Asperger's & Bi-polar

[nadarm]

I thought I would give this a try. My son has been diagnosed with Asperger's when he was 5 years old. He is in the hospital again now with a dual diagnoses of Asperger's and Bi-polar. 1 in 10,000 chance of this happening, or so I am told.

I am looking for any services in Connecticut for him. In the perfect world the services for an 8 year old boy would include:

• would come into our home.
  
• Be his one on one.
  
• Assist my son with the neighborhood dynamics.
  
• Teach him social skills.
  
• Monitor him to make sure the medication is working properly. (i.e. Not too little.) A third party would be better than the parents since we are with him every day.
  
• Services can be paid via insurance.
  
• Anger management.
  
• Therapeutic type of program conducted within our home or outside of the home that does not conflict with his school. We have him in a therapeutic school presently.

If anyone has any ideas that I can follow up on, please provide as much information as possible.

Thanks

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

By federal law the school HAS to provide services to your child based on his special needs. But you are right - the world is not perfect. All I know is I have a neighbor kid who is autistic and is in a low income family. It is amazing the resources that have been offered to him through government programs.

[rn/writer, RN]

I strongly suggest that you do a thorough Google search on a variety of combinations of keywords. Asperger's and bipolar. Bipolar children. Asperger's and Connecticut. And so on.

I was going to copy some links into this post, but there were such an enormous number. It would probably be best for you to search out the ones that interest you the most.

I have an adopted son who came to us a very damaged 5-year-old. He had all kinds of diagnoses over the years including Asperger's and bipolar, oppositional defiant disorder and intermittent explosive rage disorder. We went back and forth on the whole lot. I do believe he has a very seasonal form of bipolar disorder. And in my research, I discovered that he fits the profile of non-verbal learning disorder (NLD) kids. That sounds like he would be non-verbal, but it's just the opposite.

NLD kids are highly verbal at a young age. They often teach themsleves to read. What they don't do well is anything that is NOT verbal in nature, such as reading social cues and interpreting what other people's expressions mean. There is some disagreement about whether Asperger's is a form of NLD or whether they are two distinct maladies with considerable overlap. All I know is that both NLD kids and Asperger's kids have problems with right-brain thinking that severely compromises their ability to make friends and get along in the world.

I would not be too quick to accept any diagnosis, nor would I reject it out of hand. Whenever possible, seek out second or even third opinions. Look up whatever you can. Study your son under varying conditions. Keep a diary. It's helpful to look back over an extended time and see patterns emerge.

Make sure you and your partner take time for yourselves and any other children you might have. Perspective can't be overrated.

Insist that the school do its part. Find web resources to help you evaluate his IEP and make changes if it is not specific enough or if it is not being followed.

Some of the Google sites deal with meds. Educate yourself about what's available and what kinds of side effects you might encounter. Pay close attention to the time it takes each med to reach a therapeutic level and any tests that need to be done to monitor things like liver and kidney function.

Talk to your son. Ask him to tell you what it feels like "in there." Help him to keep an audio tape journal that can correspond with your written record. It's amazing how things can jump out at you when you have the luxury of a little distance.

Contact universities and hospitals that may be engaged in research. See if your son might qualify for any studies or programs that address your concerns. This could help financially and allow you first crack at cutting edge developments. You might also be able to find grad students to hire for help with his care and training.

Keep looking, but also try to have a life. Seek balance. Try to enjoy your son for who he is right now as well as the person he might become. Listen to the things he says--often these kids tell us important information in a code that takes time to decipher.

I hope this gives you a bit of help. This road is not an easy one.