He takes meds...risperdal, adderall xr, strattera, and something to help him sleep. He's been on meds for years.

Tough love is good, for typical kids who "get it". Shawn does not understand the cause/effect stuff. He is so highly impulsive, it will make him dangerous in years to come. If not sooner. I sound like I'm defending but I'm not. I just don't recall what I've said and haven't said. LOL You kind of get lost in the shuffle.

For instance, he had his CD player stolen today at school. He has been told that he can only use it to soothe himself on the spec ed bus that picks him up. But he has been resistant to giving it up the remainder of the day (he's included in a few regular ed classes) and he wants to be like the other kids, who really aren't supposed to have them either but the school bends on this issue. I guess some parents don't mind replacing stolen CD players but we have no intention of doing it ~ we only bought it three months ago for him for his birthday.

He has had an at-risk youth petition on him four years ago and spent three days in jail because he mouthed off to the judge at a contempt hearing. He didn't get it ~ he was just shooting off his mouth.

It's really sad though, he said he'd rather live in a foster family than with us, who care too much about what he does. It's the attachment stuff; he doesn't trust anyone and his immediate response to when that surface trust is broken is rage. Not really good prediciton for law-abiding citizen, is it?

I just feel like we're kind of stuck with him until he's 18 and then he's unleashed on the world. I guess we can be thankful that he hasn't figured out that he can go out to the bus stop and disappear, not actually go to school. But he does. We might not be so lucky when he heads off to high school next school year.

Interestingly enough...despite him knowing that I was distancing myself from him the last few days, he called me when his CD player was stolen. I guess he trusts me more than he realizes, or is willing to admit and I guess that is a good thing. "I" have been the one that has been honest to him, never bulls#$%%$# him on things. Both of his parents have; I don't sugarcoat at all. I wasn't raised that way. In some way, I think that he appreciates that.

[ January 20, 2006, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]