Wow, Beth, you have been through a lot as you have watched your son. I bet you have not recognized your son since 2008. My heart goes out to you. My family has explained how much my personality changed after my severe concussion at 10 years old.

Have you done anything to get guardianship over him? It sounds like he should not be making decisions for himself.

Since he refuses medication to stabilize his condition, will he follow any other disciplines to help his brain get stabilized? He sounds like he is very intelligent. This creates two problems. One, he is very frustrated with his thinking struggles because they are even more obvious to him than they are to you. Second, he can figure out how to snow those around him.

He could likely make improvements with dietary disciplines. Getting a thorough blood analysis can show any deficiencies. Deficiencies and imbalances in B-12, folate, D3, magnesium, calcium, full Thyroid (4), testosterone, DHEA, progesterone, estradiol, and a few others can leave his brain bouncing around.

It will take some work to find a doctor who understands the fine differences in blood chemistry. You can sometimes find them as specialists in ortho-molecular psychiatry or life extension. Both disciplines try to fine tune the brain and body.

Just as a whimsical thought, How are his teeth? Does he have any rotten or abscessing teeth? Or, could he have an embedded sinus infection? A sinus infection can get embedded into the bone and be hard to find and treat. It can release toxins into the brain. It can also cause strange tastes and smells.

I get a strange taste whenever I have even a minor head bump. The taste system can be injured and malfunction. Few doctors will accept this as a valid symptom of brain dysfunction, especially a simple bump.

I hope this is helping you to have hope for improvement. You may see an improvement but it will take months of discipline.

My best to you and your son.