School Days

During Brandon's first year of kindergarden, he had a Tss worker in the classroom with him, she was a wonderful lady too. She would bring us up to his evaluations, and they usually ended around lunch time (by the school's schedule) so everytime we would go up Brandon would be excited to go to Mcdonald's or Burger King on the way back to school. We would always go in and eat and I'd get him the kids meal everytime. It's amazing how kids get so excited over those little toys that are usually made of plastic and light up or move with the turn of a handle on the side, but even so Brandon loved those trips. His TSS's name was Miss Gwen, whom he couldn't say her name and in turn called her Miss Glenn. It was cute, and we always tried to correct him but to no avail, it still came out the same way. Brandon was in Speech therapy in school as well because of the way some of the pronunciation of his words came out. He was a little behind on his learning in kindergarden (which usually comes along with the ADHD, because their learning process is slower than that of a child without ADHD) so he repeated kindergarden the following year, which would make him 6 years old, before the school year started Children's Behavioral Center suggested we try medication, I was still partially against it, and with some research and convincing by not only his BSC but his TSS worker as well I decided to go ahead and try it. So we set up the appointment for the Children's Service Center in Wilkes Barre, and after blood taken, an EKG and there might have been one other test they did along with a series of questions and an evaluation to determine whether they thought it would be best for him we decided to go ahead and put him on Concerta, and let me tell you, that medication worked great! He wasn't a zombie as some of you might think that's what happens from those medications, he still had his big appetite, and he still played and had plenty of energy. He was able to focus in school, started doing better with his school work, homework, listening, everything that troubled him this helped him with. Towards the end of his 2nd year of kindergarten, the school did an IEP on him and he was labeled (even though he really isn't, it's just according to the test scores) as mildly mentally retarded, His real age was 6 according to the test results from the IEP, he was on a 4 1/2-5 year old's level. That was the last year he spent with Miss "Glenn", and started with a new TSS worker, whom we would have up until he passed away along with another TSS worker as well, which I will get to later, I'm not quite sure at what point they switched his medication from Concerta to Vyvanse, I'm really thinking it was 2nd grade, but the reason for the medication switch, was after the Concerta dose had been adjusted for awhile, it just seemed to stop working as well as it was in the beginning. The Vyvanse was even better for him, see along with the Concerta he would take another pill (not the same one) at 12 and then again right after school, then a mood stabilizer at 6p.m. He started receiving the mobile therapy in I think it was 1st grade also. Brandon was all around a happy boy. There was really never a time you didn't see his famous smile unless he got hurt, was mad for not getting his way or sick. 2nd grade he started having some trouble with some of the kids at the bus stop, so on quite a few occasions  I drove him and Sara up there, telling the kids to leave him alone, I also phoned the School as well, and Security would "take care of it".  I did everything I could to protect my little boy. I even spoke with the guy in charge of the buses. 2nd grade we started going to boy scouts but I started working and couldn't take him anymore, so that ended that, he seemed to enjoy it though. and I still have his boy scouts shirt, that he was oversized for him. 3rd grade started football, basketball and that summer started the baseball, He LOVED football. He would come home from school when there was practice after and wear his gear an hour before it was time to even go, He gave it his all towards the end of football season as it started getting colder he began to have a continous cough which I pulled him out of football in the last few weeks and he was taken to the doctor and put on an inhaler for asthma (which is something I have since I was about 2 years old) We started basketball and he tried so hard, and got so excited everytime he made a basket, Another one of the 3 sports he enjoyed the most, and I put him in these sports to help him interact with his peers, help with some of that extra energy he had and because I wanted him to get out in the community and bbecause I loved watching him play, I enjoyed the smile and excitement on his face. It was priceless. So after basketball,  came baseball which I actually wasn't going to sign him up for because we tried it when he was 5 and he just didn't have the attention there, he played in the dirt, didn't pay attention. He begged me to play this time and his TSS worker, had said his other TSS worker he used to have (who I mentioned I would get at later) would be his coach, so I signed him up and This time around he was phenomenol, He did a great job and played great games, early on in school I think it was first grade, his TSS worker and now coach gave him the nickname G-Love, which he used as his name for baseball and along with his nickname the coach gave all of the other team members nicknames as well, Most of his teammates were also at one point in school in his classes or lived near him. Now usually G-love would play 3rd base or outfield, he even tried pitching after begging his coach to let him try and did a good job. His last game though, he played 1st base which he begged the coach to let him try because the kid that normally played was not there that day. So the coach gave in and said okay. He did remarkable, didn't miss a single play that day. That was the last time he played. The last time I got to see the excitement and smile on his face from doing such a great job at any sport he played.  One of the last memories I have of him, and to me it was one of the best. God how I miss him and would give anything to see him play more games to follow, he could have been as great as Babe Ruth or any other hall of famer and to the Freeland Little League, he was. They retired his jersey number 9, and put him in the hall of fame.