Cliff Notes History

We began our homeschool journey with some knowledge of our middle son's "issues", which were first diagnosed at the age of 3...so I suppose I should travel back to then & divvy out some history. Our middle son, Aaron, was a true miracle...but aren't all children?! We always knew that he was slightly irregular, but just tossed his actions on to the "high strung" pile & went on about our ways, loving him for the way he was. Well, after our baby, Matthew was born, we really began to notice abnormal differences...not sibling rivalry, because he could've cared less about the new one. Aaron had 1 speed, which was "ZOOM!", and it ran all the time...there was no "off button" to be found. While recovering from a c-sec., it really hit home how little sleep Aaron was getting (not to mention me!), about 4-5 hours in a 24hr. period! We took Aaron to his pediatrician & she did some basic testing & told us that Aaron was a genius...Dougie Howser kind of kid. We were not prepared for that! With a referral from my cousin, we took Aaron to see a "kiddie shrink" & he diagnosed Aaron at the age of 3 with ADHD with ODD and RAD...glad we knew our ABC's! That really took us by surprise!! However, there were no drugs, cures or comfort for us...he stated that Aaron would need intensive "behavior therapy" & he'd never be mainstreamed in a schoolroom without a one-on-one assistant. We were overwhelmed by this news...he was so "normal" to us & this doc. painted us a picture that made Aaron to be a psychopath-in-training! Needless to say, we began to pray fervently for him & work with him on really getting "what's right & wrong". I can't tell you how many "Pre-K" programs he was "asked to leave", & we did have to re-start his K year because of an misunderstanding between him & another student...thank God he's a summer baby, so it worked out for the best, I suppose. So, to speed up my thoughts, my husband's work has moved us 2xs in the last 3 years & with each move the teachers have struggled to get Aaron to comply, focus, & generally behave, let alone get any work accomplished. God surprisingly placed us in the heart of "bad education country", so with prayer, I committed to homeschool all 3 boys. After our 1st 2 weeks of school, I noticed just how far behind Aaron was. He seemed to automatically know things that had yet to be taught, but the basic skills he should've mastered from K-2nd grade, he seemed to struggle with. I immediately "let my fingers do the walking" & dialed the counselor that I know the Lord let us to. We made an appt & met with her & began telling her the issues at hand & she in turn began to unravel a huge ball of yarn! She sent us home with some "questionnaire" type papers, which she reluctantly included one for Asperger's Syndrome. We filled out everything & returned them the next day. At our next appt with the counselor, she affirmed my thoughts that Aaron had been misdiagnosed and confirmed Aaron's new diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome with ADHD. She stated that she had never even seen scores from past Q&As that were as consistent as mine & my husbands, so she knew that it was an accurate diagnosis versus one parent over-reacting to childish misbehavior. She then referred us to the in-house prescribing doctor to see if we could begin some medications to curb Aaron's anxieties & moods, because there is no meds or cures for Asperger's, only it's side effects. We didn't truly understand what adventure we were embarking on, but at least now, we knew the problem with which we had to work with.