ADHD is real and alive in our house like a little mischievous monster within our second oldest. Born under unfortunate circumstances , it started to present itself by the time he could walk, pull down drapes, rip off wallpaper and destroy most objects in his path like a cartoon Tasmanian devil.
He once ran away when I was attending to his baby brother by actually bursting through a screen door. A frantic call to 911 and a search of the neighbourhood found him crouched in a doorway of a nearby house. He just wanted to explore. He had no restraint.
The doctors dismissed us at each well baby appointment by saying he was ‘curious ‘ and ‘ just being a boy’. No intervention was ever offered or suggested. I did have them document my concerns though and I knew it was more. I needed a paper trail.

Daycare was difficult as somehow most child care providers weren’t trained or missed the class on how to deal effectively with hyperactivity , and kept suggesting to me to ‘change his diet’ . I’m a registered nurse and I had already done this to no avail. If it’s a chemical imbalance , his little brain was rewired in utero , and nothing I could do would change that , including no artificial sweeteners or red candies. Someone suggested Mountain Dew or coffee in the mornings to stimulate him ( as medication alternative). No joy or results came from that.

One episode at daycare involved him finding a stash of paint, running down the hallway pouring purple paint all over himself ….and the carpeting and walls. I still have the report from that day to show him when he’s older ,as he’d never believe me!

From then on, he was known to all staff. Cameras and extra security measures were put in place though when asked , they denied it was just coincidental . He was an expert escape artist and would run away when we went to pick him up, not wanting to leave.

Kindergarten was traumatic with his teacher practically begging me to remove him from class and re enrolling him when he was more mature. ADHD isn’t a maturity issue, it’s an any age issue.
We had him evaluated through the school district and he was too intelligent for special education classes , but did qualify for a 504 plan which allows his classroom to be modified for his behaviours. It will protect him throughout his school years from being ‘punished’ for behaviours that he genuinely cannot help himself doing. He will get in trouble when he gets home though!

Once he cut a little girls hair as she sat in front of him , and on another occasion took an egg to school, only being caught because he dropped it on the schoolyard. He has hidden the egg the night before behind a cushion and snuck it into his backpack in the morning. Now, I’m not sure it was the ADHD that made him do this or his determined personality , but there are many more instances of him doing things like this than any average child.

I try to go into his classroom and as I have previously written about, have wrestled him to the floor to stop him running around the classroom brandishing a pencil!

He is now medicated and the difference was immediate. It took him turning 6 , and a sympathetic paediatric doctor who actually believed us enough to have him fully tested , including a psychologist and written testing to get the medication prescribed.

From a child who could not sit still long enough to write a sentence or complete one math problem , to a boy who wrote pages and pages of essays as he just needed to get it all out!

Many parents choose not to medicate their ADHD child due to the stigma or embarrassment or even shame , but for our boy it has been the remedy to many tears of frustration , his and ours.

Mornings are still tough as his medication only lasts his waking hours and we start again daily. Positive reinforcement seems to work part of the time and threats of losing privileges , the rest.

He’s our son and we love him and want the best for him, but boy it’s been a struggle and there is more ahead.

Don’t judge that parent whose kid is going off in the supermarket , give her a sympathetic smile as you step over her child lying in front of the baked beans. Better yet, ask if you can help, just for a moment, she’ll have a glimmer of hope that all is not lost.