hello,
any advice on how to deal with my daughters bizarre behavior, swearing, hitting, throwing things across a restaurant, no attention span, constantly redirecting. I have tried all the medications adderall, ritalin, rispidal, tenex, triliptal and the patch any suggestions.
Thanks
Sadiku
Hi Sadiku,
My 6-year-old son is having alot of the same problems. We have him on meds: clonodine, risperdal and concerta. The concerta helps his language, but doesn’t slow him down at all. The rispertal and clonodine seem to take the edge off his mood by mellowing him a bit, but we are still having major mood swings, obsessive behavior, and tantrums. We are trying to get help through a behavioral specialist who deals with children with special needs. But it has taken us almost a year to get into see this specialist. We tried a regular child behaviorist and he only lasted 45 minutes then told us he didn’t have the skills to help us. We will hopefully get some help late next month, but I am weary. And I am tired! Some have suggested that we use ABA therapy that is often used with children with autism. But this is very intense and strict therapy and it may not be covered by our insurance. We are saving ABA for our plan B if the behavor doctor doesn’t work out.
I know this probably doesn’t help much, but I feel your fustration! I worry about my son’s future if he becomes more volitile, I’m not sure what we’ll be able to do.
Crystal
Thanks Jacksons Mom,
Yesterday we were told is things didnt change at her riding class, which is for special needs kids we would have to find something else. When she got off the hores yesterday her and a smaller girl who is 6 started racing and Jess didnt want her to win so she hit her in the head to stop her. This is what scares me so much, we cannot go anywhere with groups of people because of this. We are thinking of buying a house in a neiborhood that all the houses are close with a club house and a community pool but I am afraid no one will talk to us or want us kicked out after they see Jessica in action. I just feel very isolated and that everyone wonders what I dont do or do do to make her behave this was. Now that she is so much bigger she is getting more and more difficult to control. Thanks for the advice, every time we have tried play therapy they switch insurance so we have only gotten 3 or 4 sessins with the same person, so it hasnt helped. Well go luck with Jackson, is he is regular ed or something different. Jess was in a AI program but agian they kept changing teachers so we put her in the resource room where the teacher has stayed the same.
Thanks again and thanks for listening
Sadiku
Hello i have just found this sight and I know what your going through my daughter is 4 and its like shes 2 different people if i tryto kiss her she hits me if her younger sister is in her way she pushes her she is mean and aggressive at school and we have tried tenex, clonidine,risperdal and tegretal. risperdal took the edge off tenex made it worse clonidine she slept off and tegretal made her hyper we are sticking to an upgraded dose of risperdal right now but its starting not to work we use alot of holding therapy and short sentences like (dont hit) her weighted vest seems to help a little.
My Cait is 6, and we’ve had similar issues for awhile now.
I’m trying not to resort to drugs, and instead try and re-direct the behavior. Cait acts up mostly when she is around her sisters, and never at school!! The teachers actually told me that they were pleased to know that she pitches the occaisional fit, because she usually lets people walk all over her at school…but if I’m around, it’s a different story.
So, I had to accept that Cailtin mostly acts out because she feels comfortable around us ( ever heard the song “you always hurt the ones you love”?lol) Caitlin has always held a “hit first, ask questions later” policy.
Recently I’ve begun to focus on re-directing her negative behavior, and it is hard work with very few break-throughs. I will usually put Cait in “time-out” when I hear her threatening her sisters or hitting friends…so far, it has not really deterred her…but I’m optimistic!!
I am lucky enough to live on a street with a lot of active parents…18 kids under the age of 10 live on my large cul-de-sac. The neighborhood knows about Cait’s ACC, and has chosen to adopt her as part of the “Timberline Tribe” (Timberline is the street I live on)…I’m not saying that the kids are all accepting, and that I don’t cry when I see how many parties Caitlin isn’t invited to…but, for the most part, the mothers will let Caitlin play with their children. (Of course it helps that her big sister is the angel of the neigborhood!)
One more thing…I recently recieved a copy of the book “ACC and Me” from NODCC…it has done wonders to help Caitlin realize that she is indeed special, and just why that is. I’m hoping to incorporate the symbolism in the book to help her understand that she needs to take her time and choose her words before she acts out.
