Same thing when an autistic child is having a meltdown, and sometimes you don’t know why, only that child knows, it could be something that happened months ago, that they are reliving in their mind. They have a hard time dealing with their feelings, they don’t understand them, and the meltdown or “tantrum” is their only way they know how to deal with it. With my son, whose now 6 years old, the meltdowns are becoming less and less every day. We have good days and we have bad. I personally believe it is because he’s growing up, and is learning how to cope and express his feelings in other ways. We talk to him now, he has conversations with us, which he didn’t before. He amazes us everyday.

I have a video that I’d love to share with you guys. It is a video of my son and his class singing in a program at our local mall. You can’t miss him, he’s the little boy standing on the left, on the first row, who can’t stand still. But just him staying there in that spot and participating in this singing program was a MAJOR accomplishment for him. We were so proud of him. And so was his teacher, she’s the one talking to him in the beginning. She adores him, and he was so fortunate to have her as his teacher last year. Here it is, and I hope Gayla doesn’t mind me sharing the link, anyway, might lighten things up a bit.

http://mama-drama.org/2008/04/12/christophers-first-public-performance/

Things grow worse, a month later I hear from the reading teacher that his actual teacher was trying to get him tested for ADD or ADHD, (can’t recall which one) because he couldn’t figure things out.

First this is a teacher that has teacher led recess and by this I mean she chose whether they had it or not. If they had it it was controlled, by this she would walk them around the school for the full time. At lunch it was more like military school. She walked them in, assigned seats and they ate lunch. No talking either, once done you waited until the teacher came to get you and back to class. Where was the fun? While many would argue kids need to learn, sometimes they need to let their energy escape. She was wanting to diagnose my son for something that could easily have been fixed.

The fixing was done, in the afternoons that he came home I made darn sure he played. Put him in sports and other activities, made sure he got sleep and was ready for school. I argued with the teacher until I was blue in the face that he WOULD NOT be tested. All it took was some hands on activity and for her to actually SIT DOWN (take some time out) and work with him on the reading.

Today- he’s entering the 6th grade and is all caught up on reading, in fact loves it so much I’m constantly buying him more books and he is blogging as well. He’s a genius in math and is average in reading. I think he’s doing great and even though that year was the worse one he experienced he LOVES school now. All it took was me saying no and a GREAT reading teacher that stuck by him.

I’m not saying that this is the case for everyone as I know it isn’t. I have dear friends that have children with special needs or that have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. But I do know that for me, it would’ve been misdiagnosed. This was a teacher that just didn’t want to actually do her duties and was opting for an easy way out. That school has reportedly had MANY cases like this. I do understand what Gayla means when she says too many get diagnosed or use the excuse when they really shouldn’t and too many that should don’t.

However, I did make sure that he got the Speech and Occupational Therapy that he deserved. He wouldn’t be the child that he is today if he hadn’t. And there was no way we could have afforded it, if he hadn’t qualified for our state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Yes, Gayla when I read your first post, I was saddened. And I appreciate the fact that you realized that your harsh words hurt some people’s feelings. This was actually my first time reading your blog, and I didn’t get a very good impression. But I will try to look past it, because I do believe in forgiveness.

Gayla: I know what you mean about people wanting to take advantage of the system. My daughter has some sensory integration issues. She’s been in therapy for a year and is doing so much better. I have people telling me that I can get social security for her. Are you kidding me? She goes to school, is in a regular classroom, and can function just fine (with the help of occupational therapy).