns, felt that since she’d already decreed his punishment she couldn’t change it now and so he’d have to sit – quiet and still – in her office during recess. But she at least agreed to consider the alternatives I suggested for the next time this happened. “Except, there’d better not be a next time,” she intoned. Then she suggested I have him tested for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder).

I bristled. First, I’m a little leery of ADHD in general. I’m not saying it’s not a real thing for some people but I find it concerning that according to the CDC by 17 years of age, 1 in 10 kids have been diagnosed with the disorder. Of those 2/3 are boys! One in five 11-year-old boys has been diagnosed with ADHD and of those about 70% are on medication for it. At what point do we say that maybe we’re restricting the norms for attention and energy a bit too much? Again, I’m not saying it isn’t real but I think it may be overdiagnosed. Sometimes I think that educators are so eager to get all the kids to sit still and listen (which I totally understand!) that they pathologize normal little-boy behavior. Kids aren’t robots! They’re learning the rules of society but in the meantime they will sometimes do things we don’t like. It doesn’t mean they’re sick, it means they’re kids.

And even if the observational diagnosis is correct (there is no blood test for this) then are psychotropic meds necessarily the best option? I am not against medication for ADHD but I do dislike it being the first line of treatment. Perhaps we should look at changing the environment that is making these brain changes so prevalent in kids? Or give them other behavioral options? Several years ago I was “diagnosed” with ADHD and offered a scrip for Adderall. Just like that. My doctor, well meaning as she was, didn’t take my eating disorder history or anxiety disorder or other medications or addictive personality into account. She just wanted to make my life “easier.” And, hey, I’d like my life to be easier! For sure! But if I’ve learned anything over the past decade it’s that all meds come with a price and after investigating the side effects for Adderall, I decided that I’d be better off learning to manage my symptoms in non-medical ways. (Again, I’m NOT saying this answer is the right one for everyone and I do not judge you at all if you take meds to help with your ADHD! I just didn’t feel like it was the right choice for me, given my medical history and predilection for addiction. That said, if you are taking ADHD meds for recreational use or just to finish your term paper then yes, I do think you are making a mistake and should stop.)

son3b

 Yep. Son #3, doing what he does.

ANYHOW. Back to my kid. And the bariatric boggart of fruit snacks. Since I was so resistant to the idea of medicating my son, the teacher suggested that we try some dietary changes. She specifically mentioned the “Red 40 Diet” (an offshoot of the Feingold Diet) as she’d seen a difference in some of her students when they removed artificial flavors and dyes – specifically red dye #40 – from their diets. And I figured what the heck, might as well try it. I mean no one needs artificial dyes right? It would be good for our whole family!

At the end of my meeting with the principal, I said we’d try the diet over the Christmas break. To which she replied that things had better be improved by the time my son returns to school on January 8th (Wednesday) or we’d have to discuss further treatment. I panicked. I’ll admit it. Two weeks seemed like too short a time to see real results! And what if it didn’t help? Plus, with my history of food issues, would this send my kids into a tailspin of food restriction and eating disorders? (Heaven knows they have the genetics for it!).

But when I walked outside to talk to my son, I found him with his big, brown eyes full of tears. “Did you fix it, mom?” Before I could answer he added, “Because I really WANT to be good! I do! I don’t want to make Mrs. X mad at me. I’M NOT A BAD BOY!” It was that last part that broke my heart. No, he’s not a bad boy! And I hate that this whole process is making him feel like one. He’s in first grade for pity’s sake. First graders by and large are the most wonderful, innocent, sweet kids. So I told him that I love him and I think he’s good and wonderful and kind and smart. But that he was going to have to try a little harder to sit still and follow the rules. “But I CAN’T sit still!” he cried. “I try and try but my little legs just want to move!” Grabbing my hands, he pleaded, “Help me?”

I felt like I had to give him something. And it wasn’t going to be meds. Yet. So I explained that his teacher thought that taking out red dye might help and asked him if he wanted to try it. He did. He really really did. He wanted something to pin his hopes on as much as I did. So we started it. That first night my resolve was tested when a neighbor brought over a plate of beautiful cookies – all iced and dotted with M&Ms. You know what’s in commercial icing and M&Ms? DYE. Suddenly all my kids were clamoring for one and I realized I couldn’t tell Son #3 no and then make him watch while his siblings ate them. And I didn’t have anything else to give him instead. So I chucked the whole beautiful plate in the trash. All four of my kids erupted in hysterics. Yeah, taking candy from a baby? NOT EASY.

And so it went for the rest of the break. I’ve spent the last two weeks slapping away candy canes from Santa and well-meaning bank tellers (oh yes, those stripes are red dye), hiding contraband that my other kids bring home, reading every label in existence and – my personal fave – running screeching across the room yelling HE CAN’T EAT THAT! I’ve become that lady you guys. While most people are pretty understanding about life threatening things like peanut allergies, believe me when I say you get a lot of disapproving glares when you tell the grandma at the church dinner that your kids can’t have the candy bags she brought. I’ve tried explaining it to people but I’m mostly met with a lot of eye rolling.

Truth to tell there was a time I might have rolled my eyes too. I mean the dyes and flavors are approved for human consumption by the FDA right? And my older two sons don’t seem to have any problem with them. Yet as the days have gone on I think – I think – that there might be something to this diet. Son #3 has been noticeably calmer and less histrionic than before. And I don’t think you can chalk it up to simply eating less junk. We eat very little processed food at our house to begin with and my kids generally only get treats when we go someplace that has them. And he’s still been eating sugar, like the homemade cookies his older brothers keep churning out. (They’re in a baking phase. My kitchen’s a permanent disaster but whatever they’re learning stuff.) I think for some kids the artificial stuff really does a number on their systems. Plus when I posted about it on FB I was deluged with responses from other parents/people who’d experienced the crazy-making effects of food dyes/flavors themselves. We’re definitely not the only ones dealing with this.

