Saturday, January 13, 2007

No one ever said it would be easy

Oh, the boy. We've seen a steady decline in his behavior marks at school since the week before Thanksgiving. At first, we chalked it up to the excitement of the holidays. But it is still getting worse. I received a phone call yesterday from his teacher to discuss. She recommends meeting with the school counselor and I think that is a great idea. We have tried everything we can think of- small rewards, bigger rewards for consistent behavior, punishments for bad behaviour. We're out of ideas. The boy Does Not Listen. Ever. He is disrupting the classroom by continuous talking, messing with the teacher's things, not staying in his seat, and a constant desire to be the center of attention.

What to do? I am going to make an appointment to discuss with the pediatrician. We're also going to move bedtime up a little, to allow for more sleep. He's been showing signs of allergies lately, with always wiping his nose and dark circles under his eyes, so I will also get him tested for allergies.

What I dread most is a diagnosis of ADD and the subsequent prescription of meds. I will refuse that option. He is a bright, creative, driven, energetic child. How to we hold on to that and get him to blend into society without breaking his spirit? How do we teach him impulse control without squashing his drive? He's always been special and difficult to manage and never responded to traditional parenting. Oh, what to do.

2 comments:

Lee said...

The parent's dilemma: active children. Maybe he is bored (wrong class level?), maybe diet. Maybe maybe maybe.

Do not let them steamroll you into the 'easy, lazy fix' - ADD and meds.

Sara said...

I'm on another business trip to Pascagoula, so I finally have time to continue reading my book! (Raising Your Spirited Child) Have you read it?

A lot of the book talks about getting the child to recognize the signs in himself that he is becoming out of control and trying to help him learn how to deal with it. You may have done this already, but maybe you just need to lay it on the line with him an tell him that he's disrupting the class and ask him how he feels about it. You could also try asking him what he thinks should be done to solve the problem. He's very creative - maybe he'll be the one to come up with the solution!

Who knows?! But I'm really hoping you'll figure out what to do because I think in a couple of years, we'll be facing the same type of problem!