I have 4 boys all diagnosed with ADHD and most of them dont have the sensitivity and behavioral issues.

Now.. Adam my 11 yr old.. I am trying to have tested for Aspergers or High functioning Autism or Bipolar or other behavorial problems. He has the sensory integration issues where he doesnt like feeling of clothes, doesnt like being touched, etc. His mood swings are crazy. He stims (hand flapping in infancy and now hand claps and "chomps" his teeth) when excited. He doesnt keep like to keep eye contact much. He doesn't interact with his classmates and pretty much keeps to himself at school. At home if he plays with kids they are around 7-8 or maybe 9 yrs old. He is like obsessed with playing wrestling games or fighting games. He is EXTREMELY artistic and very advanced in his drawing. YET he only likes to draw things like swords or star wars or GUNS.. Violent stuff.

The school finally paid for him to be in counseling when he wrote a paper at school about how he is going to kill another boy (not a kid at school so the school was relieved) when he gets a little older because this boy took his girlfriend. He wrote how he is going to do it. I had been telling the school for a couple years that he had emotional and behavioral problems but they didn't see it... TIL THEN.

I agree I think your daughter would benefit with counseling. I think possibly there MIGHT (but Im not a doctor ) be more going on than just ADD..

I can understand about how its hard to keep up.. All of my boys are ADHD, 2 are in counseling for anger problems. Im a single parent trying to raise them and I can't hardly clean my house let a lone keep up with them. BUT with God's help I try.

I'll be praying for you.

Today I've had my 14 yr old yelling at me and blaming me for messing (not his word) up his weekend..He didn't do his homework and so he had to stay home instead of going with his dad and brother and friends for the night last night.. Let us know how things go.

GM (Gina Marie)

Hi all!

I've been there, done that with high-emotional-needs kids, and both are in their late teens now. The only thing that held me together was the thought that every child has three parents (Mom, Dad, and God) -- and at least one of us knows what he is doing! So, for what it is worth, here is a little wisdom I learned along the way:

People (even teens) have the right to be wrong sometimes.

Love is not the most important thing -- being understood is far more important.

Fights and tears are fine -- they are the debits of a relationship. As long as you keep up the deposits of fun, love, companionship, respect, etc., the net balance will always come out positive.

Usually a teen doesn't want Mom or Dad to solve things for them, only to sympathize. Give advice like spice -- a little at a time and only when the stew is strong enough not to be overpowered by it.

There is a reason I have my problems and they have theirs --obviously we are supposed to work on them together.

My child is not responsible for my reactions to him/her: my physical wellness, frustration, anger, embarrassment, or whatever is my own problem. I can express my feeelings, and take action to help myself (a great opportunity to model coping skills) without encouraging or allowing the child to feel guilty or responsible.

(That last was the hardest -- and it has to be the parents that bring it up and keep teaching it.)

Hope this helps! --Shari

There is an excellent book I would recommend called

Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach
by Howard Glasser

There's also another one but I've not read it. It comes highly recommended to me by a very special person and I trust their opinion. I just haven't had the dollars or the time to read it yet. It seems to be more of a book about her whole journey as a parent rather than a type of parenting manual though.

"A Special Education" By Dana Buchman.