Hello all,
This is my first time posting and I'm glad I've found this site. My son is 8 and was diagnosed almost a year ago with ADHD and ODD. We started therapy with a female therapist, but he didn't trust her and refused to cooperate. I had to literally drag him into his last visit and of course that was the last time. He has a male school counselor that he is seeing now who is helping with his issues at school (staying on task, paying attention, respecting his teachers) and the plan we (the therapist, school counselor and I) came up with is to work on him building a trusting therapeutic relationship with someone in hopes of him being less resistant to a new therapist. We hope that we can start with a new therapist soon.
My son has an explosive temper and very low frustration tolerance. Since he has been a toddler, he can lose himself in a spiraling rage over something as simple as tying his shoes. He is now on Adderall XR and Tenex and the rages have been less intense, less frequent and last 1-2 hours instead of 6-8 hours. My heart is broken because he wants to do better and completely understands his behavior is unacceptable but we can't figure out how to control it. Over the last few months I've seen his self-esteem plummet and I believe he's developing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (obsessed with eating utensils being clean).
I feel like I've tried everything and keep hitting walls. Conflicting information has me spinning in every direction. More discipline, less discipline and more rewards, use humor, I can't figure out what works!!! And the criticism I get from everyone doesn't help either.
I'm in the Greater Los Angeles area and starting to think I need to research a day program or some kind of intensive treatment. I'm a single mom with a loving family but it seems like no one really understands what it's like or what I should do. I'm a non-working student as well so my finances are extremely limited and his insurance doesn't seem to be taking us very far.
Not sure what kind of advice I'm looking for at this point, I just want him to be a happy kid. When he's great, he's really GREAT. I love this child more than anything and I just want to help him.
Thanks
This is my first time posting and I'm glad I've found this site. My son is 8 and was diagnosed almost a year ago with ADHD and ODD. We started therapy with a female therapist, but he didn't trust her and refused to cooperate. I had to literally drag him into his last visit and of course that was the last time. He has a male school counselor that he is seeing now who is helping with his issues at school (staying on task, paying attention, respecting his teachers) and the plan we (the therapist, school counselor and I) came up with is to work on him building a trusting therapeutic relationship with someone in hopes of him being less resistant to a new therapist. We hope that we can start with a new therapist soon.
My son has an explosive temper and very low frustration tolerance. Since he has been a toddler, he can lose himself in a spiraling rage over something as simple as tying his shoes. He is now on Adderall XR and Tenex and the rages have been less intense, less frequent and last 1-2 hours instead of 6-8 hours. My heart is broken because he wants to do better and completely understands his behavior is unacceptable but we can't figure out how to control it. Over the last few months I've seen his self-esteem plummet and I believe he's developing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (obsessed with eating utensils being clean).
I feel like I've tried everything and keep hitting walls. Conflicting information has me spinning in every direction. More discipline, less discipline and more rewards, use humor, I can't figure out what works!!! And the criticism I get from everyone doesn't help either.
I'm in the Greater Los Angeles area and starting to think I need to research a day program or some kind of intensive treatment. I'm a single mom with a loving family but it seems like no one really understands what it's like or what I should do. I'm a non-working student as well so my finances are extremely limited and his insurance doesn't seem to be taking us very far.
Not sure what kind of advice I'm looking for at this point, I just want him to be a happy kid. When he's great, he's really GREAT. I love this child more than anything and I just want to help him.
Thanks