But what does the research say? In 2010, the FDA released an analysis of food dyes that concluded that there is no conclusive proof that food dyes cause hyperactivity in most kids but that some kids with ADHD seem to be particularly sensitive to them. (Um, ok? Which is the cause and which is the effect?) In 2011 an FDA panel was convened to reexamine the issue at the behest of parents, pediatricians and a slew of anecdotal evidence but the FDA said they still needed more time to examine the issue and declined to make a decision. Yet primarily based on a separate study, called the Southampton Study, the European Union decreed that dyes do cause children to become more hyper and apparently all food-dye containing items in the EU now have a label warning parents. Most recently, a 2013 study in the US showed more evidence of a link between Red #40 and hyperactivity in children. There’s currently an on-going social media push by parents and others to get the dyes banned in the US or at least have similar labeling laws.

While the results with Son #3 have been encouraging, the execution has still been exceedingly difficult. Christmas was a landmine of red and green-dyed candy everything. Even innocuous foods like some breads, crackers, cheeses, yogurts and cereals have dyes in them! The only things that are totally safe are fruits, veggies, meat and eggs. (But no sauces or dressings!) I don’t mind cooking stuff from scratch. The trick is to get him to eat it without feeling deprived of the usual joys of childhood like popsicles and gummy bears. Which is how I ended up with the cursed fruit snacks. 99% of candy on store shelves has the artificial stuff in it but you can find fruit snacks that only use natural dyes and flavors. They’re still loaded with sugar so they taste like candy and he still sees these as a treat – especially since I never buy them at home. But that only goes so far.

So now what do I do?? I’m four days out from school starting again and really starting to feel stressed out that Son #3 won’t be “better enough” by then. I don’t know what to do about this ADHD thing. I don’t know how restrictive I should be with the Red Dye diet. (From trial and error it seems like even a little bit throws him into a tailspin.) I don’t know how to talk to my kids about what we’re doing without making some foods sound “bad”. Right now I’m trying to just focus on showing him how he feels better without it and that it isn’t good for anyone, not just him. But the orthorexic voices in my head are having a field day with this and I’m desperately hoping I can do a food elimination diet in the “right” way.

And the worst part is that I know that Son #3 can see how stressed, upset and anxious I am about all this and I’m SO afraid he’ll feel like this is all his fault. I know this post is super long and disjointed but I’d love any help/advice/sympathy/resources you have!! Any of you ever had to deal with food restrictions for your kid? How do you deal with needing to restrict certain foods for yourself if you’ve had an eating disorder? What should I do about this “ADHD” ?? Any of you ever successfully used a certain diet to help fix a mental health issue?

81 Comments

  1. Not a mom so no input on the red dye/active kid thing … But I’m really curious about this doc that offered you ADD meds. What symptoms did she base it on? Was she a psychiatrist or a primary care doc? It is so interesting to me how many people, esp adults, take ADD meds these days. I’m curious how much is driven by pt request and how much by doctor suggestion! Good luck with your kiddo, you sound like such a great involved mom and he like a motivated little boy – I know you will find an answer, whatever it is.

    • It was actually my OBGYN. I was complaining about my birth control – saying that it made me feel scattered, depressed, anxious and forgetful. I did say that I felt like I couldn’t focus – but I attributed that to my stupid birth control. (And having since gone off it and seeing the symptoms disappear I think I was right). So she had me to do a quick in-office quiz for adult ADHD and I scored really high. Then she offered me the meds. I did not ask for them. Indeed I declined them. I don’t think she was acting improperly – I did report symptoms of ADHD – but I do think she was remiss to not consider other variables, like my birth control. Since then a few members of my family have asked if I’m ADHD and… who knows. Maybe I am. If I am though it doesn’t impede my life severely enough to warrant medication. I’m pretty darn functional all things considered:)

  2. Whoa!

    Way too short a period to properly assess results accurately!

    Way too many variables in play!

    For example…was Son#3 calmer because of the paucity of Red Dye in his diet…or did he just calm down because it was a long road trip confined in a vehicle?

    Teacher…helpful possible solution…Principal?

    I remember in spelling that the principal was your “pal” as in princiPAL?

    Your Son’s Principal seems…to have another agenda.

    Setting ridiculous illogical deadlines and then toe the line perfectly?

    Draconian out-of-control ego much?

    “The Principal’s decrees shall be obeyed!”

    You son is NOT a bad boy.

    This is heavy handed and WAY out of line.

    Your son’s file follows him through his entire school career and a prejudiced, unreasonable, illogical assessment will be taken as gospel in the coming years.

    The punishment DOES NOT fit the crime and this is not only absurd but unfair.

    Look at how it is already affecting him. He’s heartbroken and scared and shocked that anybody would think of him in that light.

    Why would a professional be so deliberately…abrasive?

    It seems…someone REALLY does not want him or you to like it there.

    This reminds me of why you quit the gym.

    • Yeah, I had some similar feelings about the principal. Thankfully she’s only an interim principal as the real one is on maternity leave at the moment. I’m hoping that by taking action now and not getting an “official” diagnosis it can stay off his permanent record:/

      • Oh!

        An “interim” principal! (That means no one wants her permanently.)

        “The first idea that the child must acquire in order to be actively disciplined is that of the difference between good and evil; and the task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.” – Maria Montessori (1870-1952) Italian Educator

    • I’m appalled that the principal suggested ADD and decreed you shall fix your child over break OR ELSE! , too. Seems way harsh, Tai.

  3. Jessica Fletcher-Fierro

    Wow, this is intense. I’m glad you posted about it here in more detail than you could on Facebook.

    First, I kind of think that the other kids don’t need the same restrictions as son #3…coming up with alternatives for him would be important so he’s not always feeling deprived, but I think that might cause issues for the other kids (maybe? I really have no idea, but that came to mind).

    I also think the school is unrealistic in thinking that things will be magically better next week. Pssshhh. And the principal could have changed the consequence…she sounds stubborn. I’m usually one to defend the school (I’m a teacher), but this sounds unreasonable. Have you asked about him sitting on a medicine ball or playing with silly putty inside his desk? I might just talk to his teacher (and not the principal) about those options and see what she says. Could she give him a class job where he gets up (sweeping the floor, passing out/collecting papers, etc.)? Like you said, maybe he does have ADHD, maybe he doesn’t. But it’s okay to explore a variety of options. I think the school needs to be understanding…one of the challenges of teaching in the early grades is that kids/parents are still figuring things out.

