Topic : Raising a Special Needs Child

Mandy, 

  

I'm not a health professional, but an avenue I'd explore with your child's Psychiatrist (or get him one if he doesn't already have one) is Childhood-onset Bipolar.  My son was first dx with depression/PTSD, but that was because the Pediatrician only ever saw the "down" side of his moods. (My son was not molested but his father who we escaped from several years ago was verbally abusive, called him a "retard" and trashed the house on many occasions.) As of a year ago, I finally got the bipolar part of his rather complicated puzzle and am still working with the Dr's (even after private paying for Brain scans) to figure out the rest.  Asperger's has been suggested but never put in writing.  (My son was also born with his skull prematurely fused together so brain issues were always on the table and only got worse as he matured.) 

  

Anti-depressants can make kids (and adults) with bipolar disorder go over to their "manic" phase if not tempered with mood stabilizers.  The violence you described is something we've dealt with since he was 5.  He'll be 10 in a few weeks and I can barely restrain him anymore.  Resources are available at http://www.cabf.org.  There are several areas that don't require a paid registration (I used this source alot prior to them requiring a paid reg).  Depending on what part of the country you live in, there may or may not be Child Psychiatrists in your immediate area equipped to understand this condition, so the site I mentioned might help you find someone who does. 

  

Best of luck to you! 

  

~CharmedMom 

thanks Cathy, I will look into this.  Terry

I have a 5 year old son who has been hospitalized 4 times due to his ADHD and Asperger's. I can sypathize with others because he is my baby and all I hear is how bad he is from other people who have no clue what they are talking about.  He starts kindergarten next year and I am scared of how he will do.  We are planning to move to Pennsylvania because they have better programs for him.. On top of all that they now say my youngest who is 2 has Autism also.  My 6 year old has learning disabilities and also has some sensory problems that they are associating with Pdd NOS.  I would like to get advice on how you can be there all the time for your kids, but yet still have a relationship with your spouse also.  I am a stay at home mom, I really have no choice.  No one will watch my kids so we have not been out by ourselves in the whole time we have been married. 

  

Thankyou  

mom of 4  

I am a firm believer on drug substitutes and diet rather than harsh drugs. My husband is a successful ADHD person who is working on his 2nd BS degree. My son has CAPD (central auditory processing disorder) and my father his a challenge with PSAT and ADHD. The difference between my dad and husband. My husband is not on any drugs who has a mother who worked on self control and disciple nor did she hide his problem or deny them. He had struggles and faced them. My dad who blamed the world for not getting along with him. He married 10 times and never took fault nor faced his own problems. He is on high narcotic drugs who still does not have control over his behaviors.  

  

Diet helps the brain as well as certain herbs to slow the brain down. Don't give up on kids! Learn to enable them for success and don't let them use there issues as a cruch to get by. Learn to become an overcomer. 

  It is now close to the end of the year.My son seem to have the worst time at the begining and at the end.Down here we have alot of  testing anymore that doesn't help.He gets upset about eveything that happens at school.He does not have alot of frinds so that makes it worse.There are quite a few kids who pick on him but this year I have managed to get that for the most part stop.What can I do to make this year easier then the past ones? He is going to be at the same school and same teacher at least one of them the other is retiering this year.  

  Also so my son had a freind he made a new boy at the school.his name is Dillion.I just found out that the young mans parents don't want Dillion around my son.Dillion told David that it was because he is weird and don't want him assiating with him.When I asked my son why .It came. well his parents told him that I most have a real problem if at 15 iam still in the 8th grade.That I don't act like the other kids do.That I get to upset over the littlest things.They are afriad I wil rub off on him or give him a bad reputation.That upset my son and me.I as a parent am tired of explaning his disabilty to eveyone who has a problem with his behaivor.not that it is bad just different.The fact he is not as mature as the rest of the kids and his age and grade level.I am tired of parents looking at me as if I caused his disabilty or I must have someting wrong with me too.also some question my abilty to displine him as if he is this way because i was not making him behave well. My question is do I try to talk to the parents about my sons diabilty so they can be friends or do I just let them asume the wrost about my son and me?I don't know if it is worth the effort because most of the time people just don't get it.  

 My daught is ten ow, but wasn't suppose to live to be five. She has what's called tritrology fallot of the heart. Befor she was 2in a half she had two brain surgeries. A staff infectio. And at ten her grandma had a stroke anad befor her brain surgery she lost my dad.[her grandpa] For some reason she is still here[ thank God for that] I just wanted everyone to know miracles can happen. She's been to Disney World and the Richmond races with Make A wish. Font page of local paper back home. Our small town hero is what I call her. We are now starting a new adventuer. I'm getting married in july. We are excited. Thank you for letting me tell my story. DeeDee

hi ladies- i am new to this board and i am glad that dr.phil has it. by reading all of your posts i think maybe dr.phil should do more shows on this subject and what kind of help is out there for all of us. my son is 12 and was diagnosed with adhd when he was 5. needless to say the last several years have been filled with going from one doctor to the next to find just the right one for us and it has also been alot of years of trying every drug out there to even doing some of the diets that people say work for them.  

