New here and a question

[garthoid]

Hello,

I found this site based on a google search. So I thought I would join.

I have two sons, one with mild ADHD and the older one with a learning disability.

In the case of ADHD this only appears to be an issue if his teacher is incompetent. Its seems only the teachers that are drooling seem to have an issue. Most, do not. As a result we switched schools and had a better and happier child. But he is not my major concern.

In the case of the son with a learning disability he clearly has Dyscalculia, there is Dyspraxia, and a very mild diagnosis of autism. The psych had a hard time deciding. However his work ethic, drive, and attitude make up for everything. His passion is drawing in which he has won cash awards for his work. We eat organic, supplement, probiotic, and EFA.

However I have an observation which I need to ask about and I am not sure which forum to ask it in.

My question is this: His tutor, and all of us, have noticed that he is "ON" (meaning brain processing is good) when its very cold. We live in Canada and when the temperature dips to -35C his brain appears to work better. When we return to a more average winter temperature we regress to the original state. Is anyone aware of this type of situation?

[bros]

Might I suggest with the ADHD son, that a better way to phrase it might be the method of instruction that the teacher uses, or perhaps your son's learning style?

Unless of course the teachers are not adhering to the IEPs, then they might just be drooling idiots who want lawyers on them.

I would suggest taking the older one to a neuropsychologist & a neurologist if this is the case. It sounds very unusual and may indicate other issues - and if the psychologist/psychiatrist is unsure as to what the actual diagnoses would be (which is what it sounds like from "they had a hard time deciding"), a neuropsychological evaluation would be in order. A neurological evaluation would be good because there could be something very odd going on neurologically. Does he have any sensory issues?

[healthy11]

garthoid, I'd like to welcome you to Millermom's forum. We have members from across the globe, including Canada, Australia, the U.K., and elsewhere, although the majority are from the U.S. While our diverse locations make some of the legal discussions more confusing, we all share common goals of wanting to help our children with learning and attentional issues to reach their maximum potentials. I have a son, now in his 20's, who was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia when in elementary school, so I understand what you've mentioned, especially about certain teachers magnifying ADHD issues.

Can I ask how old your sons are? I'm guessing your son with the temperature sensitivity may be in his teen years, since you say he has a passion for drawing and has already won cash awards for his work. Has he gone through puberty yet? Has his performance change in cooler weather been noticeable in prior years, or is it something you're just seeing for the first time? Hormones can wreak havoc on both girls and boys, and I can't help but wonder if that might be a contributing factor? www.livestrong.com/article/305581-hot-flushes-in-teenagers/ says low testosterone levels can cause hot flashes in young males, so perhaps your son feels more comfortable and is better able to concentrate in cooler temperatures. It could be a good idea to speak to his regular doctor/pediatrician about it.

Although I'm doubting your son has the same condition, I do have an adult friend who's been unable to work in a conventional job for a number of years, having become more and more sensitive to warm temperatures as he's gotten older. He gets headaches and becomes sweaty and can't think clearly when temperatures exceed 60 degrees F; he actually does have a part-time job driving a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine, since he feels best in a cold environment. He also regularly utilizes a type of cryo-helmet that circulates ice water to reduce headache symptoms. My friend knows when he's not functioning well; I wonder if your son is aware of any difference in his focus and performance when it's warm versus cold?

[eoffg]

Hi Garthoid and welcome to the forum,

Something that you could do, is to take his temperature when his brain isn't "ON".
As the Thyroid gland tightly regulates temperature, between 97.7 and 99.5 F (36.5 and 37.5 C).

So that it would be interesting to see whether his thyroid gland is effectively keeping his temperature under 99.5 when it is warmer?
As mental confusion and fatigue, is a symptom of when it goes above 99.5.

