Saturday, March 14, 2009

Meeting with the school




Just a quick note as I have to run...We had the meeting with Mrs. Nelson, the school psychologist and our learning resource assistant (I think that was her title) anyway, we all decided and agreed to start David on an IEP (individualized education plan for those of you who are unfamiliar with the abbreviation) for behavior. At this point there are no learning deficits and David is at the top of his class. He will leave the classroom for about 10 min each day to spend a little time with the special ed assistant to work on improving behavior at school. He's a GREAT kid just needs a little fine tuning :) Thanks all for your encouragement to me it means a lot.
(By the way, this picture was taken after David used a permanent ink marker on his face...ooops!)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

More on David

I wish I had a cute picture to post with this entry but I've been to lazy to upload any new photos. So maybe next time. Anyway, just a quick note to say that David's allergy testing came back negative for allergies to milk, soy, egg whites, peanuts, wheat, and fish. So I'm not strongly considering any specialized diet. I try to limit the amount of sugar and foods with artificial coloring in David's diet which I haven't really noticed to affect him all that much anyway but it's healthy. We meet with David's teacher, the school psychologist and a learning specialist on Friday to go over the results of the testing that has been done over the last month or so. Just a note ADHD includes three main components, hyperactivity, distractability and impulsivity. It's not necessary for all three to be exhibited in a child with ADHD. Only one need be present in order for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD. I've heard from a couple of people that they thought that if a child can sit still and concentrate then they wouldn't have the diagnosis. Actually children with ADHD can sit still and concentrate if in a new and novel situation or if they are excited about something. David mainly falls into the distractable and impulsive part and can sit still and concentrate but mainly when he is very interested in something. Another thing I have found interesting is that it's not only David's teacher that has had difficulty with David's distractability and impulsivity but also I have to work with his Sunday school teacher to help him and now his Mad Science teacher. More and more I am trusting that this diagnosis of ADHD is accurate for David. He's a wonderful boy and has a marvelously distracted brain.