  

we are now finally seeing that my son also has odd and aspergers. so, once again we are off to another doctor that deals with kids like him more often.  

  

i dont really have much in the lines of advice because i am still trying to figure things out after all these years, but, the one thing i can say is that the internet is a wonderful thing. look for support groups both for your self and for your child, educate yourself on everything you can about the disease itself and what treatments are out there for the kids,look for schools and programs that are better suited for your child, because i will tell you from experience that the public schools are at a loss as to what to do with these kids.  

  

just be very proactive, do whatever it takes to get your child or children the help they need.  

  

my son talks about killing himself or one of us everyday,he hates school because he has no friends, we deal with violent and explosive outbursts every day, he has ticks that can not be explained or treated,his relationship with his father is very strained and i am usually put in the middle,life in our house is usually loud, explosive, violent, choatic and just plain OUT OF CONTROL. but i love my son and will do everything possiable everyday of my life to make sure he is taken care of and that we do everything we can to get him better so that he can have a happy, healthy, normal life.  

  

i wish all of you parents the best of luck with your children and hope that someday we can all have the cure for our kids well being. 

I am 23 and I have three kids. Two girls 2 and 3.  and the oldest who is 5. He was diagnosed in pre-kinder with adhd and pdd. I am very concerned right now because I was recommended to go to a pshycologist, which I did and just started treatment on him. Today was the first day of his medication and frankly I am very concerned. He seemed to be completely dazed and confused, He had trouble doing his work at school. He didn't eat, run, play, or even join in any activities at school. He was completely out of it. I'm barely starting with this process and a lot of you have already gone through these stages. 

  

Should I continue or suspend the medication???? 

I don't mean to sound mean but I have to disagree with some of your statements.  First of all you should know that I am a mother of 3 children with "disabilities" I have a 3 year old son who has fragile X syndrome that is affected both physically and mentally ; a 1 year old daughter that also has fragile X that we don't know the full scope of her disabilities yet and a step-son that has ADHD and possible ODD.  I have to tell you that his ADHD as most cases I have heard of totally affect their lives and the lives of their families.  It is true that he is not mentally retarded or physically unable to do things but he is still stuggling in school and we struggle as a family to try to keep him focused on his work so that he can learn to the best of his abilities.  What  people that have never delt  with this disorder fail to understand is that he may have normal or close to normal intellegence but it is very hard for him to learn in a normal class setting.  He is currently taking medication and it is helping some but it was very hard for us to come to terms with the fact he really needs the medication.  Not only that the modifications that other children with more severe disabilies get  in school seem almost impossible to get for him.  He is a bright child with a lot of other issues and it is difficult to understand what he must go through.  To be with other children and see them excell and not get into trouble and you can't ever seem to get your work  done or sometimes even know what is going on in the class forgeting what you just "learned".  Also he stays in trouble.    

As I said I do have a 3 year old that does have a lot of  problems and he is in a preschool program for children with disabilities.  And  he functions at  a 1-2 year old level and only says a few words.  I know how painful that is and that his life is going to be hard I already have to fight for him.  But he is a joy and a beautiful blessing.  I have to deal with the same issues that you are talking about but he will with my hard work and prayers have a great and meaningfull life.    

What I am trying to say is that you should not trivialize Adhd as not being a true disability by saying that you wish you just had a hard time getting your child to sit still.  I assure you there is a lot more to it than that and I would not wish it on anyone.  

 I am looking for some advice on getting assistance for my disabled baby.  He is 8 months old and has already been diagnosed as legally blind, hearing impared( he has hearing aids), and now they are saying he has problems with his central nervuos system and has neurological problems. He has been on Texas medicaid up until now. It is time to renew and do to my new job and our income, he will no longer qualify. We applied for social security disability and they also base everything on your income and on the same pay scale as the welfare office. So, needless to say, he didn't qualify for medical assistance, but is only recieving a small, $80 check a month. We use more than that in gas every month going to different specialists all over texas! I have heard of a type of medicaid for children with special needs that isn't based on your income, but instead on the child's needs medically. If anyone has heard of this, could you please tell me where to go to find this! I have searched high and low and no one seems to know where to tell me to go to get him on it. I have asked the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, Doctors offices, therapists.....you name it. They have all heard of it, but do not know where to go to get it. My son is about to have to go through a very intense seiries of testing to determine how bad it all is, what is causing it and what we need to do for treatment for his problems. But, unfortunatley, we won;t be able to take him because we can't afford it and our insurance through our work doesn't have insurance that will cover the amount needed for all of this testing and treatment! Please, anyone who can point us in the right direction will be a blessing in our lives!