Family Life-Fun, Loving, and Special

As a member of S-O-S Research, I was asked if I could do a blog post to share with everyone. This is going to be part of their Best of the Best, Edition 11. Here is what we were asked to write about:

"I know all of the past issues are important and helpful.  But there is another side of autism/special needs families that I think is equally important.  The moments that make us laugh.  It’s not all therapy, schedules and methodologies.  There are the funny little moments in our day to day lives – that are just as significant.  When it’s not about special needs – it’s about just being a family and enjoying our children just as they are."

I have to say this kinda stumped me for a bit. I didn't know what I could write about. I seem to remember all the crazy things and none of the good things. Another reason for this blog is to get those things down, but again, I keep forgetting to get on here and blog about them. Well not really forgetting, just not making or taking the time to post something (would be easier if this silly thing would allow me to post things from my phone - tried and I can't get it to work). So on to what I want to write about...

Rosy makes me smile every day! She can be angry about something one minute, and the next she is smiling and laughing about something. It could be as simple as the cat meowing to her, and she will have the biggest smile. She did something wonderful the other day, and even though I'm not impressed about one part of it, the other part makes me happy. 

Saturday she came to me and told me that there were baby fish in her brother's tank. Now this is where I was unimpressed! She went into her brother's room again without his permission (he was at a birthday party, and she didn't have a chance to ask for permission). I went in to look at the tank and couldn't see any fish, and thought her working memory was causing her to believe that she saw a baby fish, so really I didn't believe her (I feel bad about that). Well, she insisted, and low and behold after watching for a few minutes, I did see a baby fish! I spent the next hour (and many times with her help) separating the babies and moving them to a beta tank that we have for sickies. Ten baby fish in all!

The reason I post about this, is her caring! She doesn't really seem to care for her brother much (do any 11 year old girls show love for their younger brothers, I ask?). This showed immense caring! She could have never told me, and all those babies would have been eaten by the mommy fish and the other fish in the tank (in fact I'm sure a few probably were). She even kept quiet when I asked her to (as I wanted to see if my son would notice the beta tank with water in it, since it was empty when he left for the party). She wasn't supposed to be in his room, but because of her impulsiveness, she was able to save 10 babies (mind you they may all die, we have to be prepared for that). I love her for that! I'm still trying to figure out ways to remember to ask permission before going into someone else's space (hard thing for an ADHD kid to learn).

So no, this is not about laughter, but we have shared many times with laughter. There has been joy in this house. Many tears too. We all need to focus on the good and positive things, or life will get you down. Thanksgiving for us (Canadians here), was this weekend. This is a good reminder for all the things we have to be thankful for!

Next blog post to be sooner, rather than later! Bye for now! Oh and here is a pic of the babies:

Crazy Week Coming

So I thought it would be cool to have Rosy write something for this blog. Just her idea. Whatever she wanted. Well, that didn't go so well. As soon as I suggested it, she was worried about the boys at school finding out about her ADHD, and teasing her. Well, I have made this somewhat anonymous, even though most of my friends know about it. I don't see how they would find out, unless their parents were unkind enough to share the info.

So, I am left to posting again, and don't know what to post about. Other than it is going to be a crazy week, next week. I have work almost every day, and the kids are both in camp. Rosy is really looking forward to another week at the camp that she went to in July, and Flash is going to soccer camp. Flash is super excited, since it is British coaches coming over to teach them, all things soccer. He loves the sport, and is doing really well on his team. They are the underdogs, and are losing a lot of games, but you can tell they are learning to play as a team. It's great to watch.

Rosy is now on 15mg of Addarall, and it seems to be okay. She still has times where she cries about not getting what she wants, but I prefer that over throwing a major tantrum and hitting me, or throwing things. She is doing something funny, that I have never noticed before. When she picks cards off the pile in SkipBo, she counts them as she is taking them, and then counting them again. Funny in a good way, and something she didn't do before. At least she is making sure she is getting the right number of cards. I'm just glad that the meds are helping her. Makes for a less stressful summer.

So I did have a couple of things to talk about. But now I must go and get some ice cream (shouldn't really, but I will...lol). Hope everyone has a great weekend!

