David’s Story

I am twelve years old and live in Stevens Point.  I love math, technology, science and my dog Max.

In 2009, I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, and thanks to my mom and dad, got to spend the rest of my third grade year at home getting medications out of my system and getting better.

Doctors put me on a lot of medications to help me manage my behavior, but rather than help, they made things much worse.  I felt crummy, like I wanted to kill myself.   I remember always wanting to throw things and break stuff, and my head felt like a volcano always on the verge of eruption. The medicines I was on were not the right ones for me; they made me feel fat, tired, and really angry.  My compassion was the only thing that kept me from wrecking things.

After things continued getting worse at school and I was suspended and restrained, my parents took me to another doctor, finally to learn that I had Aspergers Syndrome and no other mental health conditions that were previously diagnosed and led to those medications.

It was after that appointment that my mom used FMLA to take off of work as a teacher, and stayed home with me. It helped our family that she could use her sick time for part of that leave.

I remember feeling much calmer when I stopped taking all of the medications.  I started laughing again and I didn’t feel the need to explode in anger anymore.  When I was home I also realized that I was good at things and having my dog, Max, helped me remain calm and not feel as frustrated and depressed.

I know that if my mom wouldn’t have taken off of work and stopped giving me those medications, who knows what would have happened to me.  I hope that other kids with the same problems as me will continue to have the same opportunity to stay home for a time and get better.