    Have you asked about observing him in class? I think that could give you some good insight into not only his behavior, but his teacher’s management style.

    As far as the red dye, if you find it does help his behavior, treat it as an allergy (which is essentially is if it alters his behavior). The food isn’t “bad” but it’s bad for him.

    Also, would finding an energy outlet BEFORE school be helpful? (Like anyone who has to get four kids ready has time for that, but it popped into my head).

    Those are a million of my random thoughts. Good luck!

    • I love all your suggestions! Thank you!! I have spoken with his teacher (a lot) and she agreed to send him on “errands” periodically through the day to get him up and moving. She also said he can use a bouncy cushion to sit on and have a rubber tube on his chair to kick his legs against. We’re also going to try a reward system where he gets smiley stickers after each section of class so that he (and we) can see how he’s good most of the time but there are a few points in the days where he needs more help.

      I went in last week and observed some but I’m planning to go back.

      As for before school… school starts at 8 a.m. so I’m not sure what we can do before then?

      • Jessica Fletcher-Fierro

        So glad to hear that the teacher is working with you and open to a reward system…stickers work miracles with first graders! She sounds like a good teacher! 🙂 And also glad this is the interim principal…when does the regular one come back?

  4. Hi Charlotte, as a clinical psychology grad student, and more importantly a kid who was medicated for AD/HD and wish my parents had been told of another option, I think the first thing is to draw to your principal’s attention that according to Colorado HB 1172, “Requires each school board to adopt a policy prohibiting school personnel from recommending or requiring the use of a psychotropic drug by any student.” It would be illegal not only for your principal to require your son to use medication, but to even recommend it. I also imagine she would not particularly want her school dragged through a court case over a seven year old throwing a snowball, so jut mentioning that will hopefully be sufficient for her to back down. ADHD is a complicated disorder with complex symptomatology and diagnostic criteria. Hyperactivity is just one of the symptoms. For the record, your child does not even sound hyperactive, just like…G-d forbid…a child. One additional piece of advice – if for whatever reason you would like to get your child tested for ADHD, I would highly recommend against going to a pediatrician and invest in an experienced childhood psychologist/diagnostician. It is theorized that it is partially because of the ability of pediatricians to perscribe psychotropic medications like aderall that there has been such an influx of ADHD diagnosis. If you’d like more annecdotal information on healthy ways to treat ADHD without psychotropics, please email me at kat at where the sidewalk ends.com. Good luck, and sending hugs from snowy NYC.

    • Thank you so much Kat!! This is all fantastic info and I really appreciate it. Esp for the rec for getting a specialist and not going through a ped.

  5. My mom used to be an elementary school administrator and I asked her for her advice. She said not to worry about the “he better be better by January” part, because the principal can’t get involved and do anything serious to back that up without your consent. She also said to continue watching the dye and maybe get a reward system involved with his teacher since she seems supportive. Like, if he spends a whole math lesson sitting, get them up and moving – play Simon Says. They don’t have the self control or attention span at his age anyways.

    And it’s important for the principal, the teacher and other adults to say “I know you’re restless, this doesn’t mean you’re being bad, but we have to work on not disrupting others”

    Apparently playing music or getting music lessons helps too!

    Good luck. <3

    • Thanks Amalia! He’s currently in piano lessons but maybe I could try some more creative music outlet too, like dancing. Good to know about the principal. Tell your mom a huge thank you for me!!

  6. My day care provider has a daughter with attention issues and swears by the doTERRA essential oil blends Balance and InTune. Might be worth checking out.

  7. My Daniel is in 2nd grade and we’re still trying to figure things out. He tested above average but can’t sit still to save his life. He was put in the back of the classroom with the very clear understanding that he can stand up if he needs to but he is not to disrupt others. He has a squishy ball that he can fiddle with at his desk but not anything else. We’re still trying to work out a 504 plan that will allow him to move about more and our school panel has been so supportive. SO. My thoughts are, they need to knock off the ultimatums. That serves no one. Document EVERYTHING. Be very clear in your communication that you do NOT want a label put on your child. That will only set him up for failure and as a school, they are to work WITH you for the best interest of your child.

    • Thanks for the tips Sara! I told them specifically I didn’t want him labelled. Hopefully that’s enough…

  8. I don’t have kids, but my brother is 20 years younger than me, and also high functioning autistic. He had extremely bad allergies when he was younger, and after allergy testing my parents cut dairy and red dye out of his diet. I remember commenting to my Mom that it must have been hard on him, and she said it actually wasn’t because he could tell that he felt better when he avoided the things he was allergic/sensitive to. He would actually speak up and say “No, I can’t have that because I’m allergic”.

    It sounds like your sun is motivated, and willing to try. If it truly makes a difference, maybe he will notice that he feels better, and it won’t seem like a hardship for him.

    • Thanks! I really like your idea about just keeping the conversation routine and basic. I hope your brother is doing well!

  9. I don’t live in Colorado, so I can’t speak for their school system… but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I’m 99% sure they can’t FORCE you to put your kid on meds. I went through a very similar situation with my now 8 year old here in Virginia. Please, please, don’t let the schools bully you into putting your kid on medication. A lot (most) of this type of behavior IS just boys acting like boys… the research on that is VERY clear. Boys learn differently and retain knowledge differently, and one of the BIGGEST of these “differences” is that they learn and retain through MOTION AND PLAY. It infuriates the hell out of me that our current education system (public as well as almost all private schools!!) has taken almost ALL motion and play out of the daily education experience. The schools are not designed for our young boys and men or the way they learn and it is incredibly unfair to these kids.

    Also, 20 minutes for recess?? How ridiculous is that?! Our kids only get 15. Another thing that infuriates me.

    I could go on and on — but the basic gist is: don’t let the schools bully you into thinking there is anything “wrong” with your child. Also – I commend you for trying the red-40 diet! It did wonders with my sister who is ASD when she was elementary age, and my 8 year old does much better with his focus and attention when we avoid the artificial dyes and junk as well.

    • Thanks Jess! I don’t think she meant she was going to force me to medicate him but rather that we’d have to try other things – she mentioned perhaps taking him out of his class and moving him to a special ed class. Which I REALLY don’t want to happen. He likes his teacher and the other kids in his class and he’s keeping up academically. Sigh.

