by Pete Codella (bio)
The school year got off to a rough start for our six year-old son this year. After a rocky few months we ended up pulling him from public school and placing him in a nearby private Montessori school, where he is doing much better.
Last fall we also began meeting with professionals to help us diagnose what was going on. We had him tested for every kind of allergy, sight, hearing, etc.
What we have learned so far is that he has ADHD. It has been an interesting experience. There seem to be as many perceptions of ADHD, medication and behavioral modification approaches for the diagnosis, as there are people.
It’s a little overwhelming for busy parents who only want to do the best thing for their child.
We’ve been to workshops — free ones and ones you pay for — we’ve read-up and joined social support groups.
This still doesn’t change the day-to-day coping and living with a hyper-sensitive child, and all that goes along with ADHD.
Knowing what I know now, I suspect I either had or perhaps still have ADHD myself, although I haven’t taken a test to confirm that. I wonder why the diagnosis and treatment is so much more common now than it was when I was a kid? I guess medicine advances with time or culture is inclined to accept certain trends.
My purpose in writing this isn’t to disclose some deep, dark family secret. Obviously if it was a secret, I wouldn’t be blogging about it. Nor is my purpose to state what we’ve done, and then outline what’s working. Instead, I’m interested in hearing from others, either publicly through this post’s comments or privately, about receiving and living with an ADHD diagnosis.
Helpful tips and suggestions based on personal experience would be appreciated.
