Choices

I recently made the decision to take Ryan off of his ADHD medicine.  Some of you may know that at the beginning of this school year, he had a severe reaction to his Ritalin.  It caused his blood pressure to skyrocket, and after all kinds of tests it was decided that we would try him on Straterra. This is a non-stimulant ADHD medication, and to be honest, I didn't see a difference in Ryan while he was taking it.  It was, however, keeping him from sleeping. 

So, after weighing my options, I decided to let him go a couple of weeks without taking it to see how he would do in school.  For the first time since he was diagnosed with ADHD he started getting A's and B's.  He is able to focus and get his work done without any problems.  He's been off the medication for a couple of months now, and I have no plans of starting him back on it.

I am not sure if it maturity or the fact that he loves his classes that is allowing him to get such good grades.  The only subject he seems to be struggling with is social studies.  Luckily, he has a few options for next year, and I think he is leaning towards some criminal justice classes.  He has always said he wants to be a mechanic when he graduates, but I think he should be open to other things.  For instance, I think if he enjoys his criminal justice classes he should look into a career as a california criminal lawyer.  I know that requires a whole lot more schooling then becoming a mechanic does, but I believe in him enough to know that if he puts his mind to it, he could be whatever he wants to be.  I'm not sure he would like the prosecuting side of being a lawyer, but he has a knack for defending himself, so maybe becoming a los angeles criminal defense lawyer would be more up his alley.  He might enjoy the challenge of convincing a jury that a person is innocent.

As his mom, I will support him no matter what he decides to do with his life.