Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My son was slow, even before he was born. He never kicked till around 22 weeks (not even a flutter or hick up), he was breech (doc turned him when I was ready to push /knocked me out cold from pain), barely stayed awake long enough to feed (struggled to nurse for 5 months), and choked or drooled at least half of each feeding (still drools & chokes). At age 2, he developed lactose intolerance. People used to say that he was made of rubber. He was like a rag doll, needing head and back suppor till nearly his first birthday. Though he was a happy, cheerful and contented baby, he didn't meet any of the expected milestones on time. In fact, he and his sister (17 months younger) reached most of the milestones together. He was potty trained at age 5 and was able to complete small (3 or four word) sentences by age 4. His favorite TV show was Mr Rogers Neighborhood, as it was easier for him to focus on tha the faster paced shows. We had the help of a teacher's-aid-in-training as well as the local daycare/pre-school to help develop fine and gross motor skills and social skills in hopes to have him school ready at age 5. He used to just lie back and watch the world around him. He always seemed to be in deep thought or in a different world all his own. With his sparse communication skills, it was difficult to tell if his delays were mental or just physical. He went to school, and loved it! It was then that we realized just how intelligent he really was. He was in a P/1 split class and while rolling around the floor, seemingly uninterested in his lessons, he had actually learned his primary lessons as well as the lessons of the grade ones on the other side of the room. Over the years, there have been issues with lack of empathy, attention/focus difficulties, hurting himself and his siblings when angry (very short fuse) and difficulties with reading/writing/language arts (failed provincial literacy assessments in grades 6 and 9. He failed grade 10 English last year and this year is in grade 10 again with mostly grade 11 subjects except English and Science. He is a Corporal in Army Cadets and plans a career in the Military. Cadets has been a Godsend with regard to helping him to learn and use self discipline. He lives and breathes Cadets and 80's Heavy Metal Music and is now studying the driver's handbook with plans of obtaining his drivers licence. There was never a diagnosis for my son but my research has led me to the posiblity of hypotonia. No clue yet what caused it, but he now has terrible joint pain (mostly in his knees) and I guess it could be related. The best answer I recieved from my doctor was "he may never be a rocket scientist, but he'll be ok". We just learned to live with it and help him to progress as best we could. Though he still struggles with some things, he has made great strides! He makes me SOOOOOO proud!!
Congratulations on your son's achievements. If he aspires to a career in the military, be happy he was never diagnosed with hypotonia, or anything specific. He would most likely not be eligible to serve.
My son has a short-lived dream of attending West Point. We were invited to an open house, and found out that because he had been hospitalized at the age of 3 with an asthma attack, he was not eligible for the Army. This, in spite of having largely outgrown asthma, and being in excellent physical shape.
I agree with Mattie. If your son is functioning well, don't look for a diagnosis. The military could disqualify him if he has hypotonia or anything else in his medical history.
My sixteen year old daughter has hypotonia and is OBSESSED with eighties metal music too! Her sister, age 21, is in the Army in Iraq right now and was in ROTC at school. I am beginning to think that the 16 year old is on the very high functioning end of the autism spectrum. I also have a thirteen year old daughter who has hypotonia as well as severe low functioning autism.
When my sixteen year old gets interested in something she really obsesses over it. A few years ago it was ghosts, now it is eighties glam metal.
thanks for the advise. he has been diagnosed with adhd. I hope that doesn't hold him back with the military
From what I understand, he can apply for a waiver if he hasn't needed medication or had an IEP over a certain time period.
See below for details:
Quote:
The military does grant waivers to enter the service for conditions such as ADHD in certain circumstances. If the recruit with the history of ADHD has outgrown the need for medication and has be successful in school or employment for three years without being on medication and can pass all of the required entrance exams, the recruit may apply for a waiver. If the recruit is still in high school, a waiver may be granted if the individual has been in school and off ADHD medication for one to two semesters, is mainstreamed, does not require untimed tests, and does not have an Individualized Educational Plan in place. If the recruit is out of school, he or she must be off medication, show documentation of one year of stable employment, and have no history of significant problems with the law.
Various branches of the military have shown different degrees of strictness regarding the disqualifying policy and the granting of waivers for ADHD. The Army has a history of being somewhat less strict, while the Marine Corps is the strictest military branch in this regard. The most consistent part of the DOD policy (which applies to all branches) is that a person cannot join the military if they are on methylphenidate (or a similar medication) at the time of enlistment. The DOD directive is a minimum standard, which all Armed Forces must meet. Each branch of the military can set up more stringent requirements, based on the operational environment of the respective service.
The DOD is in the process of developing a more specific and consistent policy for all the branches of the Armed Forces regarding waivers. The Armed Forces have also clearly indicated, however, that these rules may be revised "in the event of mobilization or a national emergency" (DOD directive 1304.26).
ADHD and the Military (http://www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?TextID=%20758 - broken link)
I agree with Mattie. If your son is functioning well, don't look for a diagnosis. The military could disqualify him if he has hypotonia or anything else in his medical history.
You can't be serious.
How efficient can a person be in the military with hypotonia? How would he even get through basic training?
You think it's better to hide health problems that could actually get others killed just because he wants to be in the military? I hope my grandson never serves with this boy. No offense, OP, but honestly, he would be putting everyone at risk.
There are a lot of civilian jobs in the military that do not include combat ready troops.
There's no health problem if there's no diagnosis. That's not hiding a health problem from the military.
Hiding a health problem from the military is not disclosing diagnosed health problems.
That's not the case here. It's unlikely the boy has hypotonia. Doctors would have caught it long before he was 16.
Sounds like the mother is simply searching for explanations on medical websites on the internet. I've know many mothers who do that.
But looking for medical problems that don't exist is not a good thing to do when a child wants to go into the miliary.
Sometimes mothers just need to accept there is no medical problem.
That's pretty much what her son's pediatrian was telling her when he said "he may never be a rocket scientist, but he'll be ok".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
