Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional No regular school for the next 4 weeks...

Sending good thoughts and strength.

Epoh, so sorry to hear all this. Know this: if this group cannot help your DS, you will find someone who will. It may take time, effort, patience, more effort. But you will get there.

Wishing you all speed in getting there, and some measure of peace ASAP--
DeeDee

Epoh,I'm sending good thoughts your way. It all sounds really stressful.

This is unbelievable. It sounds like that program really doesn't have it together. My heart goes out to you all. I hope that you can get everything straightened out quickly.

Very scary. Please listen to your gut.

Thanks everyone.

@master of none: no, we do not believe he is a danger to anyone. He's smacked himself upside the head during his tantrums, and kicked walls, but never injured himself or anyone else, never broken/thrown anything, etc. prior to our foray into meds he'd never even directed anger towards anyone during a tantrum.

I am very disappointed in the program, to say the least. The director actually told me before I left "we just have to get him to stop having these out of control behaviors before we can assess and treat him" !! What on gods green earth was she doing the whole time we talked to her on Friday saying we needed help specifically WITH HIS TANTRUMS. Gah! If he wasn't throwing the tantrums we wouldn't freaking need their help. blows my mind.

We have an appointment tomorrow with the psychiatrist and I'm going to talk to him about trying a med for mood disorder without also doing a stimulant, which is what we had done before. I am also going to get him back into his school, as they clearly are better at this than this place we tried today! I spoke with the VP today and I just love her. We may go ahead and request an veal from school. I am not super hopeful about that, it takes 60 days (approx) to have him eval'd and, of course, there's the fact that he gets straight A's, in spite of everything. Then I need to call this place and get my freaking $$$ back!

Epoh,

As a foster parent, I've run the gauntlet with kids of every imaginable behavior issue. Something that we have had absolutely AMAZING success with doesn't require drugs or doctors....

Find a place in your area that offers Hippa therapy (equine)and get your ped to write you a referral. I've had kids that were born addicted, brain chemistry completely out of whack, explosive behaviors. Put them on the back of a horse a couple of times a weeks and literally within about two weeks their behavior completely changes.

I still don't completely understand how it works but the motion of the horse somehow sychronizes the nervous system and makes kids able to regulate their emotional overload. It is inexplicable but I have seen it change an 8 yo boy from a child getting thrown out of school 2-3 times a week to a child that NEVER misbehaves in school in a matter of a few weeks. The therapy goes between 6 months and a year and the results seem to be extremely long lasting. My adopted soon to be DS7 is a perfect example. He went for 7 months almost 18 months ago and we have had no repeat behaviors.

It is covered by most insurance companies and it works. Don't now how or why, but we refer to it as "the magic pony" because the changes are truly magical!

Psychiatric hospitalizations tend to be good for certain things, like schizophrenia where the patient went off his meds and out of control manic episodes. I think the program was just looking for an easy way to outsource a new problem rather than to provide any help.

As you are learning, a problem with psych medications (including stimulants) in general is that it's often a naturalistic science experiment to find something that works. And it's sometimes very frustrating and scary for all parties involved.

Shari - sadly, DS is terrified of horses. We couldn't even get him onto a little pony. (We have relatives who have a dozen or so horses and a couple of ponies.) We try again every time we go to visit them (about 2x a year.). Do any of these programs deal with fear of the animal? Living in Texas there are no shortages of horse places.

Jon - thank you, yes, it can be quite scary. I could see admitting him to a hospital of there was a risk of harm or if he were hallucinating or something, but all we've got are random, nonviolent tantrums a couple of times a day.

Hoping you can find answers fast on how to help your son so he feels more like himself. Sounds like the new school doesn't practice what they preach. Can't believe they threatened your son with hospitalization....sounds like they don't train their staff at all. Sounds like you trust son's Doctor but if you would like a second opinion you might want talk to Dr. Lusby at Cornerstone Assessment. She was very open when I talked to her on the phone about testing. Seems like a provider that your family would be able to connect with and trust.

Sending positive thoughts to you and your son!