Monday was a crazy day. I knew it was going to be an off one when I noticed Sam’s
Ritalin on his place mat. It was just where I left it for him at breakfast. And he was already gone
for school. The last time he forgot to take it (months ago), his teacher
noticed and I wondered what would happen today.
Before I get into the story, let me introduce you to Sam’s
teacher. He has an IEP so is in the inclusion class which has two teachers – one is general ed
and the other is special ed. Luckily, they’re both great. His special ed
teacher, Mrs. Holland, was also his teacher in Kindergarten and she is one of
the best things that has happened to us. She goes above and beyond in every way
that you hope a teacher will for your child. Because she knows and understands
him so well, she gets the most out of him and they connect in a unique way which enables him to come home understanding the day’s lessons better than he would with any one else.
So on that day a few months ago, Mrs. Holland didn’t know
why he was so off. I went to pick up and asked how it went. She
laughed and said it wasn’t one of his best. When I told her he had skipped his
Ritalin she admitted that she had never been sure about
medications for kids but now that she saw the impact on Sam’s
behavior, she acknowledged that some kids really do need it.
So here we were a few months later, on week six of Brain
Balance and he forgot it again. I emailed Mrs. Holland at the end of the day
to tell her he missed his pill and to ask how it went. She emailed me back
immediately (of course!) and said she was so relieved to hear that that’s what
it was. She has been reading this blog and has been loving what she’s been seeing
in the classroom – until today. He has no learning issues so her role with him
has always been to get and keep him on track. His mind and body wander all over
the classroom and he needs her to bring him back to his desk – both literally
and figuratively. For the past couple of weeks, he’s been following along
without her usual prompting. He’s been getting the books out for the next
lesson without a reminder from her. So when he came in on Monday with a serious
case of the wiggles and jiggles, she got a little nervous. He couldn’t sit
still. He couldn’t focus. He couldn’t transition well. And when she challenged
him to see if he could sustain his new found independent behavior, he couldn’t.
She couldn’t believe the Brain Balance magic was wearing off and didn't know how to tell me so hearing that he skipped the Ritalin was a relief.
No comments:
Post a Comment