Sugar

We've noticed with Garbonzo a strong correlation between the consumption of sugar and the increase of impulsive behaviors. For this reason, we closely monitor his sugar intake. After he's had sugar, he needs closer supervision and simpler tasks. We try to time the sugar intake for times where those accommodations can be made.

And when I mean impulsivity, I don't mean blurting out, or flickering lights, I mean pilfering and stealing. Those impulses are an issue for him even without sugar, but on sugar it's much much worse. 

We have relations that get this.  They've changed their sugaring and even they can see how that improves his behavior.

We also have relations that don't quite get this. We had hoped that they might honor the sugar restrictions just because we asked them to, but that's not really happening.   I think they honestly don't get it and are just trying to be nice to the poor deprived child, When Garbanzo spends time with them, they give him snack baggies full of chocolate chips and sodas and so forth.

This is a two-pronged problem: 

1.) Authority is Disposable if You Don't Agree with It.

The greater problem is that he sees them disregard his parents' wishes because they disagree and he takes it as license to do the same. This is HUGE as it may take weeks or months to re-establish the notion that our authority is not disposable.

It's the same thing we see after he comes home from camp. At camp, things are done differently.  Mom and Dad's ways are irrelevant at camp.  That's fine.  It's camp.  But the week after camp it is so hard for Garbanzo to re-enter the family that we ALWAYS take the week after camp to go family camping.  We are together, Dad is with us, every little twinge of blowing off authority is squashed immediately.  And there are so many fun things to do, so many pleasures around, that it isn't worth his while to maintain insolence.  But we can't go on a family camping trip every time he spends time with his Sugary Relations.  And thus far, we haven't found a manageable reset mechanism.

2.) Lack of Disclosure.

The other problem is that they tend to sugar him up at the end of the visit and then not tell me, so it has taken me awhile to figure out that after spending time with them, he needs a different sort of day.  If this was the only thing, I could live with it.  But the authority issue is trashing our home life.

Garbonzo

Argh.  In the last two weeks Garbonzo has . . .

• stolen a key from the lab and blithely feigned innocence during the ensuing hub-bub of "Where's the key?".  Of course, it was in his pocket.
• stolen pocketfuls of candy from his Gma, and blithely feigned innocence even after the pat-down and discovery.
• talked his sister into a cheating co-op wherein one steals the teacher books and copies the answers whilst the other posts look-out, and blithely feigned innocence even after her confession.
• smuggled off-limits treats out of the house and into his lunchbox.
• locked little kids in the bathroom stalls and threatened to to harm them if they told.
• told us a chore/task has been done when it most obviously has not been done.  This occurs 15-20 times a day. 
• lied. lied. lied. lied. lied. lied. lied. lied. 

We are definitely seeing a pattern.   This nasty behavior tends to appear after any of the fun summer activities.  Day camp, VBS, drama camp, etc.  Anything in which a large group of kids are under the supervision of a few adults (aka anything away from Mom) triggers orphanage behavior patterns.  We can see it.  It all makes sense.  But how do we make it go away?

ADHD

Did you know that most children diagnosed with ADHD are boys (10% males: 4% females?). Is this a problem with boys? Or a problem with expecting boys to be not-boys? (Or merely a problem with diagnoses?)

Where did ADHD come from? The University of Chicago linked ADHD to a "gene that regulates the actions of the neurotransmitter dopamine." Although I do indeed believe that God purposefully created all that is, I also believe in microevolution; I have to ask: What benefit did this gene confer? and Might it be useful? Is ADHD a disorder? or merely one more aspect of the wonderful variety of attributes that make up the human population? One more aspect that has been labeled as a disorder to provide more specialties for psychologists and clinicians to specialize in? I'm not saying that the so-called symptoms don't exist -- surely I know that they do -- I am questioning if they represent a disorder.

Here is the official diagnostic criteria:

DSM-IV Criteria for ADHD

I. Either A or B:

A. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

1. Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
2. Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
3. Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
4. Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
5. Often has trouble organizing activities.
6. Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
7. Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
8. Is often easily distracted.
9. Often forgetful in daily activities.

B. Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity -impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
2. Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
3. Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
4. Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.
5. Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".
6. Often talks excessively.


Impulsiveness

1. Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.
2. Often has trouble waiting one's turn.
3. Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

. . . Is ADHD a disorder? or merely one more aspect of the wonderful variety of attributes that make up the human population? One more aspect that has been labeled as a disorder to provide more specialties for psychologists and clinicians to specialize in? . . .

I've put into bold all the ones we live with (yeah, it is pretty much all of them ~ do we get extra points for fulfilling both A & B?).

We recently received the report from the school district psychologist. Although he didn't come right out and say it (I wonder why not?) he included all this language multiple times. Maybe he thinks he'll have to break it to us gently, like we didn't already know . . .




:: this post is included in the 36th edition of the brain blogging carnival hosted over at the BrainBlogger.