It's no wonder I'm so exhausted by 7am. Every morning I wake up at 6am and come down to let the dogs out. I make my coffee and J's breakfast shake, and put food out for the dogs. By this time J is up and sitting at the table... hopefully. Often however, she is sitting on the floor in the bathroom playing with a piece of lint and I have to remind her what she is supposed to be doing.
By the time I coax J away from the three hundred things that distract her in the ten feet between her bedroom to the dining room table, R is yelling from his bedroom letting me know he is awake. He walks out of his bedroom and announces he wants cereal, knowing full and well that I am going to send him to my room to watch cartoons until I get J on the bus. A small tantrum never fails to occur, even though we started this "routine" to avoid further distractions for J five months ago.
Once I get back to the dining room after getting R settled in J has likely slipped out of her chair and is chasing the cat, or something else equally NON-productive at getting ready for school. I sit with her at the table, reminding her of whatever time she has left to get ready for school.... fifteen-twenty minutes usually and we still have to get dressed, brush our hair and teeth, get socks and shoes and whatever seasonal outer-clothing is necessary for the day. Out of all of these items needed to gather, at least two are not where they should be and have to be looked for. J's idea of "looking" for things is either following me while I look, or wandering around the house not actually looking, although she'd beg to differ.
Usually by about five till 7 I've lost my patience and am barking orders like a pissed off General. J has been "grounded" to the couch until her bus gets here, and I'm sitting right next to her, watching out the window for the lights of the bus coming down the dirt road. I'm frustrated, sweaty, and worst of all; my coffee is cold.
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
"But I don't WANT to go to JAIL!"
Impulsivity. According to the red squiggly line under the word, it's apparently not seen as a real word, but I disagree so I'm going to leave it.
I think that may be part of the problem we are having with J and stealing. She can't control her impulses, and has a hard time understanding cause and effect. I googled "ADHD and Stealing" and it came up with dozens of parents expressing the same issues with their ADHD children. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not trying to give my kid excuses for every poor choice she makes in her life. I assure you that stealing, along with so many other crappy decisions I expect she'll make throughout her childhood, will NOT be tolerated regardless of any excuse she might seem to have to make said choices. To prove this, after I caught her stuffing keychains into her coat pocket at Walgreens this afternoon, I drove little miss J to the police station in order to let a police officer speak with her about stealing. This is kind of a "last resort" effort after the countless times I've grounded her to her room, forced her to walk back into the store and hand the stolen item to a checker and apologize, sat down with her and just talked with her about the consequences she might face, and even trying to put her in the "victim's" shoes by asking her how she would feel if someone broke into our house and stole all our stuff. None of these tactics have worked so it was time to take things a step further!
J cried the entire way from Walgreens to the police station, with responses like, "I don't WANT to go to JAIL! I don't want to be away from you!" my favorite was, "but I will starve because they have yucky food in jail!" I am still not clear about how she determined that their food is gross (although I have no doubt she's probably right!) but it certainly was funny the way her mind went! Once we got there, we ended up waiting in the lobby for over a half hour which effectively took a lot of the "punch" out of the whole thing, but I stuck it out and waited because had we decided to leave, I think that probably would have taught her the opposite of what I was going for. Once the officer finally came out to speak with us, he explained to her that if she kept stealing that she would be taken from me and be forced to live somewhere else with other "bad kids." I honestly didn't really LIKE him referring to any child as a "bad kid" because we've always taught her that there aren't really bad PEOPLE, but bad CHOICES... but I suppose if the technique gets her to stop stealing.... whatever.
I sincerely HOPE that this radical choice I made to try to give my five year old a bit of "tough love" works. I don't want her to fear the police, and think they are out to get her, but I do want her to be aware that there are consequences to actions and that I may not always be there to help her out of any mess she may get herself in to as she grows up.
I think that may be part of the problem we are having with J and stealing. She can't control her impulses, and has a hard time understanding cause and effect. I googled "ADHD and Stealing" and it came up with dozens of parents expressing the same issues with their ADHD children. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not trying to give my kid excuses for every poor choice she makes in her life. I assure you that stealing, along with so many other crappy decisions I expect she'll make throughout her childhood, will NOT be tolerated regardless of any excuse she might seem to have to make said choices. To prove this, after I caught her stuffing keychains into her coat pocket at Walgreens this afternoon, I drove little miss J to the police station in order to let a police officer speak with her about stealing. This is kind of a "last resort" effort after the countless times I've grounded her to her room, forced her to walk back into the store and hand the stolen item to a checker and apologize, sat down with her and just talked with her about the consequences she might face, and even trying to put her in the "victim's" shoes by asking her how she would feel if someone broke into our house and stole all our stuff. None of these tactics have worked so it was time to take things a step further!
