Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Ups And Downs


Pumpkin has been bumping along on the pathway of education.  He definitely has his ups and downs in the past few years.  He is our Pumpkin.  He is just himself, nothing more and nothing less.  He is a loving child.  He can be a helpful child.  He loves to play with his sister.  He loves to invent and tinker.  He loves sharks and penguins.  He enjoys Piggie and Elephant books.  And he has ADHD (attention deficient hyperactivity disorder difference).  

He was diagnosed at the end of November.  He is not defective, he just learns and acts a bit differently than his peers.  He is an active child that does have trouble focusing and can be impulsive.  He is an active child that would much rather be outdoors than inside (what child really wants to be stuck indoors anyway).  He is an active child that has so much energy that he just cannot contain it, kind of like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.  ADHD has such a negative stigma at times.  But he is a child.  He is not suppose to be mature all the time.  He is not suppose to know all the answers.  He is just different.  He is just Pumpkin.

This year we have learned how to establish eye contact.  We have learned that repeating simple rules creates ownership and better adherence to actually following the rules.  We have learned that we cannot defect from our daily peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich for lunch.  Yikes!  We have learned that it helps to take breaks during homework time.  We have learned about online games that help with learning spelling and math.  We have learned that sometimes parents need a time out.

Pumpkin also has the social skills of a rock.  Last year we had to ask the teacher send home pictures with the kids names, so he could learn his classmates names.  He still cannot tell us the names of his "new" classmates in his class this year.  He does not ask social questions of others, just talks about himself and his interests.  If someone says hi to him it is like he has blinders on and he just keeps going.  He shies away from shaking hands at church.  He laughs at things that may not necessarily be funny.  If he drops a glass of water on the floor at home, he will shriek like a banshee until someone comes to see what has happened. 

We had a second appointment Monday and he is border line high functioning autism (HFA).  He met most of but not all of the criteria on the parent survey.  He also had a 18 point difference between his verbal (108) and analytic (126) IQ values.  The childhood development pediatrician that we saw is going to consult with colleagues to figure out what our next steps will be. There is a very good chance that we will need to travel to a larger city in the area to partake in an autism panel to determine if he does indeed have HFA. 

We met with Pumpkin's principal and teacher today.  Even though he attends a parochial school, it is encouraging to know that they have had students in the past that have been successful academically with similar diagnoses.  They are receptive to helping us and Pumpkin succeed.  We are looking into methods and ideas since he is more designed for visual learning instead of verbal learning.  As suggested by the specialist, we are looking into obtaining an educational evaluation through our local "home" school.  I am sure that it will be an uphill battle since we have not gone the traditional route through the local school system.  I have tried a first mode of contact and if I do not hear anything within a week, I will try my next method of contact.

I have been read the book Easy to Love but Hard to Raise by Marner and Bashista.  It has been very fascinating.  Unfortunately, I will not get a chance to finish reading it before it has to be returned to the library on Friday.  I will either have to order it through interlibrary loan again or purchase the book for reference at home.  From what I have read so far, I think everyone should read this book to obtain a better understanding of what it is like to have a child that is considered different and to add a bit of humor and insight to enrich our own lives.

We have a long road ahead of us.  Rome was not built in a day.  So we will take one day at a time.  Some days I wish mom was still here.  I have questions that I would love to ask her.  At least we are starting to grow our own network of knowledgeable, kind, and supportive people.  And for me talking about things helps.  It helps me to process information, it helps me to de-stress, it helps me to heal.  So from time to time Pumpkins ups and down will probably appear on this little old blog.

2 comments:

  1. I like that you crossed out disorder and changed it to difference. Everyone is different, has different struggles to overcome. You will succeed if you stay positive. Which I know you will. Hugs.

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