Yesterday my husband and I decided to take the boys to the Erie County Fair last night. It's one of the larger county fairs and it is a lot of fun for the kids. Jared always starts out saying that he doesn't want to leave the house and he doesn't want to go which is usual whenever we leave the house, but he always has fun when he gets there. Our first stop was the playground, and you just gotta love the advice people try and give you.
To give you the history, Jared is on Ritalin for his ADHD. I really had trouble putting him on drugs for a diagnosis of ADHD but at the time he was coming home from kindergarten saying he wanted to kill himself and he hated school and he was stupid. At first, I thought he was just using the phrase loosely and didn't know what he was really saying but he went through this every single night after school and he was getting bad reports as far as his behavior. After going through the month of December with my kindergartner saying he wanted to kill himself and pouring ketchup into bowls and pretending it was blood, I decided to give the teacher a call to express my concerns. Her thought was that Jared might have a chemical imbalance because he had a hard time focusing.
I always feared that Jared might be labeled with ADHD because he was extremely hard to manage as a toddler. He was always getting into things such that he was not allowed to enter my small kitchen because he would empty every single cupboard that he could reach onto the floor. I always suspected that teachers would think he was ADHD.
So, after I spoke with the teacher and a lot of testing and consultations with the school social worker, I felt it in my best interest to get a second opinion from an outside psychologist and months later and testing later, ADHD was confirmed and the only course of treatment from my psychologist was to put Jared on Ritalin which really terrified me. I had so many questions...what would the drug do to his body over the long haul? What if I decided to not put him on Ritalin? Would Jared come home every day wanting to kill himself if I didn't use Ritalin? How many years would he have to be on it? Can you just come off of it? Do you have to be weaned? So many questions. It was a very trying time, but my ultimate decision was to try it because Jared's mental health couldn't get any worse. I had to do something that would help him enjoy life and enjoy school.
I decided to put him on it and give it 2 months. If I didn't see an improvement, I would take him off. Well, we saw an improvement the first day! He was more focused in school, he was happier and he noticed a difference in himself. He had more self confidence and he tried harder in school. On Ritalin he was a success. Today the teachers refer to Jared as a success story. No longer did he say that he wanted to kill himself when he came home from school. For us, even with my skepticism, Ritalin was working! My decision was to use Ritalin if it improved Jared's quality of life and it seems to be doing the job, however, we do take it on a day by day basis, and if ever it seems that it is no longer working or if Jared gets to an age where he doesn't want to take it anymore, we will discontinue with Ritalin.
Back to the Fair; while the kids were playing on the playground, they wanted to go on the trampoline and there was a sign in front of it that said: Only one child at a time, shoes must be removed and parents need to supervise their children. Well, I was telling the boys that they had to take their shoes off and Nathan had to wait as there was only one child allowed to jump at a time. The attendant overheard my conversation and said, "Good job Mom! You are the first mom to actually read the sign and follow the directions.!" She continued to explain to me how she was frustrated by the parents of today who don't follow directions and how they do whatever it is they want. I got into a conversation with her that we always have to be one thought process ahead of Jared and steer him in a direction before he actually wants to do something (eg: jump on the trampoline with his shoes or his brother) because he has Aspergers and ADHD. She then asked what we were doing for the ADHD and I said that I had him on Ritalin, and there it came, the litany of "Oh my gosh....Why would you put him on Ritalin...Didn't I know that it would make him sterile...yada yada yada."
It makes me upset when people try to force their views on me. It took me about a month or so to make the decision to put him on Ritalin and then about a month or so to analyze the effects and come to the determination that if it improved his quality of life that was acceptable. So, it makes me mad when people make judgements about something which I've consulted Psychologists, Cardiologists, and Pediatricians about and who have all assured me that the Benefits outweigh the costs!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Congrats & well done on setting this up - it's very late here (nearly 1.00am) however you know I will be a regular supporter and contributor. We too have one aspie and one ADD son, as you know - so I look forward with interest, the comments that will be posted. With love & understanding.
Just to clarify our situation - since this is a public forum: our nearly 15 yo was diagnosed with Aspergers with ADD when he was 10 and was prescribed Dexampethamine (the mg of the dose has not changed however the frequency has according to his development). Compounded medication would do the same but it is 200% more expensive!! My younger son (now 12) was (heartbreakingly) diagnosed with ADHD when he was 7 - he has been on Ritalin ever since; we have had numerous attempts at getting the medication right. It varied from slow release - one dose (which didn't work); to 3 half tablets daily which worked for a while; and then pharmaceuticals caught up and now he is taking one 5mg slow release tablet every morning which does the trick.
What we are dealing with here is very much a chemical imbalance of the brain. Those that suffer depression and anxiety would understand this, so, the answer therein is to right the chemical imbalance -and the only achievable, successful way is firstly with chemicals (ie medication). And just a footnote b4 bed - there is a huge difference between ADHD and ADD. There also seems to be huge differences in opinion (as least in Australia) between Aspergers and HFA (although I think that is a political issue (not health).
Oh, the joys of debating meds! We're still doing that for our PDD-NOS 5 year old. Tried Concerta...briefly, have an apt. with a psych in a few weeks. Nice to read a success story abt. meds. Thanks :)
Post a Comment