Topic : 01/17 Extreme Disorders

My daughter has Aspergers and I tuned in to the show at the end of the segment.  Does anyone remember the name of the doctor that was on the show?  I saw Dr. Phil talking to him but I missed out on his name.  Thanks so much for your reply. 

  

Lynn 

I am 16 going on 17 and my disorder is much misinterpreted and often talked about behind my back. I am highly intelligent, I have been given i genius IQ by a woman, i'm not sure who she was, all I knew when I was a child was that there was something wrong with me. I always, constantly go through deprsseion, loneliness even though many people are around me. I have practically no self esteem and find it hard getting along just as I am. Though I am easy to get along with I am known to take depression fits, besides my hyper fits. I am constantly drawing, writing novels and publishing poetry. My intelligence and perspective scares people around me. I hope they have another show of which other aspberger's people can speak up. 

My son was diagnosed at age three with ADHD. At age seven with Tourette's. The OCD came somewhat after that. Then when puberty hit the OCD got worse and last year he was diagnosed with Asperger's. The tics come and go and are minimal. The have always been motor, never vocal. Except for a throat clearing and teeth clicking issue. The BIG issue going on now, and for the last four years, is what he is doing to gratify himself sexually. It is unsafe at times, and very unsanitary. He uses items to insert into himself, anally and into his penis. He has also had a problem with swallowing things. He has caused himself a few surgeries, and bleeding because of this. I have had him in numerous acute care facilities and hospitals, but as soon as he comes back hom, it starts all over again. And it has gotten worse. I have spoken to, written to, and e-mailed more people than I can count. Some have helped, and the rest were brick walls. "We can't help him, too severe for us to handle". O.K., who will help? I am now in the process of getting him approved for SSI/Medicaid hoping that a facility somewhere will take Medicaid. I cannot afford to place him anywhere myself. So I need all the help I can get. I live in Texas, and dearly love my homestate, but trying to get help here is ridiculous. I truly believe this is why so many people end up in the penile system, because they are pushed away and all they need is some help.  I had a heart attack/bypass surgery this past Oct. which was due to stress. I'm doing o.k. with the healing, but the stress is back again. I will keep trying to get my son the help he desparately needs and deserves until the day I die. A Mother's love is unconditionally forever. My heart goes out to all Mother's of children with extreme disorders, and the children themselves.  

I want to Thank Dr. Phil for doing this show today to help make others aware of these disorders that are so very misunderstood.  

I just saw first part with Alex who has asperger's.  I have a twist in my brain as to what the heck is going on that he isn't having ongoing help and he is 15.  My grandson has autism and was diagnosed at 3 and has been having many many therapies ever since.  Putting our hands on our face and saying we just want our child to be "normal", isn't going to solve the problem.  Put those hands on the phone, on books, on support groups, etc.  Also, I agree with the prior 2 posts that I have never associated violence with Aspergers.  Apparantly it is a problem but maybe because the poor kid isn't getting help to deal with the disorder.  And you don't yell at a child with a disorder the things his parents were SCREAMING to him.  I too worry about teasing as my grandson gets on in school years, cause I belong to a suicide support group where many children were victims of intense teasing and bullying.  I say get this child and family help now, because the resources for this dwindle down immensely once they are an adult.  Good luck to all, we all need it.

I want to thank Dr. Phil for doing a show on Aspergers and tourettes and say it is about time!  I have a nine year old son who has cerebral palsy and severe autism.  He is a 21 month old in a nine year old body.  He can have very violent outbursts and it scares me to think of what it will be like when he is a teenager.  I can handle him now because he is under 5 feet tall and weighs only about 60 lbs.  But someday he will be bigger than me and then what.  I live in Illinois, this is the 3rd worst state for financially supporting people and families with special needs.  We have basically no support.  My son goes to a special ed program that has done very little for him, we get about $700 a year for respite care and we are starting to get 15 hours a week of in home care for him.  He willl probably end up in residential care and it saddens me.  Most people don't have a clue what we go through.  They see our children acting out or stimming in public and they assume we are bad parents.  Very few people even know where or how to get help.  I totally understand the mother in this story.  There have been times when I have told my son, I hate him.  I don't hate him, I hate what autism is doing to him and our family.  I love to talk to others who have similar circumstances.  Take care and  thanks for doing the show!!