  10. At some point in my childhood it was suggested (I don’t know by who or in what context) that red dye #40 might be affecting my behavior. I was definitely not a hyperactive child, didn’t get in trouble at school and preferred long hours of reading to running and jumping outside so I have no idea why it ever even came up, but what followed was an absolute nightmare for my little girl self esteem. It was such a joke, “Oh no, Bekky’s upset. She must have had some red dye today,” and things like that. It was basically the childhood equivalent of implying it was “my time of the month.” It was made very public, talked and joked about with my friends’ parents and people from church. None of my other siblings were subjected to this, none of them had candy and food taken away. This was especially frustrating because my little brother was such a wild child and I guess it just never occurred to anyone that he could benefit as well? Because I believed this to be unfounded I would stubbornly eat red candies and treats just to prove that it didn’t affect me. I don’t know if it did or not but I know that the restriction and the way it was handled affected me for a long time. I haven’t really thought about this for a while but reading through this post brought back a lot of feelings of resentment. Anyway, I guess this is just the “what not to do” response.

    Since your son asked for your help I feel like you are in a really good position and shouldn’t worry too much about causing psychological problems because of this. Just check in with him every now and then, ask him if he thinks it’s helping and if he feels more in control of his body. Ask him if it bothers him when you tell people he can’t eat certain things and how he feels about his siblings getting treats when he doesn’t. He sounds like a very sweet kid (maybe it’s just the pregnancy hormones but I shed a few tears when I read what he said after your meeting) so just have an open dialogue with him.

    As for the principal, just make sure to stand your ground. YOU are his mom. You have four kids to watch and care for, she has hundreds, so don’t let her think that she knows better than you what is best for your son. It sounds like you handled yourself really well at the meeting and went in there prepared. I hope things work out for your little boy. When I see these little boys labeled with ADHD I just want to hug them and tell them it will be so much better when they are grown up. In childhood, kids with ADHD are the troublemakers and the terrors but in adulthood they are the doers and the innovators. The trick is getting them to that point without breaking their spirits.

    • Thank you SO much for sharing your experience Bekky! That is exactly what I don’t want to happen. And yes, none of us are eating food dyes now. We only have foods/treats in the home that everyone (including him) can eat happily. I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t feel left out or ostracized by this! The trick is when we’re outside the house…

  11. 1: The principal is an ass.

    2: Is that really your kitchen? Between that and the pic of the basement you had on FB, I’m insanely jealous.

    3. The principal is an ass. Oh, sorry, am I repeating myself? This type of ridiculous decision made by administrators borders on child abuse. I’m not a suing type of person, but I swear, I think you need to find some sort of legal clinic that can write a threatening letter on your behalf.

    • 1. Buwhahahah. I love you.
      2. NO! We were at a restaurant in a warehouse in Arkansas! My kitchen is neither that elaborate nor that big (nor that clean). Now I’m wondering which pic of the basement you saw… Ours is unfinished so if you saw a bunch of plastic covered walls and cement floors then yes, that’s our basement.

      • After looking through a million and one of your FB photos, I couldn’t find the basement photo I was thinking of. (I must have been rubbing my eyes during a crucial moment like that scene in The Andromeda Strain.)

  12. This mostly just makes me feel SAD for little kids. Yesterday the mother dear and I babysat my little twin cousins (5 years old) – we took them for a tour around a hotel our friend works at, and then they spent two hours at a playstructure place (running around THE ENTIRE TIME), and then we saw a one-hour play, and then we did crafts. We tried to get them to watch TV in the evening so that WE could get some down-time, but they only wanted to watch for about 5 minutes before they wanted to DO MORE STUFF!

    And these are little girls. I can’t imagine what boys would be like!

    But this is the thing (and the point of my anecdote): playing and running around is what little kids are SUPPOSED to do. And what’s wrong with snowballs! Grr to our whole system and the expectations society has of children.

    (Granted, I don’t have kids so I suppose I can’t *really* have an opinion on any of this. But still.) Big hugs to you, Charlotte, and hope that all goes well with son #3!

    • Aw you are the best auntie ever!! That was so sweet of you and your mom! And yeah, 5-year-olds are exhausting. And I agree – playing and running amok is natural:)

  13. Yeah, principal is WAY out of line. I like throwing the law in her face, myself, if she goes there again.

    My son has a friend over. He’s one of my favorite kids, but in first grade and a bit into second, he learned better if he stood up and rocked from side to side. He interacted that way, too. His first-grade teacher stuck him in the back of the room and said, “Do your thing, but don’t disrupt anyone else.”

    When second grade came, the first-grade teacher had prepped her, so the kid went in the back of the classroom again and stood half the day. He was HUGELY better behaved for it. And what do you know? By the middle of the year in second grade, he wasn’t standing any longer. He’d learned to sit and learn. (The boys are now in their last year of middle school, and J’s as normal as the rest of ’em. Which ain’t saying much for pubescent boys, but you know.)

    Your son’s teacher sounds like she’s got the same mindset, and that means she’s a Godsend. Work with her. I’m curious to know if there is a pattern to your son’s need to move; I bet there is.

    And yes, I know others who’ve been calmer when they take out Red Dye 40.

    • Ah I love hearing stories like this! Son #2 had some behavior issues (over sensititivy) but he has mostly grown out of it and has settled into “normal” just fine. Maybe there’s just something about 1/2 grade!

      • I think there IS something about kindergarten through second grade. Around here, it’s widely discussed that this is when the most growth and maturity happens, that the kids come in to kindergarten with a wide variety of abilities and it takes a couple years for that talent pool to even out. So hang in there, lady!

  14. My husband is had adhd and went from getting d/f’s in school to A’s and when he was medicated it made a big difference in his approach to work as well. He doesn’t like the meds and isn’t on them now. That said, I absolutely agree that pople over diagnose and don’t try alternative methods. His little sister was aslo diagnosed and before they medicated her they tried yoga and more physical activity and that seemed to help some.

    Amalah.com – a blogger who cracks me up- has a son on the spectrum and she’s seen a huge difference in her son’s behavior since taking out artificial dyes. You should check out some of her posts, she also writes about some products/ foods that have worked for her family.

