A.D.D.

After Arden returned to school from spring break (the week Michaelle was visiting), he had a hard time readjusting back to the school routine.  He has struggled with focusing at school and some out of normal class behavior.  At one point he was getting about 1 Thinking Time at school a day.  Newel and I have been working with him at home and at school.  I've been asked by several people if he's been tested for ADD/ADHD.  We didn't test him because we were 99% sure he has ADD and some Aspberger symptoms as well.  Also, I didn't want him to be medicated since, sometimes the medication dulls the children and I didn't want Arden to stop being himself...I just wanted him to be able to focus better.  I didn't want to be a mother who took the easy way out, but I was getting worried because this lack of focusing was affecting his self-esteem.

A friend, Danielle, finally explained it to me in a way that it made sense...not as a way out for me, but to help Arden.  She said, "If he had diabetes and was eating the right things and exercising, and still needed insulin, wouldn't you give it to him?" That finally made sense to me. Of course, if he had diabetes and we were doing all we could to help him stay healthy and he still needed insulin, I would totally give it to him.  We have been doing all that we can to help him focus, yet he still struggles...why not give him the medicine.

I finally set up an appointment with his pediatrician in May and yes he has ADD...no surprise there and is one point away from ADHD...and has some autism tendencies.  She suggested for Arden to see a psychiatrist specialized in children and autism...I think we'll wait for a while before we set up that appointment. I'm postponing it not because I don't want to want to face reality...I'm postponing it because when children have ADD, they are so distracted, they don't learn simple social skills. So I figured, we'll work on the ADD for a while and worry about the autism later.  I know when we explain behavior or other things in a way that makes sense to him, he reacts better and can change his behavior. Just from the beginning of this school year, we have been able to see significant improvement.

Arden is on the lowest dose possible for his age and weight.  On the first day I gave him his medicine, I cut the pill in half and only gave him half of the pill...to see if he just needed a quick start.  Not even three hours later he called me from school and said, "Mommy, tomorrow you have to give me the whole thing because this isn't working."  I laughed and told him I would give him the full dose next time. So the following day, I gave him the entire pill and he came home with no work from school. He was able to play instead of doing school work.  When Newel and I asked him how did it go with the medicine, he said, " I got my work done and I didn't even need the pill."

The dose is just enough that it hasn't affected his appetite nor his sleep. He can get his work done at school, but can be himself at school and home.  By the time he gets home from school the medication has worn off, but that's fine because he has completed his work at school.

On Saturdays, Arden usually writes an essay for us to help him improve his handwriting and his writing skills, since he has fallen behind in those skills.  One Saturday, we had him write his essay with no help from the medicine...It was a long morning and his essay was all over the place...It was like pulling teeth. But we were not convinced if the medicine would really help him...it was the end of the school year and it had been several weeks of fun and crazy activities at school...so we were not sure if the medication was working.

The following Saturday we gave him a pill and was able to follow the outline of his essay we had worked on Friday and he even wrote extra sentences, not just the minimum. We could clearly notice the difference.
ADD is at its peak when children are around age 7...which explains a lot about this year.  As time goes by, he might not even need the medication...For now we only give it to him when he needs to do something that will require concentration...like writing essays.  I'm glad he has that little extra help and he's feeling better about himself.