ADHD

[cherpear]

Now, my 8 y/o with my  'forever' husband who should not be so geneticaly affected is showing many problems.  My husbands father does suffer from mental illness and jokes that my 8 y/o gets it from him.
He has many ADHD symptoms.  Pedicatrician mentioned Aspergers.  The Dr. doesn't even know about his sisters diagnosis.  
He tried him on Ritalin LA. He had a big improvement in the first month.  Second month not as much of an improvement.  Dr. questioned it being a a 'bad batch' of pills, but it is too expensive toget a bad batch so then we tried genericritalin and his heart beat out of his chest.  Now we are on our second day of Strattera.
He has been very emotional lately.  Will not go to school.  Misses me.  Will the Straterra make it worse?  What is the connection between my children?  What did I do?  We will try counceling again.  But no one will acknowledge the links and explain them to me.  

[cherpear]

Thanks for your reply.  I don't know if you had read the prior post I wrote.  It is under the same forum, however it is titled ADHD.  This post was a conclusion to that, just didn't know how to do it.  Bascialy, I have 4 kids (21-8y/o) with same and different issues.  Anyway, it does help to see that I am not alone.  We do have a  counceling appt. scheduled for Monday.  Allergy tests for Tuesday, and blood sugar and thyroid for Friday.  I want to clear him of any medical problems.  I am just concerned about starting counceling with someone new.  She knows no history.  It's is the starting over thing.  However there is a phsychiatrist available.  I will check with a ped neuro., too.  My oldest daughter sees one for her tourettes.  My second daughter went through the TEACH agency (austism research/help center) sponsored by UNC.    I am going to do all I can again for my youngest.
Thanks for your time.
Anyway.  Thanks for your time.

[Myrna Libby, Ph.D., BCBA]

You have a very complicated situation.  When the pediatrician mentioned Asperger's did he also recommend finding behavioral services to help?  Or were you given advise on where to find support and services for children with this diagnosis?  I would immediatlehy have him evaluated by a team including a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neurologist to confirm/rule-out diagnosis.  I would also contact my school system for information on possible school supports; and I would see if I could get any help from my school system's guidance department.  It also sounds like you could use some support so I would certainly see if any of these agencies can provide you with support.  And I would think about genetic counseling to help you evaluate the possibility of genetic links.  I personally do not have the professional expertise to do that.  I can also recommend that you check out the BCBA website and consider the services of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst if you needs further assistance with your son's behavior.