I have a child with an attention problem myself, though my son isn't hyperactive so I know what you are going through to some extent. There is such a stigma on ADD/ADHD and on the medications as a whole that many parents are looking for solutions that don't use medication. The good news is that there are non-drug solutions. The newest option on the market is a headset that interfaces with computer programs. Your son can wear the headset while playing games and the headset picks up certain brain activity and moves the game pieces based on how well he is staying attuned to the game and the situation. When he gets distracted, the game doesn't work as well, when he focuses well, the game works better. The most recent studies are showing that with as few as 40 "treatments" with the headsets, many kids are able to rewire more attentive brain pathways and actually "cure" the attention problems! My son uses a device called an attention trainer, though the company has since gone belly up. There is a new company on the market selling the headsets and programs called PlayAttention. You can buy them for home use, or find a psychologist that has one for clinical use. Right now the unit is going for about $1800 but if you consider what you'd save over time in medication, it's pretty cheap!!

It is also helpful to understand that ADD/ADHD isn't so much a disorder as it is a style of thinking/reacting. It's often called the hunter brain because this mindset is ideal for someone who hunts for a living. Attentive to every small sound and movement to stay safe, but also able to hyper focus and "zoom in" on prey, be it a wildebeest or a game boy! The opposite style is referred to as a farmer brain because those folks have a way of thinking that is more attuned to long term planning, and staying on target for long, sometimes dull tasks like pulling up carrots! Schools are set up to teach the farmer brained kids. They can sit still, they can think more long term, and they don't fidget or daydream. In comparison kids with those hunter brains are all over the place. They are more tactile and kinetic, they need to move around and touch and feel things, and they don't always get the social cues from other people. It's not that they are bad or wrong, they are just in an environment geared toward differently able people! If you were to living a house built for someone in a wheelchair you'd find yourself often having problems. The toilet is too high and the counters are too low! The ramp is so long and time consuming compared to stairs! Are you handicapped? Not really but you are in comparison to the situation! Kids with ADHD/ADD are the same way. Given an environment that takes into account their strengths and weaknesses, they can thrive! Sadly, most schools are not that place. If your son was diagnosed before the school year ended, you've probably already started the student support team process in the school. If you have not, ask to start it when the school year starts. Talk to the teacher and brainstorm ways that the school can bend a bit to accommodate your son. My son had a portable CD player and can wear his headphones and listen to classical music during study time or quiet time. The added sounds help him stay still and on task! He doesn't have timed tests because the timer makes him really anxious and he does worse than if he's just handed the test and asked to complete it. He's allowed to have mechanical pencils because he can get a bit nutty over the quality of the point of his pencil and will get up to sharpen a regular pencil many times a day. Little things like that made a lot of difference in how well he did during the day and how much he enjoyed school last year. Your son's teacher may have some suggestions as well. There is some great information in the publication "Advocating for your Child's Education" on the whole SST/IEP world at the Georgia Advocacy Website. IEP rules are federal so while this is a GA group, the rules are the same all over! If you can help alter the school environment to be little more hunter friendly, he may do much better in school!

Taking a similar position at home can help get chores done and dinner eaten. Set a timer for 5 minutes and have a race to see who can gather the most toys to put away. Then set it again and race around for laundry. Get him a basketball hoop to put over his laundry hamper so he can slam-dunk his t-shirts. Long before ADHD had a name, my pediatrician told my mother to send my brother outside to run around the house 3 times when he started misbehaving! It would get the wiggles out and burn off the energy that was making him a little crazy inside. If he can't sit still at the dinner table, try putting a little no-slip rug mat on his chair so he feels more "stuck" to it and less likely to slide all over. If he likes to tip the chairs back, hit the school store for some no-tip plastic school chairs with wide bases that will curb the dinnertime gymnastics show or simply allow him to stand by the table and eat, so long as he eats and behaves in all other ways. It's trial and error to find the little tricks that work with your son but be open to breaking some rules and trying some out of the ordinary things! Also, there is an awesome book written for kids with ADHD called "Learning to slow down and pay attention" that I will post on the recommends page. My son really loves it and will often bring it to me to discuss some tidbit he read or contest some rule I made because the book explains a better way to do it! It's really helped him to be proactive in his situation!