My son is losing weight so he can concentrate at school

I've haven't grown upwards in years - outwards yes, upwards no.  And thats normal. Most girls stop growing taller at 16 and boys at about 18.  21 seems to be the general cut off for height.  So, it makes perfect sense for my eight year old to be slowly getting taller.  The problem is he is also getting lighter.

He is beautiful, he is my son, but his lean body is simply looking less lean and more thin.  He does not have cancer, depression or an under active thyroid,  He's only eight so thankfully we can rule alcohol and (hopefully!) drug misuse off the list. He doesn't have any stomach problems, HIV or heart, kidney or liver disease.

Anthony is not ill.  He is in fact exactly the way he is supposed to be.  Because Anthony was born with a wonderful mind that is wired a bit differently.  In clinical terms this means he has a diagnoses of ASD (Autism) and ADHD. Sometimes this makes it very difficult for Anthony to focus so to help him, he's started taking medication.  One of the most common side effects of this medication is weight loss.

Don't get me wrong - he's really strong.  I guess he's had to be.

He moves all the time and you can't thrown yourself about like Anthony does without developing some serious strength. When you spend a lot of the day jumping you develop strong legs and arms. But when you are moving all the time you are also burning through your energy quicker too. Anthony has always had a good appetite.  He has three (yes three) large bowls of cereal for breakfast every morning and easily an adult size portion for dinner.

A month or so ago I noticed he was no longer clearing his plate each night.  He would then ask to eat something later in the evening. And not longer after that, at his near monthly weigh ins we found he had grown half a centimetre and lost half a pound.  Doesn't sound like much does it?

But it was enough for the clinical psychologist and I to exchange glances while Anthony was still in the room.

Anthony's medication has made a great deal of difference to his ability to engage in class at school. Despite having a learning support assistant help him, we think he would still struggle to follow lessons without his medication.  He says it's like he can feel his mind wandering and sometimes he'll even smack himself on the forehead to try and get it to work.  He tries so hard but has said he doesn't want the medication to stop.

For me, it's a constant concern.  The meds come with a long list of other side effects to.. including instant death (yes, you read that right). I know they have to put everything on the packet, it's a low risk.  But a risk of instant death? Anthony has asked me to kill him before because his 'brain wasn't working'.  He doesn't understand the concept of risk yet and it's not fair to burden him with these kind of ideas in his choices about whether he wants to have or not have the medication yet.

But so far, it's only the weight that seems to be affected. So we've since arranged for Anthony to have extra snacks at school during his break. He's also having his evening meal earlier and being given plenty of time to finish what he can.  Then he can have more later if he needs to.

Anthony is one of my amazing children.  He knows he struggles with somethings and he still tries his best. There's nothing for me to do except continue to try my best to help him.  Even if it means watching him like a hawk and making two dinners at night for my awesome son.