So I was on a real streak there at the beginning of this month, but then I got busy and forgot to post and/or to write some posts ahead of time. Then I just kind of drew a blank when I thought about what to write.
Summer continues, as does Rachel's dramatic tendencies. And she's not dramatic in a good way. She's in Vacation Bible School this week, and I thought having something to do in the mornings would keep her busy and entertained enough so that the rest of the day would go more smoothly. Instead, she's been dragging her feet about getting ready in the morning, which leads to me nagging and getting all stressed out. Then she's been moody and easily upset in the afternoons and evenings. Mostly we've done alright, but she's had to go into time out a few times, and it's been a battle to get her there.
We had an appointment with the neurobehavioral pediatrician on Monday. Based upon how she's currently doing and the last report he received from her teacher at school, the doctor decided to put Rachel on a very low dosage of medication to help with her attention issues. He believes that she has a significant enough problem with attention span that it's causing the other problems with time management, defiance, oppositionality, emotional maturity, etc. And he feels that finding the right dosage of medication will help her brain to function like those of other 7-year-olds so that she has the chance to choose more appropriate behavior as a general rule.
It was odd to have him prescribe medication now because we weren't expecting it. I think he wanted to deal with the worst of her defiance and behavior problems with a method of parenting that works well for children like Rachel, and he probably also wanted us to retrain ourselves to be able to respond more calmly. And now that we're doing those things and she's still having problems, it's more evident that there is indeed a neurobehavioral issue with her brain chemistry. He likened it to a child with diabetes who needs insulin to regulate their blood sugar and help it to function correctly.
I know that there are some who believe it's wrong to medicate children with attention-span issues. I'm thinking those people have never had to deal with the type of extreme behavior we've seen. And they probably also don't think of the chemistry of the brain as a physical issue that sometimes needs physical treatment. And yet if a child *did* have insulin-dependent diabetes, most people wouldn't dream of telling the parents that they needed to just be stronger and more consistent in their parenting, or just wait it out and the child would outgrow it.
I'm not interested in a debate over how we're proceeding with Rachel, but wanted to share what's going on for those of you who may have been following along with us. We're watching Rachel carefully and will be talking with the doctor regularly so that he can monitor her progress. He'll be seeing her again in August and at the beginning of October. He's a very caring, concerned doctor who wants what is best for his young patients, and it's been good for us to see that so that we can trust his care of her. We're keeping this in prayer and trusting in God and in our parental instincts to make sure that Rachel is getting all that she needs to be successful and to feel more joy and less frustration. And if we as parents are able to feel the same as she makes progress, all the better!
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