I Finally Caught Up With My Cousin ...

I know some of you may have been waiting for me to conduct that interview with my cousin. I have been searching for a block of her schedule that I was free and vice versa. With her being a student as well, It is hard to catch up with her. Well my sister plays softball for the same community center that her son plays baseball for. Knowing this, I took my questions to the park, since they both have practice on the same day. Now, I did not want to be out in public, interrogating my cousin about something she may feel was private business. So, I studied my questions really hard and conducted my interview as casual conversation. She was really open and honest about the situation. I explained to her that I would post to my blog, but her name and her son's name would be anonymous. She was relieved to know that this would be done confidentially. Here is a synopsis of our conversation.

When I wondered what ever happened with the ADHD situation at school with her son, She explained to me that she did not allow the observations to go on. She talked about how she did not see the need to have people observe her child's behavior for ADHD, when he was perfectly fine at school. She talked more about how if he was acting up at school  or pretending to have trouble staying focused it was an act. I asked her why did she feel he is putting on this act at school, and she said, "Well, you know how young boys want to show out for their friends, especially at that age". I agreed.

We continued to talk about how young boys strive to be accepted by their peers, constantly doing things to get their attention thus leading to class clown situations or worse .. testing for ADHD. Now, I am around my cousin quite a bit. To me, he does not show any of the signs of ADHD. He just acts as most children his age do. On the other hand, I have never watched him interact at school. The teachers could have very good reasoning to why they want to have him "tested" for ADHD.

Here is a question that we both was curious about. If a child's off task and unfocused behavior is inconsistent between their home and school life, then is their even a reason to test for ADHD?

Like always, Thanks for reading!
Ashley