Friday, November 5, 2010

My daughter and ADHD

Well, one thing that I've been dealing with for about 3 years is my daughters struggle in school. When she started middle school, we started noticing problems. It didn't help that the school she was in sucked. Literally. Her math teacher flat out refused to communicate with us on a regular basis. We were at the school every week trying to get this teacher to help us. The principal tried too. He finally told us there was nothing he could do because of the union. WTF? So, the teacher went all year without responding to emails, or returning phone calls. The only way we could find out how our daughter was doing, was to literally walk into her classroom and do a face-to-face.
Granted, the school had way too many kids. The teachers are overworked. But still.
So, having decided all public schools were like this, we put her in private school. It was nice because our church had a school, so naturally she went there for 8th and 9th grade.
While we did have teacher communication and support at this new school, our daughter continued to fail. The main problem? She wouldn't turn her work in. It was mostly done, but the teachers never saw it. Another WTF? moment.

Now she is in high school. Over the summer her counseling decided she had ADHD. Now I've worked with alot of boys who have ADHD, and I told her counselor that she did not have it. After that, I did alot of reading on the subject of ADHD in girls. It's not the same as in boys. There's also not alot of information on it. I was lucky to find an awesome book, which was actually written for teens, that really helped me to understand. "The Girls Guide to ADHD" by Beth Walker. My daughter does have ADHD.
Right before school started this year, she started medication for it.
I know, tons of opinions regarding medication. But, that is what we chose to do. We thought if we could get her to slow down long enough to understand what was going on, then we could work on other methods to help her. And so far, that is working.
And now we finally understand why she does some of the things she does. Like doing homework and not turning it in!
This has been a long, hard struggle with her. And it's nowhere over. I'm saying all this because I'm sure I will have related things to say in the future. This is just the introduction of this new aspect in our lives.
The end, for now...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Wow!

I can't believe it has been over a year since I've blogged!!

I don't even know where to start. But, I will be back more often.

I hope to graduate in May, 20100. After this semester I only have 3 classes left, and I'm pretty sure I can do them all next semester. Although, after the way this semester has gone, maybe not.

This school year my son started Junior High and my daughter started High School. Can we say too much change and drama??

I've also had several other family issues this semester. I am so burned out on school!

Since this is just a bunch of rambling, I think I will stop now. I'll have a subject next time!