Hi from a Newbie!

[Guest guest]

Hello! I am a newbie not only to your group but to the whole world

of Autism. I have been reading through many of the posts just to

kinda make sure I was in the right " place " so to speak and so many of

the posts that I have read are very familiar.

My son is 5 years old and behaved " typically " until he started pre-K

last year. He seemed to have some behavior related issues during the

school year but I justified them by believing that maybe he was just

a bit too spoiled since he stayed home with me until this point. He

was corrected accordingly and we saw some improvement at first.

Toward the end of the school year, his behavior had become so defiant

that every day when I would return to pick him, he would be on

the " time out couch " .....every single day. For some reason, I

felt " sorry " for him, I felt like he was misunderstood and started to

just let him stay home from pre-K...#1-it became a major BATTLE just

to get him there every day and #2-I figured if he spent the majority

of his time on that couch, what was he really gaining from being

there anyway. I guess I would later learn that this was a mistake.

Then mainstream Kindergarten came. The first week was ok--no major

problems. From the very first day of the second week of school, he

has not been able to attend a full day. It seems his entire goal

from the moment he arrives at school is to get back home and he does

whatever he can to accomplish that. He was " suspended " from school

pending a psychological evaluation because his aggression toward his

teachers, the principal, and other students was considered a threat

to others. Since this second week of school, we have been to a total

of 3 psychiatrists, attend counseling (behavior and family) 3 times a

week, attend SLT once a week, OT for fine motor skills once a week,

OT for sensory processing twice a week, attend feeding programs,

parent counseling, doctor after doctor after doctor, and to this day

(almost four months later) his behavior has only improved a fraction,

if at all. Eventually he was " diagnosed " with a form of Autism

called PDD, sensory processing disorder, expressive language

disorder, and ADHD. We have also been referred to Emory for genetic

testing.

In turn, we were then put on the roller coaster of medications. He

was intially on Methylphenidate 10mg, one at 7 a.m. and one at 2

p.m., then they changed his schedule to 10mg, one at 7 a.m., 5mg at

12 noon, and 5mg at 3 p.m. Then it was changed to 10mg, one at 7

a.m., one at 12 noon, and one at 3 p.m. Well, we saw his doctor two

days ago because he was " kicked " out of school for chasing the

teacher with scissors, throwing chairs at the principal and then

telling everyone he wished they would die. She discontinued the

Methylphenidate completely and began him on a medication called Tenex

1mg BID. She explained to me that this medication was primarily used

to treat high blood pressure but could also be used to calm down ADHD

children. She said I should be aware that it could lower his blood

pressure and I should keep a close watch on him. WTF?

I am totally at a loss and quickly reaching " looney bin " status. I

have spent so many hours, no days, searching and reading for an

explanation, a way to help or cope or really anything to help me

understand. He does not act even remotely like this at home. Until

school began, the biggest issue we ever had with him was that he

would consistently interrupt and resort to extreme attention getting

behavior while in public places. In fact, that was the only problem

he has ever had. He was a very happy baby but, it seems like now he

is never happy and if he is-it does not last long before

something " explodes " .

I am terribly sorry for the novel...Ü. But, I am very grateful to

have found your group and I look forward to getting to know you guys.

Dee Ann