My Challenge

by Sharra
(Texas)

I am so very relieved to have found this site. This is the beginning of a new chapter of "What you never knew about your own kid". My son, God bless him, has been a challenge since the beginning. He had colic, then into a corrective helmet to reshape the effects of plagiocephaly. The muscles in one side of his neck were shorter than the other side resulting in his head to literally grow sideways. Along with this was physical therapy. All starting at 3 months. We only had to do this until he was 6 months, thankfully. Everything was going great, he started speaking very early.

At 2 his pre-school director told me how incredible it was that when he had to sit in the front with her - because of behavior issues - she could actually have a conversation with him. The pre-school issues were never-ending and the teachers always had the same defeated, shoulder-shrugging, give-up type attitude towards how to manage my son. It was so strange to me because while he was never and angel at home, his behavior was certainly never to the degree I was being told it was at school. His last year of pre-school they did a survey that determined whether he was 'ready' for kinder or not and they emphatically told me NOT to send him. He was NOT ready. Despite my concerns, they would simply point to his fine motor skills and social skills and say "he wouldn't be able to handle it."

I started him in kinder anyway knowing his little brain needed the daily stimulation and learning this setting would provide. Thank the kindergarten heavens we got the teacher we did because she has been SO amazing and patient with him. With all the other children she has to manage, she found a way in his day to really get to the root of his behavior and start to peel away the layers and work with me on what might be the issues and how we could HELP him. Something no other teacher had ever done. It's been so nice to have a teacher want my child to succeed rather than just tell me how frustrating he is to have as a student!

We are just now getting started on the sensory issues and next week we are meeting with an occupational therapist to pinpoint what's really going on. I have so very much hope after reading this and the last few conversations with the pediatrician, teacher, and a friend with some experience that there's actually a REASON for all the trouble we've had and more importantly, there's a way to manage and help it! My son is an amazing guy. His imagination is fantastic, his heart is so very good, but sometimes his body doesn't always agree with what his brain is trying to understand. How is that his fault? As his mom, it's my job to make sure the world can see all of his attributes and not just give up on him because of a few perceived flaws. I promise you wont regret the effort!