Penny Williams's Blog, page 60

Giveaway! Win 3 Signed Copies of “Boy Without Instructions”

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I am giving away three signed copies ofBoy Without Instructions: Surviving the Learning Curve of Parenting a Child with ADHD, before you can buy the book! Simply complete the steps outlined in the rafflecopter below. The more you complete, the more opportunities you will have for entries and chances to win.

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When Mount Hope Crumbles

I have a habit of climbing up high on hope when it comes to ADHD treatment and Ricochet. It’s the kind of hope that’s so unrealistic that my feet can barely teeter on its pinnacle. This kind of hope is built on a foundation of wishful thinking: “I hope this medicine is finally the right one.” “I hope this is the school year Ricochet settles in.” When my wishes don’t come true, the foundation crumbles and hope plummets into despair. The bottom falls out from beneath me and I fall hard.

This pas...

About Penny

A self-described veteran parent of a son with ADHD, Penny Williams is the creator of the award-winning website, {a mom’s view of ADHD}, and frequent contributor on parenting a child with ADHD for ADDitude Magazineand other parenting and special needs publications. As well, Williams has published essays in three books.

Williams’ first book, Boy Without Instructions: Surviving the Learning Curve of Parenting a Child with ADHD, will be available June 1, 2014. Look for her second book, What to Exp...

5 Strategies to Mitigate ADHD’s Effect on Family

Recognize the ADHD Effect on Family

So often, parents of a child with ADHD are consumed by their child’s disability and special needs, and forget about themselves and the rest of the family. It’s a crucial mistake that can cost you and your loved ones dearly, and affect your child with ADHD as well. ADHD affects the entire family, and that must be acknowledged and treated as well.

In our home, we have myself, my husband, Mr. T (who is also my children’s father), my daughter (14), and Ricochet,...

Your child might have ADHD

The other night I was laying in bed wide awake (thinking about Ricochet, my son with ADHD, of course) and this litany of silly signs that your child may have ADHD started buzzing through my head. Once one idea came, I focused on it and a list quickly emerged. This is meant to be humorous (read it like Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might be a Redneck” shtick), but I bet you can relate. What on this list has happened in your family too?

If you still have a baby monitor in your child’s room when they are...

Top 10 Strategies for Successfully Raising a Child with ADHD

When my son was diagnosed with ADHD Thanksgiving week 2008, I was thrust into a new parenthood I knew nothing about. I spent countless hours over several years learning all I could about ADHD from as many different sources as possible. I also spent a great deal of effort getting to know my son’s intricacies, so I could tailor a parenting plan that would be successful for our family, despite ADHD. Here are the top 10 strategies I compiled over the last five years.

Top 10 for Raising a Child wit...

ADHD Meltdowns: Waiting for the Storm to Pass

Meltdowns seem to be the perfect storm of all things we can’t control. Frustration, emotional over-sensitivity, circumstances outside our control, and a brain malfunction all come together at one time to create a super-storm we can’t stop, any more than we can stop a tornado.

ADHD meltdowns have become common occurrence

I’m afraid ADHD meltdowns have been far too common in our family as of late. I’ve been able to link their increase to a new medication and stop it at once, but the scars of thes...

The ADHD medication roller coaster

Ricochet had to change ADHD medication a few weeks agofor the umpteenth time since his diagnosis over five years ago. Sadly, it’s turning out about as badly as I expected it would. My kiddo is extremely sensitive to medications (and vitamins and supplements). New medication days are tough in our house, because history has taught us we must brace ourselves for the worst. This change was no exception.

A month ago, Ricochet was taking a stimulant for ADHD coupled with an old flu medication someti...

Maintaining composure in the face of parenting a child with ADHD

ADHD is unpredictable

The most difficult part of parenting a child with ADHD, for me, is the unpredictability. My son might be calm as a cucumber one day and then blazing his trail like he literally has a colony of fire ants in his pants the very next. This lack of predictability makes it most difficult to parent consistently and calmly, the two pillars of parenting a child with ADHD.

It’s difficult to plan without predictability. Take our trip to the grocery store yesterday for example. For at...

Cover Reveal: Boy Without Instructions, Parenting ADHD

I have been working obsessively on the cover for Boy Without Instructions: Surviving the Learning Curve of Parenting a Child with ADHD for many weeks now. The cover is second-most important only to the actual content of the book. It can mean the difference between silently failing or commanding the appropriate attention to succeed. That is a lot of pressure!

I actually settled on a different cover than this originally. I told the designer to finalize it on a Friday. By Monday, I had mocked up...