Just wanted to introduce myself. I am 42 years old, married, with 4 children. Our oldest child, my stepson, is 14. He was diagnosed with early onset biopolar disorder (BP) during second grade. As he has progressed through school, it has been determined that he also has severe learning disabilities, as well as dyslexia. In addition, he is behind his peers in social interaction also; he would rather play with my 9 year old son than with boys his own age at times. Obviously, the deck is stacked against him.

We have also noticed through time that he has what appears to by Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). OMG is he forever arguing with my wife and picking battles with her (he will not argue much with me). As a side note...one of our psychologists told us that bipolar children quite often select one member of the family to torment and pick on, and quite often it is the parent of the opposite sex.

Anyway, as you can probably guess, our life can be quite full of anxiety at times. The incessant arguing and other bipolar type behaviors can seem so overwhelming at times. In addition, we struggle with getting him through school, as well as wondering what the heck is going to happen when he turns 18 and is still behind in education. How will he support himself; and how can we continue to support him, while desiring to also be able to give to our other kids as well.

The good news is that none of the other kids exhibit these symptoms and syndromes. The are all socially fine, are well within their age group in school, and show no bipolar traits at all. Plus, they are all so loving and fun to be around!

Okay, I already wrote too much and bored everyone. Sorry for the thesis. Anyway, we live in Austin, Texas, and I am looking forward to meeting other users on this board.

Regards.