michelenicole
New Member
Not sure if this is the correct place to post an introduction of sorts, or more like reintroduction as I posted here a few times last year, but stopped because I wasn't sure if I "ethical", for lack of a better term, in discussing my step-children, so if I'm out of line, please feel free to move me to the appropriate place on the forum 
My name is Michele. I'm almost 29 years old. Married to Steven for almost 2 years. I have one biological son (G), who is 6, that has ADHD. His ADHD is not really the cause of behavior problems, mostly he has problems with hyperactivity (at home, not at school) and trouble concentrating on schoolwork, so he's on 10mg of Adderall, which seems to be helping quite a bit. I'm also the stepmother to B, who is 4, and T, who is 5. Both B and T have been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, which they see an Occupational Therapist (OT) twice a week to help with that. B is generally a great kid, very loving and kind most of the time, but has severe developmental delays (we're working on him seeing a specialist to see if there are any other problems besides sensory processing disorder (SPD), but, with Medicaid, that's taking awhile). T is where most of my frustration lies. He has been diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD, and ODD in addition to the sensory processing disorder (SPD). He's currently on a 56mg dosage of Concerta and .5mg dosage of Risperdone/Risperdal twice a day.
Now, a little back story on T and B before I get into T's frustrating problems. A week and a half before I married Steven, he got a call from his ex-wife saying social services were removing the kids from her home, and he had to pick them up. She was found to have been locking the kids in a bedroom and leaving them there, claiming that she was keeping them from escaping the apartment as she slept. But she was also found to be leaving the kids locked in the room, while she visited neighbor's apartments.
So, needless to say, we've had to deal with a whole slew of problems resulting from that ordeal...including custody and child support and the kids knowing that they can open the bedroom door when it is shut. But, almost two years later, some of that is starting to work itself out, finally.
Now...to T's problems. About a year ago, we had to admit him into a mental health hospital for children because he tried stabbing a teacher at his preschool with a pair of scissors and threatened to bring a gun to preschool and kill them all. After he was discharged, we were introduced to several resources, a psychiatrist and a therapy program focused around educating the entire family. The psychiatrist has been playing around with medications for almost that entire year while T has gotten kicked out of one child care facility and continues to have problems in kindergarten with violent outbursts, what we like to call "meltdowns." When he first started the Risperdone in October, he turned into a completely different child, smiling, laughing, loving, wasn't arguing constantly...he actually seem happy and was pleasant to be around. Fast forward to now...he's arguing, refusing to do things in the classroom which causes a "meltdown" when he's forced to take notice of his bad behavior, trying to be the center of attention, picking fights with the other two kids, everything that he was doing before his Risperdone started working...
Now, I have no idea what to do with him. Punishments do not work. Rewards do not work. Nothing besides that medication works, when it was working. I don't think his doctor wants to increase the dosage any more and talked about completely taking him off the medication this summer to see if that stopped his bed-wetting (he still wets the bed EVERY night, even with using the bathroom right before bed and no drinks after dinner; but I know that can be a common issue with sensory processing disorder (SPD) kiddos). I've read books. I've done everything I can to do try understand more about these problems, only to have nothing work. Basically, I guess, I'm just looking for a place to vent and, I think, I can probably offer some help to other parents, too.
So, that's my introduction
If you have any suggestions for me, I'm all about it 
My name is Michele. I'm almost 29 years old. Married to Steven for almost 2 years. I have one biological son (G), who is 6, that has ADHD. His ADHD is not really the cause of behavior problems, mostly he has problems with hyperactivity (at home, not at school) and trouble concentrating on schoolwork, so he's on 10mg of Adderall, which seems to be helping quite a bit. I'm also the stepmother to B, who is 4, and T, who is 5. Both B and T have been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, which they see an Occupational Therapist (OT) twice a week to help with that. B is generally a great kid, very loving and kind most of the time, but has severe developmental delays (we're working on him seeing a specialist to see if there are any other problems besides sensory processing disorder (SPD), but, with Medicaid, that's taking awhile). T is where most of my frustration lies. He has been diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD, and ODD in addition to the sensory processing disorder (SPD). He's currently on a 56mg dosage of Concerta and .5mg dosage of Risperdone/Risperdal twice a day.
Now, a little back story on T and B before I get into T's frustrating problems. A week and a half before I married Steven, he got a call from his ex-wife saying social services were removing the kids from her home, and he had to pick them up. She was found to have been locking the kids in a bedroom and leaving them there, claiming that she was keeping them from escaping the apartment as she slept. But she was also found to be leaving the kids locked in the room, while she visited neighbor's apartments.
So, needless to say, we've had to deal with a whole slew of problems resulting from that ordeal...including custody and child support and the kids knowing that they can open the bedroom door when it is shut. But, almost two years later, some of that is starting to work itself out, finally.
Now...to T's problems. About a year ago, we had to admit him into a mental health hospital for children because he tried stabbing a teacher at his preschool with a pair of scissors and threatened to bring a gun to preschool and kill them all. After he was discharged, we were introduced to several resources, a psychiatrist and a therapy program focused around educating the entire family. The psychiatrist has been playing around with medications for almost that entire year while T has gotten kicked out of one child care facility and continues to have problems in kindergarten with violent outbursts, what we like to call "meltdowns." When he first started the Risperdone in October, he turned into a completely different child, smiling, laughing, loving, wasn't arguing constantly...he actually seem happy and was pleasant to be around. Fast forward to now...he's arguing, refusing to do things in the classroom which causes a "meltdown" when he's forced to take notice of his bad behavior, trying to be the center of attention, picking fights with the other two kids, everything that he was doing before his Risperdone started working...
Now, I have no idea what to do with him. Punishments do not work. Rewards do not work. Nothing besides that medication works, when it was working. I don't think his doctor wants to increase the dosage any more and talked about completely taking him off the medication this summer to see if that stopped his bed-wetting (he still wets the bed EVERY night, even with using the bathroom right before bed and no drinks after dinner; but I know that can be a common issue with sensory processing disorder (SPD) kiddos). I've read books. I've done everything I can to do try understand more about these problems, only to have nothing work. Basically, I guess, I'm just looking for a place to vent and, I think, I can probably offer some help to other parents, too.
So, that's my introduction