Hi everyone!
This is probably my billionth blog site. There are many areas of my life that I intended to keep posting about. Unfortunately, not all of them really stuck as I wanted them to. This new blog will be about my general adventures as a parent and my quest to raise a happy kid. That kid is Killian.
Without releasing too much information, he's one of the quirkiest, funniest, literally THE coolest little 5 year old nerd you will ever (or never) meet.
He has been diagnosed with a number of things. For the sake of getting it over with and not dancing around it for months, I will disclose it for those interested enough to care.
- PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) which is an autism spectrum disorder
- Language Dyspraxia (I believe the diagnosis was more intended to be verbal dyspraxia) This is a neurological disorder that affect the brain's ability to communicate with the mouth for speech and motor planning .....or something.
- Receptive Expressive Language Disorder (this, I am told, basically means he can understand more than he can speak. He definitely has major issues with comprehension)
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Before you go jumping down my throat, understand that this is not some lame catch-all diagnosis. I'll admit, I chuckled when I first heard of it. When I began to realize my son actually had it, even before the official diagnosis, I wasn't smirking anymore. It's a real disorder and a real pain in the butt! Ahem....)
- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) He can't sit still for too long, he wanders, runs everywhere, doesn't pay attention, yada yada yada, I'm sure you've heard of it.)
- Bipolar-NOS (Bipolar Not Otherwise Specified) This means that he has some of the major symptoms of Bipolar Disorder but not all. He's too young to be officially diagnosed with it, if that is in fact, what he has.)
Am I missing anything? Yes, I think so, but that's about the bulk of it. Now, I know what a lot of people are thinking. It's not any different than what people tell me to my face. How could I allow them to "LABEL" him in such a way? And in so many different ways?! Well, random reader, you don't understand this child. You never will. Every single doctor, professional, teacher, therapist, you name it... has told me that even in an industry (of helping children with special needs), my son really seems to stick out.
It is very possible for comorbity to occur between these disorders and it has. True, some disorders "blend" with others and he may lose a diagnosis. That's okay! For now, please understand and trust that I have consulted with our area's best and brightest professionals on how to parent this child.
So now that the I'm the Mom of a Special Needs Kid: Don't Judge Me spiel is done, I'll introduce myself. I'm Gianna, currently 26 years old. I love art, shopping, singing, relaxing and geeky stuff. I enjoy simple things in life. I don't smoke, drink, go partying or jump out of airplanes. I have absolutely no desire to do anything to risk bodily harm....other than enjoy a nice, big, fat, piece of cake. Oh yeah.
So now that the I'm the Mom of a Special Needs Kid: Don't Judge Me spiel is done, I'll introduce myself. I'm Gianna, currently 26 years old. I love art, shopping, singing, relaxing and geeky stuff. I enjoy simple things in life. I don't smoke, drink, go partying or jump out of airplanes. I have absolutely no desire to do anything to risk bodily harm....other than enjoy a nice, big, fat, piece of cake. Oh yeah.
Some of my favorite things to do are to travel and laugh. I try to make lots of things fun and will do my best to keep this blog funny. If not, then let's pretend I didn't try, yeah?
Lots to talk about and looking forward to putting this out there... whether you read it or not.
-G
