Attention Deficit Disorder: Inattentiveness- difficulty attending or focusing on a specific task. People with Attention Deficit Disorder may become distracted within a matter of minutes. Inattentive behavior may also cause difficulties with staying organized (e.g. losing things), keeping track of time, completing tasks, and making careless errors.

I found out yesterday that Nathan has a book report due Monday, a report he has known about for a MONTH AND A HALF, a report we never heard about until his teacher made him call me from the classroom to tell me he was going to have to spend the weekend doing the report.  I decided to get over to the school before dismissal and wait outside the classroom so I could make sure Nathan had all the materials he needed for the project and also apologize to the teacher for not knowing what was going on.

So all the kids leave and I go into the room, and the teacher comes in and asks Nathan how far along he is in the book he chose to read for the project. Nathan opens the book at the front and starts paging through looking for where he left off, and it’s like page 40. Out of a 220 page book. Crap.  Now, this teacher is giving Nathan an extension on the assignment, but without any recess so he could work on the project during that time. But he assumed Nathan had the book read and just needed to write the sections of the report. Yeah, no.

I walked over to the book carousel and picked up the slimmest book there, a paperback with 92 pages. I said, Can he do the report on this book isntead? Yes.  Then I found out that he was given a checklist outlining the EIGHT SECTIONS of the report that need to be completed, including four illustrations. A vein in my temple started throbbing.  Right, I said. Nathan will go home and read this book and his father and I will help him get as much of the report done as possible by Monday.

We came home, I told Nathan to get a snack, and then to go into his room, close the door, get on his bed, and start reading. I told him he could take a break after the first 30 pages. Much to my surprise, when he came out of his room, he had read 50 pages.  This morning when he woke up, he stayed in bed and read another 10, then after a break to watch a DVD with Ryan and Kaitlyn, he finished the book. He and Chris went through the checklist and mapped out a strategy. My concern though is that Nathan will have to transport this project back and forth from school, and he’s not known for his ability to successfully move things from home to school and back.

I hope he knows how lucky he is, having a teacher that gives second chances, having parents that care and are available to help.  It’s so hard, not understanding his thought processes, not understanding why he hears “project due in a month” and forgets about it, even though every day the teacher was telling them which step of the project they should be on.  I wish I could impress upon him the importance of breaking a large job down into manageable pieces.  I don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to overcome this, or if he’ll struggle with it forever.

I love him so much and I hate to see him frustrated, upset, hearing his teacher say “I’m disappointed in this choice you made.” I hate the look on his face when he’s standing there, with the teacher expressing his frustration, and I can see on Nathan’s face that he hates how he feels.  I wish I could take it away. I wish his face always looked like this:

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