Thank you for your responses. It has been awhile since I posted and I am happy to say that Jackson seems to be growing up out of most of his tantrum like behavior. The medications are mostly the same, but we have switched from respitol to ambilify. The drooling the respitol caused was so significant, it was becoming an issue at school and out in public.
I think the biggest factor in Jackson’s mellowing is the 1-2-3 magic technique that we began using with him this past July. A friend who is a family therapist recomended it. I had many doubts that this technique would work, but the library had the videos, so it was free. When we tried the technique Jackson went to time out 16 times the first day. But I was still sane at the end of the day!!! Then on the second day, he only went to time out 6 times. By the time we left for Dallas, to go to the NODCC conference we were doing great and keeping calm each day. On vaccation (a total of 6 days away from home with several long car rides) Jackson had one major fit and had to go to time out only 3 times. We were amazed. The reason why I think this technique works is that it requires that the parent stay calm and quiet and simply count to three and then put the child in time out. After the time is done, you simply say “time out is all done” and don’t say any more. If you’re child is like mine, he or she may not get subtle. Mine wants to see me yell, stomp my feet, turn bright red and even wants me to remove him from the situation. With this technique, I don’t feed into his moods anymore and he has gotten much better at listening to directions and understanding that he is doing things wrong when he acts out. Now in public, if he is acting rotten, I just say - that’s one and he straigtens right up. Since school has started, Jackson has had two major fits. Not unlike any “normal” 6-year-old.
Crystal
Thats GREAT! I think maybe i will try to find it for cassidy i wonder if she would understand the consept though but i will try anything to help her.
I am a little late with the reply but I figured other parents may be able to read later. My son is 9 and has DCC. I put my son on medication which made the trantrums worse. For his sake and ours we took him off the medication after trying several of them and each one elevated the tantrums. We spoke to the doctor and took him off the medication. We also limited his transitions and with this combiantion his behavior improved alot. I noticed that he didn’t react well when doing several different things in a day or going on long outings. He now goes to school and comes straight home. When we do go out, we take him a bag of things that will keep his attention and if he is having a bad day we will skip it all together. I don’t know if his age helped too but I know that the combination of these things helped him a great deal.
My 3 1/2 yr. old Tanner is going though the same issues. He acts like he has 2 different personalities. One minute he is my sweet little boy and is funny and lovey, the next he is mean and he has a look in his eyes like I can not describe. Sometimes he has so much rage he can’t control it. He always seems to act up when he’s around his brother and sister. Maybe it could be just the 3 yr. old attitude but sometimes it is too hard to deal with. Last thur. he went full force at my mother with both fists and it kind of scared her. I think he is too young to try medication so hopefully he can grow out of it. He is still young. So I do understand what you all are talking about I just hope he doesn’t get worse.
Right now I am trying to potty train him, and he is very difficult. I really do think he is ready and he knows how to go in the potty, he just chooses to go in his pants. If there is any suggestions I need help.
hello this is my first time here my 8yr daughter (devlopmentally about 4) she has the same fits and behavoirs.We have tried alot of adhd meds they either help for awhile or knock her out . Any help or advice would be wonderful, also dont know much about what this could mean for her . Her school is having alot of trouble to . thank god she has a WONDERFUL school,and teachers ,assocs, that want to help her and not just push her thru the system!
I too just found this site and must say it's a huge relief. My son is 11 and was prenatally diagnosed with complete Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum. He is somewhat of a miracle in that he is definitely high functioning - But it was a long road to get to this point and we continue to struggle daily with decisions, instructions, truth and self esteem. Since he was a toddler he has been physical with his younger sister and other children. Throwing, tantrums, disorganization are all part of our life at one point or another during a typical week. But what I can share with you is that after four years in a (very expensive) private school, that recommended we spend several thousand dollars to see (their) a psychologist who diagnosed him with ADHD and put him on drugs, we are back on track. He is not using drugs - he has an IEP at our local public middle school and with a team effort of teachers, doctors, family, friends and a parents who are his greatest advocates - life is somewhat normal. Is he unruly at times, absoloutely. Is he different than other kids his age? I wouldn't have it any other way. But the love he has and the understanding of compassion is beyond anything I could imagine and many days he leaves brings me to tears. With lots of sleep, protein and "Propping Up" we are learning to grow one day at a time.
Jennifer