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Looking for some advice for a child who is regressing

Megan - posted on 08/12/2009 ( 4 moms have responded )

329

my stepson is 7 years old, he has been diagnosed with ADD, ODD, and PDD and is developmentally delayed by about 2 years. Sadly the school system is doing nadda to help him (hes going into grade 2 this year even though his father and i both agree he is not ready)

we have no outside help and have tried everywhere we could think of. hes on adderall but his dr is slowly taking him off the meds since he thinks he is now nutriciently deficiant (no blood tests or anything to actually confirm this only that his is 5lbs under weight)

Anyways long story short since the end of the school year he has been regressing, he will now only hit another child if they anger him (we have three other children in the house and all but one is younger than him). he started urinating (which we thought at first was just an accident or two but now its every other day) and within the last week or so he is also doing number 2 (we've even tried putting him back into pull ups and sending him to the bathroom every hour or so but he will just sit in it until someone notices) he has become extremely verbal towards anyone who tries to discipline him (hes actually physically hurt me in the past but thankfully that hasnt come back) he has even begun to destroy his own clothes (he now has only one pair of pants left!)

We are worried that the school will say no to him going back since they wont take a child who isnt potty trained and who is or could be a danger to themselves or others. We cant even find a special education school nearby. School here starts september first and we are in panic mode now.

Does anyone have a child with these disorders? Anyone know how to get the school to get off their rears and do something before its too late? Is there anything that anyone can suggest that we can do to help him out?

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Megan - posted on 08/13/2009

329

Quoting Susan:

Quoting Megan:

We had his evaluation done back when he was four, we have shown it to school staff and gone over it just to have it all ignored. He was supposed to have an IEP and an assistant from day one. Junior kindergarten was close to hell as well as grade one, both times he actually attacked his teachers and was sent home numerous times. In SK he barely even paid attention to the teacher.

We live in Ontario, Canada so things are a little different support wise. Thank you for the information.

I found these resources for Ontario:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/ele... - there is a link for resolving placement problems.

http://snow.utoronto.ca/index.php - this site seems to offer workshops and other programs

hope this helps!

take care, Susan

Thank you I will check them out!

Susan - posted on 08/13/2009

187

Quoting Megan:

We had his evaluation done back when he was four, we have shown it to school staff and gone over it just to have it all ignored. He was supposed to have an IEP and an assistant from day one. Junior kindergarten was close to hell as well as grade one, both times he actually attacked his teachers and was sent home numerous times. In SK he barely even paid attention to the teacher.

We live in Ontario, Canada so things are a little different support wise. Thank you for the information.

I found these resources for Ontario:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/ele... - there is a link for resolving placement problems.

http://snow.utoronto.ca/index.php - this site seems to offer workshops and other programs

hope this helps!

take care, Susan

Megan - posted on 08/13/2009

329

Quoting Susan:

I'm so sorry to hear your stepson is doing so poorly. You need a complete neuropsychological evaluation to assess what is going on. This type of evaluation will look at educational needs, psychological needs, brain functioning and learning styles and can make educational and learning recommendations. You also need an experienced advocate to help you get special education services appropriate to your child's needs. You can get referrals for the neuropsychologist from your local Children's Hospital or university psychology dept. You can also find referrals for both the eval and the advocate from your local chapter of The ARC - check at www.thearc.org . You can also find local parent support and referral organizations at www.nichcy.org - click on state resources, find your state and find parent resources. Every state has a federally mandated parent informationa and training center and most states also have parent to parent support organizations that are excellent sources of referrals.
I am a clinical psychologist and professional family advocate for families of children with special needs as well as a mom of a preemie with special needs. I work with families to get their legally mandated services from schools and to help connect families with local resources and services and there are people like me all over the country.
My daughter has had two neuropsych evals, one at age 7 and another at age 12 and they were enormously helpful in identifying what accommodations and supports she would need to be successful in school. Many school districts do have neuropsychologists available on staff, in which case this eval should be free to you on request, as part of the special ed eval they do to determine his IEP. Otherwise, you may have to pay for the eval on your own, as it is quite different from the typical eval done by a school psychologist.

We had his evaluation done back when he was four, we have shown it to school staff and gone over it just to have it all ignored. He was supposed to have an IEP and an assistant from day one. Junior kindergarten was close to hell as well as grade one, both times he actually attacked his teachers and was sent home numerous times. In SK he barely even paid attention to the teacher.

We live in Ontario, Canada so things are a little different support wise. Thank you for the information.

Susan - posted on 08/12/2009

187

I'm so sorry to hear your stepson is doing so poorly. You need a complete neuropsychological evaluation to assess what is going on. This type of evaluation will look at educational needs, psychological needs, brain functioning and learning styles and can make educational and learning recommendations. You also need an experienced advocate to help you get special education services appropriate to your child's needs. You can get referrals for the neuropsychologist from your local Children's Hospital or university psychology dept. You can also find referrals for both the eval and the advocate from your local chapter of The ARC - check at www.thearc.org . You can also find local parent support and referral organizations at www.nichcy.org - click on state resources, find your state and find parent resources. Every state has a federally mandated parent informationa and training center and most states also have parent to parent support organizations that are excellent sources of referrals.

I am a clinical psychologist and professional family advocate for families of children with special needs as well as a mom of a preemie with special needs. I work with families to get their legally mandated services from schools and to help connect families with local resources and services and there are people like me all over the country.

My daughter has had two neuropsych evals, one at age 7 and another at age 12 and they were enormously helpful in identifying what accommodations and supports she would need to be successful in school. Many school districts do have neuropsychologists available on staff, in which case this eval should be free to you on request, as part of the special ed eval they do to determine his IEP. Otherwise, you may have to pay for the eval on your own, as it is quite different from the typical eval done by a school psychologist.