Unique kids and the journey

So, obviously I have not been very active on this blog lately. We decided to take a break for the summer. I have next years curriculum planned out (I will post about that later). But I have some things on my mind and I decided to air them out here. When I first became aware that my son had learning disabilities and dyspraxia I was on a mission to fix him! I had a diagnosis and recommendations and I was going to get him into OT and extra classes and tutoring and whatever else I could! We got an IEP and got into SPED in public school, we started OT and by golly things were going to get rolling.

 Then it started to become evident that my daughter had some problems as well, next came the diagnosis of developmental coordination disorder and sensory processing disorder, so now, with spd and dcd we needed another IEP along with ST and OT.

 I bought tons of books, all the best ones, and ran myself ragged taking both kids to multiple therapy appointments weekly. I joined all of the online support groups for all of these diagnoses and read and typed and read some more.......
And you know what conclusion I have come to? My kids are unique, they have their quirks and they struggle in certain areas, but this is not a race. This is not something that I can take them to multiple appointments to fix! It is who they are!

Luckily along this journey we decided to homeschool, so I can look at each one individually and tailor a program to focus on fine motor and gross motor, core strength and visual processing. I can work daily with my daughter on being over sensitive and finding coping mechanisms. But this is a life long journey, not a race with a finish line like I had originally thought. I can incorporate these needed skills into daily activities and lessons. We can participate in extra curricular sports and classes for my son, and smaller more individualized activities for my daughter who struggles with the sensory part of big groups. But it doesn't always have to be medicalized! (not sure that is a word).

I just get frustrated when I go on these boards lately and see so many parents obsessed with the labels, is it ADHD or maybe OCD? We have this diagnosis, maybe I should go back to the doctor and get a different one because that one doesn't fit. I absolutely believe that these are all very valid conditions and diagnoses, but even with a valid diagnosis no two kids will have the exact same behaviors or issues or even respond to the same treatment or therapy. I just want to encourage all of us to look at our kids individually! Whether they have a condition or diagnosis or are just a little quirky! Just help them where they need help! Don't focus so much on the label and the recommended treatment for that label that we forget they are individuals and are on a life long journey...........

Not sure any of that made sense. But I am done now. =) Here is a great picture I found on facebook that I wanted to share, this kind of sums it up very well!