    It is heart breaking to watch your child struggle. Also that principal sounds horrible and not at all supportive. And my mama bear would come out hard if someone implied they would be medicating my child after a couple snowball indiscretions. Good luck!

  15. Ugh, what a hard situation. I feel for you. Some kids (boys and girls!) just have a lot of energy. My little brother used to eat a bite at dinner, run a lap around the downstairs of our house, and repeat for the entire meal. (And now he’s getting his PhD so he turned out okay!) But I do also see the problem from the teacher/admin side; they have to be able to teach without class distractions. It doesn’t sound like the principal really handled it right though… My guess is they see a lot of parents who bristle at the mere suggestion that their child could have ever done anything wrong. (I know my mom does as a teacher.) I bet showing them that you’re committed to helping with his behavior will go a long towards building a good relationship.

    I think you definitely can raise a kid with dietary restrictions without EDs. I was raised not eating meat and that never factored into my ED. In recovery I still don’t and it’s never been an issue. It doesn’t feel like a restriction in that way since it’s such an ingrained thing. Maybe approach it like that? This is a thing we don’t eat. Not because it’s “bad” but we just don’t. Obviously it’s a little harder- no one ever brought a steak in on their birthday the way kids do cupcakes with dye, etc! but it’s worth trying.

    I’m sending good thoughts your way Charlotte! I know this will all work out okay in the long run. And if you need to, for your own health, have your special stash of dye-laden food you get to eat after the kids are in bed. The last thing you want is a relapse!

    • Hahahh – I’m glad your little bro turned out so well! I love hearing success stories like that! And I hope that I accurately conveyed my willingness to work with the school. I never once said he didn’t do something wrong – I agreed with them that because snowballs are against the rules, he shouldn’t have done that. I also didn’t try to get him out of being punished. My point was to just try to change the punishment to something more appropriate and helpful towards the end goal… Thanks for telling me about your vegetarianism being separate from your ED – that’s good to know!

  16. Darwin captured my horror at the principal’s implied ultimatum: medicate him or he’s out. Really? One child throwing a snowball twice rises to this level of intervention? You didn’t say anything about notes home regarding his in-class behavior or anything like that – this year or in kindergarten. I doubt the principal can compel you to medicate him. I also agree that it’s impossible to assess how school will be during vacation time

    With all that said, my 12-year-old daughter has ADHD. We started her on Strattera at the end of 3rd grade because impulsivity was her biggest issue in terms of school. We switched to Adderall at the end of 6th grade because the attention and organizational issues were really having an impact on her schoolwork. The difference has been incredible, and occasionally my husband and I wonder if we should have done it earlier, but she’s a challenging kid (oppositional defiant disorder) and we really needed her to buy into it herself. You should have seen her face as the psychiatric nurse explained ADHD to her – she kept nodding and saying “yup, that’s me. That’s me too…”

    I would hope your pediatrician could at least give you and Son #3’s teacher a copy of the Vanderbilt ADHD inventory while you wait for the assessment. Just answering the questions helps you calibrate your impressions against what’s normal – and you’ll certainly want to do that before any intervention and then a few months after you start whatever you do. You might also try visiting his classroom to see how he is relative to the other kids, and how his teacher manages wiggly little kids in general and your wiggler in particular.

    • No, I don’t think she was trying to compel me to medicate him but I didn’t like the other options either (she briefly mentioned taking him out of the class and putting him in a special ed class which I’m VERY opposed to). I’m so glad that your daughter is doing so much better on Adderall! I’m not saying we’ll never use meds or are totally opposed to them… we’re just not there yet I think. Thanks for the tip about the inventory! I’ll look it up!

  17. Oh goodness! Christmas would be such a tough time to cut out dyes.

    I am sensitive to Red 40–definitely makes me giddy, silly, life-of-the-party kind of a gal. A glass of red kool-aid does way more to lower my inhibitions than an adult beverage.

    I would try to help him tune in to his own body’s response to it so that he can learn to self-regulate rather than making it a totally mom-directed thing.

    Agreeing that the principal was very much in the wrong. Yikes!

  18. The link between diet and behavior is huge. Thousands follow the Feingold Program and a non-profit organization was formed by parents back in 1976 for support and because reading labels did not give them the information needed to be successful on the Program. Go to its website to see the many studies linking dyes and other additives that come from crude oil to behavior. http://www.feingold.org The Facebook group is very helpful too http://www.facebook.com/groups/19355996898 You can read what other parents are saying.

    Yes, warning labels are required in the EU on products with dyes due to the Southampton study that showed all children are affected by food dyes and even led to American companies providing popular packaged foods without these dyes to the children but NOT in the US! The FDA Hearings in 2011 voted to continue studying but the vote was not as bad as it appeares. You can read about here http://www.feingold.org/enews/04-2011.html And you can see the testimony by the Feingold Association here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIYygfXNKXM

    Red 40 is just as bad as the other 6 synthetic dyes, it is used more widely than all the others. Yellow 5 & 6 come in 2nd.

    • Thanks for the resources and links Markey! I’ve read through most of the Feingold stuff and we’re kind of doing a modified version at the moment – I figured we’d start small and look for improvement before throwing in the big guns. Gonna go check out the rest now…

      • You’re welcome! And thank you for bringing the role diet plays in our childrens (and adults btw) to your readers. Keep going. Do be aware that too often those chemicals are still in the product but not on the label! Who would guess that there are preservatives in packaging? That natural flavors can be msg? There’s too many other examples.

  19. The principal is way out of line. The administration cannot force you to medicate your child. However, they can make yours and his life at school miserable, so tread carefully.

    As another commenter already mentioned, why don’t you present it to your son as an allergy? Some kids can’t eat nuts, some can’t drink milk, he can’t have red dye. It gives him a reason to avoid it and let’s him know that there are other children in the same boat.

  20. Hi Charlotte,
    Red dye used to make one of my brothers into a complete brat but the rest of us were fine. We
    didn’t have red cordial in the house as a result and that worked well.

    My heart broke that he said “I’m not a bad boy”. I’d be asking him who told him he was then I’d be tempted to discuss it with the real principal when she returns. (I’m suspecting the current principal).

