Finally, there is an answer | ADHD Information

I feel that I am lucky to have such a beautiful, wonderful son like I have. RJ is six and is the light of my life and always has been. However, since the age of three I have heard things like "Why cant' you control your son?" And "He's so bad." Picking him up every day at preschool and in PreK I would hear, "He had another bad day. What can we do to help him?" Trying to do reward systems would not help. He was always on the go. No matter what you said to calm him down, he couldn't stop.

This past spring I had an independant stage agency diagnose him with developmental delays. With this diagnosis I approached the special ed department of my district as he was starting kindergarten this fall. When I approached them, they flat out refused to help me saying "he doesn't qualify" but yet told me to get him tested for ADHD. So I did just that. This past Tuesday I received the answer. He has combined type ADHD but on top of that had Central Auditory Processing Disorder and low cognitve skills. The hospital that diagnosed him told me to immediately go back to the school district and I did that. They are now willing to test him. His kindergarten teacher who he has had since August has been great with me. She sends home daily behaivor reports on him. It's been a wonderful to have someone so supportive.

My ex-husband (RJ's father) has a daughter who is 10 now. When she was 6, she was diagnosed ADHD. He's never had much of a relationship with her so I never knew everything about her diagnosis, but all along I suspected her half brother (my son) of having it. My ex still doesnt' believe his son has it, even with concrete evidence of it. I went to the pediatrician and he started RJ on 10 mg of Ritalin LA a day. We started it this morning and I'm curious to see the results. I'm not a parent that thinks the medication is the "be all to end all" but I think it will be a big help for him. We were told without the medication, we cannot even think to work on the second part of his diagnosis which is the Central Auditory Processing Disorder.

I've been struggling with this for years and praying everyday that I would get an answer to why my little boy was like this. Everyone knew he was such a sweet, loving kid, but no one quite understood why he was always "on the go". His mind just runs and runs and runs. I always wished I could get the key to turning him down a notch, and I think now this diagnosis is it. My fiance and I are confident we now can get him all the help he needs and let him be just what he should be: a kid!

Finding this board has been a great help and I hope to learn from here lots of advice on how to deal wtih this and support my son to the fullest extent.

Thanks!

RJW'smom

RJW'smom39438.3047916667I am so glad that you got your diagnosis and help from the school! It is somewhat a relief yes? Now you know what is going on and can treat accordingly. Your child is still young so medication will not be such an issue for you as it is for us we got the diagnosis when he was 9 and now refuses the meds and any help that is offered. You are actually lucky! I hope the Ritalin LA works for you and things get better.RJW's son, welcome and am wishing you well on your journey. things will click now that you know what you have to deal with and can at least get a plan in place to help him. Sometimes you feel like you're wading though cement , but it's such a relief to be able to help make their life "not quite so hard".I started him on the meds Sat and I see a little difference in him. Yesterday, I was actually able to take about 45 minutes to myself to get things done in my house. He was able to watch a movie and give Mommy some time. Normally, he would be following me everywhere and yesterday he was good. He's been so good today too. I didn't think I would see changes right away but in three days I've seen some differences. I know this is not the answer, there's going to be much more work ahead of us, but it's certainly a start.Good to hear positive! It may take some time to get dosage right and all, be patient. Things are looking up.My son has ADHD with a learning disability, but I found that as soon as his ADHD was treated and under control, he was able to compensate for his learning disability.  He's now getting A's in Math and Science and I couldn't be more relieved.

  You did a good job, mom!! While giving him much praise, give yourself some!

 

Your story sounds a lot like mine.  It's nice to have that first hurdle behind you!