Hi. I do think it matters that you were a very easy child--it's harder to identify with a child with problems. I was an extremely difficult child and I've had soooooooo much patience with my son, who is on the Spectrum. I don't believe I ever lost it with him, even when he was a raging toddler. On the other hand, I had a drug abusing teenager and I lost it with HER all the time. I think that has to do with the fact that I said "no" to drugs and couldn't relate to her problems at all. But you're trying to be a great mom. I have a few actual suggestions. One is to buy "The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene and implement that plan for right now. Secondly, and I can't stress this enough, get this child totally evaulated. Sounds like you went into the pediatrician's office and asked for stims because you felt he had ADHD. If a doctor says, "Yeah, ok, here's the script" I get nervous. Did he ever have any sort of private testing done, by a neuropsychologist or a Child Psychiatrist? He could have more going on than ADHD. In fact, ADHD has many mimickers and stims often make them worse. I strongly suggest a complete evaluation. He sounds like he has a very good heart and doesn't mean to misbehave. It could be that he really can't help himself and, in my opinion, it's a good idea to get to the root cause and attack it, especially before he hits the pre-teens. Good luck!
