I realize I'm asking a lot here :blushing: but there is a chance we won't be able to get into the public charter home school that we want so I need a back up plan. I need a very low cost curriculum though due to budget. DD15 is going into 10th grade. She LOVES history and literature and really struggles in math. (Just to give you an idea). Any thoughts on what we could piece together? Thanks so much!!

I understand how you're feeling right now because I'm in a similar boat. I think it's important to remember that no one knows your children better than YOU do. Even family members who "think" they know the situation, do not fully grasp the whole picture. You are responsible for these children, not your aunt and not anyone else (except your DH ;) ). You will make the best decision for YOUR family and while it may not always make sense to outsiders, you need to stay focused on your instinct of what works and what doesn't. (hope that makes sense). I am feeling especially rattled right now (about our decision to continue homeschooling) and I need to take my own advice ;) :grouphug:

:thumbup::hurray::D Congrats!!!! That is HUGE and a reason to celebrate!!!

We saw a neurologist last year that wanted to start Boo on Lamictal but his psychiatrist (at the time) thought it was premature. Actually her reason for wanting to try it was his suspected Autism (since then, he was given the FASD dx along with PDD-nos, mood disorder-nos, ADHD, GAD, and others). I've never noticed a great improvement with ANY meds we've tried but we've never tried a mood stabilizer and that may make all the difference. I'm not opposed to meds at all....I want him to feel better and not feel so out of control :( (we had a family meeting the other night because he had just finished a rage and told us that he wanted some ideas on how to calm down :( ) talk about heart breaking! We've gone over different strategies with him, but when he's in a "rage" state of mind, NOTHING works. I'll read the article you sent me and bring it up with his Dr. next week when we go back. It's frustrating too because this new psychiatrist we are seeing, has told me "well maybe he needs behavioral therapy"...even though I've told him traditional behavioral mod does NOT work for him :( Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to a brick wall with these Dr's :( Thanks again and I welcome all of your advice/suggestions :)

Thank you for the suggestion :) It may work since he does like to be in tents and "forts". It makes him feel safer, I think :) Also, my other children are older so this probably wouldn't interfere with them ...it actually may help them concentrate more if Boo (that's my youngest) was occupied. We are pretty sure Boo is bipolar as well. He's been diagnosed with a mood disorder-nos but the dr's have been suspicious of Bipolar too. His birthmother was on three different antidepressants in between using and drinking so yes, she was self medicating :( We have seen one of the greatest pediatric psychiatrists in our area but had to stop seeing him due to insurance issues :( While seeing him, we tried several different meds including Risperdal (he was on it for a year). It honestly didn't do much except cause him to produce too much prolactin so we had to take him off of it. The Clonidine seems to help some...but not enough. We had tried a few different stimulants (while he was on the Risperdal) but it only made things worse. His rages and irritability grew in intensity. His psychiatrist explained it as the stimulants help them to concentrate but they are indiscriminate with WHAT they help them concentrate on....so for Boo, they helped him obsess over things that were making him angry ...it made it much harder to redirect him because he was hyperfocused. (if that makes sense). Boo is so complicated because like you said, he inherited his birth mother's mental illness AND has brain damage from his birth mother's addictions. He has seen many specialists and has even gone through a special program (a 12 week intensive therapy program including tons of evaluations and interventions). Unfortunately, the school district didn't take any of the program's recommendations and so once again we are on our own...but I think homeschooling him has been such a better option for us than public school. His anxiety has decreased tremendously since he's been home and that in and of itself is huge! Thanks again for your help, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. :) ETA: Boo still sees a psychiatrist but it's not the one we would prefer him to see.

Thanks so much :) He actually is on meds but the ADHD meds were the kiss of death for him so we decided to treat his rage instead. He's on Clonidine and Seroquel right now. He also takes Carlson's fish oil (I made sure he's getting 1000 mg of EPA after your suggestions from another thread :) ) I'm currently looking into other supplements to try as the Seroquel doesn't seem to do much except help him sleep at night (he only takes it at night before bed). Thank you for the other curriculum suggestions! I'm going to go check them out right now!

I was hoping to get some input on curriculum choices (or publishers) for my SN kiddos. My youngest has FASD (he's 6). To give you an idea of his needs/challenges, he has an EXTREMELY (cannot emphasize that enough) hard time focusing/complying/behaving. He also is EXTREMELY learning impaired. He still does not know all of his letters/sounds but he does know 15 (this was huge and took us all last year to accomplish). His behavior and attention (or lack thereof) is the biggest issue. We'll be using a public charter school (we get to pick the curriculum from an approved vendor list and can choose the type of "method" we want to use for teaching) He will be getting speech and OT services as well but I'd like to find something multi-sensory for language arts/phonics/math. We're using the free trial of Headsprout right now and he's somewhat into it...but loses his focus after a few minutes. We have the Leap Frog video (alphabet factory) and it holds his attention for a few as well. I'd like to find something we can use that has super short lessons and is geared towards children who have ADHD and learning impairments. I'd also like to incorporate a character building curriculum into our day too. I know this is a tall order but if anything comes to mind, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks so much!!!!

