My son Lawrence started kindergarten last year. It was kind of tough on him. The class was three hours long, and they only had a short, ten minute recess about halfway through. And unlike pre-school, there was a curriculum that had to be completed by the end of the year. Goodbye Show and Tell, hello learning by rote. His teacher was wonderful and very patient, but it eventually became clear that he was having trouble. Nearly every day he got a time-out for talking in class. His teacher worked with him on these issues, but after all, there were nineteen other children in the class. So she was very concerned that the first grade teachers would be less tolerant than she was, and that his self esteem would suffer from constant discipline and being made to feel like a bad kid. His grades were good, and everyone found him very personable, but he was definitely disruptive.
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As I said in my previous SharePost, my son’s kindergarten teacher recommended that we have him evaluated by a pediatric psychiatrist because of what I’ll call behavioral problems, for the sake of a better term. Basically, he was having trouble sitting still and keeping quiet in class. We weren’t too surprised to hear what his teacher had to say. He runs everywhere in our house and frequently blows off steam by hurling himself on the couch or doing somersaults.
While I knew it was a good idea to get him evaluated, I had some trepidation. According to reviews on a local mailing list I belong to, the only doctor in our network tends to see Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder everywhere. If we go outside our network, diagnosis and treatment could cost thousands of dollars, which we don’t have. So I made an appointment with the doctor and hoped for the best. His office sent out a form for Lawrence’s kindergarten teacher to fill out. Bless her heart, she came over the night before the appointment, after the school year had ended, to go over it with us.
Read on
Note: I published these posts in the wrong order on the HealthCentral site. I apologize for any confusion.
So, as I said in my last SharePost, my son was recently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I had my doubts about the diagnosis. Lawrence’s behavior didn’t exactly fit ADHD, and the doctor also is known for diagnosing ADHD pretty frequently. But I had decided to go with it for now and give the medication, Vyvanse, a shot.
Treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is, on its surface, somewhat insane. You would think that giving someone who’s hyperactive a sedative is, to say the least, counterintuitive. But the brains of people with ADHD react in a completely opposite manner to amphetamines than people without ADHD. Amphetamines make us calmer and more focused. Strange but true.
