ADHD Stereotypes
Eight years ago, two pink lines signaled my greatest honor, and challenge. My daughter arrived at twenty-six weeks gestation. She fit completely in my hand: a tiny piece of my soul. A miracle for my wife and me, she fought to survive. Our first, a boy born at the same twenty-six week mark, drew breath for exactly twenty-four hours. A lifetime for him, not long enough for us. Her birth provided us with a new hope and opportunity.
Maris Irene gripped onto her life as hard as her miniscule hand gripped the tip of my pinky. The nurses at the NICU kept precise measurements. They celebrated with us the smallest of gains: an ounce of food eaten, a pound of weight gained, each hour spent out of the incubator. Every day for three months, we travelled …show more content…
Probably due to the gender borders being blurred, therefore minimizing gender-based behavior expectations and prejudices. The science around ADHD has been spotty at best. There is no evidence the affliction has genetic roots, yet the general consensus amongst the mental health profession maintains a child with ADHD will likely have one parent with it.
I struggled broaching the subject with Maris’ mother: my ADHD was one of the major contributing factors to our marriage going wrong. Took me a while to build up the courage, but I knew we had to speak about the possibility Maris has ADHD.
As we discuss my observations, without bringing up the dreaded acronym, my wife (we are not yet divorced) started sharing her observations and confirming mine. She began to share those of our daughter’s teacher, from the daily reports, and a recent conversation. The teacher feels we should have her evaluated privately, outside the school system, so we may advocate for appropriate services. The current program the school system offers will not meet our daughter’s needs as her grades are excellent (another thing she and I share). Relieved my conclusions were being affirmed, I encouraged my wife to seek those evaluations out, but I reminded her on my stance of being anti-medication for
Maris Irene gripped onto her life as hard as her miniscule hand gripped the tip of my pinky. The nurses at the NICU kept precise measurements. They celebrated with us the smallest of gains: an ounce of food eaten, a pound of weight gained, each hour spent out of the incubator. Every day for three months, we travelled …show more content…
Probably due to the gender borders being blurred, therefore minimizing gender-based behavior expectations and prejudices. The science around ADHD has been spotty at best. There is no evidence the affliction has genetic roots, yet the general consensus amongst the mental health profession maintains a child with ADHD will likely have one parent with it.
I struggled broaching the subject with Maris’ mother: my ADHD was one of the major contributing factors to our marriage going wrong. Took me a while to build up the courage, but I knew we had to speak about the possibility Maris has ADHD.
As we discuss my observations, without bringing up the dreaded acronym, my wife (we are not yet divorced) started sharing her observations and confirming mine. She began to share those of our daughter’s teacher, from the daily reports, and a recent conversation. The teacher feels we should have her evaluated privately, outside the school system, so we may advocate for appropriate services. The current program the school system offers will not meet our daughter’s needs as her grades are excellent (another thing she and I share). Relieved my conclusions were being affirmed, I encouraged my wife to seek those evaluations out, but I reminded her on my stance of being anti-medication for