J cried the entire way from Walgreens to the police station, with responses like, "I don't WANT to go to JAIL! I don't want to be away from you!" my favorite was, "but I will starve because they have yucky food in jail!" I am still not clear about how she determined that their food is gross (although I have no doubt she's probably right!) but it certainly was funny the way her mind went! Once we got there, we ended up waiting in the lobby for over a half hour which effectively took a lot of the "punch" out of the whole thing, but I stuck it out and waited because had we decided to leave, I think that probably would have taught her the opposite of what I was going for. Once the officer finally came out to speak with us, he explained to her that if she kept stealing that she would be taken from me and be forced to live somewhere else with other "bad kids." I honestly didn't really LIKE him referring to any child as a "bad kid" because we've always taught her that there aren't really bad PEOPLE, but bad CHOICES... but I suppose if the technique gets her to stop stealing.... whatever.
I sincerely HOPE that this radical choice I made to try to give my five year old a bit of "tough love" works. I don't want her to fear the police, and think they are out to get her, but I do want her to be aware that there are consequences to actions and that I may not always be there to help her out of any mess she may get herself in to as she grows up.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
To medicate, or not to medicate...?
I'd been adamantly against medication for over a year now, ever since the possibility of ADHD came to light. Who wants to just hand their four year old a stimulant? She was (still is!) just a BABY! It's weird though, the differences in feelings we have with medications for the mind, compared to medications for physical ailments. It wasn't until our consultation with J's pediatrician and in my response to my eager denial of medicating her he said, "We don't want necessarily want to medicate our children for asthma, but we want them to be able to run the race." Which gave me an "ah ha!" moment:
J was diagnosed with asthma when she was three, and I didn't think twice about administering her a steroid (pulmicort) in order for her to be able to breathe. So what's the difference? I think that because physical ailments can be SEEN as harmful to the self, medication isn't questioned. But we can't SEE the harmful effects mental ailments have on people... maybe we don't even see them as REAL issues that need meds. This is certainly not the case for me though. Almost every person I know, including myself, are on some sort of Anti-anxiety/antidepressant/etc medication. The Husband is on Ritalin himself, and NEEDS the medication to function with some sort of structure. I think my reasoning behind my choice to not medicate her over a year ago was because I really didn't feel that her symptoms were severe enough to justify meds, especially when there are other options out there to try.
Behavior modification/management is a very important technique to incorporate into the life of someone with ADHD with or without the help of medication. This of course includes structure and routine, bu also includes the encouragement of good behavior and appropriate consequences for negative behavior. Sounds like pretty typical parenting doesn't it? You're like, "Duh, these "techniques" are necessary for parenting of ALL children!" Here's a difference: these kids need visuals and a majority of the time a reward system is also necessary. star charts, reminder notes...anything they can see and touch. I have a little confession though: I HATE REWARD SYSTEMS. Why should I have to buy my kid a toy, or give her candy in order for her to behave and do things she should just do because she should, or so that I don't get upset? Well, for J, there's no end result to cleaning her room other than having a clean room, which she could care less about. I've learned though, that a reward doesn't have to be necessarily material for it to work. I'll let J pick what we're going to eat for supper, or pick a movie for movie night. I can live with those types of rewards and not feel like I'm selling out to the "what am I going to GET if I do what you want" (ugh, I REALLY hate that question).
There's also some evidence out there that suggests that diet can make or break ADHD symptoms. There's no question that cutting out SUGAR is beneficial to all children's hyperactivity and should be a no brainer. Foods that encourage brain activity, and productivity can be helpful. Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and complex carbs are all nutrients that are supposed to help with the various symptoms of ADHD.