People with ADHD are different, but still...

So to promote special needs a great site has been started, and Saturday's are filled with postings about special needs kids.

Check out the Special Saturday website!

Taken from the about page of their site:

So what is Special Saturday?
Special Saturday is a group of people who want to raise awareness about children and adults with special needs. We aim to do this by devoting every Saturday to informing and spreading the news to as many people globally as we can about both the difficulties we face raising our children or by having special needs AND how amazing our special children are including their achievements.

This Saturday we are to either do a blog post, or tweet "People with ... are different, but still ..." I decided to add a post to my blog.

So, here goes. Children with ADHD/PDD-NOS are different, but still are children, like any others. I know my daughter can be strange when she acts like an animal when it isn't really called for. She can focus on one thing for a very long time (orca's have been her favourite animal since she was 2 years old). Her mind can wander and she may not pay attention when you need her too. School work is sometimes more difficult for her, because her memory doesn't work the way other kid's memories do. She doesn't really have any friends, because she doesn't act like her peers. Her anger can be worst than any adult I have ever seen. She can throw things, and scream and call me names, but she is still an 11 year old girl.

My daughter loves to have her nails done, and will sit quite still for that. My daughter loves books and movies, and can read for hours at a time. She loves having her hair done, and checking out the latest fashions. Rosy has a crush on a boy (well many actually, including Justin Bieber). She can kick your butt at some of the board games we have too. Rosy would be an awesome best friend, if someone would be there for her too (and not tease her when her back is turned). Watch out, cause she can pretend like no other (writing or play acting stories all the time). She has dreams to be a vet, or marine biologist, or an actress one day. Seems to me that she is very similar to most 11 year old girls out there! Just give her a chance to show how she can love like you can, play like you can, and pretend like you can. Yes, she is different in some ways, but she is the same in many others!

*This post was written as a part of SPECIAL SATURDAY which promotes awareness of special needs. Check it out on Facebook – Spec-sat bloggers, and on Twitter @SpecSat using the hastag #specialsaturday.

Will She Sleep?

Rosy had an awesome day and was able to play a game with us in the evening, and didn't have any issues. Evening time can be rough with her getting either really wired, or negative about everything. We played Life Twists and Turns (great, cause you don't have to keep track of the money), and Rosy won! I then asked her to take her bunny out and she had no problem with that and took him outside. Usually she says, no, or starts to get upset because she wants to play with her Barbie's or something. Tonight she was great, and said, "okay Mom," and got right to it.

So now the question is, will she get to sleep in better time than the last few nights? I'm hoping so. I have to get up there and see if the light is on or not. Off to do that now, but did you notice???...

Two posts in one day! I'm working on this! I would love to post here a little more often, and maybe get some posts about what we are dealing with, as well as some stuff about ADHD, etc. That's my plan anyway. I also hope to do a study of the Bible, and post my thoughts here too. Just have to figure out which study to do, and go from there.

Well, off to check on the light situation, and have a relaxing evening with hubby! Good night all!

Monday = Long Weekend!

Well, it's a long weekend! YAY! Hubby gets to stay home on Monday. Sad part is, he may have to work a little tomorrow. Oh well, it will only be a few hours if he does.

So I prayed a little and asked about the drugs that Rosy is on. I emailed the dr too. After talking to another mom, and reading the dr's email, I figured I might as well try another drug with her. We had to refill the other prescription, so why not try a new one. I, of course, would rather not to have her on drugs, but boy there is a big difference when she is on them. I can rationalize with her, and that's something I was never able to do. Today she started Adderall (10mg). She really wanted to use the Biphentin (I think she thought that she would have to swallow a pill). I opened up the Adderall pill to sprinkle the granules on something, and it turns out that the granules are really tiny (loving that). Rosy saw how small they are, and was excited. I put it on the spoon for her with a little sorbet, and she swallowed it all with no problems! The granules in the Biphentin are larger (3X more) and she always had to chase them down with a few gulps of water.

