it's official

Two days ago, we met with a psychologist and she confirmed our suspicions regarding Josiah with a diagnosis: ADHD.

Rather than feeling discouraged, I think this might have been the best thing that ever happened to him! I've looked at the symptoms over time and dismissed them. "He's a toddler, and they're full of energy, " I reasoned. "He's all boy," I told myself or heard from others.

But this summer, I took a hard look at symptoms and compared them to Josiah. They seemed to bear resemblance to one another. Here is one list of symptoms for toddlers and preschoolers with ADHD:

-Inability to sustain attention for even a few minutes
-Constantly distracted by sights and sounds around them
-Difficulty sustaining eye contact
-Able to pay attention to certain high interest things such as a favorite video game or playing outside when high energy levels are required
-Excessively hyperactive
-Always in motion
-Lack of interest in cuddling or quiet activities
-Difficulty calming down after becoming excited
-Highly impulsive: will jump off of decks, slides or out of windows, will run into the street more often
-Accident-prone
-Difficulty sleeping, may have a hard time falling asleep and may be up at 5:00 AM each morning
-Can be very talkative
-Poor social skills
-Behavioral problems, not listening, disobeying or consistent unsafe behaviors
-Can be clumsy or have underdeveloped coordination
-May grab toys from classmates, siblings or friends
-Difficulty waiting for their turn
-May be aggressive, causing fights or hitting other children

Not all of these are true of my son, but 90% are! Now I understand the up and down emotions, low tolerance for frustration, pestering of his siblings, behavior issues, lack of playing with toys, constant interrupting, and having to walk step by step through directions for activities are most likely due to ADHD. And yes, all preschoolers will exhibit these characteristics from time to time. The child with ADHD multiplies these behaviors by a factor of 10. (I've not seen that number scientifically but can attest to it experientially!)

Now I know where to look for help.

Diet-wise, we've stumbled on to more help than we would have imagined. Things are still bumpy here, but we're still learning and his body is still adjusting. Just this week, we learned that he calms down considerably when he gets enough protein. I truly wish I could have taken a video of Josiah before lunch and then after. The difference in his behavior was astounding. Before lunch, he was running at about 90 mph. After lunch, he had put his baseball cap on and walked past me, saying, "Mommy, I'm going outside to play." Did you see me use the word "walked?" And when he's running at 90 mph, it's up to me to keep him entertained; either than or he will continually pester me or the dog. He was willingly heading outside to entertain himself for a few minutes, thank you very much.

I'm just beginning to understand how his mind is wired differently for learning. He needs very concrete and step-by-step ways to learn, and the more I can involve his senses or even his entire body, the better! I was once special education teacher and should know this, but it is profoundly different to be a teacher than it is to be the parent.

So much more to learn here. I'm thankful for this journey and for the opportunity to discover more about this precious little boy.