A few months ago J's sleep habits got worse than ever. She's never been much of a sleeper, began refusing naps at 2 and a half, fought her 8pm bedtime more than most kids, and was up with the sun (sometimes sooner) regardless of what time she went to bed. But in the last few months I question whether she slept much at all. The bags under her eyes, and the many times caught wandering the house at 3 or 4 am. I actually began to worry about her safety, particularly the 4am moment I caught her ON TOP of the refrigerator trying to get into god only knows what. A dear friend suggested I try to give her melatonin to help her sleep. I found some chewables at Wal-Greens and that night was the first time in months I had to wake HER up to get ready for school at 6am. I was sold. There was one night a couple weeks ago I sent her to bed without it (accidentally) and I went up there the next morning to put some folded laundry away and found her castle tent, that was still in the box the night before, completely erected with a little blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal nest inside. This wasn't an untwist-and-pop up tent either, it requires poles.
Now to get to the question I imagine most are wondering... whether I decided to medicate J. I did, only after J's pediatrician assured me that I could stop it whenever I wanted to, without any risk of side affects. I truly hope it's just a temporary thing. We are in the works of getting her a case manager, as well as getting her into play therapy to help with managing her symptoms. Because these other resources are several weeks out before we can incorporate them, and the fact that she is continuing to struggle more and more in school, with her teachers getting more and more worried about her progress... I gave in. We are now in day four and no word as to whether it's beginning to help. I suppose it probably takes a week or so to begin to notice anything though. We shall see!!
J was diagnosed with asthma when she was three, and I didn't think twice about administering her a steroid (pulmicort) in order for her to be able to breathe. So what's the difference? I think that because physical ailments can be SEEN as harmful to the self, medication isn't questioned. But we can't SEE the harmful effects mental ailments have on people... maybe we don't even see them as REAL issues that need meds. This is certainly not the case for me though. Almost every person I know, including myself, are on some sort of Anti-anxiety/antidepressant/etc medication. The Husband is on Ritalin himself, and NEEDS the medication to function with some sort of structure. I think my reasoning behind my choice to not medicate her over a year ago was because I really didn't feel that her symptoms were severe enough to justify meds, especially when there are other options out there to try.
Behavior modification/management is a very important technique to incorporate into the life of someone with ADHD with or without the help of medication. This of course includes structure and routine, bu also includes the encouragement of good behavior and appropriate consequences for negative behavior. Sounds like pretty typical parenting doesn't it? You're like, "Duh, these "techniques" are necessary for parenting of ALL children!" Here's a difference: these kids need visuals and a majority of the time a reward system is also necessary. star charts, reminder notes...anything they can see and touch. I have a little confession though: I HATE REWARD SYSTEMS. Why should I have to buy my kid a toy, or give her candy in order for her to behave and do things she should just do because she should, or so that I don't get upset? Well, for J, there's no end result to cleaning her room other than having a clean room, which she could care less about. I've learned though, that a reward doesn't have to be necessarily material for it to work. I'll let J pick what we're going to eat for supper, or pick a movie for movie night. I can live with those types of rewards and not feel like I'm selling out to the "what am I going to GET if I do what you want" (ugh, I REALLY hate that question).
There's also some evidence out there that suggests that diet can make or break ADHD symptoms. There's no question that cutting out SUGAR is beneficial to all children's hyperactivity and should be a no brainer. Foods that encourage brain activity, and productivity can be helpful. Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and complex carbs are all nutrients that are supposed to help with the various symptoms of ADHD.
A few months ago J's sleep habits got worse than ever. She's never been much of a sleeper, began refusing naps at 2 and a half, fought her 8pm bedtime more than most kids, and was up with the sun (sometimes sooner) regardless of what time she went to bed. But in the last few months I question whether she slept much at all. The bags under her eyes, and the many times caught wandering the house at 3 or 4 am. I actually began to worry about her safety, particularly the 4am moment I caught her ON TOP of the refrigerator trying to get into god only knows what. A dear friend suggested I try to give her melatonin to help her sleep. I found some chewables at Wal-Greens and that night was the first time in months I had to wake HER up to get ready for school at 6am. I was sold. There was one night a couple weeks ago I sent her to bed without it (accidentally) and I went up there the next morning to put some folded laundry away and found her castle tent, that was still in the box the night before, completely erected with a little blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal nest inside. This wasn't an untwist-and-pop up tent either, it requires poles.
