New here

[Boymom3]

I am so happy to have found this forum! I've been reading through some conversations and I'm right there with you guys. I have an 8 year old son with ADHD who recently started medication and 5 year old twins with ADHD and ODD. The twins behavior is very difficult to manage, especially at school. I am educating myself as much as I can and I've been happy to learn that this is not due to my failure as a parent! I am starting to feel isolated because no one really seems to understand and I feel the weight of their judgement. I don't blame them. I've judged as well before I was in the situation myself, but I'm glad I can come here and talk to other parents who are in the same boat.

[kristinac]

I totally understand feeling the weight of others judgement and ignorance. I work very hard in my brain to remind myself daily that their opinions do not matter. People are always going to judge and think they know better because of their experience. You (I) need to choose to not listen to those voices and hear only what we know in our hearts to be true. Until someone has walked a mile in our shoes they will never know the struggles we face with these special kids. They are not neurotypical and cannot be treated as such and expected to do the same things in the same ways. In many ways I'm learning my son is a bit exceptional since he doesn't think the same way as everyone else. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, it's pretty interesting if you can take a step back and look at it in a different light. I always tell my husband "the tree that bends does not break". We have to bend a bit to allow these little people to grow in their own way. We have to change our thinking and way we interact with them so that we don't break trying to fit them into a mold they were not meant to fit into. It's not easy, but I don't think I ever believed raising little humans was going to be an easy task. This is how I try to get through those tough days. Hugs to you dealing with two! I have. 5 yo ADHD/ODD boy, 3 year old NT boy, and a 7 week old girl.