Ohhhh, Noah.....

Remember how I've said several times that Noah is very literal and I have to be very specific with him?  Well, it seems this is my week to "school" a clinical psychologist in that very lesson....


The psychologist who finished up Noah's psychological testing last week called last night to clarify a few things with Noah.  I heard a few tidbits that sounded like, "I hear them when I'm in public," "No, not all the time," "No, they don't really tell me to do bad things."  WHAT? There is a history of schizophrenia in the family and something of this sort is a potential side effect of the Paxil he is taking, so to say I was a bit concerned would be putting it mildly.  I didn't want to break any trust between him and his doctor (we get the results in August and I'm sure if she felt it were an urgent matter, she would have told me right away), so when Noah handed the phone back to me, I didn't ask her.  I also didn't want to panic on Noah, so I let it go for a few hours, then tried to bring it up as casually as possible.  I admitted to Noah that I had overheard his conversation with Dr B and was just wondering what they had talked about.

"She asked me about the voices I hear."  Um, excuse me?  This is news to me!

Trying to remain as calm as possible (I was also driving!), I asked him if it's one voice, a lot of voices, what these voices tell him to do, when he hears them, who he thinks these voices are and a few other questions.

"Well, it's only voice and it tells me to do good things and I'm pretty sure it's God."  Okay, whew!

Still struggling to remain calm, I asked him if he explained any of that to Dr B.  "Well no, she didn't ask. She just asked if I hear voices."  Oh geez Noah, really?!

That led to a conversation about being specific with our answers, even if people don't ask specific questions.  We also talked about listening to God and our consciences and how that could be different that actually hearing voices (in psychological terms).

So today will begin with a phone call to Dr B explaining exactly what Noah meant by hearing voices.

While Noah and I still have a lot to learn, it seems that some days, we also have something to teach.

*sigh*