School advice please

Jane - posted on 07/06/2011

Bipolar isn't a recognized disorder for pre-teens?! Early Onset Bipolar Disorder can be diagnosed as early as age 7 (as my son was). A lot of the aggression can be a result of the bipolar disorder, plus a lot of kids with ADHD have other co-morbid difficulties.

One in particular is Oppositional Defiant Disorder, which my son also has. He takes Tenex, aka Guanfacine, which as a generic is relatively inexpensive. He takes 3 1 mg pills a day (morning, noon, bedtime) and you can see it kick in and his aggression retreat. As long-acting Intuniv, Guafacine is considered an ADHD medication, so you might see if his docs will prescribe it for his ADHD in addition to the Concerta - it is considered an adjunct to Concerta, making it work better. However, it does a nice job of reducing anger.

You might want to check out a group in the USA called CABF (Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation). They have a lot of information about Bipolar Disorder as it appears in young kids - it is quite different from adult-onset Bipolar. Mood changes can be minute by minute rather than for days, weeks or months, and often shows up as anger at one end of the scale and depression at the other, rather than the manic or up phase and the depressed phase. Check it out at www.bpkids.org/

Ellen - posted on 06/29/2011

Go to the board of ed and bring a letter from a lawyer tell them u had enought he has a right to a free education. Till the age of 21 thay have to get him in a decent place check it out make sure it look like a regular school u have ur right and their just trying to pass the buck. My son has adhd and aspergers and went to a wounderful school didnt cost me a cent. thay even payed for his lunch and bus. when he was high school age he went to high school and get along well with other know struggles with grades he doesnt like school but he doesnt try joke get b c and not trying. what grade is ur child in and are u from england? In america laws might be different.

Becca - posted on 06/29/2011

Though I am not sure of the laws in the uk I would agree that the private neuropysch evals are probably the most accurate. Sometimes govt based programs push to easily for certain diagnoses. I would see if u can get a referral for good sensory inergration therapy which will help to adress the dyspraxia, self regulation/modulation issues associated with the ADHD and asperger's My friends so was dx young with bipolar, schizoaffective disorder and was on mess for years with terrible side effects. At 21 he took himself off with md help then went to a neuropsych to get a new evaluation after he researched asperger's and autism. And sure enough he was aspergers. Now at age29 he has a girlfriend, job, and goals. It wasn't easy but he is happy. Also Raising the spirited child is a great book to read.

Brooke - posted on 06/29/2011

One option you may want to consider is to ask the school to provide him with a homebound program this is where a teacher from the school district would come into your home and educate your son It would probably be in the evenings after the teachers have finished for the day or it could be on his prep period. If the school is not willing to help you and you dont have a parent advocate on your behalf you need to get one I never go to any of my children's conference (I have 3 with IEP's) Do not let the school system tell you that they can not educate your son. One other thing you may consider is looking at and seeing if your son has an intervention behavior plan this is important because this is the steps that the school has to follow to find out what is trigger your sons behavoir at school the frequency of the occurence and the steps they will take in trying to prevent it I wish you the best of luck if you would like to contact me personally you can contact me bjennings4@hotmail.com good luck to you and your son

Angie - posted on 06/28/2011

I can sympothize with you my son is Bi-polar, ADHD, learning disability. He can not take meds for his ADHD because they only jack him up. School for us has been a nightmare.

Tracy - posted on 06/28/2011

I have never heard of FAPE before, what is it?

With respect to his Encopresis the doctors know that his bowels work too quickly and he is not getting the signal in time to let him know when to use the toilet, he had to swallow plastic pieces over 3 days that would show up on a xray, on day 4 most of them were gone. Constipation or diarrhoea has never been a issue luckily. He has been on Senna and methylcellulose and a few others i cant think of the names at the mo to try and improve the sensation.

I am in the UK, my son has been assessed by at least 5 different mental health doctors in the NHS, the results tend to be: well maybe there is something not quite right' to 'bad parenting' and 'he has traits of...' not one was willing to make a diagnosis as they would then have to treat him! Now we have another doctor at the Child and Mental Health dept because the last one left. She is deeply concerned with my son and his issues that they are contacting Social Services now as they cannot see how i have coped! The only medication they will give my son is for the ADHD as Aspergers can only be treated with CBT! Bi polar is not recognised as a condition for pre teens with some doctors so thats not being treated/reviewed.

I have had 2 private assessments done which were in my opinion the best. Luckily now these assessments are proving to be invaluable! The assessments compared to the NHS ones were so much more thorough. There were times i was being asked questions and couldn't stop laughing because they were describing him to a tea! Even things i hadn't realised at the time like pull your socks up which of course he would literally pull them up.

I wish there was a way to choose a good dr, it is very much a postcode lottery as what what we can get.

I am very much scared about his future, when he turns 16 in a few years time, i worry about what help he will receive, if any.

I have pulled my hair out with doctors since he was 3 years old and schools

If i could get the dr's to agree his issues then i could at least try and apply for a more suitable school for his needs when the time comes and he is permanently excluded.

Sorry for the rant - there are days when it wears me down, today being one, I have all this to go through again with my other son.

Susan - posted on 06/28/2011

It sounds like you are not in the US - is that true? It also sounds like you need a good evaluation to help explore other treatment options. There are meds and behavioral treatments for the Bipolar and Asperger's. It does sound like he needs more intensive help than just Concerta. Ask at a local university or Children's Hospital or community mental health clinic for a recommendation. good luck.

Angela - posted on 06/28/2011

I wish I had something to add. If they can't keep him there, then they have to pay to have him placed in these other schools. That, I do know. Good luck. Such a hard thing for us moms, knowing they need help and not knowing where to find it! (((hugs)))

Chrissy - posted on 06/28/2011

First of all, if that school takes government funds at all, they cannot kick him out for issues caused by his disabilities. Your child is entitled to a FAPE. They need to do a complete eval, including behavior and come up with a plan. In respect to the encopresis and other health related stuff, have you considered or tried some dietary intervention and/or other biomed? My child has improved so much after we identified the foods that were wreaking havoc in his body and especially with this bowels. He used to ping pong between incredible bouts of constipation and OMG diarrhea.