[garthoid]

@bro Thanks for responding. I would completely agree. My son has a "hunter" personality which explains his prowess on the tennis court. I recall reading a bio on Roger Federer - same learning personality. I find as he matures his focus has improved but this is a continual process. He does have an IEP and most teachers follow it. Before we moved schools his teacher who recommended "medication" was out of her depth. Upon volunteering in the class I realized he was not the problem. A school move was the correct decision and had amazing results. In the case of older son we had a neuropsychological evaluation which provided no useful information or path. We felt poorly served in this regard. In addition we have looked at Neurofeedback which has provided limited results in our case but the EEG was very interesting.

@healthy Thanks for the welcome. My sons are 13 (mild-ADHD) and 16 (Learning disability). In the case of the 16 year old we have noticed a temperature sensitivity from a young age. He has always stated since about 6 that he likes the cold(which made me think that he was lucky to born here :-). We have noticed this temperature effect but not as starkly as now. The fact that we have had an abnormally mild winter until last week has perhaps shown the effect more dramatically. I read that hot flashes article which is something we will investigate - he has not complained about it but he is not a complainer. Thank you for mentioning the cryo-helmet. Do you have any information on it? The reason I ask is that I *think* the issue is related to sleep. I believe he sleeps better in a cold environment and that is directly related to his brain performance since he is not sleep deprived. It may also relate to the ability to maintain REM sleep for long enough for his brain to regenerate. If he could sleep with brain cooling then I am curious as to what the result would be. My son is aware of his performance differences and he does correlate it to temperature but more to sleep.

eoffg. Thanks for this suggestion. Hypothyroidism is in the family (his Grandfather and I have it). I will start taking daily regular temperatures (morning and evening) and some comment from him as to what he thinks his brain processing is at the time.

Thanks to all for the warm welcome and thanks for the questions and suggestions.

[garthoid]

One other observation I would like to add is that I believe his brain consumes a vast amount of energy, perhaps abnormally. He often feels exhausted after working with the tutor. Perhaps sleep/stores of energy are depleted and cannot supply the brain (since its working harder than normal). This may also have a correlation with sleep deprivation.

Any thoughts?

[healthy11]

I don't know if this is the specific brand that my friend uses, but I saw items such as iceyourhead.com/cryohelmet/ and a google search for "cryotherapy sleep" yielded some interesting articles, such as wholebody-cryotherapy.com/en/indications-for-wbc/primary-insomnia.html

With regards to your son feeling exhausted after working with a tutor, my son with ADHD/LDs was the same way. Focusing is hard work! My son has a fast metabolism, and eats a lot, and often, compared to many kids/young adults. He's 6 ft. tall and weights around 140 lbs. I would often notice my son being moody/irritable when coming home from school, but he'd perk up after eating a snack; he was tested for hypoglycemia and found to be "borderline." www.hormone.org/questions-and-answers/2013/nondiabetic-hypoglycemia Now it's just "a given" that my son nibbles throughout the day. I don't know if your son can correlate his attention to eating, as well, but it might be worthwhile trying to see how he does with a glass of juice or some other snack prior to his tutoring sessions.

[garthoid]

@health11 Thanks for the info. Will check out the cryo-helmet.

[michellea]

Welcome, garthoid,
I have never heard anything about how temperature might affect brain activity - but it is a very interesting question!

Regarding the total exhaustion after working with a tutor - as Healthy says - not surprising. In a one on one situation there is very little down time and the student is most likely working hard, concentrating and addressing areas that are more complex, difficult or new. Plenty of reason to tire. Plus, if the tutoring happens at the end of a school day, the student may already be a bit fried from the day. Finally, at the end of the day, if ADHD meds are wearing off, there is yet another contributor to fatigue.

Eating, exercising, washing face with cold water are all strategies my son uses to self regulate - maybe these would help your son too.

Again, welcome to the board.

[garthoid]

Thank you Michellea,

As an update we just received our cryo-helmet. We are trying it for an hour before bed on our LD son to see how it goes.

Regarding our ADHD son we avoided meds. We investigated and the side effects terrified us for a condition that we do not consider severe and more a learning/ teaching style. I don't rule out meds altogether since there are severe enough symptoms that warrant, just not us. One think that he does which we think has helped is Drama. He takes weekly drama classes, loves it, and I think they have been a major positive force in his life.

