ADHD and Free!

Hello my dear internet community!

I have started this blog as a way to document my journey of research, education, and discovery since being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 32.  I am hoping that you find the things that I post informative, and helpful either for you, your children, friends, or family members who may also have ADHD.  

First let me share how my journey began.  My oldest child, since she was in utero, is a mover.  She never really stops.  She was crawling at 5 months old and walking at 8 months old.  She did not want to be held and needed freedom as soon as possible.  I have memories of not being able to keep up with her 15 month old speed when I was 6 months pregnant.  At first, I believed the mantra that "some kids are just busy" or "her body is trying to keep up with her brain" (She is also very bright).  But as my second child grew older, the differences between them were very apparent and I began to question if her constant need to move, and her constant busyness was not something more.  By the time she was 3 years old, I sought out a pediatrician to try and get her assessed for ADHD.  This pediatrician, without knowing me, or my parenting stlye, spent 10 minutes with us and basically blamed her behaviour on my parenting and lack of boundaries.  Anyone who knows me knows that this was absolutely NOT the issue.  I left his office crying with my self-esteem crushed.  No mom wants to be told she is a failure, especially from a doctor.

After a short time off to heal from this negative experience, I dove back into research and advocating for my daughter to get tested.  The more I researched, the more I began questioning if I had ADHD myself.  I struggled with many of the same things she did, although I had learned several different coping mechanisms over the years.  Part of the issue with trying to get her diagnosed is that many kids "normal" behaviours between the ages of 3-5 are similar to that of kids with ADHD, so diagnosing them early is not recommended.  So I fought, and I implored the school to get her assessed.  They assured me they would get her tested in spring of 2020...and then COVID shut down everything and that didn't happen.  

I was proactive and reached out to my doctor to get myself assessed first.  It is known that there is a large biological and hereditary component to ADHD so if I was diagnosed as well, they would be more likely to take my concerns about my daughter more seriously.  It's sad, but true.  On April 10th, 2020 I was officially diagnosed with ADHD.  The more I learn, the more I understand some of the reasons I struggled  as a child (which I will touch on in a future post).  Fast forward to July 7th and my daughter has now been diagnosed with ADHD as well.  We are in this together!  

Up to this point I have been focused on making sure my medication is effective and trying to get through the rest of my kids' school year online.  Now, we jump into the research and understanding more about what this condition is and what we can do to help live our lives more freely, without anxiety and fear of doing something wrong.

I hope you will join us on this journey and maybe learn something along the way!