    Maybe treat it the same as an allergy/diabetes ? That way it’s not a bad food, but a food that’s a problem for him. You wouldn’t be worried about giving him an ED if he was diabetic and couldn’t eat sugar so maybe just be clinical about it.

    It sounds like he’s an intelligent young man and my only thoughts would be to explain it to him as an allergy and then come up with alternatives for him. It’s a few months until the next big candy celebration (Easter) and ages until the the biggest candy celebration (Halloween) so you have time to put some strategies in place. Maybe have something special as a treat just for him ?

    Have you also seen the research about Omega-3 and ADHD ? There seems to be a lot of studies on it – that might be worth considering. I hope he feels better and the regular principal comes back soon.

    • I like the allergy comparison! He certainly has friends with food allergies so that would make sense to him. And good idea for stockpiling candy he can have for holidays! I’d forgotten about the Omega-3 ADHD connection – I’ll definitely look into that!! Thank you Terri:)

  21. Wow. First of all VERY telling that the principal is an interim. She must feel like she needs to “establish authority” and come down hard. Seriously, the poor kid is a first grader. Use the legal knowledge and scoot right past her to the next level up in the admin chain of command if you have to.
    I am a teacher and I am appalled at the behavior of the principal and am really happy to hear how the teacher is working with your son. We all just really want those kiddos to do well.
    As far as the dyes- try making him somehow your partner in this. If he feels in control somehow, he may not have food issues later. Having raised 3 boys myself, I understand the activity level that goes on. Hang in there!

    • Yeah that was my first (cynical) thought about the principle too. My son’s never been in trouble or sent to to the principal’s office ever and then twice in the first week she’s here? But maybe not. Trying really hard to withhold judgement… So fun you have 3 boys too!

  22. Look at the book “All Kinds of Minds: A Young Student’s Book about Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders” by Melvin D. Levin for your son. I kept thinking there was something wrong with me because of my behaviour until I read this book. It also gave me ideas on how to focus better and sit still. It talks about other disorders/learning problems which didn’t apply but were really interesting to me. I loved the book so much that I kept/read it for years. They have it on Amazon. It might help your son feel better.

    • Thank you for the book rec Ame! It sounds like it could be helpful for several of my family members;)

  23. The way schools are limiting recesses and breaks, it seems like they’re asking for trouble. As for red dye, it can’t be good for anyone . . . .

  24. Wow! I have a response on 2 fronts. First, I’m a high school teacher and teach 90 minute blocks. My juniors and seniors have trouble paying attention for 90 minutes so I break the class up into 20sih minute chunks and try hard to NEVER have them “sit and get” for more than 20 minutes. I have been known to play Simon Says, or go on “field trip walks” around the school mid class to wake up the sleepers and move the movers. I also have found using a ball in my instruction helps—I review material by tossing a ball to a student and the “catcher” has to answer. It cracks me up that the minute I take the ball out, most of the boys have both hands out and start wiggling in their seats–like puppies. All this is to say that anyone expecting a seven year old to sit still and quiet for more than 20 minutes at a time is INSANE! (One thing I’ve done with kids is use a tally mark system on their desk–they accumulate tally marks for appropriate behavior– and are rewarded with whatever the parent, student, and I agree on)

    Secondly, I am the mother of both an anorexic daughter and a daughter with multiple food allergies/sensitivities. Daughter 2 can’t eat gluten, dairy, or soy as well as many spices like cinnamon etc.AND she has to be on a low residue diet (i.e. low fiber and low fat) Meal planning at my house is NUTS! However, Daughter 2 is in no way developing an eating disorder and is very in tune with her body and how it reacts to certain foods/meals. On the other hand, the anorexic struggles with the fact that we yield to daughter 2’s eating “rules” but not to the anorexic “rules.” This is to say that you have little to fear in son # 3 developing an eating disorder. He’s more likely to learn how he responds to certain foods and intimately (years from now) manage his own sensitivities.
    Good Luck!

    • I love it Linda! Especially the “puppies” visual;) I taught high schoolers for two years and I agree that they need lots of movement too! You sound like a fantastic teacher and well-connected to your students needs!
      And that you so much for telling me about your experiences with your daughters – it does reassure me:)

  25. My 7 yr old son has AD/HD and after exhausting what we felt was every other option, we turned to medication, at a very low dose. My main concern was that he not become a robot, and be able to remain bright, creative and keep his “spark”. He absolutely does, and now without the exclusion of his classmates and tears every night for “being bad”. The best I can explain it, is that it gives him a second to stop and think things through, as opposed to the wild impulsivity he was fighting before.
    We cut out ALL food dyes last year, and yes, it’s definitely more work for me, as the grocery shopper. We can tell within 20 mins if something (like a sucker on the bus), gets under the radar, by an increase in hyperactivity. He’s been great about understanding that the fake dyes are just bad for ALL of us and does a wonderful job on his own of politely saying “no”. Reds and blues are definite triggers.
    I fought a lot of guilt and like a failure when we decided to try the medication, but again, it’s a very low dose, and it’s what my peanut needed to feel successful. Doing what helps your child and doing it to make them easier for YOU to handle are two very different things. You just have to do what feels right for you. I can tell you, though, I wish the FDA would listen. Good luck!

    • I’m so so glad you have found what works best for your son Natalie! It sounds like you really investigated what would help him and what he needed! To be clear: I’m not against ADHD meds on principle and not even against them for my kids necessarily. I just feel like we need to try other things first. Glad to know that the dyes made a difference too!

  26. A friend of mine ended up medicating her daughter at about the same age as your son for ADHD. About a month after she was on the meds, little MissA turned to her mother and said “mummy! I can hear you now that my head is not so noisy”. For her, there clearly was an issue that was well addressed with medication.
    I don’t think telling kids that they can’t eat certain foods is heading towards eating disorder territory- far better to build up their protective factors- help them establish confidence and a strong sense of self. Help them understand their value and that it’s ok to try and fail- that failure is sometimes helpful.

    I would simply explain to your son that you are trying to work out which foods make him feel fidgety and not able to concentrate and which foods make him feel good- that way he can focus on eating the foods that make him feel best.

