Thank you both for replying.

It's such a hard thing to do. How I wish I could go back in time and never take him to the park. We were trying to do something nice, have a picnic, fish, and then play on the playground and now I regret it so much. I have a little one who is 17 months old and I don't think I will ever allow her to play on a playground, I've been far too traumatized by this experience. Maybe in time but for now I cringe when I see playgrounds.

He was a near perfect child before his injury. I try to tell myself that it isn't him, that is his injury and I admit I fail at this a lot. It's terribly hard when he is looking at me and telling me he hates me and wants to kill me to keep my cool. It does help to hear from both of you that it isn't him, it's the injury. I think I need to repeat that like a mantra over and over again. I so fear this experience destroying our relationship, which was a great one up to this point and I prided myself on what kind of boy he was.

He hasn't had a neuropsychiatric assessment, just a regular psyche assessment. She wants him to get a neuro one done though. She said since it takes time to get into those clinics, she would perform all the basic psyche evals and then once in the clinic they could finish it up with their specialty eval. I will get the results of the basic psyche eval on July 16 and the Richmond Children's Hospital TBI Clinic squeezed him in with them on July 2nd. Neither date can come soon enough.

What has been really difficult is everyone keeps telling me (short of the counselor) that it's just my parenting making him this way. That I am not firm enough, that he is "pulling one over on me" using his injury as a way to act up and not have to take responsibility for his actions. He is six, I doubt he can logically conclude that he can act up because he suffered a concussion. And while I may not be the biggest, baddest parent out there, I've parented him successfully using my style for almost 7 years (he will be 7 late July) and his sisters for nearly 13 and 10 years. How could my parenting possibly all of a sudden fail and change my son's entire personality. But people keep telling me it's my fault and it depresses me, as if this situation isn't difficult enough to then have to be blamed for it. And when I take their advice and veer from my parenting style and get extra stern and firm it has no effect on his behavior, it just makes things worse.

I am glad to have found this forum, I could use the support and the advice, it might be just the thing I need to keep my head above water because right now I am drowning and so is my son. This forum just may save us. Thank you once again.