Please advice needed on possible medications for little dude!?

lovelyboy

Member
Hi all!
Please could you give me a reality check on this situation!
I posted before about little dude having bad Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) and Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) stuff....Well some things are getting better, but some not....Unfortunatly it's behaviour stuff thats getting worse at school.
He is 4 and a halve yrs old...in grade 00 and will be repeating it next yr becaue he is not coping overall!

Ok....last week he was becoming more and more oppositional in class....could be plenty of reasons, but got so bad that he bumped his friends head on the floor!!!! He said this child wanted to put snot on him! Both went to principal....but none really seemed to understand what for!

Ok....today they had their first Birthday ring in class! When I went to fetch him, he was overstimulated, moaning, tearfull, aggitated and kind of upset! The teacher looked exausted!

She said that he couldn't behave at all!!! That she dont know what to do in future, that she is considering taking him to another teachers class for the period of the B/rings and he can come back to join in eating the cupcakes!!!!!

I am worried that he will feel excluded for not being able to sit still and listen! I can imagine how upset the teacher must have been with him....!!!!

Now: The p.doctor wanted to put him on Risperdal when I took him for an assessment a while ago....I thought he is to young.....She said I must let her know when I am ready to try it!

Me and hubby are considering this step now! The thing that worries me is, that Risperdal is an anti psychotic adult medications....Never been tested on little children! I feel so horrible to put such strong chemicals in such a young developing brain! Do I rather wait for Occupational Therapist (OT) and ST to improve stuff maybe....or what!
 

Ktllc

New Member
V is not medicated but doctor have wanted to try medications before (repeatidly actually). husband and I did not feel comfortable with it so we took the wait and see approach. All the while doing his therapies of course. The Occupational Therapist (OT) recommanded against medications saying it would only add to the mix and make things even more difficult to analyze. What she said made sense to us and V has stayed medications free and probably will.
At the school meeting I just had, they asked if he was on medications for his anxiety. My response was that he is not on medications because we'd rather work on the cause of the anxiety. medications would only be a band-aid. If we keep the overstimulation as low as possible through accomodations, then his anxiety is very well controlled. Te adults in his life have to be very vigilant. It is a lot of work but it also teaches V how to cope. Both teacher and principal seemed to accept my answer. And of course, the school is not legally allowed to comment on medications...
I am not telling you what to do, just sharing what we have done for V. I feel at peace with our decision.
You need to find an answer YOU can live with, wether it involves medications or not.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
So sorry it got that bad, LovelyBoy.
I would do two things. One would be to perhaps place difficult child on a small dose of Adderal (not regular Ritalin; there's a difference). You will know within a few hrs to a cpl of days whether it works. The other is to make sure that he is slowly introduced to loud, crazy situations, including a thorough explanation of what is about to occur. For ex., "Today we are going to have a Birthday ring. That means that all kids who have a birthday get to sit ... where ever ... and everyone sings to them and dances (or whatever). And it can be loud and fun. Are you ready for some noise?"
I have no idea what a birthday ring is but at any rate, difficult child needs to be warned, in a nice way, that it will be loud and there will be other kids there and that he needs to just step out, or signal the teacher if he is overwhelmed. They can create a signal between them.
Also, if a kid were going to smear snot on me, I'd smash his head into the floor, too! lol!
You can sit down with-him when he's calm and ask him to come up with-other ways to deal with-a kid like that, because this will certainly not be the last time.

I have no clue as to why someone would put a 4-yr-old on a mood stabilizer unless he's lighting cats on fire or something.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
P.S. My son was moaning and rocking once when we had dinner at a jungle themed restaurant that had moving gorillas and birds and thunder and lightning. We had to take him out into the hallway. We never went back there again.
 

lovelyboy

Member
Terry...LOL....I am also not sure what on earth happens at a birthday ring.....All I know is that the teacher told every parent that each child will have a b/day ring.....We can attend and we only need to bring a cupcake for each child! I think they sit in a circle and sing to the one having the b.day....That a big fuss is made of that specific child and so on.
It doesnt even help to prepair my son to the amount of stimuli....he wont be able to tollerate it! He is struggling with normal ring time when they discuss things or read a story! During this time he needs to wear his weighted vest and sit a bit further to the back so he wont bother other kids by fidgiting, rocking, exct!
He used to pull his shirt over his arms and head and hide inside it! They made him a little time out table....they threw a big cloth over a small table where he could go and sit if he feels overwhelmed! They even need to dim the lights during the day to lessen the light for his eyes!
It wont help to really sit down and discuss alternatives....we could try, but because of his very poor auditory processing and lack of communicationskills, he wont be able to understand or express himself....I started to teach him to say no and show with his hand and say stop.....when things get to much!
Regarding the medications.....if you google it Risperdal is common to use in kids with low thresh hold, who easily gets irritated and frustrated....some even uses it to treat ADHD.....So targetting 2 things at once! It's more to regulate emotions! But he just seems so little!!!!!
Teacher did email me back and said we need to have a chat on Thursday....that she might have some ideas how to handle the situation! I really hope so, because I am sure my son is not the first and only child who they ever had who couldnt sit still!!!!! And I am not willing for him to feel " not good enough" to be excluded from the others during fun times!
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Risperidone has been found to be useful in helping "regulate" kids on the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) spectrum... seems to slow down that internal motor a bit, makes it easier to cope. They do not know why it works. I know it's used on pre-teen and teenaged kids, but haven't specifically been around younger ones.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
It has been used in very young children. If you look on the Easy Child board you will see other kids that have been on it. They have very low doses that they start them on.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I'm glad that the teacher emailed you. Sounds like she had time to cool off and think it over. Let us know what you decide on the medications. :)
 

lovelyboy

Member
Thanx for your help!
Terry....she only emailed me because I send her a very honest email regarding the fact that we wouldn't want him to be excluded and I asked her how she handled the situation before and how does other classes deal with it! :)
But yes....still....I am glad she sounds cooperative! :)
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Oh, well, it's better than nothing. :) I'm glad she uses email. I've attended too many parent-teacher mtngs where they all tell us to email them and then they never respond.
 
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