    • Thanks Megz! To be clear: I’m not against ADHD meds on principle and not even against them for my kids necessarily. I just feel like we need to try other things first:) I like your idea for how to talk to him about it by focusing on the positive!

  27. First off, why on earth is throwing snowballs not allowed? Presumably because you could hurt someone? But really that is ridiculous.
    And secondly, I live in (a small country) in Europe and I have never seen those warning labels for red #40. Not because that’s not a law (I have no idea on that front), but because the stuff is banned here. It’s not in anything. There are red coloured foods, but they have dye made from beetles in them. Red#40 is definitely not the only additive commonly found in the US but banned here. You know how orange fanta and blue candy dye your tongue. They don’t here. Fanta is a completely different colour (looks like plain orange juice, because it is plain orange juice with added sugar and sparkling water). Also non-food things like laundry detergent and toothpaste, both manage to get things whiter (not neccessarily cleaner) than the same brands here.

  28. I’m a hyperactive/ADHD person. I never took the meds. I still have to get up and move at least once an hour to make it through a day at my office job. Not much help in first grade, but life gets much easier in college when you have more breaks and can adjust your schedule. At work you can get jobs that tolerate or encourage energy. I haven’t found anything that prevents the distractedness and excess energy. Morning exercise makes productive mornings, but causes energy bursts in the afternoon. I struggled with sitting still all day in school and always got comments on report cards for not paying attention.

    Good luck. For a plus, ADHD brains often are good at science and math, just not sitting still all day, so it isn’t all bad. They also tend to have good spatial skills, so he may ace calculus while annoying the teachers by fidgeting, talking, and otherwise disrupting. I sure did.

    While ADHD made my life harder. Other kids would get annoyed by my lack of attention and so did teachers, I don’t regret not taking the meds. That being said, they can be used to help the child build the extreme mental discipline required to conform to social standards when their body objects and then gradually wean. Then again, I still fidget and zone out when meetings take longer than 30 minutes and struggle with the long design reviews my engineering job requires.

    • My son is really good at math! Thank you so much for sharing your experience kate – it gives me hope! And I’m so glad things have worked out so well for you!

  29. 1. Your child needs to be properly diagnosed by a DOCTOR and not a teacher.
    2. Start learning about IEP’s and what your son’s rights are. The school district can NOT make you medicate your son. Again, learn about IEP’s IF your son is properly diagnosed by a DOCTOR.
    3. Learn about 504 Behavioral Plans. Your child if he is diagnosed will most likely need one of these at school.
    4. Diet does wonders and yes your other children can benefit from pulling red dye whether or not other people will agree it makes life easier if everyone is on board. It’s not a bad diet, the fact is you will be eliminating a lot of processed food.
    5. Learn your options when it comes to medication. It’s not all bad and it has helped lots of children. But again if you are comfortable exhaust all options diet wise and search out medications that you can comfortably try.

    * I am a special needs Mom of a 5 year old with Autism. My niece is ADD (medicated), my friends son is ADHD (not medicated), but I am very aware of diets, medication. My main concern right now is your child’s right with the school district. The teacher can NOT tell you to get this under control before he comes back. That is not a good educator. Best of luck to your son.

  30. my son looked like he had ADHD up through first grade. His poor 1st grade teacher was at her wits end, though luckily she didn’t demand that we “fix” it. he couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stop talking, rarely finished his work. second grade, he struggled a bit but more because school felt restrictive and not fun. by third grade, he was fine — still a fidget but mostly able to focus when he needed to.

    in his case, it was just part of his development. We did struggle at times to keep him from feeling like a bad kid, but luckily he is pretty resilient. I’m very glad we never pursued a diagnosis or treatment, and I would have fought the school if they insisted we did. We did do a lot of negotiating with the teacher about homework modifications etc. so that home life didn’t become a miserable battle over school work.

    A lot of boys (and some girls) have similar difficulties in the early school years. I think the most important thing is to find ways to make school as engaging as possible and to help them feel that they can be successful when they try so that in the long run they will CHOOSE to focus and work hard when their development allows them to do so. I’m really sorry that your son’s school is not being supportive.

  31. 1. You don’t tell your child your taking away foods, if possible. You substitute healthy foods. He probably needs detoxing from the many chemicals we are exposed to in our daily lives.
    2. Avoid all meats. They have red food color added to make them look fresh.
    3. Add pygenol spelling ? It’s made from pine bark. It really helped my child with those issues. I was able to keep him off of meds. Just an idea.
    Make foods yourself. Don’t use processed foods. I now in my 50’s am finding that I react to so many foods that I went all natural. Anytime I eat anything out of a package my body reacts so badly I literally shut down and sleep in a coma like state for hours. I only shop in the fruit and vegetable section. That’s what I eat. It made a big difference. It’s lots of work but you can do it. The Hippocrates Institute is doing a one week program for kids now. Best wishes. It’s tough, but you can do it. Also read about methylation issues. Some kids and people can’t properly absorb vitamins. It’s a complicated issue.

    • It is a fallacy that meats have dye in them. I worked in a grocery store for 7 years and can definitely say the meat is red due to myoglobin, not dye.

  32. I’m very allergic to Red 40, and have been since I was a child. I don’t avoid other food dyes, only red 40 specifically. It makes me projectile vomit sometimes affects my mood (maybe because I’m cranky from vomiting.) but if you are only avoiding red dye it gets easier to eat sweets and stuff. I eat spree and sweet tarts all the time, just not the red ones. And sauces/juice too, as long as they dont have artificial stuff. Its actually something my friends got really into when i was young, giving me bags of candy with the red removed. Actually, the red dye in makeup also makes me break out terribly. Red dye is made some insect shell and I also have a shell fish allergy, I’ve often thought they might be related.

  33. I have no personal experience but seem to recall there was a study which indicated that high levels of fish oil were beneficial too?
    Hope you find the right solution for you all, especially your “good boy”! 🙂

  34. I am appalled at the way the principal handled this. APPALLED! I hope the real principal comes back soon and kicks the interim in the behind for being a douche.
    I have never thought about dyes in my kids’ foods making them hyperactive, but I think I will start paying attention just for kicks.
    My oldest child’s teachers in K, 1st, and 2nd all suggested ADD to us. His kindergarten teacher would have him run a lap around the gym periodically throughout the day to help him work out some of his energy. Now that he’s in third, he’s doing so much better. He just needed to grow up a little in order to be able to control himself better. He’s still a mover and a shaker, but he’s much, much better. I know ADD is real, but I think it is grossly over-diagnosed. I also realize that medication is a god-send to some, and a curse to others. I have a friend who couldn’t have made it through school without ADD meds, and a friend who didn’t make it through school because of ADD meds. I guess I have no good ideas or advice, but good thoughts are going your way!

