Please read Thing 1's ADHD Journey, first. :)
Thing 2's journey down the ADHD road has been different than Thing 1's by leaps and bounds.
Thing 2 behaved just as Thing 1 in certain ways and completely different in most ways. She didn't sit, she was constantly into anything and everything, she was quick on her feet and scared of nothing. When Thing 1 was going through the diagnosing process, I realized we'd probably be doing the same thing again when Thing 2 started school. In fact, when Thing 1's doctor asked "does he do impulsive things or things without thinking, you know like would you say that he's likely to jump off the roof to see what it's like to fly?" and I replied "No, but his sister would". So instead of being incredibly confused by her behavior, I felt like it was just a waiting game. I believed that ADHD couldn't really be diagnosed until the child started school, so we were just waiting and trying to survive until she started school. She started Kindergarten in August 2010. Her teacher was one of the senior Kindergarten teachers and she was awesome. She believed in strict rules and she had expectations of her students to follow them. She was the drill sergeant type teacher. I explained that I expected Thing 2 to have issues. I explained how she has some behaviors that are exactly like her brother, but that she also tends to be impulsive, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if she has behavior issues in class. Her teacher was appreciative of the heads up and said she'd keep an eye on her. It was mid-September before I was scratching my head trying to figure out why my textbook symptom impulsivity ADHD kid wasn't having ANY trouble at school. At the first round of parent teacher conferences, I told her I was just so confused because Thing 2 wasn't having any trouble. She laughed. She said Thing 2 sometimes has trouble with talking, but it was completely age appropriate. She explained that she keeps all of her students on a pretty short leash too, so Thing 2 didn't really have too many opportunities to get into trouble. By this time, Thing 1 was meeting with his counselor, so I discussed the issue with her. She said it sounded like Thing 2 had ADHD, but probably a different kind than Thing 1, so maybe not as severe and whenever we wanted to get her evaluated we could. I felt really conflicted about having her evaluated without her having trouble at school. It was as if it was okay for her to be insane at home, as long as she was sane at school. But then during Christmas break, I came into the living room to see Sam-I-Am (18months old) sitting on the floor by the coffee table crying, and Thing 2 running past me. When I asked Thing 1 what was going on, he explained that Thing 2 had been standing on the coffee table, spinning Sam-I-Am around, until she just let go of her and Sam-I-Am bounced off the couch onto the floor. This was the first time that Thing 2 had taken Sam-I-Am into her insanity and I was no longer concerned about having her evaluated too soon.
Her evaluation went smoothly. Vanderbilt surveys filled out by me, a family friend, and her teacher. A meeting with psychiatrist, psychologist, and then a diagnosis of ADHD, Combined Type. We decided to use Concerta for her as it worked so well with Thing 1 and we again started low and slow. Her reaction was different though. Whereas Thing 1 could sit and focus, Thing 2 stopped being excessively dramatic. Turns out all of those quirks we'd been blaming on just being a girl were actually symptoms of her ADHD. The psychiatrist laughed when I said "well, she's really agreeable and that's new and awesome." when she called to check on her. She told me that part of Thing 2's ADHD is also associated with Oppositional Defiance Disorder (yah, we had a good time with that acronym) and so when the Concerta treats the ADHD, it helps with the ODD. So no more "but I DON'T WANT TO PUT MY SHOES ON!!!!" hysterical sobs/body flings as we're trying to get out the door. Thing 2's dose has remained smaller than Thing 1's dose, but she too has a bedtime dose of Clonidine.
It's been interesting to see the difference in reaction to medication between the two of them. Where Thing 1's meds helped him focus, so his teachers noticed more of a difference than we did, Thing 2's meds help chill her out more, which is more obvious at home then at school. But we have the same discussions with her teachers as we do with Thing 1's teachers at the beginning of each year and any conferences we have. Thing 2's teacher this year is kind of hit & miss, so that's been a bit of a challenge in regards to making sure we have the right dose of medication for her.
And again Thing 2 doesn't think there's anything "wrong" with her. She's never been embarrassed by her ADHD. She's also matter of fact about it. It's just a part of her life, not her whole life.
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