MOVING FORWARD
What comes next?
A HAPPY NEPHEW - MOSTLY
Shanna
Braden is one of the happiest kids I know. He has so much energy and so many stories to tell. He comes to my house and draws amazing pictures and tells stories to go with them. He always has something to talk about.
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I know he's had a rough couple of years with issues at school, but he is still the same super-imaginative kid he always was. He has added Minecraft to go with his Pokemon and Skylanders games. He always wants Starf to play with him. I love it.
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I don't see him on his medicine very much because I normally see him on weekends. When I do see him on days he takes his medicine though, he is different. He's not as happy and seems to be more driven. I really wish he wasn't taking that medicine.
MYÂ UNIQUE GRANDSON
Gran
Braden is a great kid. He has very unique ideas and isn't afraid to go with them. He is very sensitive to how others feel and how they treat him. He enjoys telling stories and creating art pieces to go with his stories. He loves science and nature and anything to do with ghosts.
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While all of this medication has not taken any of that away from him, I would rather he not be altered while at school or at home. He will find a way to handle it if we give him the opportunity.
MY LIFE
Braden
I know my mom and dad are proud of me. I know my Gran, Shanna, Starfire, Britt, Maida, Nannie, Papa, and Grandad are all proud of me too.
I want to do things right at school, but I also want to do them my way. Sometimes other kids and teachers don't understand what I'm doing. If they let me finish it to show them, or if they let me think about how to tell them they'll understand. I do things differently and I'm okay with that.
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I like to be different. I love my long curly hair. I love my freckles. I love how I think. In school, my favorites are science and math. I make experiments and plan what I make in Minecraft. I want to be an architect when I grow up.
MY IMAGINATIVE SON
Haylee
I love the inventiveness Braden expresses. Sometimes it is expressed through drawings, sometimes through stories, often expressed in Minecraft these days, and always expressed through his emotions. It is like he can flip switches and turn different inventive capabilities off and on. I don't know that he understands how special that is, even though I tell him often. He can also take in so much information from his environment and is able to harness it into amazing ideas and creations. He notices so much more than many of us - all because his brain is wired to hear and see more than the rest of us.
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I feel that the Vayarin he initially took showed us possibilities. The Adderall he takes now has kept the door to those possibilities open and is also helping him see that he can control some of what he lets in. Since I let him decide when he takes his meds, he gets to experience what it is like to function with and without the help of medication. This allows him to experiment with different ways of managing his behavior and helps him test different focus techniques when he is off his meds.
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I'm so glad we discovered all of this so early in his life. He can learn now, before classwork becomes more challenging, how to advocate for himself. He can learn how to better ask for help. He can learn what works better for him in different situations. I hope this all gives him a huge advantage later in life since he will know how much his brain is capable of and that he is in control. He will also know that if he needs help it is available.
POST-SURVEY
Whom do you feel most connected to?
After reading Braden's story, do you feel Braden is right to keep taking medication to help while he's at school?
Do you feel Haylee is right to keep him on medication?
Do you feel his Gran is right and he should be off medication so he can be a regular kid and figure it out on his own?
Do you feel Shanna is right by wanting him to be happier all the time?
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Pick one or more that you feel drawn to.