It's now 2:00pm and she has a friend over. She seems to be doing fine, so we will see how the evening goes. That has been the harder time for us. She has had some attitude, but I'm thinking that is going to be "normal" with her. I think it helps that she has a friend over too. We will have to see how she is over the weekend.

So I hope those of you that have a long weekend this weekend, have a great one!

Another week of summer...

Well here it is, another week of summer. Today went pretty well. Rosy did get quite upset about a kid who was over playing with Flash. She blamed him for something, that he may or may not have done (of course, I was not in the room at the time). I was able to calm her down, but it was still hard to watch her get so teary eyed, and get so frustrated.

My problem now, is deciding about changing the meds. Well, we have to refill her prescription, or get her the other meds. That's something I need to decide quickly (4 more pills left). I'm still working out my prayer life. Some days I will pray, and some days, I seem to forget, or just don't. So I think this is something I need to pray about with hubby and I need to email the doctor again, to get her input on this. I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm still finding some issues with negativity too. Is that her, or is it the meds, or is it something else? Ugh...this is tough. Thankfully I have a friend who's son is ADHD, and so we chat about it a lot. It's been a real help. I really think an ADHD support group is needed in my area, but need to find out more info on how to start one. Another thing for my list of things to do.

Flash is now acting out a lot more too. I think he has seen his sister get away with things (cause I finally gave up - I didn't want to fight her anymore), and so he thinks he can get away with similar things. Oh the joys! He's learning the hard way, that we won't give in to him, and he doesn't like it. lol

So tomorrow is a new day, and I will pray and email the doctor, and just go where God leads me. I hope you are all having a good week so far. Will post more soon!

Why Romans 8:28...

I just thought I should share a little on why I have Romans 8:28 on the top of this page. On August 25, 2007 (I have it written in my Bible) I was reading Romans 8 and was reflecting on some things going on in our lives. Romans 8:28 stood out big time. So I highlighted it, and prayed that God would show me what that means with the situation we were dealing with at the time (an alcoholic in the family was slowly killing themselves, and it was very scary to watch). Over the last four years that verse has come up many times (I can't count the number). It's almost like God is hitting me in the head, saying you need to remember this, as you have seen in happen, and will see it again and again!

So two years pass (it's now 2009) and this person who is drinking themselves to death has a revelation of sorts and finally cleans up! This person has now been clean for almost two years! The sad part is how close to death the person came. I'm so thankful to God, because this person's ability to get free of that addiction is, in part, thanks to prayers from many people. I'm sure of that! So God worked all things together for good!

I'm now seeing the assault on my daughter is also God working together all things for good. If she hadn't been assaulted it would have taken a lot more time to get her assessed, and to find out that she has ADHD and PDD-NOS. She was already in counseling and all it took was a phone call and few weeks later we got to meet with the psychologist. Going through the system without her counselor would have taken a lot longer (the sad part of all these "systems" is the length of time to get kids the help that they need), possibly a year or two. Don't get me wrong, I hate the fact that she was assaulted, but I am glad that there was a small sliver of a silver lining to it happening. She is doing so much better in school right now! In fact she is getting an award on Friday (she doesn't know about it yet). I will share more about that in another post. I'm just so happy to see all the progress she is making now that she is getting help.

God is working all things together for good in all the moves that we have made too! Writing this stuff down is really helping me see that too. We moved from Barrie to Windsor (5 hour drive) for my hubby's work, and we met lots of great people down there. We then moved from Windsor to a place near Ottawa (which we now call home), which is an eight hour drive. Only my sister is close by (but still almost three hours away), and all the other family is at least five hours away. Church has helped, and we have great neighbours, so making some friends has been easier, than if we had moved to another location near family (I found we hung out with our family more than with our friends). Now we spend quality time with family when we are together. It's still hard (the loss of "free" babysitting sucks), but I think this is where we are supposed to be (even my Mom said that to me, and I'm sure it was hard for her to say).

I still get reminded regularly about this verse (on the radio just two weeks ago, and during a recent Bible study), and so I have to keep reminding myself about all the things that seem to work together for good, so that I don't get too stressed out. It's difficult some days, when Rosy is acting out and I'm about to rip my hair out, but I'm still learning to walk with God through this mess we call life.

