Well, I think we had a pretty good Thanksgiving weekend. We went to the in-law's for Thanksgiving, then my parents' the day after (after shopping of course), and then Saturday was pretty good too. Most of our Christmas shopping is complete, just a few odd gifts here and there.
The main thing on Saturday was spent taking Harrison to his appointment with his new Psychologist. It was very interesting. Since the last appointment we had with her, we had filled out a questionnaire, as well as his two school teachers. We went over the results, and found out some things that weren't surprising really.
Here's the jist of it. Because of the types of things that were noticed or written on the surveys, she very strongly thinks that Harrison is bipolar. She also told us that a very high percentage of people who are bipolar have ADHD, but not all people with ADHD are bipolar.
So, now we need to still meet with her, and also go and have him evaluated by a psychiatrist to see if he really is bipolar, and then what type of medication he should be on.
Also based on the evaluation, she told us he definitely needed to be on a behavior modification plan at school, and that if the behavior modification plan was not effective then he would qualify for special ed. She told us that people always think of special ed as developmentally delayed, but there are 17 other reasons a person could need special ed.
The nice thing about Harrison's psychologist is that she was a school counselor in our state for 20 years before she became a psychologist so she knows all the state laws and what the school is required by law to provide for us. Kind of overwhelming, but if it is what Harrison needs, then that is what needs to be done.
The plus side is once he has his evaluation done, and possibly gets put on medication, it may solve the behavior problem part. So, here's to hoping.
2 comments:
Wow. I was diagnosed in 2004 with Bi-Polar. But I don't have ADHD. I saw two psychiatrists, and they both diagnosed me the same. I was on medication for 2 years, until I got pregnant with Kanyon, because you can't take it when you're pregnant. And I haven't taken any since--thankfully, I'm more stable now and I know what triggers me, and I know what helps me. A lot of people get diagnosed with Bi-Polar late in their teens and early twenties. I don't actually know any children with diagnosed bi-polar. How lucky for your son to have such loving, supportive parents who are seeking help for him!
I have no idea what this diagnosis means for you, but I am sure it can't be easy. I wish you the best of luck getting all the help you need for your child.
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