medical musings

My youngest son was diagnosed with ADD today. There's really not a family history of it, but I can't say I'm surprised by the diagnosis. We homeschooled when he was younger, so his fidgity nature was not a problem. He could roll on the floor as we did math facts and color on a paper or build with legos as I read aloud. While I'm glad we were able to do all that and avoid medication, I wish I had thought more about it before putting him in public school for high school. His whole first semester is a washout because the kid just couldn't cope with the distractions.

One thing I am concerned about is that many kids who are diagnosed ADD/ADHD are in fact bi polar and there is a family history of that. I don't really see that in him though, but maybe I'm fooling myself. It is so hard when it is your kids you are talking about. We want everything to be easy for them, and so often things aren't.

So, we are starting on medications for the ADD and hopefully we will see an improvement. The doctor started him on a low dose and warned that it may not be enough to make a difference. I'd rather start low though and work our way up if needed than just start off whith a whopping dose he may not need.

After the long testing session I felt Joel needed some reward so I let him get a piercing he has been wanting for a while. It looks awful but he likes it. The things we do for our kids!