Thursday, November 10, 2005

I Know a Kid...

He's not feeling very good about himself these days. I've known him for a long time and he's had quite a bit on his plate that he's had to deal with. He was diagnosed as developmentally delayed/speech impaired when he was three and a half, and was immediately whisked into the public school system so he could start receive speech therapy and other educational resources via a non-categorical (meaning mixed abilities/needs) special education class.

The tonic-clonic seizures (formerly called grand mal) began when he was 5, but thankfully they were far between. He was on anti-seizure medication for two years, but was weaned off of it a few years ago. So far, the seizures haven't recurred, but they can at anytime. He was 6 when he was diagnosed with ADHD. No surprise there.

He's 10 now, still struggles with speech issues. He acts young for his age, which I think can discourage the other kids in his class from including him. This 'social immaturity' as one teacher put it is probably a combination of his developmental delays and the fact that his siblings, cousins and neighbors are all younger than him, by at least a couple of years.

He spends a lot of time by himself, which is usually his preference, but sometimes he feels left out if his brother is invited somewhere and he's not. His brother is very outgoing and developing quite the active social life.

He's also the smallest kid in the class, so not only does he act younger, but he looks it too. He's wondering if he'll ever catch up. No one can really predict sizewise, but I've read that it's not unusual for kids with ADHD to reach puberty up to a couple of years later than their non-ADHD peers (this statistic is true for those kids on stimulant meds and those not taking meds).

In the past year or so, he started to realize that his is different from most of the kids in his grade - prior to that, he was happily oblivious. He's been evaluated so many times over the years, always to find out what is 'wrong' or what might be the 'problem'. That doesn't sound very positive, does it? Now, however, he's wondering what's right. He actually asked the other day "what are my gifts?"

How does one find out what one's gifts are?

1 comment:

~d said...

Elle*Bee, there are only a few Moms I can think of that could deal with this situation without losing "it". And, you, are one of them. Its that Steel Magnolia's line about God doesnt give more than we can handle...but why does he keep testing me? I would love more children. I Loved the sensation of being pregnant, and being ABLE to be pregnant. But I am sure my mental health would NOT benefit from more children. I look at women like you and a few others I know with more than 2 children-I look at you women with awe, wonder and a tiny bit of jealousy. Good jealousy. I hope this child you know finds his gift. Maybe he can learn to play the violin before you do...