The Decision...

After much thought, soul searching, and prayer, Joel and I decided to give medication a try for Joseph.  We gave him a first dose yesterday  right before church.  After only an hour we knew we had made the right decision.  The part that affected me the most was to have him look me straight in the eyes without that thousand-mile stare.  It seemed like his mind and body were actually in the same place at the same time.

I did a lot of 'homework' and asked a lot of questions before we tried this.  Ritalin is still only in the process of being studied in preschool aged children, so it is considered an off-label Rx for him.  There are potential side effects, too, to watch for, and we are on high alert for those.  But we read the results of a 10 year study done by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) on children with ADHD.  In a nutshell, they did scans of their brains and discovered that those treated with meds actually showed more normal brain tissue development, while the untreated group had less total brain volume, and less white matter.  This study, as well as reassurances from our doctor, helped us decide to try.