As a first grader I wandered the classroom stopping at my desk to do my work, but unable to sit quietly. Teachers described me as restless and disruptive. Doctors diagnosed me as ADHD. My struggle with prescription medications had begun. The medication allowed me to sit quietly and avoid disrupting the class; however, it made me listless and unable to observe the world …show more content…
Never a tall or heavy child, I looked sickly and malnourished. As the stress of not eating and not sleeping overtook me my Tourette’s Syndrome, with which I had been diagnosed at age seven, exploded into nonstop ticing, grunting and blurting out answers. I had lost most of my friends, and in third grade, Aaron, my best friend decided it was no fun hanging around with the “weird” kid. By fourth grade my Nannie (my grandma) reacted with horror when she saw me after two years’ separation. I stood a full head shorter than anyone else in my class! The perfect storm for bullying had set in and I increasingly became the target of the bullies in my school and …show more content…
They said they didn’t allow bullying, and they meant it. The kids were friendly and did not taunt me daily with name calling. Nannie took me to a new doctor, who amazingly listened to both her and me. She also took me to a therapist who has helped me learn to like myself and who has taught me social skills. Reducing my medications to “just enough to help, but not enough to numb your mind”, to quote my first psychiatrist, opened my mind to the world around me. I am now stimulant free for the first time since I was seven years old. What a