Stoney's diagnoses is not really surprising. This child gets distracted by anything and everything. A pen in his hand while doing math will magically turn into a plane or a spaceship. He never finishes his work at school and then has to do it for homework and it takes him hours. And then when doing homework, you have to be right on top of him, otherwise he will take off in his imagination. He is smart enough, but he can't pull himself together to focus. I am not kidding when I say he is exactly like Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes when it comes to school work.
He has been struggling with this since first grade, and we already had him tested in 2nd grade, but then they said that he was to young to get a clear picture. We wen through a different organization this time and they have no doubt about it: ADHD. Actually, the H in this did surprise me a little, we were more thinking ADD, but the psychiatrist said that ADD is just a subcategory of ADHD. And even though he is not really hyperactive, he is really restless. Can't sit still on his seat for two seconds when making his homework. So they are going with ADHD. We will try to start him on Ritalin in a few weeks, under close supervision of the psychiatrist till we know how he reacts to it. I hope it helps him. Because he is suffering from this lack of concentration most. He hates sitting there and spending hours and hours on something that could take 20 minutes, if he was only able to focus.
Now to Monty. Luckily he only has a mild for of Autism. But it makes his (and our) life difficult sometimes. Most people who know him say that they don't really see it in him, but we do.
He has a very difficult time understanding other kids. If he looses at a game the others most have cheated. If he plays with his friends at school and he somehow gets tagged several times, the others are "out to get him," and are no longer are his friends.
This is becoming more and more of a problem now that he is getting older. Younger kids get over these fights easier, but now they are not so quick to step over it when Monty calls them their enemy. "you can't play with me because you are my enemy". And all the other kid did was probably not letting Monty win at hide and seek. Monty has a very different view of social interactions.
Another problem is (but this is not typically an autism characteristic, although according to the specialist it is only found in kids with autism) is that he has no border between fantasy and reality. Everything is real to him. The only thing he understands is that cartoons are not real, because he can clearly see that they are drawn, but even if it is 'Barney' then it is real. He sort of understands that there is someone in the suit, but everything that he sees must be real, because they are real people.
And then there is his anger... He is so often angry. It helps to have a very clear structure in his life.
But yet he can also be so very, very sweet.
For now we have him in a group therapy and he is on a waiting list for individual help. Next year at school he will get extra help at school as well.
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