My child is 5 and has Down's Syndrome. She has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD(OppositionalDefiantDi...

Question:

She currently takes Focalin and Risperdal for her current diagnoses. She has always been quite a bit to handle. I will explain. When something isn't right, she pitches a fit, wont talk to anybody, throws herself around. Most of the time I let her pitch the fit. She causes quite a scene in public, but for the most part I really don't care about the fits. But at home, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells with her. Her language is at an 18month old level. Her cognitive is at a 3 year old level. She understands quite a bit. It's her way or no way. Usually she ends up pitching a fit. Someone mentioned to me Asperger's Syndrome. I'm not 100% sure about that either. She is a picky eater, she has to drink PediaSure and takes vitamins daily so that she can get the necessary calories each day. I am at my wit's end with her. Her older sister has Down's Syndrome, too, and is diagnosed with ADD. Her older sister was molested at the age of 5 (when younger sister was only 1-2). Serious responses only

Answers:
First of all, my heart goes out to you! I have some questions though. What is the purpose of the meds? Are they prescribed to make her more manageable? If so you should probably discuss with the doctor that prescribed them the issues you are still having to tackle with your daughter. One thing I can mention from experience (my daughter has autism) is that they have fits more often than not because of the lack of speech development. It's extremely frustrating for them not to be able to verbally communicate as you can well guess. My daughter is three and she has language at about the 18month level as well. It's improving and I attribute that, though, to speech therapy, and me learning sign language to ease the communication barrier between us. Regardless of the developmental disabilities labels that are branded on our children to distinguish them from the "normal" kids, our children are very bright in many different ways and they often display that in a subtle manner. Your daughter sounds like mine in many ways you just described her, all except the medication. Her developmental peditrician wanted to put her on meds but I objected. She was two at the time and I wanted to give the therapies a chance. I don't know how necessary it is for your child to take those medicines, I don't even know what they are for, but I'm sure you wouldn't have her taking them if they didn't hold a crucial role for your baby's well being altogether. I have a cousin that is Down Syndrome and he is very independent. He's in his thirties. He takes the bus to and from work, he used to work at a popular fast food restaurant but he left the job a couple of months ago because of the summer season. He said he didn't wanna be inside working during the summer. He is very opinionated and is very much in the "loop" connected to society. My baby I believe has given a new definition to "picky eater". We have an appointment with a nutritionist soon so I hope something good comes out of that.Oh! I forgot to add my baby was also diagnosed with hyperactivity and certain foods trigger her not so model behavior. I hope I was somewhat helpful, if you wanna talk you can definitely e-mail me. Good Luck! I forgot to mention ABA(behavior therapy) is necessary as well.

omg, you need to talk to a child behavior therapist! ASAP

My child is 5 and has Down's Syndrome. She has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD(OppositionalDefiantDi...

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