ADHD-Succeeding is a Big Deal

My son got awarded at an honor awards ceremony, yesterday. It was very special and emotional for me.

You may be thinking, "So what? Big deal! Kids make honors all the time." You'd be right, kids do make it all the time, but for us, this was a BIG DEAL!

This is the first time that he has been honored for his school work. Last year, he was so far behind in school, but because he had behavior issues, probably because he couldn't read or write well and he was frustrated, we didn't know he was so far behind.



After hitting my limit of how many times my child should be sent home for acting out in class, I asked if it was possible that he had ADHD and from there, we had started the process of screening him and finding out that he did have it.

Related- Why Our Son's ADHD Diagnosis Didn't Surprise Us

We started him on medication as soon as we could and within a year, he learned how to read and write and basically two grades worth of learning crammed into one.

He was behind, but he caught up so quickly!

Related- Why We Chose to Medicate our Son

So it's a big deal!

I was surprised when I saw this flyer in my son's book bag. We had actually been having issues with him getting uninvited from a field trip because he had written a very poor paper.

With ADHD, forgetting is normal, procrastination is normal, crappy handwriting is normal, and did I say that procrastination is normal?

My son only takes his medication during the school hours, so when he gets home, it has mostly worn off and he just wants to be a boy who plays and watches television when we let him. He doesn't have a problem with doing his normal homework packet and he loves to read at bed time, but when something out of the ordinary happens, like writing a paper after a field trip, he'll forget about it.

That's what happened. He remembered two hours after his bedtime that he had to write this paper.

My poor husband had to stop what he was doing and had to keep reminding my son to keep working on his homework. He wasn't even sure what needed to be done and by the end of the day, my son couldn't remember much either.

So it's a big deal!

My son's teacher is pretty strict, as she should be. She's effective and she challenges my son. However, with the corrections that my son has had to do for papers and homework and then getting uninvited from the field trip, I wasn't quite sure how he stood with his school work.

So it's a big deal!

I went to the ceremony yesterday. It was done inside the classroom because the class was on a field trip when the one for the school was held. 

These honors were based on school work and the state tests that were just done.

Out of 17 kids in the classroom, only 7 of them met or exceeded their expectations. 

So it's a big deal!

There were two certificates being handed out that day. One for ELA (English Language Assessment?) and one for Math. Only a few of those students got one for one category, but my SON got one for both of them. 

So it's a big deal!

I don't mean to brag about this because when I think about it, only SEVEN kids MET the standards. Only seven in a classroom of seventeen students. That breaks my heart for those other kids.

The vice principal was there and he made a HUGE statement, that I was impressed by. He said, "Just because these students got awards and you didn't, it doesn't mean that they are smarter than you. You are all smart. If you worked hard for this, you could be up here, too. These students worked hard to get these and you can too."

I thought those were powerful words.

I wasn't a straight A student. I was more of a straight C student.  I didn't work hard for my grades. I tested very well, but I never really did my homework. I forgot that I had homework and I scrambled to finish it in class the next morning, always turning in a partial sheet. I remember my teachers telling my parents that I could do so much better if I just practiced, if I just worked harder, if I just did the work.

So it's a big deal!

My son has ADHD and it once hindered him. It stopped him from learning to read and write. It stopped him from being able to pay attention and focus in class. It even made working on homework at home a battle. 

But it doesn't anymore. I know that there are people who frown upon medicating their child, but if you only knew how it has helped us, perhaps you wouldn't be so skeptical. 

My son can read and he can write. He can do his homework without arguing- as long as he does it when he gets home and doesn't wait. 

He still gets the chance to be a normal kid. He plays and has imagination. He creates his own stories and illustrates them. He's never been boring a day in his life and he doesn't bounce of the walls. He's the same kid that he's always been: kind, loving, smart, imaginative, an encyclopedia. The only difference now, is that he can sit still for a while and work on what he needs to do. 

So it's a VERY BIG DEAL.

(P.S.- As a blogger, I realize that sharing and promotion is EVERYTHING in order to build up traffic to your blog. I'm use Tailwind to help promote my blog posts. In order to Niche Down, I also created a Tailwind tribe for moms who have children with ADHD. If you're interested in joining the tribe community, our tribe would love to have you! Click to Join ADHD Mom .)