About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Learning RX: Brain Training for Learning Disabilities

We have just started this new therapy for Caroline because we were desperate for help following two concussions and trying to deal with her poor working memory, long term memory, and processing speed that were resulting in failing grades at school.  This is amazing.  Please check out what they do at www.learningrx.com.  It isn't cheap, but when you are desperate, you will do whatever it takes to help your child succeed in school instead of them dropping out, right?  A kid who doesn't graduate from high school is a kid with a dim future.   Most psych ed testing done through psychologists will tell you what is wrong with your kid but not specifics on how to help them.  This program offers real help to retrain their brain and work on their weak areas to bring them up to speed.  This isn't tutoring like Sylvan but therapy.  Most insurance won't cover it at this point but we are now looking into getting Social Security benefits for Caroline which would cover this cost.
Posted by at

1 comment:

CC said...

Thank you so much for this info. My bp teen daughter struggles in school. We finally established a late start time due to so many meds causing sleepiness and her erratic sleep patterns. I printed off some sample IEPs for bp kids from the Papolos' and one from the juvenile bp foundation and gave them to my daughter's sped teacher. Most special education teachers aren't trained in bp and need some guidance creating and modifying IEPs. I also got her exempt from the attendance policy. Many times she wants to quit school (which at 17 she legally can), but each day she goes and does work is a mini victory.

November 28, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)