I wish I could hug you all through the internet. You are all so amazingly caring! I feel like I have done a poor job of explaining things along the way, and that is all my fault.
I was disappointed with the psychiatrist at first, and was upset with the term 'mood disorder' and assumed he was using that as some sort of catch all instead of telling us what he really thought it might be. However, I have since learned that mood disorder really is the label for his type of behavior. I've read a lot lately (hah! there's an understatement) and the accounts I've read from other parents of children with mood disorders so very closely matches what we've gone through. My son's behavior isn't as severe as some accounts I've read, and he's not aggressive/violent, so I am hopeful that he might grow out of this, and that it won't turn into full on bi-polar disorder. (Bi-polar disorder does run in my family, however, so I feel like we'll always be on the look-out for it.)
Once I began to accept the mood disorder diagnosis this particular med choice became more palatable. There really doesn't appear to be a whole lot of consensus on what meds are best for treating mood disorder in young kids, but low dose of respiradal appears to have a fairly low incidence of side-effects, and we are watching out for them!
The neuropsych already has us on the list to call if there is any cancellation/no-show. (I was told it's very rare for people to do either.)
If I had the ability to take any amount of time off of work and stay home with him for a while, I would do it in a heartbeat. As it is, though, I am the primary breadwinner, and I've pretty much used up all my paid time off (though my boss has been very understanding about letting me go for all of DS's Dr appts and such) and I won't get more until July 1st. We are actively looking for a different school situation for DS for next year. I really think he's at a point where he can't really take this anymore, but I don't know what I can do between now and the end of the school year. All these private schools I've come across have a fairly lengthy enrollment/screening process, so even if we manage to narrow it down to one or two of these places and begin the paperwork, it's highly unlikely he could get into one this school year. We can't just take him out of school and have him do nothing - who would watch him? All our family works, and school is compulsory.
I just ordered Misdiagnosis/Dual Diagnosis from amazon. I had figured I'd look around in local bookstores and pick it up when I found it, but I decided to just go ahead and order it. I do think if we can get him into a better school situation a lot of his behaviors will improve, BUT, he's had behavior problems since he was a toddler. He has these issues even during activities he enjoys. We actually first sought out counseling and parenting help when he was only 4yrs old. So I don't think I can blame the school for everything we are seeing.
Again, thank you guys so much. I can't tell you how amazing you all are and how much I appreciate all the help/direction/links/advice/compassion.
