Emotions, can you trust them?

My poor Elijah. While there are some aspects to life with ADHD that are fun and exciting, sometimes it is really really hard. My poor boy is struggling and it is affecting him in so many ways. We've been having a very hard time getting a good medication balance for him as it wears off far too soon.

I feel like maybe it would help for him to have a sign floating over his head that says, "Hi! My name is Elijah and I am a great kid with a really tender heart. I have a disability but it's the kind you can't see. Please bear with me... I need patience, grace, and a whole lot of help. I don't cope with situations the same way other kids do. I need to be reminded what my task at hand is and that often times things aren't as big and overwhelming as they feel. I'm having a really rough time right now."

I have this child who is above average in intelligence who currently falls far short of his potential. He beats himself up over it a lot. He comes across as highly unmotivated, but I don't think it is so much that as it is being utterly overwhelmed. Life is just to much for him. To much is expected of him. Other people jump to the wrong conclusions of him and make unfair assumptions without getting to know him and his situation.

I feel like I'm failing him. I feel like no matter what I do it isn't going to be enough. I worry that I am ruining this special boy. I worry that he's never going to develop that self control he needs to not react first, process later. I worry that life is always going to be hard for him. I worry that he is going to be so weighed down with discouragement that he'll never be able to dig himself out from under it.

Life is very very hard for prepubescent boys with ADD or ADHD. And the way the school system is set up will only set them up to fail. If not academically, then certainly mentally and emotionally. And if they are worn out emotionally by their academic world, will there be anything left for them to put in spiritually? What becomes of a boy who is so consumed with feeding, bathing, dressing himself, and homework that there is no time left for fun or spiritual growth?