Jackson and ADHD

Jackson was diagnosed with ADHD back in December.  His teachers have been discussing the ADHD since kindergarten.  At first I was I really upset that he had several of the signs of "ADHD" and sometimes I just ignored the fact that people thought he was "ADHD".  I didn't like the labels and really just wanted it all to go away.  I loved him the way he was and did not understand why people could not love him the way he was.  Bart and I are not wanting to try the medicine and I am SOOOOO glad we have not done so.  I will tell you why later.

 First here are some of the reason we aren't wanting to try the medicine for now:

1.  Medicine will change him and GOD created him.  Why would I want to change something GOD created??

2.  He might have side affects like his appetite, headaches, stomach aches, not able to sleep good, nervousness, or tics.

3.  Find different ways to help him.

4.  He is not so "hyper" anymore and he is maturing a lot.

I think it is really important to keep GOD close in all areas of you life and pray about anything you want to pray about.  He has A LOT of people praying for him.  We have asked prayer at church for him in the past and he has lots of family members who pray for him.  He has a mama who prays for him lots daily.  Jackson has always had a really good appetite and I would hate to see him drop weight because I was popping a pill in his mouth.  I know that does not happen with every ADHD case, but I have seen soooo many where it has effected their eating habits.  Jackson has always been a super good sleeper.  When he lays down at night he is out like a light.  I am a firm believer in extra help.  If it takes a non-adhd child 15 minutes to do homework it might take Jackson an hour.  I always sit down with him and help him do his homework.  Yes sometimes it stresses me out and yes sometimes we get upset, but I would rather spend lots of extra time with him to help him re read his passage, help him with spelling or sit down and give him examples of fractions for math.  Yeah I would rather be playing on Facebook or even watching tv, but knowing that I can take that extra time with him right now is worth not giving him the medicine.  He matures from year to year.  When 1st grade started his guidance counselor commented on how mature he got over summer.  I think his racing has matured him a lot and being around the kids at church more has matured him alot.  And most of it is that he is growing up, learning right from wrong and learning there is a time and place for everything.  Yes he still has moments when i have to say to him "Jackson are you 9 or 4?"  BUT he has improved dramatically.  He is growing up to be a really good mature young man.

So back in December we went back to the doctor and got a written diagnosis.  He has an AMAZING doctor in Lawrencville.  Dr. Rubina is a wonderful Psychiatrist and she is with Gwinnett Psychiatry.  You can visit their website here.  She was able to send in the written diagnosis to Jackson's school and his school has put him on a 504 plan.  He gets extra help at school and will get help during standardize testing.  He wont get help with questions or answers, but he will get to be in a small class setting and extra time to take the test.  That will help him so much because every little noise he hears he gets distracted.  If he hears another student cough or sneeze he stops what he is doing looks around and then when we goes back to what he is doing he is lost.  Same with the door opening, air conditioning turning on or someone talking.

It has been A LOT of work.  Not only for Jackson, but for me and his teachers as well.  Jackson is a trooper though and LOVES to go to his small groups.  We haven't got his test grades for last Friday but the week before he had AMAZING test grades!  He seems to be doing so well.  We are all sooooo proud of him and well here is a picture to see why we are soooo proud of him!

My sweet Jackson was star Student the week of Jan. 17th and again on the week of Feb 20th.  

He did not flip his card for 4 weeks straight.  When he was flipping his card it was for the occasional talking, playing and just being a typical little boy.  For the past 4 weeks when he was doing something wrong he either corrected after realizing it on his own or correcting it after 1 try and not getting constant reminders.  It helps that he has like the best teacher ever!  We LOVE her so much.  While we aren't out of the dark yet we couldn't be more proud!  We still have about 12 weeks of school left and the CRCTs are coming quickly.  We have a lot of work to do to pass the CRCTs, but I am confident through prayer and his 504 plan that he will do his best and that is all a mama can ask for.  

I am so glad that we have not gave in and tried the medicine.  He really has done so good with out it and I know that he will continue to do so.  Please pray for him that he continues to do good in life and school and that he passes the English part of his CRCT.