Yesterday was an Amazing Day!

The day your child is diagnosed with a condition can't not always be called amazing but yesterday's was. O's had a "working" Dx of ADHD since last August and it just never seemed the right fit for me (you can read our journey under the High needs-Special Issues tab at the top of my blog), well for him in my opinion. Having an older son with definite ADHD (a very typically example- T would try anything but lose interest very quickly and never finish anything. O, on the other hand, wouldn't try anything that didn't interest him but if the activity was one he wanted to do he'd Have to finish it, even if it took him hours to do so!) I felt confident enough to just KNOW that wasn't O. But it took a long time for me to find what I knew was his "issue" and then getting him the proper Dx and treatment has been a fight.

But yesterday it came. We had a long awaited appointment with his Developmental Pediatrician and we discussed how O did this year in Kindergarten and reports I'd gotten from his teacher throughout the year. How well he'd done and how most of the reports I'd gotten from his teacher were along the lines of him being a distraction to the other kids in class because he'd get done with his work and have nothing to do, how the teacher tried to work with O on getting him to help the other kids that needed it, and the ones he was farther ahead of (he was one of the top kids academically in his class). And how a lot of the issues she saw were with transition and physically being under stimulated. If he got a break to move his body or was able to do his work in a more active way (say standing) he didn't fidget and focused well. All these things and a few other sensory issues that I've come to recognize as sensory issues and not just O annoyances led the doctor to drop the ADHD dx.

He diagnosed him with SPD (sensory processing disorder) and gave us a referral to an OT! (The feeling of relife was huge! Finally!)

So why is this So Amazing? A few reasons....

1. Because now we can get the help he really needs and tools to help with him during the hard times from a professional! Someone who knows what this is all about and not just me trying to find ideas and gropping around in the dark trying to find a shaft of light that could lead us to the door. Someone to help him and us to understand better.

And 2. As much as I hate to say this but ADHD and children Dxed with it have a bad rep. Many parents/adults still view kids with ADHD as little hellions that just need a good spanking or more discipline. When you say "He has ADHD" others often say "Oh well everyone has that. So what meds are you going to use?" Meds are not the answer. And their effectiveness will wear off. Society just plain looks down on those that are ADHD/ADD and with the influx of children being Dxed with it schools are doing less and less to help them, since "everyone" has it and they (the kids) just need to "learn" how to sit still. (Getting T his IEP was a fight and they had to make special learning issues just to get the original IEP in the first place- an IEP just because you have ADHD does not exists as often anymore.) O's Dx of SPD, along with the school he's in, may (I stress may) make that easier- especially if we know he'll be leaving that school. So being able to say to those "others" no he's not ADHD and no just more discipline won't "fix him", saying he has SPD, sensory issues, will help shut them up and give me more of a back bone to tell others to back off.

So yesterday we got our 1st diagnoses of SPD and help is on its way. I feel lucky C is already receiving help from an OT but know his day will come (hopefully in August) when he'll receive his). That at 2 we're way ahead of the game for C and right now it's catch up time with O. But I know he and I will catch up fast- we're both fast learners!