  35. Oh, bless your sweet boy! That breaks my heart. My little brother has ADD and I remember it was tough.

    I haven’t read all the comments, so maybe someone addressed this, but I wonder if it isn’t more the sugar than the Red 40. I mean, it seems pretty much anything with Red 40 also has sugar in it, right?

    Anyway, props to you–it’s tough to implement any eating changes over the holidays!

  36. As a teacher, I’m a bit appalled at the behavior of the principal. I have 16 boys in my class this year (and only 5 girls). They act exactly like you would think 11 year old boys would act. I would never expect a first grader to sit quietly, much less my 11 or 12 year old students. We have stability balls in our room, bouncy seats, rubber tubes on the legs, some students have rubber balls to squeeze (never throw or it’s gone). I allow my students to stand or work on the floor. I’ve been told I’m making it worse by encouraging movement but seeing as I’ve had some of the highest test scores in the district I’m not changing a thing. You will have to be his biggest advocate. Medication is such a personal issue and, while I have certainly seen some changes in students who are medicated, I hesitate to think its the answer for every student. Continue to advocate for him, no matter how a school official makes you feel, and do what your gut tells you is best.

  37. I’m a little late in responding because I was reading on my tablet over the weekend and didn’t have a keyboard to type on, and I knew I wanted to say more than just a few lines of support.

    Next, I am inclined to agree with everyone who says that the principal is out of line, but I’m not going to say more on that, since I don’t have day-to-day care of a child.

    What I did want to speak to was your comment that you were struggling with the “bad food” dilemma and your orthorexic voices. My advice to you is this: Don’t force YOUR issues on him. Your orthorexic voices don’t have to be his and you can still tell him that some foods are not healthy for him to eat. There is nothing wrong with telling anyone that some foods are bad. Because it’s true. Some foods ARE bad for you. And some foods are bad for some people and not others. I am lucky enough to be able to eat just about anything. My ex cannot drink milk without getting painful cramps and bad gas. For him, milk is a BAD FOOD and needs to be avoided. For my mother, shellfish would cause her to go into severe anaphylatic shock – think throat closing, no breathing, and death. For her, shellfish was a BAD FOOD.

    I’m not sure when we became so freaked out by admitting that some things are bad for us. There is nothing wrong with grouping foods into various categories of good, sort of good, not so good, and bad. If you try to fudge that and avoid the use of “bad”, all you’re doing is pushing a food version of “every kid gets a gold star just for showing up”, except with food.

    There’s nothing wrong, IMO, with explaining to your children that some people react badly to some foods .. and in that case those can be bad foods for them to eat.

    I just wish we’d quit vilifying “bad” … its a perfectly valid way to think of a food that is harmful to your health.

  38. I just recently read an article discussing both anecdotes and scientific studies about how exercise can work as well as meds for ADHD. Your school’s playground monitor is on the right track of just having him run around for as long as possible. The link’s below if you’re interested in checking out any of the study information.

    http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/riding-my-ritalin?page=0,0

  39. The comments have lots of great ideas, but I wanted to offer one more – biofeedback. I’ve used it successfully for years, and NPR had a great story on a variation a few years ago – http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130896102. Best of luck to you.

  40. I just read this today and can’t believe the principal making any comment about ADHD or placing your son in a special needs classroom. First off, she isn’t a doctor and him having ADHD or not having it is something to be determined by a medical professional. Second, throwing the special needs classroom out there seems like a scare tactic. I have a 14 year old who is in a special needs classroom and none of his classmates are there for behavioral reasons. A child is in there because he or she has multiple disabilities and specific learning issues so the fact that she would suggest putting a child there as a punishment is so inappropriate and kind of offensive. One suggestion, if he continues having issues at school, would be to ask the school to have him observed by a behaviorist and have a behavior plan put together for him. All districts have this ability and basically what they would do is observe him to figure out what scenarios bring about the behavior and then they work up a written plan that addresses how to circumvent the behavior before it happens and help him be successful. We had to do this once with our son and it was very useful. Every person he worked with in the school got a copy of the plan so that there was consistency and it really helped my child.

  41. Interesting thoughts. I am pretty sure I would have been considered ADHD as a kid by today’s standards. Back then, I was just an active kid. Much like your son, my parents just tried to keep me active so I caused less trouble. With mixed results. I certainly wouldn’t change anything in my past! Heck, I can’t keep focused on a single task very well right now! I tend to bounce between tasks to keep my interest level higher. Overall, I seem to have worked out well. Maybe the real problem is the expectation that our kids learn best by sitting in class for long periods of time. I suspect that is done more for the convenience of the teachers than for the results with the students. Check out this link: http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/american-school-system-damaging-kids/. It is just Reader’s Digest, but is still interesting. That certainly won’t help your situation. Sorry. Good luck with your rambunctious kid!

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  45. better late, than never. Orthomol vitamin d2

  46. It’s so important to explore the reasons for ADHD behaviors. And dyes and other additives aave been proven to play a huge role. However the ‘red dye 40 diet’ is crazy. It’s like someone with a dairy sensitivity only avoiding cheese, ice cream, etc. but allowed to have milk. Artificial dyes, artificial flavorings (such as vanillin), artificial sweeteners, the preservatives bha, bht, and tbhq all are made from petroleum – all need to be eliminated for best results Look into the feingold diet. There’s an awesome organization formed and run by parents that research the foods. Why? Because those additives are still in many of the foods and not on the label. Once they hear from the manufacturer that the product really is okay, the org. notifies its member and added to its Foodlist & Shopping Guide (now 470 pages). I’m still amazed at the difference in my son – no more meds and wonderful days with him. If you’d like the website, it’s http://www.feingold.org There’s also a great Facebook group.