JuneI have an 18yr old son (6.17), with SWCAH. When he was in the 4th grade, he was diagnosed with ADD/LD/EH. He did alright in school until he hit the high school.
While he was in jr. high, he received a lot of one on one, and made very good grades. He was also on ritalin. He quit taking the ritalin when he was 14. When he got to the high school, his whole life changed. He was now a labeled ESE student! I cannot begin to tell you all of the educational and emotional problems we have had over the past 4 yrs.
Our emotional problems have not ended! He is now considered an adult. I have more problems with him now than I could imagine. He takes his meds when he feels like it. I found out the other day that he had not taken meds for a week. He told me that is acne was going away and he wasn’t dead yet! I aquired the services of a therapist for him in May of this year, but this doesn’t seem to be helping him. He got into trouble the last 3 wks of school. Somebody didn’t like him, so decided to tell the resource officer that he had a knife in his car and he was afraid of him! (The knife was used to clear lots in his job. He would attend one class on campus, and then go right to his job). As a result of this, he was arrested and taken to jail. When I picked him up a few hours later, he was almost uncontrollable. We got home and I asked him to take some extra prednisone, which he did, and he literally came apart within 15 min. He cried, and told me that I didn’t know what he had gone through. To make this long story short, he is not in the JDD system; on probation and required counseling. He is not taking any of this well. His whole attitude has changed.
If he had not been classified an ESE student, and been mainstreamed through high school, I wonder if things would have turned out better for him. I also beleive that his SWCAH has a lot to do with his mental problems. I would love to have proof of this for the courts. His probation officer is going to send him to a detention for 5 days next month, so that he will know that they mean business. There are just so many issues, and I feel guilty that I didn’t delve further into this condition years ago. Am I too late to help him? I would love to have the answers.