«Here the children find their strengths beyond school»
Cornelia, 49, and her husband Marc, 48, live in a small village with their children Sophia*, 14, Andreas, 11, and Maria, 11.
Three out of five members of our family have ADHD. Our son Andreas was the first to be diagnosed. Right from the start, he was a very lively child with a great thirst for discovery and a very short attention span for anything that didn't involve machines and tools. When it came to transferring him from kindergarten to school, several points on his qualification form were marked as unsatisfactory. The teacher said «we can wait and see», but my husband and I persisted.
We knew that there are funding levels that can be claimed.
We were sensitised by our youngest daughter and her visual impairment. We knew that there are levels of support that can be requested. Andreas now has support level B, so he gets separate maths lessons because of his dyscalculia and has almost caught up. He also takes an ADHD medication. He is doing well with it.
After Andreas' diagnosis, I was also tested because ADHD often has a hereditary component. I was also promptly tested positive. I was always a good pupil and everything worked out at work - but probably only because I was able to compensate for some things. However, after several accidents with head injuries, this no longer works. Since then, all noises have been about the same volume and I can hardly follow conversations in noisy surroundings. What has helped me a little recently, however, is also an ADHD medication.
Daughter Sophia's journey with ADHD
Our older daughter Sophia was also always very good at school. But in fifth grade, she suddenly started struggling with maths. We couldn't explain it and had her tested for ADHD - with positive results. She was given Ritalin, understood maths again, but soon became depressed. We thought it was due to the onset of puberty, but the change was so noticeable in class that the teacher contacted us and Sophia stopped taking the medication.
The animals are good for us all and bring a lot of structure to our everyday lives.
After a few weeks, we had our cheerful daughter back. At grammar school, she felt like a fish in water, but her learning strategies no longer worked everywhere. Here we are still messing around, with ADHD learning guides, coaching and at best a deep dose of another ADHD medication.
If you have ADHD, the world seems loud to you.
In view of the sometimes turbulent everyday life, which is not always easy even for the two without ADHD, it was very worthwhile for our family that we sold our detached house in the Mittelland and moved to a village at the end of Switzerland. We wanted to slow down, have more time together, take the children away from electronic devices and be closer to the heartbeat of nature. Today we live with five alpacas, two horses, a dog and four cats.
Animals are good for us all and bring a lot of structure to our everyday lives: mucking out, going for a walk and feeding are a must. And of course cuddles. Above all, however, the children find their strengths here beyond school: Andreas has really blossomed while mucking out, haymaking and driving the tractor; Sophia rides and Maria has developed a bond with animals. What's more, when you have ADHD, the world seems quite noisy. But the animals and nature take away the noise. They draw attention back to the essentials. And then everything is fine."
* Names of the children changed by the editors.
