Thursday, August 06, 2009

Caffeine Experiment

So, you know how kids with ADHD are given stimulant medications to improve their attention? Well, I decided that I would try a little 'holistic' experiment. Completely unscientific, you understand, but not totally off the mark.

My theory is as follows:

Can't physically sit still, even with bribery or by playing the 'statue' game=ADHD
ADHD(sometimes =) stimulant medication
Stimulant=Caffeine
Caffeine=Dark chocolate covered espresso beans (20 of them to be precise)

Beans ready to go - there were 20 to start (a serving size was 22)
Eating the beans - some encouragement to eat more than one at a time in less than 30 minutes. he savored every last bite.
Delicious -- note the chocolate drool, so tasty

Results:

Well, I would have to say, I was prepared for the worst - like it would not work at all, he'd be so hyper we'd have to get the ladder down to remove him from the chandelier (that he was playing with during lunch - aughh). I might even go as far as to say that he was notably calmer. I would definitely try again to determine test-retest reliability.

Discussion:
No actual determination of how much caffeine was consumed leads to difficulty with retest opportunities. I doubt he'd go for a cup of coffee with breakfast. Actually, I take that back, he is strange like that - such as oral sensory kiddo - loves lemons, limes, sour, spicy, sweet, and crunchy, so perhaps he'd like strong bitter coffee???

*Note: THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!! No actual research was performed. I don't know that I would even recommend doing this to anyone else's child, unless they were as sleep deprived and impatient as I was today.

3 comments:

Melissa Haworth said...

written like a true OT

ga mommy said...

i may have to turn you in to cps

Anonymous said...

Well, it's quite obvious you still have a lot to learn about ADHD.
You eat the expresso beans and give him jelly beans.