[bros]

You can always try out the meds and then if there any any side effects, just take him off.

[garthoid]

I really do not want to get into a pro/anti med debate since I am in neither camp. We felt that his case was not so severe that it required meds. In the right environment he excels and in retrospect we feel we made the correct decision.

[healthy11]

Garthoid, you are fortunate to have found the type of environment where your son can excel. My husband and I switched our son to different schools when he was younger, hoping that a smaller classroom setting with more "hands on" learning would eliminate his difficulties, and while things improved, we knew our son was still not meeting his maximum potential. I'm sure most parents would avoid medications if their children were able to thrive and reach their full capabilities without them, but in many cases, the students/young adults find themselves in school/work/social situations/outside environments that they have no control over.

For the benefit of parents who may be reading this discussion thread, but are not comfortable posting, it's important to recognize that ADHD is a medical condition which numerous studies relate to the brain's dopamine receptor system. Similar to children with diabetes, a child with ADHD may not be able to control the symptoms with changes in behavior or food habits alone...some diabetics can adhere to strict diets, and still require insulin on top of that; some children with ADHD can be helped by watching what they eat, structure and external supports, but they also benefit from medication. ADHD medications don't help everyone, but it is important to keep an open mind and think of meds as another option to try in one's "toolbox." The best parents, instructors, and tutors in the world, using the best methodologies, will still not be as effective if a child is unable to pay attention and focus on what they're trying to teach.

[garthoid]

Healthy11, I completely agree with everything you say. In fact I wish I could express it as well as you have. Your clarification is important as I am sure some will read my specific situation and attempt to relate it to their own case. I consider ourselves very lucky in that our son is not an "hard" case (I say that because, at least from a teacher perspective his ADHD is subjective). The only thing I would add is that the toolbox approach to me means that the whole range to tools need to be investigated and understood, from environment(home and school) and diet to meds and mindfull-ness.

We have got the cap now for our older (non-adhd) son and coincidentally its -35C again. Also looking at stress as a factor since we in a stressful period in the school term.

[healthy11]

Garthoid, please do let us know if you feel the cryo-helmet is helpful for your thermally-sensitive son.
(I actually wish I'd known about it earlier, as my son had a bicycle accident and concussion a few years ago. They seem to say it's now becoming a more widely accepted method of treatment in hospitals, etc. for head injuries, but they didn't mention or use anything like it at the time.)

[shawbridge]

garthoid, I don't know about cryo-helmets. I have two kids -- the younger ADHD/anxiety and the older severe dyslexia and probably a bunch of other stuff as well (speech delay). The older one found reading and writing physically painful until 10th grade. He runs hot also (we live in the US but my wife is Canadian and we have a house there). Anyway, he was truly exhausted almost every day but pushed and pushed. The good news -- he was got into an elite college, did very well, started a company, entered an elite grad school (where he is now exhausted from working to his physical limits). The real trick was teaching him: a) to negotiate to align the conditions to match his needs; b) play to his strengths rather than try to fix his weaknesses, especially after high school; and c) attend a college with few requirements and lots of curricular flexibility. The younger is also doing very well after she found her path -- started college in Canada, transferred to the US, finished college in 3.5 years and is in grad school right now. Also, document, document, document with tests as both kids needed a) accommodations for SATs/ACTs; b) accommodations for HS and college and grad school classes.

[garthoid]

Wow. Awesome story. Thanks for sharing it Shawbridge. It must be an incredible relief to have both of your children find their path after what must have been a few years of angst.

Just to clarify in my own mind we have these similarities:

- run hot
- exhausted
- pushes - meaning he has correct attitude and never gives up. Indomitable spirit.

Curricular flexibility is key. I am 100% in agreement. We are fortunate that our son is in a high school that has that. Technically they are bending the rules but they recognize that he has the correct attitude and because of that they make adjustments.