Between his dyscalulia and ADD, Jacob's learning process in math has been slower and slower over the past 2 years.  However, about 3 weeks ago, I witnessed a miraculous transformation.

For two days in a row, I worked with Jacob on math.  The first morning, it went abominably.  I mean, literally nothing but pain and agony, rolling on the floor in frustration, grabbing of the head in despair over not being able to concentrate.  It was about as bad as it could get.

The next day, he sat down at his place, eagerly picked up his pen (not a pencil, but a pen), and set about solving a series of problems which gradually increased in difficulty.  He was logical, organized, remembered facts he had just used and built upon them more quickly in successive problems, and maintained the same degree of focus for an entire hour, answering every problem perfectly (not counting the backwards-written digits).   In his own words, (and he himself recognized a difference between the two days) "It's like suddenly today I'm hard-wired for math!"

The one major difference between the two days was this:  on day two, as a conscious experiment, I gave him a cup of coffee with his crumpet at breakfast. 
His reaction to this moderate dose of stimulant was a night-and-day difference in attitude, performance, and ability to harness his intellect.  I'd never seen anything like it.  He was a completely different person.

Well, that experience got me to thinking about the plausibility of stimulant medications.  We have long been skeptical and reluctant to go down that road, because of the controversial reports on side effects etc.  However, with a contrast in behavior this stark, it seemed worthwhile to us to investigate the possibilities.

We found a nearby psychiatrist, and after a few visits, and a check-in with our GP to get an EKG, we got a trial Rx of Ritalin for a week.  He gave us instructions to experiment with the dosage, within certain guidelines, and see how it worked.  Since then we've settled in at a fairly low dosage, and I am seeing consistent performance improvement.  What an astonishing discovery it is!  He is no longer chattering constantly about whatever comes into his head, or getting up off his chair to toe-walk in circles every five minutes.  He can sit and focus for 2-3 hours at a time.  He is completely jazzed about his math, and has leap-frogged from struggling with addition problems right into multiplication and is relishing the challenge.

We are keeping a lookout for negative side effects, but these initial results are positive and an answer to prayer.

Almost every night, the routine is the same.  I tell The Boy to get ready for bed.  He walks away and forgets in 4 steps what I said, and I find him playing with his legos.  Or reading.  Or on his computer.  I tell him again, Go brush your teeth.  I follow him to the bathroom and by the time I've rounded the corner, I see him toe walking in circles, having forgotten what I told him to do.  I put the toothpaste on his brush.  I hand it to him and say "Brush your teeth."  He says, "Oh yeah!"  He brushes.  I follow him into his room and get him into his bed and turn on his fan and sit beside him and he tells me how good the day was, and I pray with him and say goodnight.  15 minutes later he comes creeping out of his room saying "I can't sleep."  Then I tell him to go back to bed and try for a half hour.  He comes out a few more times.  I say the same thing a few more times.  Finally it takes, usually between 11pm and midnight.

So, last night, well before 9pm, Jacob eagerly jumped into the bathtub when I told him to do so and got himself all scrubbed and shiny.  Then he went straight to his room, turned on his fan, came back to tell me that he was going to bed early and would I come and sit beside him.  I said, Hey mister, you have to brush your teeth.  He eagerly ran back to the bathroom and did exactly that, and then eagerly jumped into bed.  I dutifully followed him and prayed a quick prayer, and left him to his dreams. 

And he stayed there all night.

My laundry mistress (aka Laurent) had washed, dried, and folded apparel for The Boy, and right before I went to sleep I stacked his jeans, Vikings jersey, socks, shoes, and book of short Star Wars stories on the bathroom counter, topped with a note that read:

This morning, I myself awoke shortly before 3am.  Tried to get back to sleep but knew it would be futile.  At 3:15, Paul got up and rousted the boy, got him dressed, and I was up to see them out the door at 3:45, on their way to "Take The Boy to Work Day"!

I wish I could be an invisible videographer for the day!  I even briefly thought "Oh, I must remember to tell Paul to bring his camera!"  But of course that would never work at a facility like General Dynamics.  I expect, however, to be regaled with all the myriad minutiae of the day upon their return this afternoon.

Alllllll the minutiae...