This past week....
Annie started school!!
She is attending the German Kindergarten, which is similar to an American preschool. She goes from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., she gets to eat lunch there, play in all sorts of rooms, and they actually treat it like a school; she is learning letters, songs, colors... all in German. All of the teachers speak German, however there is one teacher that is fluent in English, as well as another teacher who can communicate pretty well. All the kids in her school are German, except for a handful of Americans that live in our neighborhood. So she is having a great time, and learning some German along the way. We are fully expecting her to become somewhat fluent before we leave.
Also this week, we got a diagnosis for Noah that we have been waiting for. He was diagnosed with ADHD. Pete and I have known for years that he had it, but we were waiting for him to be old enough for a diagnosis, and for a teacher to bring it to our attention. Noah's wonderful 1st grade teacher has called me a few times, mentioning some struggles that Noah has been having, and when I brought up the subject, she fully agreed that we should have him evaluated. After a few visits, he is on a very low dose of Aderol, to help him focus just a little better.
Side effects: His appetite will go down, which for a kid his size who is as picky as they come, isn't good. We will have to monitor what he eats, and make sure someone at school does the same thing.
His sleep has also been affected. Noah has been really great the past three or four years at just getting in bed and going to sleep. Not anymore. He lays in bed for a while, then comes down to ask us a hypothetical question or tell us a story or give us a kiss..... This goes on for two hours, until I finally give up and give him a little bit of Benadryl to relax him. I don't know how we are going to fight that one.
The problem we are going to face with this diagnosis is a tough one. Noah is predisposed to Turret's Syndrome because of a family history. So if he has it, his ticks (nervous habits) will come out much faster on the medication than they would on their own. And if that happens, we will have to decide if it is just the medication, or if it is in fact, Turret's. Also, he has developed a stutter, and again, if it is caused by the Turret's, it may actually get worse on the medication. He will be starting with a speech therapist at school soon.
He has been a trooper taking his medication. It is a pill, and I was a little worried about him swallowing it, but he stuck it on his tongue and it was gone on the first try. I am sure the medication will be adjusted and changed many times, before we find what works best for him. It's going to be a battle, maybe not so much for him, as for us, watching him adjust to all the things we will throw at him.
There are so many helps out there for this, and it is such a common diagnosis, that I am not too worried (I think). He's tough.
Maybe tougher than me.
And then there's Cooper...
He is adjusting to being an only child for most of the day. He has never been an only child, so this is brand new. He likes having most of my attention, although I am afraid he is going to get even more clingy!
Oh, and Pete and I.... we got a new calling at church.
A team calling.
The calling I have been dreading all of my adult life.
Nursery Leaders.
Pray for us.
5 comments:
Thanks for the update. It's good to get a diagnosis and get going on treatment, even if it's not what you would want for your child. Noah IS a tough kid and I'm sure he'll adjust ok. I hope you guys can, too. We (the kids in particular) pray for "the Emmons in Germany" every night in our family prayers. We love you.
Glad you got a diagnosis for him and can get him started on treatment. It will make a huge difference . . . in school especially. My brother has ADHD and even as an adult you can tell when he is medicated and when he is not. The only side effects that we were never told about were the psychological ones. My older son has a friend who became VERY depressed on his meds and one kind my brother took made him really paranoid. Don't want to scare you, but also don't want you to miss any warning signs (since we didn't know them either). I hope everything goes smoothly for him and you can figure everything out with as few side effects as possible.
how cool for her to get that experience.
I hope you guys can figure out the right dosage sooner rather than later.
so take this for what's it worth. But David has worked with a lot of boys that have taken Aderol, and he says he would do anything and everything to not take the stuff. Also My nephew is Aspergers and has taken Aderol, I know every kid is different, but I would maybe see if you could try something else first. good luck. I hope things turn out ok for you. David Says Look up long term effects. David Says talk to your doctor about Vyvance it's a better medication. David recommends taking him to a pediatric psychiatrist other than a GP.
Best of luck with everything. You're in my thoughts and prayers (and have been for a long time now).
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