Now to get to the question I imagine most are wondering... whether I decided to medicate J. I did, only after J's pediatrician assured me that I could stop it whenever I wanted to, without any risk of side affects. I truly hope it's just a temporary thing. We are in the works of getting her a case manager, as well as getting her into play therapy to help with managing her symptoms. Because these other resources are several weeks out before we can incorporate them, and the fact that she is continuing to struggle more and more in school, with her teachers getting more and more worried about her progress... I gave in. We are now in day four and no word as to whether it's beginning to help. I suppose it probably takes a week or so to begin to notice anything though. We shall see!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Keeping a Routine
All children LOVE routine. In a world filled with uncertainties and full of situations/things they can't control; a routine is something they can count on. People who struggle with ADHD desire and NEED routine all the more. This doesn't just apply to children with ADHD, but adults as well. Our family has a basic routine down during the week, but on the weekends all bets are off. This is not something I'm particularly proud of, I would LOVE to say that we still get up at 6:30-7am, have a pancake and egg breakfast, get dressed, do crafts, lunch, nap, etc, etc, etc.... BUT we do not. First off, this mama likes to SLEEP, and during the week I don't get much. Therefore, I'm guilty of letting the kids stay up an hour or so later (I still go to bed between 10 and 11 because I'm THAT cool), so that they MIGHT sleep until at LEAST 7:30; and if I'm lucky 8am. Secondly, we are often on the go from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Be it church activities, planned activities with friends and family, or spontaneous trips to places where kids and dogs can RUN. Weekends are about family, and fun... NOT ADHD and hair pulling stress. However, the lack of routine creates its own stress issues.
Last summer we went on vacation to New York,and J honestly thought we had moved there. This threw her whole world upside down. Her reaction to this was accidents. Not just a couple here and there, but by our second day there we had her exclusively in diapers. As explained to me; the anxiety and stress she felt because of the lack of familiarity and routine caused her to not even be able to recognize her own internal cues for having to go potty. Her therapist diagnosed her with Daytime Urinalysis.
We had similar issues the previous February shortly after she was moved to a new classroom with a new teacher and new classmates. She would only have accidents there, even happening three times in one afternoon on an occasion. Looking back, it is obvious that this was a reaction to the change in her life. It's just a fairly recent development that we've finally gotten her accidents under control for the most part. But she does have them occasionally when we are doing something out of the ordinary.
I do have a goal to get our lives more organized, weekends included. It's certainly a difficult thing to do though...
One person, trying to organize the lives of four people, three of which minds resemble a 20 gallon tub full of jigsaw pieces.
Last summer we went on vacation to New York,and J honestly thought we had moved there. This threw her whole world upside down. Her reaction to this was accidents. Not just a couple here and there, but by our second day there we had her exclusively in diapers. As explained to me; the anxiety and stress she felt because of the lack of familiarity and routine caused her to not even be able to recognize her own internal cues for having to go potty. Her therapist diagnosed her with Daytime Urinalysis.
We had similar issues the previous February shortly after she was moved to a new classroom with a new teacher and new classmates. She would only have accidents there, even happening three times in one afternoon on an occasion. Looking back, it is obvious that this was a reaction to the change in her life. It's just a fairly recent development that we've finally gotten her accidents under control for the most part. But she does have them occasionally when we are doing something out of the ordinary.
I do have a goal to get our lives more organized, weekends included. It's certainly a difficult thing to do though...
One person, trying to organize the lives of four people, three of which minds resemble a 20 gallon tub full of jigsaw pieces.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The good AND the bad
J is a beautiful, caring, smiley child. There isn't a soul alive she wouldn't give a hug to. She is very attuned to my emotions as well, which can make things difficult at times particularly when I reach "mommy melt down" point. I don't reach that point too often, but when I do it's because both of them have pushed me over the brink. R is three. He's The Husband's son, so the possibility of him being diagnosed with ADHD pretty substantial. At three, and being a boy, he's incredibly active, and to be blunt; pretty much hair pulling CRAZY anyway. Now you get why my URL is ADHD surrounded? Yep, I'm literally SURROUNDED!
But anyway, apparently I just had an ADD moment myself (haha). As I was saying, J is a very emotionally sensitive child. This can be a good trait, because she is incredibly empathetic towards others, and I could totally see her as a special needs provider of some sort one day. But on the flip side, it can be somewhat trying at times because giving consequences to a child who is so emotionally charged can be like trying to sooth a pissed off crocodile.
