Thomas' Turn

Here he is......it's been a while posting on Thomas, because he doesn't do much besides go to school, eat, and play....usually as far from the house as allowed. I followed him to the park yesterday, with camera of course, so I could see what goes on over there.

He started 7th grade this year. Cal says, "He doesn't get it." Meaning, he hasn't realized yet that he has entered the beginning of having to be a responsible, independent learner. Cal is probably right....to hear Thomas talk anyway. "Well, the teacher didn't tell us that. The teacher didn't give us that." Teacher this, teacher that......everything is what the teacher did or didn't do. I'm sure he'll "get it" soon enough. Especially after the first progress report, if it is reflective of him "not getting it." :-)

He did tell us at supper last night that he has a hard time paying attention. In his words, "It used to be easy. I could draw or look around, not really paying a lot of attention to what the teacher was saying and still knew what they were talking about. Now my mind wonders and I start thinking about other stuff, but then when the teacher is finished, I don't know what they said." Cal told him to think of school as a competition or game that he has to win by getting a better grade than someone else. (Cal WOULD think of it that way.) Thomas' reply, "I can't do that. If I think of it as a game, then I will start thinking about game shows, then different hosts of game shows, then what people could win on a game show, and it would never end. I still wouldn't know what the teacher had said."

Wow.... classic ADHD example or what? Soooooooo, maybe, just a little maybe, because I'm not ready or wanting to go there, we might need to think about the ADHD thing and medication again??? Uhhgggggg... My views on medication have changed a little over the last couple of years and I was glad he was doing so well without it. He started not wanting to take it when 5th grade started. He thought there was a stigma attached, even though he was the only one who knew. (He didn't have to take it at school.) He did great. Straight A's all the way through 6th grade. Now, though, it appears junior high might mean more focus than he can handle on his own? We are going to talk about alternatives to meds with him, and take it from there. He was always on the lowest dose, so he might be able to swing it. We will see. We don't want to put him at a disadvantage if medication will help, but at the same time...he was on that stuff for a long time and I'm not so comfortable with it anymore. When hockey starts, maybe the extra physical activity will help.