Diagnosis, intervention and growing up!

[AnneM]

We had our termly routine meeting today with Sam's Head of Form ....

She said : "His behaviour is excellent. He never gets involved in any of the nasty incidents which take place... attendance is 100%" and then she added "out of all the kids who have adhd/add in the school he is the one in whom I would LEAST spot it" ... !!

Well ... all I can say is WHAT A DIFFERENCE !! ... Two years ago at 13 years old he was the "class clown" .... could be very disruptive and behaviour was considered to be a concern !! ... (Phone calls from the school at that time were a frequent occurrence!)

I honestly do not know where we would be today were it not for the diagnosis and intervention at age 13 ....

I guess what I am trying to say is that with diagnosis and treatment you take a HUGE step forward ... and also our kids simply growing older can make some BIG positive changes....

[Linda]

Anne,I am so happy to hear this...and I know exactly what you are talking about Tell Sam I am so proud of him!

[rosyred45]

Congradulations!!!!!! For Both of you. It might have seemed like forever, but it paid off.

Give him a great big hug from me. And here's yours
((((((((hug))))))))))

Kaiti

[Linda]

Give yourself some credit too Anne...I know from experience It was and is a long journey.

It is still in the back of my mind when the phone rings during the day time...It is the school district...

[finnmom]

Anne
:)WONDERFULL NEW´S

You should deffenately think this as your hole family´s success It´s so good to hear that time will make the difference, thank you!

Marja

[AnneM]

Oh Thankyou everyone for your replies ....

You know (I think Linda will agree because our experiences of finding that our teenagers - Paul and Sam - are turning out really, really OK are so similar) ... when Sam was young and I thought about him becoming a teenager it petrified me ... I used to see teenagers around and think "Goodness ... I don't think i want one of those" ... but it also worried me because I thought "If Sasm is such a handful now what on earth will he be like as a teenager?" ... in other words I automatically assumed things would get MORE difficult rather than easier ... !

When they actually "get there" you look at them and think "Hey boy you have atually IMPROVED big time! You are NOTHING like the horror I feared you might be!" .... so in fact they are NOT just a larger version of what they were when younger ... they are a whole new, more mature person altogether ....

Do you agree Linda ? Mind you you have had more experience than me with your grown up children so maybe you already KNEW things would get better rather than worse! ..

[Linda]

Do I agree?...Well I didn't think Paul's dad would ever get there and I still have my doubts about things,but he did turn out to be a fine man.It took him much longer than it did his son,but I think it was because he is an undiagnosed ADHD'ER with a big H!


A little story about Paul that happened thursday.His history teacher called in for a sub because he wasn't going to be there and the sub never showed up!!!Paul went to the teachers desk and found the planner and the whole class did their assignment! The next day the teacher was so impressed that he bought pizza for the class!!

I f that situation had been the same in middle school,I am sure the outcome would have been entirely different!Scares me to think about it

[AnneM]

... and that again reaffirms how important diagnosis and intervention can be eh!?

I LOVE the story about Paul, the planner and the assignment! ... & that is SOOO pro-active on Paul's part ! I know what you mean though about the different rules for the different ages! ...

[Honeysmom]

Anne, thanks so much for sharing that. It is really great to hear that he is going so well!!

Stories like this one make me feel more encouraged about Honey's future. When I read it I keep thinking, they made it (Paul and Sam) we will too!!

Thanks.... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D