Hi, I've never done this but, I decided to give it a try.
I am 18 years old and I have been living with my aunt and uncle for the past couple of months and will continue to live with them for the next week until I leave for the Air Force on 2 Sept. I decided to write on here because my 8yr old cousin, Ty, is Bipolar and has ADHD. He was diagnosed when he was 4 years old and takes a ridiculous number of medications daily. He is also on Medicaid. My aunt and uncle are amazing people and struggle everyday to do what is best for Ty. However, when Ty has an episode and becomes uncontrollable they way he does, they run out of options. They refuse to sign Ty over to the state. I commend them on this decision. They are his parents; they will not give up hope on him. Ty is an amazingly talented littlt boy. He has just never had the opporotunity to be a normal child. He is a threat to himself and others. Like today, he was upset bec he had to sit on his bed for a time-out bec he did not make a good choice. For a normal child a five minute time-out would be just that. Ty is different though, his five min time-out turns into an all day ordeal bec he could not serve it. After a couple or seconds on his bed he got up and began kicking his door. A piece of wood on the door came loose so, he pulled it off. He then approached me and said "this is my knife and I'm gonna stab you with it!" I understand that often children are naiive and do not understand the severity of a comment like this, however, this is not his first rodeo. It has happened numerous times. Well, after hours of my aunt and I dealing w the situation, that became increasingly worse (esp bec Ty has a 5yr old sister in the house whose well being has to be taken into consideration), the best we could at home, she decided to call Ty's therapist for advice. His therapist advised her to take him to the office and let them observe his behavior. After two hours of lying Ty told his therapists what had gone on at home. They advised my aunt and uncle that the best thing for the safety of the family, as well as Ty, at this time, would be to admit him to the local mental institution. Though he has been many many many times (& he Loves to go, because he does not have to follow rules like at home or deal with the consequences of his poor decisions bec he goes to the mental institution instead of home) it would give everyone a few days to just cool down if nothing else. That's why I am writing. We have spent the entire day dealing with this situation and, there have to be more beneficial options than just sending him away and giving him medication. I love Ty and I know that the older he gets the worse his behavior will become and the more out of control he will get. I fear that one day the damaged that he does will be far worse than tearing up his door or breaking things around the house; I fear that the damage he will do one day will be irreversable if things continue the way they are going now.
My aunt also has cancer; she has been fighting it for the past two years. However, she has not been able to begin chemotherapy or radiation treatment because of Ty's behavior. There has to be an aswer to all of this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
