difficult child has questions

[devira]

Hi all,

My 8yr old difficult child asked me if something is wrong with him today. It was an instant response to say no, but he told me I was lying to him, and that I promised I would never lie to him...

He has had a very difficult month, was almost admitted to the hospital so we can "fix" his medication situation in a safe environment. What do I tell him? I know he is scared.. he does not understand what is going on, and he is really trying to not lose control... but he still does then he feels really guilty cause he sees the things he did etc. He knows the other kids in school are talking about his past month even though he is better now Nd he just wants to understand...

 

[susiestar]

It is a tough thing to handle when your child asks about his diagnosis. I was always open with Wiz about it. Even from an early age. Plus he was in the psychiatrist's office when we discussed things.

One thing I did was explain that his brain was different. I told him that his brain had connectors and pathways for information to be handled. His pathways are not the same as many other peoples. He is "wired" differently. I actually used that phrase (someone here mentioned it in a post and it just clicked with me as to how my difficult child was different - I did NOT think up that on my own, LOL!)

I used aa computer analogy because he had been helping my dad replace the hard drive in my computer. I told him that while most people put the cd-rom into the first slot in the case, he had that in a different slot. He has all the same things as others, they just work a bit differently.

Maybe that will help you help him.

 

[BusynMember]

Hi there.

I also adopted a child who was drug exposed in utero. It does make a difference. Plus birthmother probably had some psychiatric problems too--perhaps your difficult child has more going on than ADHD.

I always told my son the truth, in increments as he got older, always saying his birthmother was "sick." But he knows the truth about her and that it could have given him his Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I believe in the truth.

My son is doing pretty well. Has yours ever had a neuropsychologist evaluation? in my opinion all drug exposed children need to have one to see where they are affected and how/if there is help or how they can compensate for deficits.

What kind of behavior do you see?