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

Since your DS recently stopped the meds he was taking, if it were me I would give him a week or two break before starting another medication. My son is on Concerta, and when he went off it for 2 weeks over Christmas, the effects (which in our case are mostly positive, although he is less hungry) didn't seem to totally wear off for a week or so.

Could you stay home with him for a week, and just have a really low-stress time for a while before starting something new? It sounds like he has gone through a lot at school, with the meds and with this recent bad experience at the clinic.

Epoh - I am sorry you and your son are going through this.

I want to echo the concern about Risperdal. If your son is not in danger right now to himself or to others, I would really take more time to assess if it is the right decision to put him on a powerful antipsychotic. For me the use of antipsychotics is a much more serious decision than a trial of ADHD meds. These are drugs more often used for schizophrenia and children who are extremely violent and acting out.

Have they done an evaluation and given him a diagnosis?

Thanks guys. I totally get your concern regarding risperidol. That was my exact reaction at first as well!

The dose of risperidol DS is getting is 0.25mg, far far less than what is used to treat psychotic behaviors. And he will start out with half of that, actually. We are aware of what side effects to watch out for, and will stop the meds and contact his Dr immediately if they appear.

I feel like there isn't a magic bullet, no accepted treatment plan, not much literature, so we are playing by gut feel right now. He is also seeing a therapist. That will be weekly starting next week.

Epoh,

They deal with kids that are terrified of horses all of the time. It's part of what they do. I'm telling you it is sooo worth a try. It may take them a month to actually get him on a horse, but it works. We have used it over and over and over again. Kids with chemical disorders, SPD, bi-polar, depression, addiction related disorders, they've all lived with me and most of them have spent time on a magic pony.

Good to know Shari. There must be a place like that around here, there are so many ranches around here. I will def look into it. The therapist also recommended karate or some other martial arts.

So, DS apparently had a 'rough day' today, but no full-on tantrums. Unfortunately, because he didn't really do any work and wasn't hardly in his classroom, they are putting today down as an in-school suspension. I am hopeful that tomorrow (when he's on the full dose instead of half) he'll do even better.

In the mean time, I've been researching other schools in the area. Check out this place! http://hillschool.reachlocal.net/ I've already requested an info packet be sent to me. I'm sure the tuition cost will make my husband about pass out, but this place look amazing.

OK. I went through the past posts and I am both confused and worried about your case history.

Your child acts up in the classroom and has issues with transitions, perfectionism (?), some ADD syndroms and some anxiety. He scores very high on academic tests, had a 99th percentile score on the COGAT, and similarly high scores on one standardized attention test.

He is clearly (past post on self advocacy in math, IIRC) bored out of his mind at school.

You have read Misdiagnosis/Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children, right? What's your feeling?

Because from what I have read Asperger's might be an issue, along with a bunch of other possibilities, and what you are getting instead of a referral to a good neuropsych is treatment from a psychiatrist who "doesn't like labels", is willing to prescribe very powerful drugs in non-standard dosages, even after one trial resulted into disaster, and before -- although I am working from memory, darn those timestamps -- anybody could be sure that the drug that sent him into that manic (?) episode at school was completely out of his system. Oh, and referred you to a program which dropped the ball in a rather frightening way.

I don't know what your relationship with the psych is like. Me, there are so many red flags in your past posts, I would get a second opinion before giving anything more to my child.

Also call the people you have that evaluation scheduled with for the Spring (and I really hope they get 2E), ask them if they have had any openings show up in their calendar, state that your son has been kicked out of school and your need for answers is getting very urgent, and do any begging/pleading/screaming needed to get you those appointments STAT! Ask to be put on their list in case anything gets canceled, explain that you are willing to drop everything, grab your son and get into their office within 10mn/30mn/1hr, whatever it takes.

From here it looks like a bad educational fit (I didn't check all 201 of your past posts looking for hints about what your child's pre-elementary life was like) for a gifted child with maybe 2E issues. So looking for a new school would help. But make sure about the 2E issues too.

I agree with SiaSL - and would add one thing - let your pediatrician know what's been going on this week if you haven't already and ask him/her to call the neuropsych you are scheduled to meet with and see if they can't get you in asap. Our 2e ds was having an incredibly stressful year at school two years ago, and it coincided with the time frame we'd been requested to bring him in for a neuropsych update. When I called to make the appointment, I was told we'd have to wait 6 months. When I took ds in to see our ped, explained about the stress he was under and the concerns we had, the ped was able to make a call to the same neuropsych and we were able to get an appointment within just a few weeks.

I don't know your work situation, but the other thing I'd look into is taking him out of school all together for awhile, until you have a better understanding of what's going on. If he misses even a full year of school and does nothing but sit home and have a chance to relax, he's still very young and he'll be able to get back on track at school later on.

Best wishes,

polarbear

LIKE
Here's the link to Misdiagnosis and Duel Diagnosis -


It's ok to ask everyone who is dealing with your child to view it (assuming that you like what you see)

Love and More Love,
Grinity

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.