So the stock market’s gone crazy. Warships are on our doorstep. (Venezuela.) The presidental race has brought out more vigorous discussion than I’ve even see around an election. The sky is falling and the nation is going to hell in a handbasket.
But all this suddenly fades into the background when a parent’s been told their kid is autistic. Or has ADD/ADHD. Or, yeah…..fill in the blank. There’s plenty of labels to choose from.
Suddenly that election seems pretty trivial. And all of a sudden Hugo Chavez is just another annoying barking dog. (Maybe a really good shock collar would take care of him, eh?)
When you’re a parent, kid concerns supersedes everything else. Especially when you’ve just been told the Light of Your Life is defective. And not that that diagnosis was a big surprise either. You had a feeling…or a teacher told you something was amiss and you headed to the docs.
So you’re relieved. It wasn’t “just you.” You’ve got a real live diagnosis and modern medicine to help you in your unique challenges. Things will get better quick, right?
Not so fast. This is a journey. And like life, there’s up and downs and usually, no easy answers.
First thing to do: Take a deep breath. And then take another deep breath and inventory the uniqueness of your child.
And then what????
I’ll write more this week. We’re in the middle of getting ready for a big move!
Filed under: ADD/ADHD, Labels are for Soup Cans, parenting Tagged: | ADD, ADHD, Autism, Diagnose ADHD, parenting, PDD-NOS
Wow – defective? I’m trying to remember back to my son’s diagnosis of autism and am wondering if I ever felt he was “defective.” I honestly can’t say. I remember it being difficult and scary and sad and all of that. But defective? Ouch. Guess I need to go read the rest of your blog to get the scoop.
Hey- Thanks a lot for visiting and commenting on my blog. For clarification, the “defective” is somewhat tongue in cheek. (If you familiarize yourself more with my writing, you’ll find I’m a bit on the cheeky side.)
But yet I do feel “defective” is a message I got a lot with my son, now 14. Oh, it’s never spoken that directly but I learned more and more how conformity driven our culture is. If a child is unable to stand calmly in line, not wiggle in his chair, color in the lines, they face a long road of hearing constant corrections and admonishments to “fit in.”
Hope that clarifies a little bit.