Today we had our big doctors appointment for our DD6.5. She is a gifted child that seems to learn everything intuitively but struggles with executive skills. Drawing and story writing as her strengths. Completing math worksheets and sitting in her seat are a daily challenge.
The doc was very thorough, going over all of our records and the forms both parents and the school filled out. After a lot of analysis, we decided to give Ritalin a go. The big reason we decided to go with medication is that our DD6.5 is missing out on things that will enrich her life. Piano lessons, gymnastics, theater are all very good for her and she wants to do them. But her lack of focus and problems turning off her imaginational over-excitablity inhibits her ability to do these things. And even though she gets good marks now, I foresee the day when her inability to sit in a seat and focus may hinder her learning.
The best thing that happened today was when the doctor said she wanted DD6.5 evaluated at the Belin-Blanke center in Iowa City, Iowa. She focused as much on our daughter's GIFTEDNESS and her strength as she did on her attention issues. This was SO different from what the school psychologists have done. They just look at pathology. Our doctor says that the people at the BB Gifted Center will be able to find strategies to help teach her since her thinking is so ABSTRACT and she is such a visual-spatial thinker. While she will need to learn to focus some (with the aid of Ritalin we hope), our doctor is promoting the idea that the classroom may have to be adapted to meet her extraordinary needs as well. These are all things that were music to my ears.
We entered terrified, but we left with hope that things are going to better.
