High Velocity Speed Wobbles

Many of you may have read about my little Ginger Ninja, Anthony, in my previous blog post.  Those of you who know him will know that he is a loud and lively seven-year-old bundle of energy.  I'm going to begin this post by saying that despite the fact he gives me a new grey hair every day, I am so intensely proud of him and all he achieves.  Sure, he takes a little longer over some things because he takes time to physically focus.  He might never be able to play golf, or even cricket or tennis, but I love how he's taken to school life like a duck to water.  I love the fact that this tiny little lad in glasses has made chess "cool" among the Grade 1s, and has a whole troop of them following him to the library every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.  I love the fact that he floored the Grade 1 teacher by singing along with her to "Thunderstruck" (heavy metal voice and all!) after he was first finished his work in computer class.  I love that everyone in the school, Grade 1 to Grade 7, Headmaster to Janitor, knows exactly who he is.  I love that he volunteered to pray in front of the school.  I love that he has no problem sharing his faith with his friends, and finds it weird when they say they don't go to kids' church or Sunday school.

Grade 1 is awesome!

In the first term, he absolutely, absolutely hated reading.  Homework took ages, because he really, really battled to learn words, phonics, letter groupings and everything that goes with it.  He "crooked" his way through the earliest readers, because he would literally memorise whole books, and use the pictures as his memory joggers!  His maths skills were great and his computer skills have always been top notch, but English, reading, etc was really bad.  It was at that point that I got the report of the nystagmus.  

I could go into a whole soliloquy here about how his teacher, Dale Bougas, has really not just gone the extra mile for Anthony but the extra 10 miles to accommodate him and his eye defect.  As a result, although his writing is still atrocious, he's just received the top grade in his class for reading.  His word recognition is superb, and he loves the fact that he can read his Doctor Who book by himself (I'm grateful for that, to be honest!!)  In terms of his educational development, this year has been major for him.  He's getting great grades for all his subjects.  

However, there's one area that we all still battle with.  He's not called the Ginger Ninja for nothing - he literally is here, there and everywhere.  And like Duracell (the one with the copper coloured top), he lasts 6 times longer than the average child.  From birth (and that's no exaggeration) he's literally survived on a few hours' sleep per night.  In the class, he's the one with the most to say, he verbalises everything, and often gets distracted.

We took him to the paediatrician yesterday, and the occupational therapist, learning support and Mrs Bougas had sent through supporting documents.  In addition, Dr Dyssell asked us a number of questions.  At the end of his investigation, he said that Anthony fulfils absolutely every single criteria completely of a child with ADHD.  The upswing of all of this is that this weekend, Anthony starts on a Ritalin trial.

How do I feel about this?  I know Ritalin has had a lot of negative press, but for every one story I've heard somewhere from someone about "zombie kids", I have met 5 or 6 real flesh and blood people who say that their lives changed as soon as they started on it, and they were at last able to sit for longer than a few minutes and concentrate.  Anthony's occupational therapist's sister only went onto Ritalin in her twenties, and asked her sister in tears after a few months "Why did nobody do this for me sooner?"  

Like every drug, as the doctor pointed out, there are always people who will be sensitive to it.  I can totally relate.  I hated when the GP used to prescribe me Sudafed for a cold, because I knew I would not sleep a wink while I was on it, and would end up in a depression.  It was only earlier this year I discovered that I have a great sensitivity to pseudoephidrine, one of the main ingredients - some possible side-effects are insomnia and depression!  Now I know to avoid it.  Is it a bad drug?  Absolutely not!  I know many, many people who will immediately go and get Sudafed from the chemist at the first sign of a cold, and two days later, they are so much better.  I just know that I can't.  And the same with Ritalin.  For some people, they will have an adverse reaction, and there are other medicines out there that can help in the same way. So, no, I'm not worried on that score, and Dr Dyssell has said that if we are worried about anything at all, we must stop the Ritalin immediately and call him.

In terms of the ADHD diagnosis, that's also more of a relief for me than anything.  I don't know if that's the right way for me to feel, but when you seem to spend literally your entire life saying words, like "No", "Don't", "Stop it", "Listen", "Calm down", when you never had to use them more than occasionally for your other children, you start to wonder if you've lost your touch as a parent.  I really was beginning to think that discipline was not going to work with him.  Now that I know what is going on, I can work out better ways to work with him, deal with him and teach him.  I know it's just a small hurdle - both Catherine and Andrew have good friends who were/are on Ritalin, and are absolutely stunning young people who are welcome in my house any time.  I'm naming no names, in case he reads this, but my nickname for one of them is "Selati" because he's that sweet!  (For non SA-viewers, Selati is a brand of sugar.)

Am I concerned?  I'm a mom, of course I am.  Do I think this is the right thing?  In honesty, I've never been more at peace.  I honestly think that if Anthony did so well this year (ADHD, nystagmus and all), once he gets to Grade 2 - watch this space!!!!!