There are other good traits J possesses that (in my experience, AND research) most people with ADHD seem to have. Creativity. J is quite the artist, and can color in the lines better than I (with my emerging tremor, this is not a difficult task). In general, she is really quite good at ANYTHING that involves abstract thinking. At three, she was the only kid in either of her preschool classes who could complete a 24 piece puzzle. She does 100 piece puzzles with ease these days. It's tasks like these that puts her in "hyperfocus" mode, and it's difficult to pull her away from such tasks before she's done. This has a downside though, because in school these things have time constraints and when it's time to clean up, it's time to clean up... but J will NOT clean up because she is not finished with what she is doing, and therefore will seem to be disobeying. Of course this is exactly what she IS doing, but she's not doing it to be deviant, she's doing it because in this hyperfocus moment, her mind will not allow her to pull away from her task.
J still cannot complete two step directions. Half the time she cannot even complete a one step direction without several prompts (reminders as to what she's supposed to be doing), particularly when there is a lot of distractions. We have been able to eliminate this problem in the mornings by having R watch cartoons in our bedroom in the mornings until J is out the door and on the bus. Unfortunately there is little that can be done to help her in the classroom setting where distractions are as common as nightly glasses of wine I consume to decompress from my days filled with the chaotic madness that is my ADHD surrounded life. Her teacher has her sitting front and center in the classroom, with charts covering her desk to help keep her "organized," as well as a little "shield" like cover that she can put around herself while she does her schoolwork. The shield actually seems to help a bit, and J seems to know it because she's even asked her teacher for it when it hasn't been offered to her. This of course tells us that she desperately WANTS to learn, and listen, and be able to do all the things she "should" be able to do, but her mind will just not allow her to a lot of the time. Things are in the works to hopefully help her to be able to do this. More on that another day....
But anyway, apparently I just had an ADD moment myself (haha). As I was saying, J is a very emotionally sensitive child. This can be a good trait, because she is incredibly empathetic towards others, and I could totally see her as a special needs provider of some sort one day. But on the flip side, it can be somewhat trying at times because giving consequences to a child who is so emotionally charged can be like trying to sooth a pissed off crocodile.
There are other good traits J possesses that (in my experience, AND research) most people with ADHD seem to have. Creativity. J is quite the artist, and can color in the lines better than I (with my emerging tremor, this is not a difficult task). In general, she is really quite good at ANYTHING that involves abstract thinking. At three, she was the only kid in either of her preschool classes who could complete a 24 piece puzzle. She does 100 piece puzzles with ease these days. It's tasks like these that puts her in "hyperfocus" mode, and it's difficult to pull her away from such tasks before she's done. This has a downside though, because in school these things have time constraints and when it's time to clean up, it's time to clean up... but J will NOT clean up because she is not finished with what she is doing, and therefore will seem to be disobeying. Of course this is exactly what she IS doing, but she's not doing it to be deviant, she's doing it because in this hyperfocus moment, her mind will not allow her to pull away from her task.
J still cannot complete two step directions. Half the time she cannot even complete a one step direction without several prompts (reminders as to what she's supposed to be doing), particularly when there is a lot of distractions. We have been able to eliminate this problem in the mornings by having R watch cartoons in our bedroom in the mornings until J is out the door and on the bus. Unfortunately there is little that can be done to help her in the classroom setting where distractions are as common as nightly glasses of wine I consume to decompress from my days filled with the chaotic madness that is my ADHD surrounded life. Her teacher has her sitting front and center in the classroom, with charts covering her desk to help keep her "organized," as well as a little "shield" like cover that she can put around herself while she does her schoolwork. The shield actually seems to help a bit, and J seems to know it because she's even asked her teacher for it when it hasn't been offered to her. This of course tells us that she desperately WANTS to learn, and listen, and be able to do all the things she "should" be able to do, but her mind will just not allow her to a lot of the time. Things are in the works to hopefully help her to be able to do this. More on that another day....
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
So it begins
Many people I know have began blogging lately and I had considered starting my own but thought, "What the heck do I have to say that anyone will have ANY interest in reading about?"
