 Joshua is an intelligent, active seven-year-old child. He does grade level academic tasks in many subjects, but repeated Kindergarten because of his violent behavior and refusal to test. We are very happy that he has been somewhat behaving like a "normal" boy over the past year. In the not distant enough past though Joshua was a different boy.
Joshua's natural father and I separated shortly before the military sent me overseas (July 96). During the short time I was in Korea, (it was supposed to be 12 months) Joshua was abused (documented)by an uncle and neglected (suspected, but not officially proven) by his father . Ever since I returned from Korea (May 97) and took the children back, his father has behaved like the typical "dead-beat dad" - breaking
many promises to visit, etc.
Joshua reacts very poorly to any stress or change (even good change) in his life and during these times his behavior showed it. We noticed that before a particularly difficult time Joshua will get this aura or glassy-eyed look. We could see a haunted look in his eyes or he would subtly starts withdrawing into himself. During this time he destroyed a lot around the house in unprovoked fits of rage, got
up in the middle of the night doing dangerous things like shredding his sisters stuffed animals, and continually beat up his daycare workers and fellows classmates. He even sent two daycare workers to the Emergency Room, one with a mild concussion, the other with bites and a black eye. And yet there were those times when he could be perfectly "normal" and even extremely charming.... Sad to say though I was ready to put him in the hospital temporarily (June 98). He had gotten to the dangerous point of needing to be hospitalized for fear that he would accidentally harm himself or intentionally hurt others.
All the typical ADHD drugs (ritalin, clonidine, adderall, etc) and a couple other drugs (Risperidol and I forget the others)had been tried during this time-frame. The effects were "paradoxical": sometimes they worked, mostly they didn't. When they did work, it wasn't for very long. We opted for one last desperate measure before hospitalization.
He was prescribed 75 mg of Pamelor, a very strong anti-depressant. The risks were great, since Pamelor was in the experimental stages for kids. The fear of losing Joshua to an "accident" was even greater. Thank God, the Pamelor worked. He was on the Pamelor for 4-5 months, when we tried to ween him from all drugs. Although the Pamelor worked wonders, Joshua started suffering mild hallucinations and tremors.
After the depression was treated, we had to put Joshua back on Ritalin. After a lot of patience and discipline, Joshua has returned to behavior expected from an active little boy. This improvement continues and for the most part Joshua behaves like a typical child his age. Occasionally his ODD behavior resurfaces, but we (this includes family, friends and his teachers) are handling these situations just fine. The episodes are now non-violent, somewhat predictable, and with great patience can be diffused quickly.
All the medical tests (blood, urine, heart and brain) performed on Joshua say he is physically a normal child. The psychiatrists label him as ADHD and ODD. They say he may also be Bi-Polar. He was even evaluated for Schizophrenia and Psychomotor Seizures - both disproven. When the therapist discharged us from therapy he warned that Joshua may start through another rough spell when his teenage hormones
start in a few years. I refuse to worry though, I am too busy loving him and watching him grow. |
Joshua's Page 