Is there a verse that stands out for you? I would love to read about it!

(Next on my list is to figure out a signature for these posts....)

New Drug… New Name

I was beginning to think that using dd (dear daughter) was too impersonal. I don’t really want to use her name either (at this point). So I think I will use Rosy for her name. I have to figure out a nickname for my son and hubby too then, I guess, but this post will be about her so I will have time to figure some out..lol

Rosy started a new drug called Biphentin yesterday. It is in a pink and white capsule that I can pull apart and pour onto food. Yesterday it was ice cream! I know, ice cream for breakfast? The cold numbs the tongue and I knew she would eat it all. Now to figure out something healthy to put it on! Today will be ice cream again, and just a small amount again.

The question of the day…Does it work?? Well, I’m not going to say yes right away! I did that with the Concerta, and we know that it didn’t work after all. I told the doctor about her staying up till 10pm one night and then 11pm the next, and she said that Rosy should go on something else, as it is keeping her up way too late. I completely agreed! I need sleep too, and can’t when I know that one of the kids is awake.

I do think that it may be working, as she had her best day ever at school! The teacher wrote in her agenda, “She had an awesome day! She worked so hard today. I am proud of her.” YAY! I’m so happy for my little girl! She seemed to be a little different after school too. I just haven’t figured out if it is a good different or just different. I know it will take a couple of days to see how it works for her.

So it’s on to day two, and we will see how she does. I will be going in after school to talk with the teacher too, just to see if she notices a difference or not. The fun part is, that she has two teachers (one for A days and one for B), so I will have to talk to the teacher that taught her yesterday, tomorrow. It gets a little crazy, but it has worked well for them. I like both teachers and they have worked hard with me to help Rosy to do her best.

Since I’m up in great time this morning, I figured I would get this post up. Now it’s time for me to start getting ready for the day. Have a great day!

Great Long Weekend!

We upped the dose to 36mg and it seems that it is what dd needed! We played Monopoly as a family yesterday and it was the best game ever! She didn't get too crazy during it, and didn't get too upset when she didn't win. She was winning for part of it, and didn't gloat about that either. She has also been spending a lot of time in her room writing a story. Using the Adventures in Odysey story about the kids and parents switching places for a base. It will be interesting to read when she is done.

The only drawback is that she doesn't go to sleep again! We had this problem before we found out about Melatonin. She has been taking Melatonin for a few weeks, and we noticed a huge improvement in her sleeping patterns. Now it's back to square one! ugghhh....

Going to call the doctor's office today to talk about all this, and to get a prescription filled for the 36mg dose. We are are still having problems with her swallowing the pills too. Have to talk to the doctor about that too.

Anyway, just a quick update for now. More later!

Movie night

A wonderful day outside and in! Had the normal issues with my daughter, but took it in stride today.

Started with laundry time! Asking her to put her laundry away, is like pulling teeth. She tried to fight me, and I told her that I would take away her radio. She said that life in this house was unfair, and I reminded her about her friend visiting today (a family that lives close by that we get together when we can, and their daughter is also ADHD, and has the same name as dd). She worked on her laundry and got it away.

I wanted her to take her meds, and she said she wouldn't, and then said no. I came downstairs and tried to figure out a way to hide her pill in something, and couldn't figure something out (hubby bought very green banana's, so not a good thing). Hubby then walked in the door and when I asked him, he suggested the Dare Real Fruit Gummies. I had dd come down, and I think because hubby was there she tried the gummie. It worked! Yay, something else to use!

Then it was on to cleaning the house. I asked dd to vacuum her room, and she told me that I needed to find a radio station first (she wanted to listen to Adventure's in Odysey), and I told her that I would after she vacuumed. She tried to fight for just a couple of minutes, and then finally took the vacuum. That was easy!

Cleaning up the bunny cage was next, and I was half done by the time she came downstairs (after hubby having to start counting), not so good, but she finally worked on it.

I then asked her the dreaded question! Would you please have a shower? She kept saying that she wouldn't but shortly after I asked her, and reminded her that she needed to, for her visitor, and low and behold she took her shower.

