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Failure to Thrive
Highly gifted teen son - inpatient, outpatient, dropped out of school
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<blockquote data-quote="ConcernedMom777" data-source="post: 719131" data-attributes="member: 22271"><p>Hello, all. Here because I'm not sure where to go next. Have read lots of good advice in other threads and hoping for some for my situation. </p><p></p><p>My son is about to turn 16. He's highly gifted (there are 5 levels of giftedness and he's between 4 and 5) and shows obvious signs of anxiety and depression. However, he thinks this is just who he is and though he will attend therapy appointments, he doesn't think anything will help because nothing needs to change. </p><p></p><p>These are some of the things he thinks or does that we hope he can improve:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Isn't motivated and says he'll live on the streets and be homeless if he has to</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Won't attend school because being in a classroom for that long makes him anxious</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Doesn't have friends and spends most time in his room</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Completed drivers ed but has no interest in driving</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Says that we are all just atoms bouncing around and that life is meaningless</li> </ul><p>Things he will do because we've asked:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Take junior college classes (don't have to be graduated from high school to do that)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Attend therapy sessions (though therapists keep telling us they can't help somebody who doesn't think they need to change)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">General hygiene - he's very good about showering, brushing teeth, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cook - he's been learning to cook new things</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Work on his programming business - he's been programming since third grade and says that's what he wants to do as his job so he spends his days working on various technical skills</li> </ul><p>Treatment options we've tried:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After he had several panic attacks, he participated in a 6 week outpatient program at a mental hospital. He never missed a day but I'm not sure it helped either.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After attending 1 week at a private school for accelerated kids (and it seemed he had a great week), he stopped speaking or attending school. I took him to an inpatient hospital where he stayed for a week. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Anxiety therapist who won't see him anymore because he doesn't think anything is wrong. She recommended a long-term residential stay for him to help him hit "rock bottom" and want to change.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Neurofeedback - he's currently doing this but this therapist again told us "I can't help somebody who doesn't want to change."</li> </ul><p>So that's where we are now. I believe that his slow processing speed (something that showed up on his IQ test) makes it hard for him to converse so social situations give him anxiety and he's learned to avoid them, and then depression is kind of a side effect perhaps of not being social or knowing how to express himself. </p><p></p><p>Toggling between 1.) throwing all options at him to see if anything sticks and 2.) giving up because I'm tired and want to wait for him to want to change. Any thoughts on where we go from here?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ConcernedMom777, post: 719131, member: 22271"] Hello, all. Here because I'm not sure where to go next. Have read lots of good advice in other threads and hoping for some for my situation. My son is about to turn 16. He's highly gifted (there are 5 levels of giftedness and he's between 4 and 5) and shows obvious signs of anxiety and depression. However, he thinks this is just who he is and though he will attend therapy appointments, he doesn't think anything will help because nothing needs to change. These are some of the things he thinks or does that we hope he can improve: [LIST] [*]Isn't motivated and says he'll live on the streets and be homeless if he has to [*]Won't attend school because being in a classroom for that long makes him anxious [*]Doesn't have friends and spends most time in his room [*]Completed drivers ed but has no interest in driving [*]Says that we are all just atoms bouncing around and that life is meaningless [/LIST] Things he will do because we've asked: [LIST] [*]Take junior college classes (don't have to be graduated from high school to do that) [*]Attend therapy sessions (though therapists keep telling us they can't help somebody who doesn't think they need to change) [*]General hygiene - he's very good about showering, brushing teeth, etc. [*]Cook - he's been learning to cook new things [*]Work on his programming business - he's been programming since third grade and says that's what he wants to do as his job so he spends his days working on various technical skills [/LIST] Treatment options we've tried: [LIST] [*]After he had several panic attacks, he participated in a 6 week outpatient program at a mental hospital. He never missed a day but I'm not sure it helped either. [*]After attending 1 week at a private school for accelerated kids (and it seemed he had a great week), he stopped speaking or attending school. I took him to an inpatient hospital where he stayed for a week. [*]Anxiety therapist who won't see him anymore because he doesn't think anything is wrong. She recommended a long-term residential stay for him to help him hit "rock bottom" and want to change. [*]Neurofeedback - he's currently doing this but this therapist again told us "I can't help somebody who doesn't want to change." [/LIST] So that's where we are now. I believe that his slow processing speed (something that showed up on his IQ test) makes it hard for him to converse so social situations give him anxiety and he's learned to avoid them, and then depression is kind of a side effect perhaps of not being social or knowing how to express himself. Toggling between 1.) throwing all options at him to see if anything sticks and 2.) giving up because I'm tired and want to wait for him to want to change. Any thoughts on where we go from here? [/QUOTE]
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Highly gifted teen son - inpatient, outpatient, dropped out of school
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