I really feel for you. I have a 5 1/2 year old w/ADHD plus social/emotional delays (actually, I've heard three different things -- possibly ODD, mood disorder NOS and social/emotional delays. The last one makes the most sense, and he takes Risperdal and fish oil, and the Risperdal could validate the second.). My son has been aggressive with other kids in the past, but nearly as much now. The thing is, once you have someone else's children in your charge and he hurts those children, you are opening yourself up to loss of business and liability. So he really must be separated from those other kids. IMHO, that has to be the first step to protect him, you and the other children. You also will need to keep that kitten away from him until things calm down. ADHD in itself is hard enough -- once your child starts putting his hand on others, it's a whole different ball game.
The other thing is that it sounds like the medication is not the right kind. Stimulants don't work if your child has a high level of anxiety, which could be what is going on here. The dr's appt. is a good time to discuss how the medication is not working and to see what else can be done. Does he see a therapist? I would explore whether he needs play therapy, behavioral therapy or a combination.
Good luck.
Could your son be jealous of the kids you take care of? It was a thought, I would be talking to a child psychologist or psychiatrist for help. I wish you the best.Okie. Ogram asked some really good questions, but I want to clarify something. Social delays doesn't mean hitting or hurting other kids. My son is on the ASD spectrum and is socially clueless. He would never hurt another child and hasn't since age three. You have to sort of figure more is going on than social immaturity. Even most two year olds don't hurt other kids. Perhaps he needs an evaluation--they have complete evaluations at Childrens and University hospitals. I like NeuroPsychs, especially for socially delayed children. They do a lot of performance testing that points to various disorders and, imo, can come closer to the real diagnosis than professionals who simply listen to you, nod, pull a dx. out of the air, and come up with meds or a behaviorl plan. A behavioral plan CAN hold a child back, if there is an underlying disorder that needs treating. The disorder should be treated before the behavior mod or the child will probably/possibly be unable to succeed. Kind of like doing it backwards to do behavioral stuff without knowing why the child can't behave. If you have substance abuse or mood problems on either side of the family tree, he could have early onset bipolar. If he is socially clueless, had any speech delays, and doesn't seem to "get it" he could have autistsic spectrum disorder, high functioning. Both mimic and even include ADHD behaviors, but stims can make either/or worse (ASD sometimes get better with stims,b ut you still need other interventions for the max results). I wish you a ton of luck.I don't know what to do with my adhd child anymore. Today he whipped a sippi cup at one of the kids i babysit for and hit his chin. My son is 8. I expect that behavior from a younger child not my 8 year old. He doesn't listen to me or my partner i work with. He won't leave his hands to himself. I swear i am gonna tie his hands together while i am at work so he can't hurt anybody anymore. I don't know what to do. He doesn't listen or follow directions. He tunes me out. I get so fustrated with him. Tonight he was brushing his teeth and had the cat on the bathroom counter. We just got a kitten. And he won't leave the poor thing a lone. And he will not listen to me or my boyfriend. His dad and me have been divorced for 5 years. And I don't get any help from him, Exept that he takes him on weekends when he can. And is it wrong of me to be glad i do get that brake. Since i have this child way more then his father. People have told me that he will grow out of this. I don't think so because i have had a problem since he was 18 months old. My throat hurts so much from yelling at Dylan. I give him a few chances to listen. But i always end up yelling at him to finally get through to him.And he is on 72mgs of concerta and 15mgs of facolin. We see the doctor Sept 20th. When he gets home from school, it is bad. He won't leave his hands to himself. He hurts the kids. I am so tired of the kids coming up to me and saying Dylan did this and Dylan did this. Any advice you guys have would be great.ok, let's get detailed...i'm going to give you a list of questions, you don't have to answer any or all, just some food for thought for us to help you a bit more and having some more info will aid us in that. This in NO way is an attack or a "pick apart". it's just some things that people might need to know in order to help you, help your son...
how many dr's has he been to what kind of drs were they what were each drs dx what kind of meds has he been on (all and which ones at the same time would be helpful) has there been any dramatic changes in his life (personal, school, family, friends or other) What do his teachers say does he have 504 or a detailed IEP who is the heavy disciplinary in your home how do you punish/discipline him (listing all will help) how old was he when it started is there any particular time his behavior is worse have you had a complete blood work upI hope you can answer at least some of these so people here might be able to point you in the right direction. My heart goes out to you!
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