Last Thursday was our very first parent/teacher conference. Blake has been in school now for about 6 weeks and we were anxious to hear how it was going. We heard exactly what we expected. This has been the description of Blake since he was a baby. "Blake is very bright and very active" In other words if and when he sits still for five seconds he knows what he's doing.
This child came into our lives as if on a mission. He rolled over both ways at 3 months, crawled at 6 months and hasn't looked back since. Some say "Oh, he's just a boy and it's normal" While I would like to believe that his activity level is normal, I know that it is not. I have been around enough children his age now to see the difference.
I truly wouldn't change him for the world. He is sweet, smart, funny, inquisitive and has a zest for life that knocks my socks off. However we do think we will need to intervene soon so he can be successful. We need to find ways to direct this endless energy for good. We talked to the teacher and she is going to ask around and see what kind of help is out there. I just want him to be able to be successful. If we can get him and us the tools to get him there then I am all for it. The teacher was saying they will probably send someone in to observe him without him knowing that he's been observed. They'll find out how often, in a certain time frame, that he gets distracted and looses his focus among other things. What will happen remains to be seen and a lot can change in a short time at this age. This story is definitely to be continued.
11 comments:
Oh my, I do remember how fast that boy could crawl. Turbo baby, you and Tim called him.
Good for you for recognizing a potential problem and dealing with it early!
Have you had his eyes checked? Daniel is working at a Behavioral Optometry clinic and oftentimes "business" has to do with some kind of vision problem. Just a thought. They have Vision Therapy that corrects a lot of issues and gives kids and parents their life's back, if they're candidates for it. Portland has something like that, but Daniel said it wasn't as good. But maybe there's a private Doc in the area that is doing well with a Behavioral approach. If you're interested, I'll ask him.
I'm glad you've got a teacher who is willing to help out! Sometimes the teachers just want to write it off. They don't want to create more work for themselves... but a good, caring teacher will always do whatever he/she can! Yeah for having one of the good ones!!
good luck from one mom with a "special" boy to another. :)
Oh boy, have we been there. I'm so glad that you can see past the busy-ness to know that Blake has such potential. He is such a sweet little boy!
Our youngest had some issues in preschool and kindergarten. We would get annoyed by casual acquaintances who'd tell us we needed to control him with medication...although it may be necessary for some children, we never believed it was necessary for our child.
With excellent advice from a professional, we were able to work with him on some behavior moderation techniques. It took a lot of time and patience, but there was progress...a little bit more each year. Life is good. :)
He had his vision checked last week at school and that seems to be fine.
The "help" that I'm hoping to get would be behavorial. It would have to get pretty bad before we would even consider medication. We are nowhere near that point. Just hoping to see the issue and start intervening as early as we can.
You are so wonderful to be recognizing behavior patterns now. You are such a good mommy and he is a great little boy. You will have it all figured out in no time!
The are so many undiagnosed vision problems, that often get mislabeled as ADD or ADHD. Not that true ADD doesn't exist, and medicines can help, but there are so many other avenues one can explore before turning to meds. Good of you to not want to jump to medicine.
The vision "screen" at school is just that, unless it was a full exam they often miss things. I'm actually surprised the school did a screening at his age, they usually start with 3rd graders. Yeah for early screenings! But, be it known that Daniel gets frustrated doing vision screenings because they only do a couple quick basic tests to rule out any obvious issues, not a full exam. you may still consider getting him a full exam. At least if it's at all vision related, there won't be any medicine involved! I'm not saying that for sure it is vision, just that it's possible. If you'd like you can always call and talk to Daniel, he can explain it better than I can. You can email me at stephanie dot reliv4life at gmail dot com.
You are so wonderful. The schools have so many resources--and you need to be his advocate, and sometimes you need to be a squeaky wheel. Stay on top of things like you are.
Also, talk with your pediatrician he may have some suggestions.
Just a word of warning--when Kyle was in Grade 2 or 3 the school told us he was hyperactive and we went in for testing. I mentioned it to his piano teacher (who was also a school teacher--she was shocked). After the testing it was determined he was not. Sometimes everyone is looking for a label. I know you won't let anyone do that to Blake.
he sounds much like my gregory, so busy and active and bright...just can't hold still...working on techniques for him to succeed...he does better if he is fiddeling something in his hand as he writes...
Post a Comment