Interesting thing to happen, was having the doctor calling today! A Saturday?? WOW! I'm impressed. I had called on Friday to mention the lack of change, and she was away. She called today and okayed us upping the meds to 36mg from 27mg. We will start that tomorrow, and then I will call her on Tuesday and get a prescription filled for the 36mg, as we only have enough 18mg pills for 8 days and that will take us to next weekend. Still very impressed that she called!

Then on to movie night. The kids watched part of a movie, and we then had dinner. The kids went off to watch another movie (they didn't finish the other one at all), and the adults watched a movie (Inception). All in all a great day!

Day Seven...

So it's not as common for girls to have ADHD. I find that interesting. I don't know why, and I'm sure the doctor's don't really know why either. Oh well, we have a beautiful little girl, who God has trusted to us. We are trying our best to raise her and of course there are tough days and great days, and so we are taking them one day at a time!

Speaking of days, it's now day seven, and there hasn't been a lot of change in my daughter. Have to check with the teachers after school today to see if they have noticed any difference. I even called the doctor's office today, and the doctor that we saw is not in until next Tuesday (Monday is a holiday here in Canada). The doctor who did answer, took down all my info and either she or our doctor will call. I'm glad about that. Maybe we will see some changes over the long weekend?

I had dd clean up her room last night, so that I could vacuum it today. She didn't want to, because she was "playing" with her polly pockets. Finally got her to, and then she decided it would be fun to pull out all her costumes and put them on (one at a time, mind you). Fun for her, but what did she do with the costumes after she was done? Leave them on the floor of course! I know, when it's out of her mind, and she is on to something else, I have to be prepared for the mess. Oh well, she gets to vacuum her room tonight then.

I have to admit my house is not the cleanest on the block, but it frustrates me on how messy dd can get. Problem is her working memory is not great (so it means constant reminders until it literally sinks in - long term memory). I think the problem is, she doesn't have enough structure, and I know I have to work on that. I know I posted about the organizational chart earlier, and I think we need to really incorporate that into her day. Thankfully it's going to be a yucky day on Monday, so I'm thinking that will be the day to work on that. Now to find the chart that will work!

Well, I'm off to have lunch with friends. If you are a reader from Canada, have a wonderful long weekend!

A New Day...

We started Concerta this morning for dd. She had major problems swallowing it, so I had her take a bite of banana, and then a spoon of nutella with the pill in the nutella. It worked! She has never been one for medication, even if she is feeling really sick, she would rather go without. 18mg of Concerta in, and praise the Lord, there have been no side effects! She ate lunch and dinner no problem, and even said how hungry she was. She is now in bed, and took her Melatonin first, so I'm assuming she will be asleep in no time.

Did I see any change?

I have to admit, that I didn't see a lot of change. She did kind of help me with cleaning up the rest of her room (I am hoping that with me re-arranging it, and organizing it more, she will be able to keep better care of it), but had times where I had to remind her to stay on task, as per normal. I did notice that in the afternoon she was more focused on a job that she was doing (of her own liking, so that it probably why). Oh and we went to the book store today (Chapters is the best place to go on a rainy day), and she did well there (again somewhat "normal" for her). She picked out two books about horses (her new obsession), and I got a couple of books on ADHD. One for hubby and myself, and one with worksheets in it for her to work on many things (from making friends to behaving at home). It will be interesting to see if the worksheets help her at all.

Now on to the next task! A chore chart.... I have been searching for some, and found lots, but any that we have tried with her don't seem to work. Well, I may have found something to help! I stumbled upon this site Make It Sparkly Mama from this site: ADD Student

Check out what I can do for dd!

I'm thinking that the visual plus having to move the chore from one can to another, just might help (or not). I will have to create them (with her help) and see how it goes. I hope to work on them tomorrow afternoon, since it is raining, and will post if they help or not.

Just went to check on the kids, and they are both trying to stay up late. It's now 9:00pm, and they both should have lights off (they were both reading). Lights off at 8:30pm during the week, but weekends can be a little later. DD's attitude was getting worse too (I just noticed her negative attitude wasn't as strong as normal..hmm). Hard to say if it was things going on today or the medication. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow and Monday at school.

