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Introduction


I suppose it is only appropriate to start with introductions. My name is Sarah. My husband Scott and I have two boys, ages six and three. Our oldest son, Elijah, will be the focus of this blog, though Owen, the youngest, will come up from time to time I am sure. Elijah has always been different, but only last year, at age five, did that difference receive its first label, in the form of an ADHD diagnosis. I am actually working on writing a memoir of our journey with Elijah up to this point. I would like to start this first blog entry by sharing the introduction to this piece, as a way for readers to see what we are currently facing. I may share excerpts from this memoir from time to time to help paint a clearer picture of the history behind the current issues I will be discussing. Here is the introduction to the memoir :

August 2013 

I had just given birth to my first child, a son, Elijah, the month before. That evening in late August, I held my baby to my chest, watching him continue to cry, even though I had done everything I knew to do to soothe him. I walked back and forth across the room, rocking, holding him against my bare skin, singing, talking softly, while all the while he writhed around in my arms as though I was trying to hurt him. Feeding had not worked. Burping had not worked. Gas drops had not worked. He was not sick. He was not constipated. He did not need a nap. By then, tears were rolling down my face because I could not comfort my own child. He was in some kind of extreme discomfort, and I was powerless to stop it. I could not do the one thing that as a mother I felt like was my job to do- comfort my child. I wish I could say that was the last time I felt this way. I had no idea then that one day, I would feel that way every single day. No idea that every single day, my child would struggle through school as if it were a battle he had to fight, and most of the time, lost. And there would be nothing I could do to fix it. I would carry his pain with me everywhere, and it would slowly chip away at every bit of hope that I had. This is the story of Elijah- a boy with a creative mind, high intelligence, a great sense of humor, and a heart full of hopes and dreams, who, because of ADHD, anxiety, and possibly other not yet diagnosed issues, is failing first grade.  And, consequently, feels like he is failing at life.



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