Post by Amy on Jul 24, 2006 1:39:12 GMT -5
My son is 15, and for many years he has had Numerous diagnosis/ HE never responds to behaviour modification, medications for any of his diagnosis. He has had DX for Bi-polar, Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Then add to it many many medical issues such as scholiosis, Growth hormone deficiency syndrome, and then also sleep disorders and Some concerns are that he has shortness of breath and MAJOR tantrums followed by sorrow as if he does not understand why people are angry with him or why he should be punished for what he has done, He has been in trouble with the law and when asked about what he had done he gave them extensive detail, such as an incident where he stoled a few toys from a store. WHen asked he gave the toys to the officers and told them what he had done but then did not expect to be in trouble, When they processed him at the police station he said "I told you the truth so I should not be in trouble RIGHT MOM?" It is like he knows right from wrong but when he does wrong, he thinks as long as he does right later that it should erase what he did that was wrong....DOes that make sense? School has been a huge battle, with his social anxiety disorder, temper tantrums, innappropriate comments and actions and once he gets "out of control it usually results in haveing to end his school day and send him home because he can be out of sorts for HOURS if he is not removed entirely from the building....BUT strange as it may seem, He is EXtremely LOVING, huggy kissy, cuddly, kind and protective of me and his family but then at the same time can be quite MEAN to his siblings and I although he finds a reason to blame everyone for "MAKING HIM FEEL ANGRY".....HE IS A HUGE HANDFUL!!! I recently have had 2 brain surgeries for a condition known as ARnold Chiari Malformation and hydrocephalus....Instantly I thought WHOOOOOOAAAAAA! Maybe that is why Jake has so many issues, Maybe there is a brain issue. SO I got an MRI done on him, he does not have Chiari, however the neurosurgeon said ..with his symptoms he may have a mild form of Autism, or Aspergars Syndrome...and now we are awaiting a consult from a neurologist...........Can anyone tell me how a 15 year old with Autism behaves? Jake is VERY TALENTED with ART and MUSIC, he can imitate songs by earand play the key board which he tought himself to do. HE can draw ANYTHING but, some things that get to me are that HE OBSESSES OVER STRANGE STUFF>>>>>>>> Halloween is a daily subject in our home, HE likes LIGHTS...all kinds of Disco lights, and strobe lights and fog machines..........HE WANTS THESE THINGS INSTEAD OF NORMAL STUFF like a stereo or new clothes, or a cell phone or a TV in his room...etc.....Jake has his days when he wants to go out and do something, I have tried to allow him to live a "normal" life until I heard, autism or aspergars, but he would go out and nearly everytime come home complaining that no one likes him or that he had gotten into a fight....or that something happened....HE can not leave the house without trouble but making him stay home makes him explosive........BUT ON THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM, he gets VERY anxious in crowded places, can not sit in a Full classroom, his limit is 4-8 people...depends on his day...too much exposure to people causes him to get very nervous and upset..I could go on all night...RIght now it is 1:30 am and he is still roaming the house because he can not sleep..he gets very restless at night it seems...He has always been this way...worse at night, although daytime does not seem to be much better......I have taken him to Doctor after Doctor all of his life, I have been told that he has mild brain damage, that he has the diagnosis which I have listed above then if we go on to another doctor because the one is not helping anything, then we get a new diagnosis and they cross off the previousl..IT is sooo frustrating. When he was little He was screened at our health department for Autism and they said they thougth he should see a doctor....when he went they said NO NO...IF he had Autism then he would not be able to function as he does....Then they gave him ritalin and said he had ADHD and needed also to go to therapy...WHile in therapy they said well he does seem to have some mildly autistic characterisitics but I am no doctor....ADHD was the easy diagnosis I guess.....but the medication did nothing then they jumped it up to BI-polar when he went out of his mind and destroyed much of the things in his path.....That is when they added Oppositional Defiant Disorder to the mix.........UGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! ANy input would be great Thank YOU in advance....!