Off to spend some time with hubby before crashing.

Ta ta for now!

Hair Brushing

People with ADHD usually have some type of sensory issues as well. My lovely dd has always had a problem with tags, and things fitting "just right." It's not as bad as it used to be, but is still there. She also hates brushing her hair (but doesn't want it too short). While searching around for ADHD things, I stumbled across a site that talked about the Knot Genie. Well, I was interested, to say the least!

But would it work?? I researched it by going to a bunch of different blogs and review sites, and found nothing but good remarks. I had to order it! I came across a Canadian site that was selling it for less than the manufacturer's site, and I always want to support Canadian sites, so I ordered one on Wednesday. It arrived today! LuvMum is fast. (It is a online clothing shop for Canadian families living with tactile sensitivities)

So I'm sure you are wondering if it worked?

I opened the box right away (with my keys), and sent it on back to my dd, who was sitting in the back of the van. She brushed her hair and never said ow, and seemed to do a very nice job. We got to the store where we were picking up hubby, and I brushed her hair with it myself. She had gotten all the tangles from the day out of it!! I used it again tonight and she never said ow, or even tried to run away. In fact, she asked me to keep brushing it (which I sadly had to say no to, since it was getting close to bed time and she needed to get ready for bed). The big test is tomorrow morning, after sleeping (and tossing). I will let you know!

Ta ta for now!

It's Official..Now What?

Well, we met with the psychologist and the counselor and dd has been diagnosed with ADHD and PDD-NOS. Now what happens??

DD and I are going to the pediatrician next week, and she specializes in ADHD, so we will get more info there. Then we I will meet with the psychologist, counselor, teachers and principal to go over what can be done at school. I understand this is going to be a long process, but I'm looking forward to getting things going. A friend said that I might get upset that this has happened (that dd has been diagnosed with something), but I'm not feeling that at all. Maybe because we have been dealing with this for a long time..who knows?

I got some more info on PDD-NOS, and will have to post more on the symptoms too. I think my previous post on them was a little long and convoluted.

At the meeting we learned some interesting things too. One major thing is the fact that dd has trouble at times remembering how things happened. She will remember parts of what happened, but it may be in the wrong order, or it may have things added to it that didn't actually happen. Makes it interesting to figure out if she is lying or if she is telling what she remembers. I know there are times that she is really lying, and that's so she won't get in trouble, but there are other times where I'm going to really have to evaluate things. I'll give a quick example, as this may help. DD was taking the cat, Shadow, out on the back deck (she is an indoor cat), and I had her bring the cat back in (it was starting to rain too) twice. She didn't go far on the deck, just a couple of feet away from the door. About 20 min later dd was playing a game with her brother, and she told him that she had taken the cat out and had her all the way down the stairs, and that the cat got spooked, because of getting dripped on, and that she (dd) had to chase Shadow back up the stairs and into the house (I don't have the exact rendition, but it was pretty elaborate). I let it slide, and I'm glad I did, because I now know that, that story may be what she "remembered," even though it didn't happen. Funny how our brains work!

Anyway I'm off to bed. I have a mother-daughter date with my dd to get make-overs at the Shopper's near by. Looking forward to that!

Assessment Coming Soon!!

I'm excited, and scared at the same time. Hubby and I are going to be meeting with the psychologist and dd's counselor on Wednesday evening to get the final assessment for dd. I'm excited, because it will mean that we are that much closer to getting her the help that she needs. I'm scared, because she could easily say that nothing is for sure, and that dd will have to go through more testing, or that there is nothing wrong at all (which I doubt at this point, after all that I have read).

