Monday, September 10, 2007

Update

It's our 22nd day of homeschooling. We're learning things. Mostly me. I think my daughter has a classic case of predominately inattentive ADHD. We're thinking about getting her tested, but more on that later. Pray for me to be full of understanding and kindness. All that being said, she's doing a great job. I'm very proud of both Sophie and Avery.

2 comments:

Jeff Vehige said...

Scott -

Glad to hear that you're home schooling. Obviously you know the situation and I don't. But have you considered that your daughter might be testing the waters, trying to figure out how serious dad is about all of this?

Just a thought.

Glad things are going well, and I'm eager to read more about it.

Unknown said...

Jeff, yeah, it's something we've considered. We've seen these traits in her since she was a much younger girl, however, and also have had them reported to us from when she was in the public school.

The reason for the testing is so that Laura and I have a better idea of what we're dealing with - eliminate other diagnoses, it may not be ADHD at all - and therefore be able to work on teaching her effective strategies for coping.

ADHD is over-diagnosed - sometimes the hyperactivity of a child is simple willfulness, sometimes the inattentiveness of a child is simple boredom or laziness or frustration because of another learning disability. But whatever the cause of her behavior - which affects her social behavior as well as her academic behavior - medicine would be the absolute last resort. All my life, I have bucked against the idea of using medicine to treat ADHD. The problem, however, is a neurological problem, a physical problem, and if medicine would be something that could help her where other options failed, we would prayerfully consider it, as well as seek godly counsel from family and friends.

I don't see it getting to that point. She's a smart girl; she can and does learn - but it's nearly always a struggle to keep her from her own distractibility and inattentiveness.