Kindergarten

Kindergarten was an adjustment for Alex. It was a big transition with big expectations. By our Parent-Teacher conference in November it was obvious that Alex was struggling socially, emotionally and academically. Her level of frustration and inability to take risks was impacting her academics and she had difficulty interacting with her peers. Her level of frustration was off the charts and would often result in excessive crying or just shutting down. Temper tanrums were at a peak. Stomach aches became more and more frequent. Alex was just not happy. We were officially in crisis.

We pressed the school to do some testing. In January tests confirmed our suspicions. Alex scored At Risk in the areas of Somatization, Atypicality, Withdrawal, Adaptibility, and Behavioral Symptoms. She scored Clynically Significant in the areas of Anxiety, Depression and Internalizing problems.

The chart that we filled out mirrored exactly to what her teacher's did. It wasn't in our heads and it was far more than a few quirks.

What's funny is that most family and friends wouldn't really see any of this. This was a completely different Alex than the child they knew. Most knew (or thought) her to be funny, outgoing and confident. Not the unhappy child described above. That's the scary part and where my greatest fears lie.

It is also worth mentioning that Alex has a strong family history of anxiety and depression. Never did I think that would imapct her to this degree.