Dealing With ADHD

It took several years for me to admit we may be dealing with ADHD with our son.  I remember when he was just two years old, his doctor asked me if he had been tested.  My thoughts were this:

• They just want to label my child.
• They just want to medicate him and send him on his way.
• He is a smart boy, just active and healthy.
• He can sit and read for an hour or watch a movie just fine, he couldn't possibly have ADHD.

• I know that I am right.

How wrong I was.  Because I refused to believe it and did not have him tested, he struggled through three years of school and began to be labeled by teachers around him as "the naughty kid."  When I say struggled, I mean behaviorally.  He has always been very smart, but I did not realize how hard it must have been for him to even complete the things that he had completed.  ADHD children often spend long periods of time completing the things that they enjoy. 

Thanks to his 3rd grade teacher this year and a new pediatrician,  we are now aware.  I must say that were it not for the teacher being proactive and emailing me about the behaviors, we very well could've cruised on through this school year again not knowing anything.

Here are the symptoms that we could see:

• He was losing everything.  Even papers that his teacher gave him at the end of the day to bring home.
• Inability to sit and listen without interrupting.
• Being kicked out of Children's Church because of his inability to sit and listen without rudely interrupting.
• Being kicked out of class at school as well for the same reasons.
• Having to be asked to do something three or four times before he would begin that something, and then not being able to complete it without constant reminders.

 By the time I really understood how this could potentially affect his future and how hard it was to struggle in this way, some damage had been done.  I'm sure he had been feeling exhausted and knew that in most situations he could count on getting in trouble. This is so sad!  I do not want to limit my baby in any way.

His doctor suggested that he be treated with medication until his early 30s.  ADHD adults tend to self medicate with alcohol and or drugs.  Especially when the patient has a family history of substance abuse. (Unfortunately that is the case with his bio father's side of the family.)

I can tell you that YES it was scary to medicate my child.  Only because I read the long list of side effects.  I was not sure what to expect, and because there are so many different treatments, we wouldn't know for a couple of weeks how he would respond.  We started with the bare minimum. The result was a boy who said he felt "calm and boring."  (Focused) For the first time, I asked him to do something simple and he actually did it.  The teacher emails stopped.  He continued to move forward in school work and exceeded the math and reading levels by several grades.  He is no longer "the naughty kid."

I want to share this with you because it is important to me!  Our kids deserve to be given the best opportunities that they can get, and being aware of the problem is very important. 
I feel terrible that he had to spend all of that time losing self esteem.  No more.

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