Then, this afternoon while sitting at the park with my kids, reading "Driven to Distraction" by Doctors Edward M Hallowell, and John J Ratey, I realized that I did in fact have something to talk about. Heck, I've had something to talk about since the day, almost five years ago, when I began seriously dating my now (soon to be) husband. That was the day ADHD entered my life.
Even if no one ever reads this blog, and these words are just absently floating about the world wide web like so much of the other junk that clogs up useful information that people want to read; it's ok. At least I can get my thoughts and feelings out somehow and not have them bubbling inside me like the heartburn one experiences after stupidly eating week old chili. You can't talk about ADHD with someone who HAS ADHD because to them it's like you're berating them, and it's just another reminder to them how "damaged" they are. So obviously, there's no one in my own house I can vent to about my feelings, or even information I come across in my constant quest for new ideas in dealing with ADHD.
I should probably provide a little bit of background on myself, as well as my family. I became a fairly young mom at the age of 21. I was married to my daughter's father, but it was short lived. Marriages don't tend to work out when one partner wants to keep their genitals within the sanctity of the marriage, and the other wants to spread their "wealth" with others. We didn't even make it last to the birth of our beautiful daughter. However, I met The Husband when J was about nine months old, and began dating him a month or so (dates, times, etc are a bit hazy, and really not that important) later. If memory serves, he was pretty open about his ADHD right from the start, but seemed to have it fairly together, although looking back I realize just how much of a mess he was. But I have a tendency to fall for the "messes" because I can see that person inside of them, the person who has their shit together, who desperately wants a chance to show themselves. I won't get into the details because he'll probably be pissed off that I called him a "mess" if he reads this, let alone open his closet of skeletons for all to read about... so I won't. But I will say, that after about a year together, and finding out I was pregnant, he finally gave in and got back on meds. I won't say things have been, or are currently, perfect since his getting medicated.... there are still "symptoms" that the medicine doesn't seem to touch that cause a great deal of frustration on my and his parts, along with the feelings of worthlessness and of being a total failure on his. However, he really has come a long way. He's now a pretty successful "handyman" running his own one man business. I'm lucky enough that I can work part time for my parents and go to school, while he brings in enough money to financially support us.
This blog really isn't about The Husband and HIS ADHD though. I'm sure it'll come up from time to time in my writings, but what I'm really looking to get out is my journey with my now OFFICIALLY diagnosed ADHD daughter. J is five. We've been seeing a therapist since she was four for some bizarre behaviors she was exhibiting at the time. None of those behaviors seem to really show up in symptom books I've read on ADHD, but I'm sure there is some correlation somewhere out there.
J was accepted into special education preschool through our local school district for struggles with speech, cognitive, and social skills when she was not quite three. She began preschool in August of 2009 at three and a half. From the get-go she struggled following simple instructions, as well as learning simple routines. These issues continued throughout the school year, and into the next with very little improvement and mounting other problems as expectations rose to match those of her classmates. She had problems focusing, best described by many as being "flaky" and struggled following "social ques" of her classmates. Basically, it can be said that J lived in her own world most of the time. She would sit NEXT to other students and play beside them, and interact with them if they initiated conversation, but otherwise she was content to just do her own thing. When these problems were brought up with her therapist, as well as issues of similar that we were experiencing at home, Jane (therapist) determined J had the minimum amount of markers necessary for an ADHD diagnosis. It was still questionable as to whether that was the real issue, or whether J's problems were more anxiety based.
It wasn't until this year, kindergarten, that the problems J has been having have really escalated. It's not necessarily that her symptoms are getting worse, but that the learning expectations they have for kindergartners are much more than a preschooler, therefore the struggles she has to meet those expectations are greater. So upon several troubling email exchanges between her teacher and myself, on top of the MANY problems that only seemed to be getting worse at home, we made an appointment with J's pediatrician who sent home a "survey" for her teacher to fill out. I made a copy of this filled out survey and gave it to Jane. Both now say she definitely meets all the criteria for ADHD.
I feel like I'm writing a novel, and going on much more will only bore the MAYBE 2.4 people who might POSSIBLY read this will immediately vacate and never come back. My hope is that my family's experiences with this journey can help others in their own journeys in raising special children. Not all of our experiences make me want to pull my hair out, then hide in a locked bathroom with a large bottle of booze.... some of the "symptoms" of ADHD are actually quite the opposite... but that's for another day. Thanks for reading!
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