I also have a child, 6 year old daughter, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, ODD and Anxiety disorder. Her behavior though is the opposite. She is fine at school but can be uncontrollable at home. I feel like I am walking on eggshells around her for fear of setting her off. As long as she feels she is in control she is ok but if you try to control her, ie. tell her to brush her teeth or go to bed, she might explode. We did recently find that she is allergic to wheat, dairy and soy and when we took her off of those things her behavior improved an amazing amount. She is also sensitive to food coloring and sugar. She is currently on Adderall XR for her ADHD, the only disorder I believe she actually has. I think you should definitely get a second opinion from another doctor. A developmental pediatrician should be able to give you some info. I tried a psychiatrist for my daughter but I found that we were looking at months or maybe years before she would be of much help because how much is a child that age going to talk to a stranger. Just remember, this is your baby, you have the final say in what happens with him. If his behavior is fine at home keep him there.
Talk to someone! get support for yourself in dealing with this. If he does have ANY of these disorders you don't need to face it alone.
Jody7
At the end of your post, are you asking for homeschooling help? Go to "sahomeschool *******" for some info on getting started and support in your area. I agree with you that if he can behave at home without medication then homeschooling might be an option at least for a while. It does sound like he is over medicated and likely over diagnosed. If you do some research and talk to other parents and think you can handle homeschooling, then I say go for it. It doesn't sound like you have anything to lose by trying it, and there is a lot to gain if it works out. Many schools & school systems have a "one size fits all" attitude about teaching and behavior management. Of course the reality is that traditional approaches just don't work with certain children. I hope you get this figured out soon for your son and whole family's sake.
My wife takes her 6 year old son to a Therapist and she has questions ADD and ADHD and all that because he acts up when in school. However the Therapist told us that if he is able to be at home and act correct, or if when he is around me he doesnt act a fool, yet it is different than at school, then it isnt ADD or ADHD.
The Therapist told us that kids with ADD or ADHD cant control when and when they want to have outburst and their outburst arent situational as to when they are at home and when they are at school sinec ADHD is uncontrolable for kids.
I would seriously reconsider if your child really has those disorders or if the doctors are just pushing meds on you. That is becoming somewhat of a norm nowdays with doctors diagnosing children quickly and giving meds out.
Im not saying your son does not have these disorders, but you may want to seriously consider getting a Therapist or Psychologist's opinion. And try not to let the school recommend one of their "therapists", choose one that you wish to go to and get an answer from them. It may take some months before the Therapist can pinpoint the issues though.
How are the discipline standards at home? How are they at school? Are they different? This can cause alot of issues if the school is drastically different from home.
Kate, if you are getting acceptable behavior with no meds, I completely agree that there is something very, very wrong with all these meds and diagnoses.
Have you considered home schooling?