I am the mother of a 6 yr old little girl.  She shows many aggressive behavioral issues.  She has aggressive outbursts that make other children's temper tantrums look very mild.  She is a Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde.  She has a lot of problems at school with both physical and emotional outbursts.  I am worried that she may even get kicked out of school.  She has on more than one occasion physically lashed out at me, and hurt  me.  Help I don't know where to turn for help anymore.  Our child concealer sees her once a week and the school has set up several meetings with the staff and myself, but no matter what we come up with it doesn't seem to help.  The latest crisis was her telling another 1st grader that she was going to kill him.  I see some many of the traits that the young man on todays show had and I am truly scared.  Is there any other things that could be doing?

I have an eight year old with Asperger's syndrome and sensory integration dysfunction that sounds a lot like Alex.  My son has extreme outbursts and tantrums sometimes.  He doesn't know what sets him off and he is unable to control it.  They are now looking into it to see if he's having seizures.  He has had a wonderful behavior specialist who's been working with him the past few years.  The problem we run into is people think he is manipulative and a disobedient brat.  They don't understand that there is always a reason for the behavior you just have to find it.  Autistic kids do not respond to negative discipline and a lot of people (teachers and principals especially) do not understand positive behavior support.  Medication is not always the answer because it only masks the problems and does not help them learn what's causing the behaviors and what can be done to help control the behaviors.  I'm sure there are some cases where meds are appropriate, but I do not believe that's the answer in every case.  If people were more educated about the condition and followed the behavior plans (if they have one) a lot of these kids could function within our society. 

I am confused as my daughter is diagnosed with Prevasive Developmental Delay with Autistic Tendencies, I have read a vast majority of the messages and read about Asperger and Touretts Syndrome and they both sound exactly like her.  She was diagnosed when she was 3 yrs old, now almost 22 and am trying to figure out what there is for her to do in 4months when school ends.  Lately she has had alot of outburst both physical and verbal.  I have notcied that most of the messages on this board are of boys and everyone is young, but what happens to those who are grown. I can never find anything about adults and how people deal with life after school. Do the family members they live with just quit their jobs to be home with them? I will be watching the actual show tonight at 7pm to see if there are any answers for me there.   Thank you for listening

We tried this diet for a whole year and it did nothing for our son.  In fact, I have talked to many people who have tried the diet and it hasn't helped.  I am not saying it hasn't helped some people but it is not a cure all by any means.  I spent hundreds of dollars a month at the health food store and have nothing to show for it.  Now on the otherhand, I have used a vitamin/nutritional shake with him for almost two years that has helped a lot.  It has increased his eye contact, made him more focused, able to concentrate, able to sleep through the night, no more seizures, and he is more social.  If you want to know more you can e-mail me at bersmr@charter.net.  Take care.

  

I too just finished watching the latest espisode and and am hoping that teachers and those in the special education field were watching.  My son has Tourettes which he inherited from his father.  It is not enough for the parents and extended family to be educated and accepting of this perplexing disorder but more important for educators to become 'educated' as well.  Torette's comes with a whole host of other associated disorders such as Obcessive compulsive disorder and ADD and guess what?  They all mimic each other.  Thee is no black and white with Tourette's and there is no mould.  In Texas schools are required  to  meet the educational needs of each child.  Unfortunately it isn't as simple as that. Parents must advocate and safeguard their child's rights as an individual at every step.  meanwhile the child must also grow and learn to become his own advocate. I applaud  the gentleman for his bravery in helping to put a face on this disorder.  He and my son share lot of the same tics and seeing him gives me hope that my son will grow up and have a wonderful, fulfilling life in spite of this monkey on his back.