Let the Buds Bloom

Let the Buds Bloom

Back home after an eventful day, I watched my thirteen year old daughter’s face as she read the newspaper. Her anguish said the news was about something that tugged at her heart. She motioned her brother to read the news with her. His face too reflected the same distress. She exclaimed with pain in her voice, “Why can’t they just let the kids live? They will somehow grow up.”
I immediately understood what they were reading—the suicide pact—the bane of our society!

Each child is unique. Children see the world through their own innocent eyes. Nothing is more precious than their innocence. They should be given an opportunity to bloom to their fullest without the worms of hatred and distrust eating away the petals of happiness in the little buds. Unfortunately, ADHD, ADD, dyslexia and dyscalculia were unheard of many years back. Such kids were considered lazy and beaten up by parents and teachers alike. Unfortunately, in India parents consider education as the only way to excel in life. This is especially so if the parent is a teacher. The sadness in their lives is doubled as they are unable to accept the fact that their children are different. This kind of a situation has an adverse impact on these child and also their siblings. An extreme reaction to this situation—the suicide pact— burns the souls of hapless children even if they survive it…

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ADHD - is the psychiatrist helping your child?

I always felt my son's psychiatrist could be more helpful. I am so full of questions when I visit my son's psychiatrist. But then he seems to be only interested in discussing the dose of the drug. He says the child can actually take more. With ADHD, we should be visiting him regularly and discussing the child's progress with him. He is well meaning, but something seems to be lacking in the treatment part.

The treatment does not seem to have helped him. I am not even convinced if I should continue with his treatment. I get the feeling that even psychiatrists do not hace enough enough experience dealing with kids with ADHD. For the last three years my 13- year old son has got only poor grades. His concentration does not seem to have improved. However his activitiy level, such as excessive drumming with his fingers seems to have reduced with medication.

Since his school reopens in June, we have a couple of weeks more to decide on the medication part. May be we will look out for another psychiatrist who would see the child as a person.