While our school district basically told me I was crazy and there was nothing wrong with our son, I'm glad I followed my maternal instinct and continued to seek help through other options. Over the summer, our almost 7-year old was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). While these diagnoses are not yet finalized and we are still undergoing further evaluations for some other possible issues, we are fairly confident that this is a good starting point.
I unfortunately, have found myself having a hard time dealing with and adjusting to this information. Not that I'm in denial, because I'm not; but more so with having to adjust my parenting techniques in order to better fit him. I'm finding myself frustrated and with little to no patience left at the end of the day; which only results in worse behaviors on his end. And then, because I work with special needs 3 and 4 year olds, I get even more irritated with myself for not doing things "right". Of course dealing with all of this in the middle of a deployment doesn't help anything either.
In my attempt to become a better parent to him as well as my other two children, I will be starting a new challenge for the next month (give or take) featuring a tip, suggestion or activity on how to more effectively deal with ADHD and/or ODD in children.
I am by no means an expert in this field, these are simply things that I will be attempting to incorporate into our lives in hopes of a positive outcome for our family. I think many of these things can also work for other special needs children and even for children without special needs.
I hope you all will join me in becoming a better parent and/or supporting this new challenge.
1 comments:
What exactly is ODD? I'm not familiar with it...
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