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to sleep at night (yes), if our son tried drinking milk to get sleepy (yes), if the milk didn't work causing our son to stay up late (yes ). The coffee friend smiled broadly and announced he had the same problems until he was diagnosed with ADHD.

At that, my wife half-hoped ADHD was not the answer; she almost wished it was her fault and not that awful chemical imbalance with its notorious reputation for parents to blame a condition for their children's misbehavior. Reluctantly, my wife stopped by the office of our children's doctor to ask about the possibility of our son having ADHD. The receptionist gave my wife a stack of informational sheets on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

After reading the sheets and marking various survey items related to the possible existence of ADHD, my wife went online. At
1. Kidsource, my wife found a list of 14 characteristics used as diagnostic criteria for determining the presence of ADHD. What she found prompted her to visit Rocky Mount Preparatory School and confer with Michael's principal. (What I found at Kidsource prompted me to write this article )

Michael, my beautiful, intelligent, six-year-old boy-my only son-exhibits all fourteen characteristics listed and has done so for as many as four years

The article at Kidsource, referenced to ERIC Clearinghouse, further suggests that these fourteen characteristics may be as indicative of giftedness as they are of ADHD. Upon further study of the distinctions between the chemical imbalance and giftedness, I am inclined to preempt any diagnosis that may come at an appointment with the children's doctor at the Boise-Willis Clinic next month. Of the two different lists, Michael's behaviors quite lean toward the distinctions of ADHD.

My wife's visit to the school principal seemed to foreshadow the same conclusion. After a brief discussion among my wife, the principal, and the assistant to the principal, the assistant retrieved Michael from class. While in the conference, Michael could not keep eye contact with any of the adults when they addressed him. He fidgeted constantly with the zipper on his jacket. He squirmed endlessly in his seat. As the assistant tried to address Michael, she repeatedly tried to put Michael's hands on his knees, and he would just put them back on his jacket zipper. Not until she handed him a squeeze ball did he settle down.

Attitudes and perceptions in my household have changed in just forty-eight hours. I'm sure there will be more to say later, but I am tired now. No, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is not cancerous; nor is it terminal. As a veteran public school teacher, however, I never really fathomed the idea that ADHD would affect my family. I guess everyone suffers a little from the illusion this will never happen to me.

Learn more about this author, James Tigerlobo White.
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