This video hits close to home with me.. only because at age 7 my smart, energetic, happy, always trying to make friends son was diagnosed with ADHD. Reluctantly, we put him on Strattera (non-stimulant) meds and for 5 years struggled to help him first swallow and keep down the meds. Then as he grew having him not want to take the meds cuz it made him feel funny and made his stomach hurt if he didn't eat snacks. But felt like it was required because the school system wants kids to be able to sit and focus all times. ( I still can't do this for extended amounts of times) So the first thing we did when we started to homeschool him was chuck the meds out the window!! Looking back I wonder why I let anyone tell me to shove that stuff down him when I knew he hated it. I guess the feeling of wanting your kid to "fit" and not be singled out as a problem student that made me do something that I didn't want to do.
The one teacher only really to ever understand him was Mr. Nilles from Kenwood in IL. He had "ADHD", too but until I knew that I just thought he was a man with a lot energy and I wanted to steal some!! I tended to help out a lot in his class with Anthony in tow. I mostly helped organize his records,grade papers or get something all together for him, things that were not exciting but needed to be done. I was in awe of how he ALWAYS had the kids attention, he made learning as fun as anyone I have ever met. He was an energetic(to say the least), creative, caring and understanding teacher, that has molded SO many young lives. I for one am thankful to him for letting me into his classroom on a daily basis to help out and soak in the creativity that oozed from him. He is one person that I try to be like with the boys here at home. So Thank you to a teacher, Mr. Matt Nilles, who cared about my son and gave 150% to teach him.
Sorry I tend to get off subject....
I decided to look into the labeling of kids and how it is affecting us all, so I shared a couple of good articles I found on the subjects below...
Labeling Kids
Now whether you homeschool a PDD or OCD child or anything in between (frankly I have never heard of all the ones I found during my search), don't limit them by giving them a label. Or least not make it all of what you and people know about them. I really liked in one of the articles above that the mom never told anyone about her son diagnosis of autism. She did let others know when appropriate, but for the most part no one really knew. I am sorry to ramble on about this but I want others to know what I did so that they can learn from my experiences and make better decision for their family.
Knowledge is POWER people so now you know what I do...pass it on and add to it!!
