a short summary of my difficult child

[fionamay41]

Still new to the boards, so stick with me. Someone asked me about my darling difficult child ,where do i start!!! From the age of 2 he has been different/difficult to manage. The nursey school (kindergarten) kindly requested i didn't bring him back due to his aggressive behaviour. Once into infant school i spent most of my time pleading with the school the allow him another chance, whilst dealing with irate parents of the children he had hurt. This aggressive behaviour continued with constant visits to the school ,assessments by educational psychologists, and counselling from the mental health team. We have had a diagnosis of adha which was later changed to austic spectrum disorder and now they (the health professionals) are thinking it is conduct disorder, currently waiting for further assessments for this. In the meantime the family continue to tip toe round difficult child for fear of an outburst. He has smashed the house up numerous times broken windows damaged others belonging, caused the sad demise of 3 pet hamsters, caused the cat the leave home due to cruelty more recently stabbed his brother resulting in a hospital visit for numerous stitches, attacked his siter physically causing nasty bruising, verbally abusive to nearly all adults ,fears no one .
so thats a very short summary of my difficult child, that said he does make me smile and laugh and i wouldn't be without him (well maybe for the couple of weeks so i could recharge my batteries!!!)

 

[daralex]

Hi Fiona,
We are not able to diagnose and I am certainly no expert, but sounds like maybe Conduct Disorder? Have you had difficult child evaluated? Sounds like if you knew what you are dealing with it may be easier to figure out what would work best as far as "treatment"
-Dara

 

[smallworld]

Both ODD and CD rarely stand alone but rather are symptoms of an underlying disorder. If your difficult child has Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), it doesn't go away; it's a forever diagnosis, although interventions and sometimes medications can help the child learn to manage in society. I'm not familiar with the UK health system, but what kind of professionals will be doing the upcoming assessment? It is very important to nail down the diagnosis as accurately as possible at this point because the right interventions can make all the difference in the world.

 

[susiestar]

I am not sure what the mental health situation is like in the UK. What do the professionals recommend you DO besides just take the injured child to the Urgent Care or Hospital? Can you have him taken to a psychiatric hospital and held if he is dangerous to you or your other children?

I agree finding the correct problem is important, and that this probably is NOT going to go away. BUT the rest of the family CANNOT be endangered by this child. Not going to have them grow up properly, or have YOU and your husband be healthy in any way.

Hope you can find a way to get help. Sending lotsa HUGS!

Susie

 

[fionamay41]

thanks for the replies ,it would appear the health system over here is slightly different. Initial assessment are usually started with referrals from family doctors or schools you then go on the waiting list to see whichever specialist your child specifically requires (the waiting list is up to 6 months) doctors here appear to be reluctant to prescribed medications (the medications used have a lot of bad press) in the meantime you battle on with your difficult child and just learn to accept the naughty child/bad parent scenario from others around you. good old british stiff upper lip no nonsense approrach, many still live in the dark ages where children should be seen and not heard, well not my difficult child he here he's loud and i'm proud of him (well sometimes i am) as for hospitals or units for difficult child to go to when he has caused violent upheavel in the house they just don't exist again huge waiting lists or a huge price tag plus these units are usually full of young offenders because we don't have correct placement for them either. hey ho thats the uk for you