drugging my child

Kids are so much more flexible and resilient than we think. Turn creepy into cool by educating the other kids. "Charlie has a challenge in his brain, and, when he gets stressed out, there's just no telling what's going to come out of his mouth. He might say words we don't think are polite, or he might sound mean. He can't help it, so he won't get punished for it. Immature little kids might make fun of him, but we don't have any immature little kids in here."

My son has OCD, and as you probably know, falls under the same umbrella of anxiety disorders. His issues started at 5 and he was diagnosed at six. We have chosen not to medicate, but there were many periods where we teafully, and angrily debated it. Ultimately, we sided with the research that cognitive. behavioral therapy could "reshape" the brain. We were told that his brain needed to literally get tired of an obsession, like a well loved song gets played out. We were told that in order for the brain to make changes ("rewiring") that the anxiety had to be experienced at a level of 7 or more, on a scale of 1-10. This way, when my son experiences the extreme anxiety, but doesn't engage in a ritual to reduce the anxiety (easier said then done), his brain gradually adapts to the feeling and he sees that he can "survive", despite feeling like he's "dying". While woefully trying at times, at least OCD makes him an excellent student!

Anyway, because of my son's condition, I've met moms of kids with Tourette's. One of these kids was in my son's class and the kids never knew about his Tourette's. Granted, some of the kids would tell "Seth" to "quit it" when he had a throat clearing tic, but when it was explained that he couldn't help it, the kids no longer bothered about it.

I think that if you bring in some books about Tourette's and explain to the class, the kids will understand and be accepting. I think that if you try to hid the condition, then kids get the message that it's something to hide and can then want to distance themselves from it (and your son).

My son's eating issues, had him on 5 Pediasure drinks a day. But, one kid in 1st grade, told my son that Pediasure was a "baby drink" (boy, did I want to clobber that kid!). But, my son explained that "Pediasure has inositol in it and it helps with my OCD". He went on to explain what OCD was and the kids understood. My son still felt embarrassed, of course, but each moment like this is a teaching moment, and now at age 8, he's just about the most confident kid around! He definitely knows more about brain functioning! LOL.

He often wishes that he didn't have so many worries, but I try to point out all the ways that his analytical mind is helpful to him. And, I have a strong feeling that if he ever has a mid life crisis, that he'll embrace the therapist's office instead of hiding from it the way most men do and his wife will thank me!

My point is that, whether or not, you need to medicate (and that's a decision for you and his doctor), I think that kids will be far more accepting and understanding than you realize. Get it out in the open for your son and he'll be better able to cope with the challenges. Sometimes, it just takes 1 or 2 kids who will throw their arm around your son's shoulder and tell he that he's okay, to make all the difference for him. My son would be one of them. There are other kids in school, dealing with issues too. Your son isn't as alone in this as you may think.

Just my opinion but I would not drug my child to make it easier on everybody else. I think it would be a great idea to go to his class and explain your child's condition. I think people make fun of things they don't understand, so help them to understand. When I was little I had seizures. My parents went to school and explained everything. I'm not going to say I wasn't teased, but it stopped the majority of it. Take the mystery out of your son's condition and kids will move on to something else.

I know what you mean
My daughter is pdd-nos and her dr advised against medications,(which I am thankful for) she is in special ed,and mainstreamed into a regular class,and is doing very well,the kids are told that these children (who are in smials spec ed) have disabilities which make them different,and they need their help so the "normal" I hate that term,but gets the point across, kids can accpet the differences,and have an opportunity to make a difference and help someone else,I also think that the teachers know of the kids in those classes,so when it comes to room assignments they put the better students in those classes so they know they will be able to help and not be mean. I agree with optimist that it is between you and your childs dr on using the drugs,but finding books that talk about your child's disability on the grade/age level your child is in,it will help make the point with the other children teaching them tolerance. Let's face it,our community as a whole could certainly learn to have a higher tolerance,which now starts with our children.

I hope this helps,good luck

I would tend to agree that I would do this only as a last resort. I would be afraid that if I began medicating him, it would make him feel that there was something wrong with him, when really, it's just one of those things (my personal belief is that everyone has something about them that makes them "odd", you just never learn about most people's because it's not as visible). Unless of course, the medicine produced results that were a noticable improvement to him, and he could feel in control, as much as his age allows, of his treatment.

When my sister was in kindergarten, there was a girl with cerebral palsy. She was in a wheelchair and used a "talker" to talk, so it was a pretty severe developmental disability. My sister and the other little kids thought her talker was really cool, and my sister would talk about this girl favorably all the time.

You said that stress affects your son...so why keep his condition a secret? If the other kids know about it, it's going to make them react less when he does tick, and I'm betting that would decrease his stress level, thus reducing ticks. Like a positive feedback loop.

Also, I only ever knew 1 guy with Tourettes (well, so far in my life), and his was very mild, brought on mainly when he was stressed or tired, and he would mainly blink a lot. This was in college, so no one really cared at all, to us it was no big deal. But my question is, is your son seeing a specialist for this? Are there specialists for this? Maybe there are newer medications that wouldn't turn him into a zombie and help him more. I don't know, but it might be something to look into.