diagnosis confirmed, Rework IEP with???

[Loony Smurf]

So GFG14 was given a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorder with bipolar 2 by a pediatric neuropsychologist. his psychiatrist finally came back with schizoaffective disorder with mood lability and psychosis. A functioning score of 50. As for the type they didn't specify but he totally meets the disorganized type.

difficult child is to the point that his teacher who is extremely patient has lost her cool with him and just sends him to the office on a regular schedule. He has to be constantly supervised because he has no sense of boundaries at all. for rules, privacy, social expectations, anything. It's nearly impossible to get him to do any work. He constantly disrupts class, intrudes on others' conversations to the point the other kids in the ED room wanted him suspended every time he opened his mouth according to the teacher. In his social skills group with a cognitive behavioral therapist, she has gotten NOWHERE with him, and is pretty sure if she left the room (mind you these are mostly kids with autism spectrum disorders) they would probably strangle him. He is extremely disorganized, his comments and interruptions are usually off on a tangent.

His IEP to this point was based on a diagnosis of ADD and bipolar with a writing disability secondary. But considering how much he's deteriorated this year, I feel it needs reworked. Especially considering he's going from the junior high to the senior high which is much bigger, louder, far more crowded, more chaotic. I can see this next year being a total disaster. I've talked with his case manager at the high school about amending his IEP, and having his new teachers in on it so they know what to expect with him and aren't surprised. I worry that they've put him in a couple of regular ed classes including welding!?! NO!!! don't let that kid play with fire...are you KIDDING? I feel he needs a one on one aide at all times. Left alone for 2 minutes he takes, breaks, messes with something, wanders off, something. and no I'm not exaggerating. I can't let him wait outside on our front steps for 2 minutes waiting for the bus unsupervised or he may break the railing or pull a stair apart, knock rocks into the street with a stick...who knows

I worry also that considering how astoundingly obnoxious and rude and disrespectful everyone finds him, they'll get sick of him and start the same cycle of suspending him for everything. Plain and simple though he just doesn't understand what he's doing isn't ok, and can't internalize lessons from it. It's just who he is. *sigh* He's never been able to, but it's gotten worse the last 6 months. He's on a new atyp andipsychotic that we're hoping will help curb some things, but he's just never going to act like a remotely normal 15 yr old.

So any suggestions how I go about getting an IEP that will actually be helpful and getting the teachers to understand what is going on with him?

 

[BusynMember]

Your son has a very serious, debilitating mental illness. It's not ADHD. It's schizophrenia.

If this were my child, I would want him in a special setting, even a special school, that understands childhood schizophrenia. I'd say driving people away is the least of his problems right now. He needs to stabilize tot he best of his ability and have a low stress school environment. I mean,t his is all what I'd be thinking if this were my son. I wouldn't even bother with this school. I'd be calling the Dept. of Public Education to see what they offer for children with his serious diagnosis. He may learn better at home and they may have to provide it. Under no circumstances should he stay in a school that thinks of him as "bad" and does not understand schizophrenia and psychosis. He could hurt himself or somebody else very badly if he thinks something happened that really didn't due to his thought disorder and I'd be all about keeping him safe and getting him as stable as possible.

I'm so sorry about this and hope he can find excellent treatment. School would be a backburner issue if this were me and it would be all about finding help for the illness. I was in a psychiatric hospital for ten weeks once and saw schizophrenic and schozoaffective people actually do really well on their medications and they were behaving quite rationally and socially acceptable by the time they left. It does take the right medication combination and compliance, which many don't do because of their illness. But they are not necessarily never going to be able to function. They just need time to get the treatment right. I am guessing the other kids may be teasing him or jawing off at him or making fun of him and this is so cruel to somebody who has his sort of mental illness.

Big hugs for your hurting mommy heart.

 

[Loony Smurf]

Thanks MWM. Unfortunately there are no other schooling options here. The only exception is a school for behavioral problem kids that have for instance been expelled from regular schools for violence or drug use etc. The only other possible option besides home schooling (I could NOT do that! tried with my easy child...not cut out for it lol) would be a therapeutic group home or something. I'm in a pretty small town. The facilities and training and experience pool here for a child with this kind of diagnosis is extremely small. To top it off, I haven't been able to find another job since he got me fired from my last one...put that on an application and i dont even get called. UGH! Hubby has a better chance of getting work and he's not even a legal resident yet. So for now funding anything is out of the question. Unless medicaid or the school district (School district has terminated nearly ALL paras because they are so beyond broke) is going to pay for it, I dont see many options.

 

[BusynMember]

Maybe you can get financial help from your county mental health department. I actually would probably like a therapeutic group home for a child with that sort of diagnosis so that his teachers and caregivers understood why he is having troubles and know how to handle it.

I did not mean you home school him. Of course you can't. I was thinking of the school district being forced to send teachers to your house so he can learn at home. It's usually a few hours in the morning. He is unlikely to be able to do anything in a crowd of kids. The poor kid is schizoaffective and may hallucinate. I would personally want him to have little external pressure until he is doing better. Have you tried area advocates who also have very high needs children and know how to get things done in school?

Good luck to you.

 

[Loony Smurf]

I haven't tried an advocate, I'm not even sure where to find one. I know the diagnosis ere is rare enough that our one pediatrician neuropsychologist and the most esperienced psychiatrist here had to do some digging to figure out what all his stuff meant...and apparently it's the first the pediatrician neuropsychologist has diagnosed, and the psychiatrist with 40 years experience hasnt seen it in a kid his age in over a decade. he had to look up how to treat when seroqel caused a problem. So apparently kids with this issue in this town....he's it. Ugh.

I don't know if he would even do anything for a teacher coming here. I get less out of him usually than school does....the avolition in the disorganized type? that's TOTALLY him. Superslow...and a standstill are his two speeds. he also has Dysgraphia which makes writing something he outright refuses to do. and his spelling is bad enough that spell check on the computer is pretty clueless lol. *sigh* poor kid. Heck of a hand he has been dealt.