OrganizedChaos
New Member
It seems like forever since I posted here before. To remind everyone, I have an adopted son (had him since he was 3 days old) who is now 4 that is hearing impaired and his doctor had already said he was ADHD (which we agree with). Lots of behavioral problems and just some odd little quirks. For so long they told us it was all due to his lack of hearing, even though we knew it wasn't. He didn't sleep properly and ADHD medications did help, for the most part, but once they wore off or in the mornings times with him were ROUGH. And we couldn't take him anywhere without meltdowns, particularly when shopping, etc. I finally pushed enough that we got a referral to a psychologist/psychiatrist. The psychologist spent a lot of time just observing him and pointing out different things. We now have a diagnosis of Aspergers and ADHD. I've been asking about Autism since he was 2 but every doctor I brought it up to said no. Researching Aspergers further, I can definitely see it. A lot of it was subtle but it's there. There are definitely sensory issues as well. We're on a waiting list for a neuropsychologist at the university hospital where we live. So, I think there is more to come. This poor kid.
Meanwhile, his doctor FINALLY listened to me about his not sleeping (we're all exhausted, dammit! Listen!) and ordered a sleep study. Come to find out he's got Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He doesn't snore or appear to have other issues when sleeping, just wakes up a LOT, so it wasn't even a thought in my mind, honestly. They've recommended that he have his tonsils and adenoids removed. The reason I believe this is prudent to post here, is because lack of sleep at most can CAUSE a lot of these issues that he has and at least it will exacerbate what he already has going on. If your little one has trouble in the sleep department, a sleep study (it's just an overnight) might be worth checking into.
My thoughts are really all over with this. I feel like maybe we're getting somewhere and yet I've felt that way often over the last 2.5 years and every time we got smacked back because it wasn't "it". It's hard to be hopeful sometimes, I guess is the best way to put it. Especially when we still haven't found the right thing to reach him/help the really bad behaviors. And then we have a day like today where he was absolutely AWFUL (and, as an aside, yawning all day long with bags under his eyes) and I wonder how much more we can take of this. I've cried a lot. I'm angry. I'm heartbroken for this beautiful little boy because he's so bright and I know he could be amazing if we could find the right way. The psychiatrist gave us a new medication (Adderall) that didn't change anything over the way he acted on the previous medication (Vyvanse) and Vyvanse is easier to give to him because it's powder and we have HUGE issues over food to begin with and it's a fight EVERY DAY to give them to him. At least the Vyvanse we can hide in stuff. Then he said for anything further to see a neurologist or our primary. Well, thanks for all that in-depth knowledge that we came to you for. So we got ourselves aligned with the Autism support group of our area (I have my first meeting Tuesday night) and there's another foundation here that can help with kids like him so I'm calling them tomorrow. And waiting for the neuropsychologist so we can get to the bottom of the sensory issues. Above everything else, I'm so frustrated I could just scream. Over dealing with him and all these doctors and more and more things just piled on top of one another. I have an extremely unsupportive family but very supportive friends so thank goodness for them.
The psychiatrist kept going on and on about Bipolar but my son doesn't match the criteria aside from his little rages and those can be attributed to both Aspergers and ADHD - not to mention the lack of hearing and now the sleep problem. He just kept going on and on about it when I've read and his primary doctor has said that, at this age, he's too young to diagnose unless he just fit a ton of the categories and he fits none. So, we've moved on from them.
I also got the book the Explosive Child and am reading that. So that's our update for now. I hope to be able to be more active here than I have been; we recently just moved (my son has done great with the move! We came to the house several times before the actual move and talked about it and let him help us pack. It made the transition easier because he has a really rough time with transitions) and everything has been crazy! This board is an awesome support for people looking for help. If only because we all KNOW what everyone else is going through. Thank you for being here.
Meanwhile, his doctor FINALLY listened to me about his not sleeping (we're all exhausted, dammit! Listen!) and ordered a sleep study. Come to find out he's got Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He doesn't snore or appear to have other issues when sleeping, just wakes up a LOT, so it wasn't even a thought in my mind, honestly. They've recommended that he have his tonsils and adenoids removed. The reason I believe this is prudent to post here, is because lack of sleep at most can CAUSE a lot of these issues that he has and at least it will exacerbate what he already has going on. If your little one has trouble in the sleep department, a sleep study (it's just an overnight) might be worth checking into.
My thoughts are really all over with this. I feel like maybe we're getting somewhere and yet I've felt that way often over the last 2.5 years and every time we got smacked back because it wasn't "it". It's hard to be hopeful sometimes, I guess is the best way to put it. Especially when we still haven't found the right thing to reach him/help the really bad behaviors. And then we have a day like today where he was absolutely AWFUL (and, as an aside, yawning all day long with bags under his eyes) and I wonder how much more we can take of this. I've cried a lot. I'm angry. I'm heartbroken for this beautiful little boy because he's so bright and I know he could be amazing if we could find the right way. The psychiatrist gave us a new medication (Adderall) that didn't change anything over the way he acted on the previous medication (Vyvanse) and Vyvanse is easier to give to him because it's powder and we have HUGE issues over food to begin with and it's a fight EVERY DAY to give them to him. At least the Vyvanse we can hide in stuff. Then he said for anything further to see a neurologist or our primary. Well, thanks for all that in-depth knowledge that we came to you for. So we got ourselves aligned with the Autism support group of our area (I have my first meeting Tuesday night) and there's another foundation here that can help with kids like him so I'm calling them tomorrow. And waiting for the neuropsychologist so we can get to the bottom of the sensory issues. Above everything else, I'm so frustrated I could just scream. Over dealing with him and all these doctors and more and more things just piled on top of one another. I have an extremely unsupportive family but very supportive friends so thank goodness for them.
The psychiatrist kept going on and on about Bipolar but my son doesn't match the criteria aside from his little rages and those can be attributed to both Aspergers and ADHD - not to mention the lack of hearing and now the sleep problem. He just kept going on and on about it when I've read and his primary doctor has said that, at this age, he's too young to diagnose unless he just fit a ton of the categories and he fits none. So, we've moved on from them.
I also got the book the Explosive Child and am reading that. So that's our update for now. I hope to be able to be more active here than I have been; we recently just moved (my son has done great with the move! We came to the house several times before the actual move and talked about it and let him help us pack. It made the transition easier because he has a really rough time with transitions) and everything has been crazy! This board is an awesome support for people looking for help. If only because we all KNOW what everyone else is going through. Thank you for being here.