ADHD

It has been several months now since Katey was diagnosed with ADHD. Our pediatrician made the very (un)helpful, "I think I am comfortable saying that she most likely has ADHD, Inattentive type" diagnosis (??). And, pretty much, that was where his helpfulness ended. So, after several months of working with the school and doing internet research, we headed to a Behavioral Pediatrician who, thankfully, has been much more helpful!

Mike and I have been wrestling with our thoughts on ADHD and medication. I have strong feelings regarding the seemingly over-diagnoses and haste to throw kids on Ritalin in the 1990's. So, to have a child be diagnosed with the same disorder and be faced with medication choices was rather difficult.

What we have come to find is that there is little effective help apart from prescriptions. We did read a very interesting book or two on the Executive Functions of the brain. There was even a quiz to discover which areas of executive thinking/executive skills one is weak in and which he is strong in. So, we took the quiz - once for Katey, once for Mike and once for me. The results?

Strengths:

Katey - Goal-Directed Persistence (have a goal and follow-thru); Planning Prioritizing; Response Inhibition (think before act)
Mike - Metacognition (take a birds-eye view of self to problem solve); Time Management; Response Inhibition
Jen - Working Memory (hold info in memory and complete complex tasks); Time Management; Flexibility

Weaknesses:

Katey - Task Initiation (begin a task without procrastination); Organization; Working Memory
Mike - Task Initiation (begin a task without procrastination); Organization; Working Memory
Jen - Task Initiation (begin a task without procrastination); Goal-directed Persistence; Metacognition

I think they are pretty telling. Yup, Katey is definitely her father's daughter.

The books did give some tips on how to help develop these skills, though it is pretty much with a lot of repetition and time and lists and charts. That takes a lot of task initiation...and as you can see from above, our family seems to be lacking in that. :-)

So, after working with teachers and school staff, setting timers to help Katey stay on task, making lists to help her remember what needs done and when, and reading lots of helpful information, Mike and I decided to try medication. And, after spending about an hour talking this over with the doctor, he really did help to dispel some of our concerns.

We are now officially on week 1 of Focalin XR. We are thankful that our doctor wants to start on super low doses and work up as needed. There is already a noticeable difference in Katey's focus and concentration skills. She is looking us in the eye when we talk, has had good behavior reports from school for 3 days in a row, and one of our good friends pointed out that the flow of her speech has also improved. Mike and I are very hopeful that this has been a good decision and we look forward to seeing Katey come out of her focal fog!

Heard

Recently heard around our house:

Niece Gabriella while here on Spring Break
Aunt Jeni: Wow Gabriella, you are really good at playing that instrument.
Gabriella: Yeah, that's because I'm an expert ukulelian.

Niece Aubrey
Aubrey: Tinkle Belle is a nice doggy.
Aunt Jeni: Yes, Tinkle Belle is nice. You can call her Belle for short.
Aubrey: Hi there Belle For Short!

While playing Tennis on the Wii
Seth: Katey, you hit a ball that was going out.
Katey: Sorry. I get so excited that I miss the details sometimes.
Seth: Now Katey, you need to clear out the unwanted details from your head!

Upon riding in Daddy's new (used) car Katey exclaimed: Why would ANYONE want to sell this car? This is such a nice car I just don't understand why anyone would want to sell it. It is such a SWEET ride!

Part Tigger

Since getting Belle we have continually been amazed at her jumping abilities. Check it out:

Donuts

For the second time in our parenting history we have doled out punishment over DONUTS! Well, I say "we", as Mike and I did hand-down the actual decree for said punishment, but I must give credit where credit is due:

Seth and Katey took some of their money and headed to Target (with our help, of course). Katey decided to use some of her money to buy herself a bag of chocolate covered donuts. Seth knew these belonged to Katey alone and complained asked Katey every day if she would share. Finally, there were 5 donuts left and Katey, being the very caring and sharing girl she is, told Seth he could eat 2 of them. Seth, being the very justice-oriented boy that he is, decided it would be more fair if they both got 2.5 donuts. So, while Katey was upstairs getting ready for the day and while Mike and I were still in bed as it was just barely past 6AM, Seth ate his 2.5 donuts then headed upstairs to report the fair news to his sister.

Yelling, whining, complaining and frustration ensued.

I explained to Seth that, while his actions did seem "fair", it was actually stealing from Katey and therefore, Katey would help create a punishment for her brother. She was pretty pleased with this idea. Seth? Not so much. Especially when he learned what the punishment would be.

Katey declared that the next time she took Belle out and there was poop involved, Seth had to clean it up. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but for the boy who gags at just the thought of such a task, it was perfect. Maybe we should get punishment advice from our daughter more often. :-)