Almost a month ago we had a consultation with Dr. Peter Wiley and AD/HD specialist at CHoP to investigate the possibility that Dima has AD/HD . The more I read about it and talked to other people about it the more convinced I was that it would come to this. Once I read about kids who have it lacking the inner voice that tells most of to stop things that get them in trouble I could imagine Dima's picture in the book next to that entry.
The first visit was for testing and for Dima to be interviewed. Some of it was done while Chris and I were in the room and a major portion of it was just him and the people who were interviewing him. He had several breaks while they were together and it lasted at least four hours.
Since seeing Dima’s dr yesterday – yes, he does have
mild AD/HD - I’ve been copying his reports for Dima’s
teacher and the therapists at school because he thinks that Dima would benefit from speech and occupational therapy and so I have to get that ball rolling.
I also faxed a copy to his pediatrician to see if she could prescribe medications for him but, no of course it couldn't be that easy, now we have to find a doctor who psychiatrist who treats kids
to do the prescribing.
Dr Wiley was very thorough and he went over each test that he did and explained the results and what they mean as well as noticing trends in how he's learning and where he's lacking. I liked his approach with explaining the pros and cons of the medications with out saying that we HAVE to use them, just providing information to allow us to make an informed decision. The pediatrician and Dr. Wiley have both said that they've seen results with behavioral therapy combined with the medication.
So many people have a bad impression of what the drugs do but the way he explained how they work is different from anything I’d heard and it really made sense. Plus there are different things to try depending on how they affect him to see what works the best and at what dosage. After reading up on AD/HD I had a feeling it was coming to this. I should have recorded the visit yesterday cause it was just filled with information.
After yesterday’s appointment my mind was just swimming! In a way it’s just the beginning of more doctors and more therapies but I feel closer to an answer to helping him get a grip on himself. The bottom line is that with no one to talk to him and to nurture him and to really take care of him until he was almost three profoundly effected the formation of his brain and so his functions differently than others especially in terms of impulse control.
When I brought the kids home today I gave Dima a pair of heavy duty scissors to go out to our forsythia to trim some to bring inside - when you give him specific instructions about something like that he can do very well as long as he's not already wound up. He very carefully went out into the yard carrying the scissors the right way and being sure not to run it was kinda funny to watch him walking back with scissors in one hand, branches in the other using almost a tight -rope walk type step. Now he checks on them every few minutes to be sure the cats aren't chewing them or just obsessing over whether we should give them more water or take them out of the water because he knows you're not supposed to over water.
He got two stickers so far this week and if he can get two more I told him that he and I can go out to a restaurant of his choice on Friday night when Josh goes to see the Reading Royals game with his Papa. I'm going to try to set reachable goals for him so that he doesn't feel like he'll never accomplish the ones that are set too high.
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