Ask HN: My 12 year-old nephew just got diagnosed with ADHD, any advice?

Reading your entire comment, but especially this sentence makes my blood boil.

None of this is backed up by science and you provide no sources.

This is the equivalent to flat earthers explaining how the universe works or anti-vaxxers how thoughts cure disease.

The OPPOSITE is true: Medication, especially given during age when neuroplasticity is still high can have the best long term effects on neurological development and avoid many adverse life effects normally associated with untreated ADHD such as substance abuse and risky behavior.

Sources:

https://www.additudemag.com/long-term-effects-of-adhd-medica...

https://childmind.org/article/will-adhd-medication-change-my...

And about a dozen more if you google for 10 minutes.

All typical medication used for treating ADHD has been around for decades with mountains of clinical data.

Be very wary of ADHD diagnosis, The consequences are huge and have a massive impact on childrens lives.

I hate all ADHD diagnoses, for me I have always seen just naughty children who need time to develop at their own pace and not develop at someone else's pace or for the benefit of any school cariculum or parental needs.

Do not give any child medication to control ADHD, why would you give an amphetamine to any child

I have had this a few times working with children and I have always suggested looking into Dyslexia.

you say "he is good at math but would often misread the problems and answer the wrong question".

This for me is Dyslexia.

how can a child concentrate when he cannot understand what is in the books he is supposed to be able to read.

The child inevitably becomes disruptive so they are not shamed by adults or their peers for being stupid.

call a psychologist and have a Dyslexia test

Thats why their are different prescribing protocols for adults and children and why pregnant women do not take any drugs because they can damage the developing fetal brain.

Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to reorganize and modify its neural connections in response to environmental stimuli, experience, learning, injury, and disease processes. NOT taking while DRUGS,

Neuroplasticity refers to changes in brain structure and function throughout the entire lifespan of a human being.

damage the brain when a child is young and it is damaged for life.

- we start the diagnosis process because he was very depressed as being bad at school, everything was hard, while there was no need.

- meds are fantastic, they let all his qualities shine. They do require some experimentation at the beginning. At the beginning I was not at ease with giving him meds, but it turns out there's no lasting effect, and the difference is night and day. Depending on the severity, meds are not mandatory when he will be adult

- ADHD people often have issues with handling emotions, that's why he sees a psychologist (avoid psychoanalysts at all costs, they cause so much damage) twice a month, to help him process, vent and learn how to manage them. That part is slow to improve but that's normal.

- if we hadn't done the process by ourselves, school wouldn't have detected it because it wasn't so explicit,and there's a lot of misconceptions. I strongly suggest reading books/blogs, to have the correct words to describe what kind of ADHD your nephew has. He needs to understand it too, that his brain needs glasses, it's nothing to be ashamed of (even if it's not easy)

- I really like this short book : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35888681-my-brain-needs-...

- you will have to monitor teachers and school, because some will be downright abusive, or will ignore your nephew 's disability. Others will be great of course, but school in general has troubles adapting...

- tools and methods will help a lot, actively experiment to find out what works and alleviate your nephew specific issues (attention? Excitation? Time blindness? Social interactions? Etc)

- sleep is key, melatonin is great

To finish, ADHD is not easy everyday (especially in normative contexts like school), but as others hinted it is also a strength, with lots of great qualities and intense emotions.