I Had to Start Somewhere!

        For the last eight years I have been dealing with a son who has ADHD. If you don't know what that stands for, GOOGLE it! I think I have kept the hair color inventors in business just to cover up all of the grays I have gotten over those years. Don't get me wrong, I love my son but each year has come with it's own challenges. So why this blog, why now? Because if I don't write about it, I will explode! Literally, I will spontaneously combust!


        Let's go back to fourth grade. He was a cutie! Who could resist that face? That year the principal informed me that she had a new fourth grade teacher who was very creative. She felt Drew would do well in that teacher's class. A few weeks into the school year, his teacher informed me that he was not completing his assignments. he was not focused. Before I knew it, she was sending home homework on the weekend. Any assignment he didn't complete. Are you kidding me? My fourth-grader was doing homework on the weekends?!? (This is probably a good time to mention that I was a junior high teacher.)


        I was going crazy! I worked all day and then more at night trying to get him caught up. I could tell he would get exhausted. My weekends were no fun with the family. For the two of us, it had become a nightmare. Sure, I contacted the teacher but never really got any results. By this time, we felt we must test him for being ADD or ADHD. Meanwhile, we inquired of the school about a 504 Plan. This would be a plan placed in his file for accommodations. The assistant principal said she would need a diagnosis from a psychologist saying that my son had some sort of focus disorder. Then when we finally got him seen, over several weeks, we were told that the tech people had to come download the software for them to use the 504 software. So my husband and I decided to have him pulled from the class and placed in another fourth-grade teacher's class.


        This new teacher was more old school but she was awesome. She had students like my son before and knew how to handle them. Unlike his previous new teacher, this teacher had more experience. We were fortunate that she leaped with the students in fifth grade and remained his teacher. She provided the structure that my son needed and the understanding as well.


        What do you think? Do you have a young child like my son? Well, maybe you were like me and had an important decision to make...should we put him on ADHD medication? I will tell you about that decision in my next post. Until then, if you have an ADHD kid, you are most certainly NOT ALONE. There is hope...please remind me of this when he and I have our next bad day!