The Real Me
| June 22, 2016
Photo: Shutterstock
Dear Diary
Hey it’s Ari. It’s been a long month since I wrote last. It was a real eye-opener meeting Avi who told me he had difficulty paying attention. He told me he has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and went to doctors to help him concentrate.
So I spoke to Ima and told her I really feel like I can’t focus and I really think she was feeling the same thing. It’s so hard for me when I see my parents are disappointed in me. It’s not that I don’t want to do well I really do. I just have no idea how. I felt pretty dumb even though deep down I believe I’m not.
My parents always tell me I have a lot of potential but never really fully reach it. It’s frustrating for me to hear that a lot because I really don’t know what to do.
So after I told my mother that I spoke with Avi and something suddenly clicked she right away called his mom. They’ve been friendly for a while but I think this made them closer. I was curious to hear what was going on so I stayed close to the phone so I could try to pick up on the conversation. (Maybe I shouldn’t have done that but I was just so curious.)
I heard part of the conversation but there was a lot of whispering laughing and I even believe there was some crying too. My mother was writing things down and I heard her asking a lot of questions.
Photo: Shutterstock
I was actually supposed to be doing my homework but I can pretend to do my homework while doing a few other things at the same time. So I didn’t get much homework done but I could make out bits and pieces of what they were saying.
Then someone rang the doorbell and Ima said she had to go. While she was at the door I peeked at the notes that she wrote. There were a lot of strange words on the page. Neurologist psychologist developmental pediatrician horseback riding food additives ADHD coach TOVA test and a whole list of medications.
Wow that was a lot for me to absorb at once. I had no idea what a neurologist was and why was he taking medications? Was Avi really sick? Am I really sick?
Horseback riding sounded like fun but what did that have to do with anything and what foods were they adding? Was this some kind of sport where I would need a coach and who’s Tova and why would she need a test? Ugh. I had to pretend I didn’t see those notes but I had so many questions!
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