Monday, May 16, 2011

Son's Multiple Diagnoses Pose Challenges


Three years ago, Topeka resident Courtney Davis was completing Kansas Army National Guard basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., when she received a message from her husband, James, that their 7-year-old son Luke was in trouble at school.
Luke, who has autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and Tourette's syndrome, had been prescribed new medication. Davis said an adverse reaction to the drugs caused her son to experience a "psychotic break," during which he assaulted more than a dozen people at Shaner Elementary and ended up beating his body against a concrete wall at the school.
Through the assistance of the American Red Cross, Davis was on a bus within an hour and heading to Topeka to tend to her son, who had been expelled from the school.
"The teacher said she couldn't handle his fidgeting, noises, throwing things," Davis said, adding that she understood the teacher's frustrations. "She had 30 other students in the classroom and Luke. She had no paraprofessional."

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