This past Saturday was brutal, as dd didn't want to do her homework properly. She was to write five paragraphs about ancient Egypt, and she only wrote three and a list of things. I told her that it wasn't correct, and that I would sit down and help her. Well, that's not what she wanted at all. She figured she didn't care, then she said that she would quit, and then she just fought us about everything. Hubby was getting so frustrated, and taking away things from her room (radio, special pillow, etc.) wasn't working either. I finally got her to settle down and sit down so I could talk with her (calmly talking to her over and over). I explained that we needed to work on her homework, and she finally agreed (almost an hour later). We sat down at the computer and I showed her how to do some research and we then got to work on her paragraphs. I just can't wait to get help with this kind of thing. We can only take so much! It's affecting our ds too! He was in tears, because he was worried about how everyone was being with each other (especially his sister yelling at mom and dad). Thank God we were able to get things on track again.

Better get some dinner started. I'll post again soon!

Symptoms, Symptoms

I figured I would post the symptoms of ADHD, PDD-NOS and sexual abuse. I was curious as to what dd fit, and what she didn't. Also I've been wondering if there are similar symptoms for each. I am going to bold all the ones that dd fits on this.

Here we go: ADHD

Predominantly inattentive type symptoms may include:^[30]

• Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
• Have difficulty maintaining focus on one task
• Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something enjoyable
• Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new or trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
• Not seem to listen when spoken to
• Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
• Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
• Struggle to follow instructions.

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type symptoms may include:^[30]

• Fidget and squirm in their seats
• Talk nonstop
• Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
• Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
• Be constantly in motion
• Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities. - She doesn't seem to fit any of these, except this one on occasion.

and also these manifestations primarily of impulsivity:^[30]

• Be very impatient
• Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
• Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games

I think I will do a new post for PDD-NOS. Have to search for it though, as there aren't a lot of sites that have a list like the one above.

New Beginnings

I'm a mom to two great kids (and I'm not biased at all..lol). How to begin this is going to be the hard part. hmmm

Well, let's see might as well talk about my daughter, as she is the subject of this blog. She is 10 years old and will be 11 later this year. We are in the midst of having her tested. The psychologist is leaning towards PDD-NOS and also ADHD. We will have the report on May 4th (I'm so looking forward to finding out what the diagnosis is, so that we can get her the help that she needs). There is one problem with all this though, is that I don't know if the "symptoms" she is displaying has to do with these disorders, or that fact that she was sexually assaulted by a friend's son (something that is hard to write still).

My mom said the other day, that maybe the assault was (in a sense) a good thing, because it helped us get some counseling which led to us getting her tested. She is not autistic and not aspergers, so PDD-NOS is the possibility, but then again it could be stemming from the assault. She doesn't interact well with her peers at all, and is not "mature" like they are, so she doesn't really have any friends.

Okay, so I am all over the place. Let's get going on what has been happening over the last year an a half, and maybe that will help.

Oct. 2009 - My daughter went to school quite normally that morning. She had her good days and bad, like most kids. I got a phone call from her teacher to come in and talk with her at the end of the day. I went in, and was able to send my son home with our neighbour (good thing). My dd and I sat down with the teacher and she told me that my dd had told a friend and two teachers (cause the friend was caring enough to tell the yard teacher) that she had been assaulted by a friend's son. WOW what a thing to find out! Tears, anger, frustration, shock, dismay are just a few emotions that I went through. CAS had to come out that evening, and that started the long process of talking to the police and going to court. Court was crazy, as we had to go twice (another long story). That part is now in the past and it is time to get on with all the other things.

During the past year and a bit we have been taking dd to counseling and trying to continue on with life. Things began to become more apparent that we needed her tested, just to see what was going on inside. Outbursts of anger, not listening (more so than a normal kid her age), acting like an animal when it's not appropriate to do so, baby talk at inappropriate times, and other things too. Her peer relationships were not good, and she loves to hug kids, when they don't want to be hugged (getting into someone's space is not a good way to make/keep friends). Now I understand that some of these things are also related to having being abused, but it is sometimes way over the top. When you look at what the teachers have to say on the questionnaires about how she acts in class and interacts too, it's apparent that there is something else that we need to look at, so testing began about two months ago.

I don't know if this will be a good thing to do, but I figured I am going to try this out. I need a place to talk about what is going on, and I'm hoping this may serve to help other parents out there!

I hope to post more about our daily life, and the issues that we deal with. Maybe this will help someone else out there!