Our journey began when Adam was born at 31 weeks. My pregnancy had been without incident and one night I just went into rapid premature labor. Adam was born within 4 hours of entering the hospital. He spent 5 1/2 weeks in a level 3 nursery with bright lights on at all hours of the day and night, loud beeping noises from medical equipment and many different kinds of tubes extending from his tiny 3lb, 9oz. body. He had no suck reflex, could not maintain his body temperature outside the incubator, required oxygen and had reflux and apnea. During the course of his stay, there were worries like eye damage from long term use of oxygen, brain hemorrhage and daily worry about his need for a blood transfusion. Each day, it was one thing after another, not to mention that I was pumping breast milk every two hours for a baby that I didn't even have at home and delivering it to the hospital to be administered in Adam's nasogastric tube. Afterall, I wanted to do everything possible to help my child get a healthy start in life. We had no time to prepare for anything. Adam came home on oxygen, an apnea monitor and a pulse oxymeter to two very nervous first time parents. It didn't matter that I was an Occupational Therapist and my husband a Family Practice physician. At this moment, it seemed like we knew nothing and there was very little support made available. It seemed as though we were on our own in uncharted waters. There is no worse feeling than the feeling that you are out there alone.

Adam is now 12 years old and we still feel like we are out there in a sea of people and professionals that can't, don't or won't understand. Adam has been labeled: ADD, NLD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, PDD/NOS, Sensory Processing Disorder, Anxiety and least of all Giftedness. To us, he is a mosaic of many different things at many different times. We have no use for labels. We try and deal with whatever may be problematic at the moment. We have tried medication, because the experts told us that we were doing our child a disservice if we didn't. We have tried special diets that seemed to make no difference. We have tried holistic practitioners, all in an attempt to do what we thought was in the best interest of our child. What has been in the best interest of Adam has been to finally trust our gut feelings, because those are the feelings that are usually right on. Thank goodness my O.T. background finally came in handy. Early intervention and management of Adam's environment have been crucial to his progress. We have been able to weed out most of the people that have been obstacles to his progress, but how do we overcome the obstacles that society creates? Fortunately, we have been left with a few supportive friends who have been crucial to Adam's positive development.

Finding an appropriate school environment for Adam has been daunting... in fact we haven't. We know he needs a small group environment, maximum of 8, where learning comes alive. His environment needs to be manageable, so as not to overload his senses. He needs hands on experiential learning with teachers who are passionate, creative and enthusiastic. He needs adults in his learning environment that understand kids who are gifted with learning challenges. Due to lack of understanding, it is unfortunate that kids like Adam come to be viewed as behavior problems. We know, they are so much more. He must no longer feel traumatized by his learning environment. We must capitalize on his strengths and not belabor his weaknesses. It is his gifts and talents that will see him through and he will learn to accommodate for his weaknesses.

Right now, that special learning environment does not exist in our community for gifted kids with learning challenges. It is no longer a choice to sit back, it must become a reality for Adam and other kids like him.

Click here to read what's next on our journey.