The Odd Sister Out

No Surprise

Today was the day, the blood test and brain scans had been pushed back cause of the hurricane, and conveniently, we also had to go see the specialist today too, meaning we'd have the results back in a week or so. So we went to the sick bay for the tests. The blood test went fine, except that I couldn't follow the don't move rule, now I've got a permanent scar on my finger, woo hoo! And the brain scans came back negative, no brain tumors, no nothing. And then Peso took us to the specialist. He was Peso's old boss's coworker, or something like that. When we walked into his office, there were a lot of posters on the walls on different developmental disorders and mental illness infographics. There were too many to look at, but maybe it's cos I have the attention span of a toddler, actually that's an insult to toddlers. When the specialist walked in, he sat down at the desk across from Dashi and me.
"Welcome, I'm Dr. Fethery, I'm a Pediatric Developmental Specialist, Peso has Jane down as possibly ADHD, is that correct?"
"Yes." My sister answered.
"Alright, when did you first suspect her of having ADHD?" He asked.
"When our friend, Tweak brought it up with me. She told me about it, and everything just clicked."
"Ah, Jane, how long have you had these symptoms."
"Jane, the Dr. is talking to you, can you answer his question?" Dashi asked gently.
"What was the question again?" I asked, feeling a little embarrassed, as I said, I have no attention span. So he repeated, much more patiently, and with none of the "oh brother" attitude other grown-up had.
"As long as I can remember." I answered.
"Ah, so a long time then?"
"Since she was around one and a half." My sister chimed in. "Sometime around when she started talking."
"Alright then." This went on for another three hours before we could leave, and the results were inevitable. A few weeks later, my sister took me aside before dinner and said to me,
"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I think we were both expecting the same thing, we have another appointment to discuss treatment for your ADHD tomorrow."
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"So for ADHD, we usually administer medication and therapies, but it's up to the child and their legal guardian to decide what works best for them." And the doctor gave my sister a brochure on medicines and therapies.
"So now what?" she asked me. I shrugged. "I'm really not sure about the drugs," She continued, "But I think some of these therapies could help, and maybe some educational intervention too. Is that good with you?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." I said halfheartedly.
"Jane, what's wrong? You don't sound too happy." My sister said, truly concerned.
"I guess," I replied, there was no point lying to her when she could see right through me, "It's just that, I hate to be thought of as "special needs, it means that the authorities might take me away to some stupid institution. And even if they don't, I'd be giving you more trouble than ever."
Dashi sighed. "Look Jane, it's been hard for me too. And I guess it's true, it would be more difficult for me to take care of you than it is for me to take care of Koshi. But Jane, having you comes with it's benefits too. You have the most energy of anyone I've ever met. You're a big help on the Octopod, and you're never willing to give up on anything."
I smiled, Dashi had a way of making people feel better about themselves. "Oh and Dashi," I said. "Koshi and I need a favor from you."
"Name it."
"We need you to sign a permission slip for a field trip." Koshi said, standing in the doorway.
"What field trip?" Dashi asked, confused.
"Inkling and Shellington want to take u on a research mission." Koshi told her
"Just to a nearby coral reef," I added. "It's not very far from here."
"I'll consider it." Dashi said. "As long as Shellington's not driving."