It is so funny to watch Nathan. He will be 6 years old in July. He is almost done with his first semester of kindergarten. He has done so much this year in learning. I am proud of him. I know that he has much more to do to catch up with his grade level but he is going to do it. I am having him in year round school to make sure that he can get catch up to the age level that he needs to be.
It has been a journey for my son. As a natural born teacher, I started teaching with him when he was born. I had my developmental checklist out to make sure that he was doing great. Some people thought that I was crazy but I know that learning starts when you are born not when you enter kindergarten. That is what I did. I spent the first year giving him all the information that he needed. When I evaluated him at 1 year old he was ahead of the average child in America. I thought no worries and was excited for the following year of learning.
Between 1 and 2 years old, I continue teaching everything that he needed and for the first half of the year he did great then I started noticing that he was losing what he was learning and that his speak stopped developing. I kept note of it and by the time that he was 2 told his doctor what I had seen and wanted their opinion about it.
All year long at 2 years old, he was struggling and wasn't progressing at all. Talk to two doctors and they didn't show concern and said it was because he a new baby sister. He loved his sister and it was something else. So at home I continued teaching him everything that he needed. When he did accomplish something I was so happy and proud. Again, crazy was my title from many because he thought that I was going overboard on teaching my son and they agree with the doctor that there was nothing wrong with him. But they didn't live with him and they were not his teacher. So what did they know? From my experience as an Early Childhood Educator and from living with a mom that was a teacher in that field for 20 years I had knowledge on what was going on with my son.
We moved when he was 3 years old and found another doctor to talk to about what was going on and needing suggestions to get my son some help. Finally after a year and half a doctor listen to me and referred my child on to get testing done. The school district took a jumping start on him and diagnosed him as a young child with developmental delays and wanted to put him special education preschool to help him. I didn't hesitate and off to school he went. He loved it. He had speech therapy twice a week and had one on one with his teacher for other areas that he needed. I felt that this was just the beginning of a long journey. The staff at the school gave me hope for him and said that when he went to kindergarten, with help, that he would be at the level that he needed to be. That would have been true if we stayed in the town that we were in but we had to move.
We moved and tried to go through the school district in the new city. They offered preschool to him but after a week of him not eating and scared to go to school I pulled him out. He continued speech therapy with the school district. But what I didn't like about this school district is that they pulled the diagnostics off of him and said that he only had a speech delayed. I didn't agree with them but they didn't offer testing to rule out anything. Some schools don't care about the children. I was improving with his speech but he was still having a hard time with life. So 4 years old, I went to a doctor and told them what was going on. This doctor agreed that there was more to it and sent him to get more help. We started testing that lasted for 4 months. In the 5th month, we finally got the results from the testing and they ruled that he had autism with ADHD. Of course they said that further testing needed to see where he was at on the autism spectrum and how the ADHD was affecting him.
At 5 years old, he was being homeschool still Pre-K because he wasn't ready to move on. He was getting private speech and occupational therapy. 5 1/2 years old trouble happened at the office that he was at and we pulled him out of therapy because he was scared of what was going on there. I went to his doctor and said ok, we need to continue finding out what is going on in my kid's head. So she referred us to more testing. We spent another month of testing from scans of his brain to blood work that ended with a brain wave test. I was overwhelmed of how much testing had to be done to find out what was going on with my child. We started this journey of testing when he was 3 1/2 and now at 5 1/2 he was still being tested with no answer. I decided that we were stopping after this, if they couldn't tell me what was going on than forget it. If I was at the point of losing it I could only imagine what my son was thinking.
Seating in the specialist office waiting to see what was going on was nerve racking. Finally the door opened and he said that the CT was normal. He said that his brain wave test showed that he was very smart for a 5 year old. He said that his autism was not playing a big role in what was going on with him that the ADHD was his problem right now. He suggested continuing homeschooling to make sure that he gets education and the one on one was what he needed to help with his ADHD problem. He told us what medicine that he wanted him on and it was natural product with no side effects. Told us that he would see us in 5 months to check his progress.
So I said all of this to say that I know that the journey is far from over. But we have accomplished so much in these past 5 years with my son. He is excelling in school and is very subject is Science. We have stopped all therapies and are doing everything at home. He can now talk to me in full sentences and they are clear and understandable. He is starting to understand joking and how to say a joke. He is learning how to interact with his peers. As of this week, he learned to read his first word. He is learning the Bible and the things of God. Even at the age of 5 is being an instrument of God. I see great things for this kindergartener. I am excited to see what God has in store for this kindergartener in the future.
To come: My toddler and preschooler
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