Howdy all! My name is Dave and I live in northeast Texas. I hope you don't mind but I kind of need to just vent a little.
My step son (I'm the only father he has ever known) is Bipolar, ADHD/ODD and a Special Education student. He is our only child. My wife and I have struggled for years trying to raise our difficult child (glad I found the abbreviations in the FAQ section!). Nothing worked and no matter how hard we tried, our efforts always resulted in disappointment, anger, and heartache.
A couple of months ago, my wife announced out of the blue she no longer loved me and moved out with our son (we are working on a reconciliation). The pressure of trying to raise an Bipolar/ADHD/ODD child and the resulting constant conflict got to be too much and she bolted...but it didn't solve anything and the kiddo ended up at the Behavioral Health Center for a week after the newness of life with Mom wore off.
I am a "fixer." If something is wrong, I fix it. If the first thing I try doesn't work, I try something else...and something else...until I have the problem solved. Guess what? Trying to solve ODD will make you crazy! Absolutely nothing we've tried has worked. He has been an inpatient 4 times for rage episodes and has been on all kinds of medications. The only time we have peace is when he is doing exactly what he wants to do. It is probably an overstatement but it feels like he loses it anytime he is told no.
I read a good book on positive discipline suggesteed to me by our family counselor that has opened my eyes to the fact that there is no way we are going to "control" him and that we have to let him develop his own set of tools for getting along in life.
Anyway, I am so thankful there are other people out there who know what it feels like. I look forward to learning from you folks!
Dave
My step son (I'm the only father he has ever known) is Bipolar, ADHD/ODD and a Special Education student. He is our only child. My wife and I have struggled for years trying to raise our difficult child (glad I found the abbreviations in the FAQ section!). Nothing worked and no matter how hard we tried, our efforts always resulted in disappointment, anger, and heartache.
A couple of months ago, my wife announced out of the blue she no longer loved me and moved out with our son (we are working on a reconciliation). The pressure of trying to raise an Bipolar/ADHD/ODD child and the resulting constant conflict got to be too much and she bolted...but it didn't solve anything and the kiddo ended up at the Behavioral Health Center for a week after the newness of life with Mom wore off.
I am a "fixer." If something is wrong, I fix it. If the first thing I try doesn't work, I try something else...and something else...until I have the problem solved. Guess what? Trying to solve ODD will make you crazy! Absolutely nothing we've tried has worked. He has been an inpatient 4 times for rage episodes and has been on all kinds of medications. The only time we have peace is when he is doing exactly what he wants to do. It is probably an overstatement but it feels like he loses it anytime he is told no.
I read a good book on positive discipline suggesteed to me by our family counselor that has opened my eyes to the fact that there is no way we are going to "control" him and that we have to let him develop his own set of tools for getting along in life.
Anyway, I am so thankful there are other people out there who know what it feels like. I look forward to learning from you folks!
Dave
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