early childhood of Kid Rock

Agree, agree, agree, MOMOF8!!! I thought the same thing about my daughter. The Speech person at the school told me my daughter might be ADD-inattention--I resisted it for 2 years. It couldn't be. I can fix it.
2 years lost. When we finally got things straightened out, the Speech person reminded me about our previous conversation. I told her I was not ready to hear it at the time...and sometimes that is true.
Also, I have seen many kids 'outgrow' the meds. Take it day by day. That is all any of us can do :)

Bonnie, I agree wholeheartedly with Val. My kids are all adopted from foster care and so we have a hodge-podge of diagnoses and several have ADHD in addition to the trauma-induced diagnoses. I've found that once you find the right medication and the kids can focus, that's when you have an avenue into their brains to start working on some of the behaviors. We've been able to get some awesome "skills" workers who come into the home and help teach the kids to monitor their own behaviors, work on impulse control, planning ahead, breaking homework down into manageable chunks--skills that they can learn once you slow them down enough to be able to learn! I don't know where you live, but here the workers have all been covered by health insurance with no out of pocket charges to me. And bless you all who work in the animal shelters! Like my kids, most of my pets are second-hand and my hat's off to all of you who nurse them back to health when they come in off the streets. We have had some of the most lovable dogs come to us through rescue agencies. They are very therapeutic for us because we can talk about the neglect and trauma the animal has suffered and how he/she is overcoming a difficult past when we are REALLY talking about the kids. It makes it less threatening for the kids so we tend to have lots and lots of animals around. Anyway, I digress. As far as your son goes, sometimes you just have to look past the behavior and look for the intentions of his heart. Somewhere I have a list with lots of famous people who have ADHD. The one that comes to mind first is Robin Williams. His mama must have pulled her hair out trying to raise him!

He needs discipline. Medication covers the problem, the rod fixes it.

Hi Bonnie,
I can't speak for KR's childhood, but I have worked with kids with special needs, including ADHD. Is your son on any medication currently? It could help him focus in school. A child who has ADHD suffers from inattention; subsequently, his/her brain works 5 times harder than a normal child's brain (think of a ball bouncing back and forth all over the place.) It's a neurological condition, unfortunately which results sometimes in negative bahavior. Many ppl do not understand or know that; they just see the undesireable behavior.
Please make sure your son knows that your home is a safe place, and that he can always count on you. Everyone else is likely giving him negative feedback. You have to be his advocate both in school and out. He may need the school to draw up an IEP, which is an individualized education plan that will give your son special considerations in the classroom (altho you haven't mentioned grades are an issue; they can be, so if so, this would help.)
I don't have research-based fact on this, but have noticed that many creative ppl have suffered from this condition (including my daughter.) Luckily, their creativity can produce a much-needed outlet for what they are going thru. Encourage your son to take classes or somehow express his creative side.
Good luck!