What a relief
Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I've completed all the work for my MBA. The semester officially ends on Friday, 12/23, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm done. All assignments are turned in and I'm pretty sure I'll get A's in the two courses I took.
But that's not what the title of this post is about. You may also know that Ellen and I have been going through a lot of heartache with the older one with respect to how he's doing in school. He's been struggling with courses at the end of the day for years now. At the end of last school year we realized that the issue was his ADHD diagnosis and that we needed to do more to help him succeed. We've set up meetings with his counselor and have been in regular contact with his teachers. Despite all of that, he failed English in the 1st quarter and by early 2nd quarter had an even lower average. And he was dropping the ball in other courses he'd done well in.
Hand it to my lovely wife to do the reasearch. She'd read that there are other medications you can take along with the standard ADHD meds that might make a difference. So we set up an appointment with Christopher's pediatrician and discussed options. We could have upped the dose on his current meds (which we didn't want to do), try one of these other meds to go with it, or try a different med altogether. Christopher opted for trying the additional med.
What a difference that has made. He's been on it a couple of weeks and has not missed an assignment. His English teacher emailed me that he's now participating in class (which he hadn't been) and his grades since then are great. He's a lot happier that he's not struggling. While his English average for the quarter may not get to where it should be, he should pass and be set up to get good grades the rest of the year. We're keeping an eye on him to make sure things are still going well, but it's a big relief that we may have found the right med combination.
Hope everyone has a wonder Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, or whichever holiday you celebrate this time of year. I'm taking the rest of the year off from work starting Friday so I plan to relax and recharge for 2012.
But that's not what the title of this post is about. You may also know that Ellen and I have been going through a lot of heartache with the older one with respect to how he's doing in school. He's been struggling with courses at the end of the day for years now. At the end of last school year we realized that the issue was his ADHD diagnosis and that we needed to do more to help him succeed. We've set up meetings with his counselor and have been in regular contact with his teachers. Despite all of that, he failed English in the 1st quarter and by early 2nd quarter had an even lower average. And he was dropping the ball in other courses he'd done well in.
Hand it to my lovely wife to do the reasearch. She'd read that there are other medications you can take along with the standard ADHD meds that might make a difference. So we set up an appointment with Christopher's pediatrician and discussed options. We could have upped the dose on his current meds (which we didn't want to do), try one of these other meds to go with it, or try a different med altogether. Christopher opted for trying the additional med.
What a difference that has made. He's been on it a couple of weeks and has not missed an assignment. His English teacher emailed me that he's now participating in class (which he hadn't been) and his grades since then are great. He's a lot happier that he's not struggling. While his English average for the quarter may not get to where it should be, he should pass and be set up to get good grades the rest of the year. We're keeping an eye on him to make sure things are still going well, but it's a big relief that we may have found the right med combination.
Hope everyone has a wonder Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, or whichever holiday you celebrate this time of year. I'm taking the rest of the year off from work starting Friday so I plan to relax and recharge for 2012.
Comments
I'm so pumped you're all done your courses!! You worked hard for it Vince.
I wish you, Ellen and the boys a wonderful Christmas, make memories! :-)
2012 is shaping up to be a better year (or at least less stressful) in many ways. Let's hope that bears out.