BY DUSTI MOORE
Everybody has a unique quality that sets them aside from others. My daughter has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
She is one of many children who struggle every day trying to concentrate on accomplishing even the little things.
Getting her shoes on may take 20 minutes and a lot of patient reminders because of distractions — such as when the cat walks by or a car goes down the road.
Sometimes she’s even, at 8 years old, pondering how the universe works and forgets the task at hand.
There are adults with this disability. I, myself, have attention deficit disorder, or ADD, and find it hard keeping her on task while I forget.
My son has ADD, also, and, although extremely intelligent, struggles in school because he forgets his homework or gets distracted leaving in the morning.
Kelsie goes to the Marysville School District and gets incredible support from teacher Paula Bemis and Principal Breeze Williams.
Those two people are very important to Kelsie. She has attended Pinewood Elementary for four years, is now in the third grade, and it hasn’t been easy for anyone.
There are adjustments to be made, medications to watch and patience — patience, patience, patience.
Those two special women, special educators that I entrust my daughter to daily, have gone above and beyond nearly every day to ensure that Kelsie has a great experience at school.
Kelsie’s life will always be tough. It will be daily medications, charts and reminder notes, and she will have social problems with people who do not believe in her disability.
But I want to thank Bemis and Williams for getting her off to a great start and for all the love and respect they show her.
Kelsie has a huge heart and is extremely intelligent, as most ADHD people are.
Thanks to both of them, and many others who touch her life; those two wonderful qualities do not go unnoticed in the wake of an extreme case of ADHD.
She looks forward to going to school. Kelsie has a full and open understanding of her disability.
Her understanding and her own self-help could not be as great if it were not for the people who are around her as much as the staff from the school.
Our children spend more hours in school during our work days than they do with us. These important role models in Kelsie’s life have shined so bright for her.
I know that ADHD is a federally recognized disability. I know that Social Security does not recognize it as a disability (they have turned her down for help with medications and counseling). But it is important that people who spend time around these children recognize it as a real disability.
It’s as real as Down syndrome, leukemia and high blood pressure. It’s as visible as a wheelchair.
Kelsie’s teacher and principal and the staff at Pinewood should be praised for their recognition and their patience with Kelsie and children like her.
I am saddened by the many misdiagnosed children who need help and don’t get it. I am saddened by the real ADHD cases that get scorned because of those misdiagnoses.
But thanks to people such asBemisand Williams, Kelsie is happy. Kelsie is learning.
Isn’t that what teaching is? It’s not just text. It’s time and patience.
Dusti Moore lives in Marysville.
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