My preteen son threatened to kill several people in their sleep while away at a camp. He doesn't know why what he did was wrong. He's always had impulsivity issues. His psychiatrist diagnosed him with ADHD when he first started having problems in Kindergarten. He got kicked out of his first preschool for behaviours like touching kids and kicking kids whom asked him to stop and he didn't. Now he's in middle school and still doing these things, even on medication. His psych. wants to prescribe an anti-psychotic. I'm beside myself with worry, fear, depression, etc. I haven't been sleeping more than a few hours a night. I cry all the time. I'm supposed to be the strong supporting dad but I'm having a hard time dealing with this. I just want to get him the help he needs. Can anyone point me in a positive direction?
Do you go to family counseling? I went with my mom and that seemed to help us open a dialogue we couldn't have previously.
@ChocoBunny we have but he doesn’t “open up”. We got the same responses as when we are at home. He gives the sames answers now, that he did 7 years ago. When he’s asked why, he responds “I don’t know” and when asked what’s wrong or what he’s thinking about, he says “nothing”.
He may need a different medication, have a comorbid that isn't being treated properly, or was just completely misdiagnosed. Perhaps talk to the psych and if he keeps pushing the anti-psychotics without looking at other options first, find a different psych. Get a new evaluation. Mixing meds that mess with brain chemistry is, as you probably know, very tricky. I have a reaction to Valium that most doctors say I shouldn't even have, it makes my ADHD worse, same with lexapro (which I was on much longer). Granted, I don't know you're son or Autism well enough to be sure, but I do know ADHD and higher function Autism such as Asperger can be mistaken for each other. And that touching and violence towards anything really can be an autism thing. You've made a good step, asking for help. I'd also recommend researching treatments, other conditions that can cause these behaviors and talk with the psych about what you find.
@Bookworm92 We’ve been thinking about Aspergers too but his psych recommended the antipsychotic. I’m nervous about putting him on so much meds, but at the same time want to get him some help. If it’s Aspergers, it’s extremely high functioning up until this point. I’m just beside myself as a father.
From Autism and Learning Disorders to ADHD