Long story made short... my neighbor is a behavior specialist within our school district, most recently having worked in daughter's elementary school. I spoke with- her at length about Sam & his behavior issues, and gave her copies of all the material I have (evaluations, IEP, parent write-up). She highly recommended a pediatrician. psychiatrist that she has worked with (some of her students have seen this Dr.), but commented it might take a while to get in to see him.
God had really been looking out for us -- I called the Dr.'s office on Monday & they were actually able to get us in this Wed. (today).
In the past couple of weeks Sam has started some alarming behaviors -- running away from the house, playing with knives (cutting a pencil, threatening to cut someone's arm in the middle of a meltdown). With these behaviors, I was so excited to get in to see the Dr.
I liked his manner -- he didn't speak down to Sam & asked Sam a number of direct questions. The Dr. isn't a warm, fuzzy kind of guy, but not a cold fish either. According to my neighbor, the Dr. is a fervent believer in The Explosive Child, and is more interested in dealing with the behaviors than attaching a diagnosis/label to a child.
At the end of the session he said Sam does indeed show signs of ODD, but said he thinks Sam's actions are more likely rooted deeply within him as depression or anxiety. I've never seen signs of depression in Sam -- and he doesn't usually act anxious, but there have been times when I've seen him anxious. Does that make sense?
Dr. prescribed Zoloft and Risperdal... .25 mg once a day for 2 weeks of the Risperdal, followed by .25 twice a day after the 2 weeks. Zoloft will be 10 mg once a day for 2 weeks, bumped up to 20 mg once a day after that.
husband and I have discussed medication before... it's not our 1st choice, but if it can help Sam to a point where the Collaborative Problem Solving could actually be used, and where we can help him learn the skills he needs to manage his anger/frustration better, we thought it would be worth it.
Now that I actually have the prescriptions, I'm nervous about starting them... Does that seem weird?
Maybe it's because I've heard more horror stories about medication in kids than success stories. My neighbor (who has worked with kids like Sam, and kids with even bigger problems) is a strong proponent of medication -- she says it gets the kids on an even playing field, allowing them to focus on the skills they need to manage their behaviors.
Guess I'm just looking for some support that this is the right thing to do (although I'm not sure what else we can try at this point other than medication)... I know it's our decision, but it would be nice to hear that the same decision has worked for others...
Julie
God had really been looking out for us -- I called the Dr.'s office on Monday & they were actually able to get us in this Wed. (today).
In the past couple of weeks Sam has started some alarming behaviors -- running away from the house, playing with knives (cutting a pencil, threatening to cut someone's arm in the middle of a meltdown). With these behaviors, I was so excited to get in to see the Dr.
I liked his manner -- he didn't speak down to Sam & asked Sam a number of direct questions. The Dr. isn't a warm, fuzzy kind of guy, but not a cold fish either. According to my neighbor, the Dr. is a fervent believer in The Explosive Child, and is more interested in dealing with the behaviors than attaching a diagnosis/label to a child.
At the end of the session he said Sam does indeed show signs of ODD, but said he thinks Sam's actions are more likely rooted deeply within him as depression or anxiety. I've never seen signs of depression in Sam -- and he doesn't usually act anxious, but there have been times when I've seen him anxious. Does that make sense?
Dr. prescribed Zoloft and Risperdal... .25 mg once a day for 2 weeks of the Risperdal, followed by .25 twice a day after the 2 weeks. Zoloft will be 10 mg once a day for 2 weeks, bumped up to 20 mg once a day after that.
husband and I have discussed medication before... it's not our 1st choice, but if it can help Sam to a point where the Collaborative Problem Solving could actually be used, and where we can help him learn the skills he needs to manage his anger/frustration better, we thought it would be worth it.
Now that I actually have the prescriptions, I'm nervous about starting them... Does that seem weird?
Maybe it's because I've heard more horror stories about medication in kids than success stories. My neighbor (who has worked with kids like Sam, and kids with even bigger problems) is a strong proponent of medication -- she says it gets the kids on an even playing field, allowing them to focus on the skills they need to manage their behaviors.
Guess I'm just looking for some support that this is the right thing to do (although I'm not sure what else we can try at this point other than medication)... I know it's our decision, but it would be nice to hear that the same decision has worked for others...
Julie