Sending you one huge cyber hug! My youngest *may* be bipolar. He is on the FAS spectrum. I understand about rages/tantrums/etc. Have you read "The Explosive Child" by Dr. Ross Greene? Or Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control by Heather Forbes? Both are excellent and have become my "bible" for our youngest. Just want you to know I understand :)

Hi :) I'm pretty new here too but not new to parenting an adopted child. Do you mind if I ask you if he was prenatally exposed to alcohol or other substances? My ds6 has extreme learning challenges as well as severe behavioral challenges. It took us 4 years to diagnose him as being on the FAS spectrum. You may be dealing with the same. Even if you don't know for certain that bio mom drank/did drugs, it is still worth looking into. I would also recommend Beyond Consequences Logic and Control by Heather Forbes. It is an excellent book and has dramatically changed our view of parenting him. Feel free to pm me if you want to talk more :) Good luck!!

I'm new but I'll chime in :) My ds6 has FASD but we (his Dr. included) think it's highly possible/probably that he has bipolar or schizophrenia too. There are Psychiatrists who will diagnose it in a younger child but you have to find one who is willing to do so. In the meantime, you can check out this link: http://www.bpkids.org/ It's the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation. There is a ton of great info there. Also, have you read The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene? It's not specific to bp but it's super helpful in dealing with children who are for lack of a better word "explosive". Hope that helps some :)

I wound up buying Twin Labs Norwegian emulsified CLO. It only had 650 mg of EPA but the other ones were too expensive :( Boo and I tried some just a bit ago and we both almost tossed our cookies ;) I think I'll get the Carlson's lemon flavor as I remember it being a cleaner taste. This one was very "creamy" and oh my had a bad aftertaste! I also wanted to ask if anyone has any good suggestions for a good multi vitamin to add to the Carlson's? I'd like to support all of Boo's nutritional needs if possible...but we are on a tight budget :(

YES!!!!! So glad I'm not alone here :) (((hugs)))

I'm going to look at the Carlson's and the Omega Brites. Thank you....I also heard that choline is supposed to be helpful but I'm not sure on dosage.

Thank you all for the great suggestions! I've been giving him these: http://www.amazon.com/Lil-Critters-Omega-3-Gummy-Fish/dp/B001KYRUQ2 I was thinking of doing the Carlson's for kids liquid though. I'll check out the other links too. I hear many of you say that your children have to do x to get y. This is usually non effective for us. Boo just flat out refuses to do "school". Even if I give him incentives, he still refuses. He is extremely oppositional but super active so it's important to keep him engaged in activities constantly or he will become destructive. It's not always horrible and he does have pockets of time where he cooperates. I think what I'm slowly trying to do is get him into a routine where he can expect the activities to be consistent. Routine is key for him (any child with FASD). I have given him lots of free play time and haven't tried to really implement any sort of solid structure. Thank you all again for the great suggestions. I'm loving all the input!!! :)

Thank you for the suggestions :) I hadn't heard of those books you mentioned so I will definitely check those out for suggestions as well. Boo LOVES science experiments. He loves making slime/goo/playdoh, etc. I know Michaels has some Science kits so maybe I need to purchase a few of those. I liked your suggestion of having him draw while I read to him. Part of his problem is opposition to anything I suggest if it's not HIS idea. He wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it and that is something that we struggle with daily. Thanks again, I really appreciate the suggestions :) Thank you soooo much for the great info!!! I will go read all the links right now. Not many people know much about FASD and how it affects every aspect of a child's life. I totally agree with your suggestion of not putting the cart before the horse. It's so true. I cannot delve into the academics (wholeheartedly) until Boo can learn to sit and absorb. Off to read the links! Thank you both for all your help!

Hi, I'm new (although I recognize some of you here ;) ). I am having difficulties finding a type of curriculum for my youngest son. I have always taken a relaxed approach to him because of his unique challenges. He has a list of acronyms as far as dx. His greatest challenge is his inability to self regulate. He has severe learning challenges and although he is six, he still cannot recognize all of his letters. He won't sit still for school. He doesn't like any sort of formal curriculum. He frustrates easily so that just makes teaching him all the harder. The type of curriculum he needs is simple, concrete (no abstract), preferably with a Christian tone (but I can always supplement). (I realize the last two contradict each other some). He also needs multi sensory learning. He is a sensory seeker and likes to jump! I checked out Headsprout and we will try a few more lessons before I decide to take the plunge. I am conflicted because it reminds me a lot of Starfall and he can't stay focused for that. One of the problems is that he likes the excitement of the animation but if it goes too slow, he loses interest. If it goes too fast, he doesn't absorb. (hopefully that makes sense). I set some goals for this month and one of them is to teach him to sit still for 5 minutes. I'm just having a hard time implementing that. We started doing a lapbook last week on seeds. It was tiring for me because he didn't want to cut/paste anything. He liked the painting and drawing aspect of it...so we shared the jobs. I was thinking of doing lapbooks with him for phonics...but I don't even know how that will go over. After reading through all of my explaining/venting, I'm hoping someone will have some suggestions :) Thanks for listening!