Monday, May 3, 2010

A Happy Child Is A Hyper Child or Is It ADD/ADHD?

I am sitting here looking at all the paper work that I have to fill out for my daughter's ADHD evaluation and I am thinking, 'Oh, boy. What have I gotten myself into?' You see, her teacher (not being able to outwardly say) has hinted around (along with some family members and maybe a friend) that she might have ADHD. I have been told over and over again to get her tested instead of dealing with everything that I have to go through with her. For sometime it has been a running joke with my family (no disrespect to those whose children do have it) because of her constant hyperness. I kept telling them, 'a happy child is a hyper child'. At least that is what I had read somewhere.

When I really think about it, there are some attributes that she does possess, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything. One time when she was around 3 or 4 I had her in a library program and would take pictures. I remember looking at one of the pictures and wondering why I didn't see her in the picture. Oh, but she was there! She was the one lying on her back with her legs sticking straight up in the air in the middle of all the kids. Or just recently in her Taekwondo class, where she was looking at the lights in the ceiling, talking to herself, and moving her finger up and down toward the lights instead of listening to her instructor.

At home and in public (i.e. the supermarket or walking down the street) I get most of the hyperness. I remember people would look at me and be like WOW and my response would be, 'and to think I don't give her sugar!' and they would be shocked. It was just pure natural hyperness (from happiness). At home she likes to jump on the beds (normal), climb on the railings (inside and outside), run through the house (normal), fall on the couches from the steps, swing on the counter tops, etc. The list could go on forever. And don't get me started about the stuff she throws around her room. Oh, and her new found screaming. She just recently started to scream out loud for no apparent reason. You ask her why she is doing it and she says she doesn't know. She does have little issues that boggle me. She can't have the sown part of the sock below her toes. It has to be above or she can't put her shoes on. She also can't have a certain pair of tennis shoes on if a small part of it is bent inside. She will literally fall out on the floor crying if she can't get them just right.

At the beginning of her schooling, I didn't pay attention to it too much either. You see, she was always ahead of her pupils. She was reading before any of her friends and also learning how to speak Spanish among other things. But once she got into kindergarten, her teacher told me she had to keep telling her to get her work done. She said she would always be the last one to complete her work. And now that she is in first grade, her teacher has to deal with some of the same things. One thing that struck her teacher as odd was when she got up from her desk and put her jacket hat on her head and walked around the classroom. I asked her what was she doing walking around the classroom instead of doing schoolwork and her response was that she wasn't walking around the classroom; she was just trying to get to the other side.

When I look at the questions that they ask, I want to fill it out honestly, but I really don't want her to come across as having a real severe problem or even being 'crazy'. It is bad enough that she has to deal with food allergies and to have this also.... When it was a running joke, that was one thing, but if it turns out to actually be true (which I don't think it will) it will be a little sad and also offer me a lot of relief at the same time.

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