I know, I know, it's been too long since I posted. Between going to a Women's Encounter and then coming home and trying to catch up, I just didn't take the time to sit down and post. So I'll do it today! It's been a pretty good week actually. I don't know if it's just a temporary thing, if my prayer this past weekend helped this much,or if the techniques I've been researching and implementing are finally making a difference. I'm going to say prayer is a big part and that God has been leading me to know how to help John.
We've had the least amount of meltdowns this week than we've ever had. Not that we haven't had any, but not nearly what we usually deal with. Tuesday afternoon was one period of time this week that didn't go so well...but I think I pinpointed the trigger that day. My husband got upset that day over his lunch hour and yelled (I have a wonderful husband, but he just had a moment, like we all can have sometimes). We've found that yelling does not work around John because he seems to be over-sensitive to sounds. So Tuesday afternoon was filled with meltdowns. I was proud of myself for staying as calm as I did and not yelling or losing my cool.
The other moment that got crazy was last evening. John didn't take a nap yesterday, so by 6:00, he was exhausted and needing sleep! But at that point, I couldn't let him go to sleep yet! I was in the middle of cooking supper, my husband had someone over he was talking to, and John and I were working on decorating a pumpkin he got from our local store. He was already tired, getting hungry (It was cooking as fast as it could), and then he got paint on his hands.....and it all exploded. John hates having dirty hands and when I didn't get them cleaned off as quickly as he wanted we were 0 to meltdown in 3 seconds. This meltdown continued until I got John a plate of food....but it was only a temporary break because after he was done eating, he kept the meltdown going and was upset about EVERYTHING!
It's crazy how our days revolve around meltdowns and what John can and can't handle. Even what we do outside the house revolves around what John can and can't handle. We've learned that we can't go eat at someone's house (especially if they have children around Johns age) because it can be too overwhelming for John and he acts out in ways that a 1 or 2 year old would act (hitting, biting, pinching, etc). This is because he has trouble verbalizing his needs and wants, but he also doesn't know how to act around kids his own age. He tries to be social, but like any Aspie, he is socially awkward and doesn't understand the boundaries he should follow. These will be things he learns over time and with lots of work.
We are working on getting him in to see someone that can give us our official diagnosis, but I'm finding out that it can be a 4-6 month wait to get an appointment. I've found some good resources on facebook and the internet and they have helped so much! I've been reading books, reading blogs, reading articles, and researching therapy techniques that are used to help with aspergers. We've decided that for the moment, we want to continue homeschooling John...and we're still praying about he future of his schooling. We want whats best for him, and at this moment, we don't see this in any public schools or in-home therapy that's in our area. Plus, since he's not fully potty-trained, they won't allow him into any preschools that are in our area.
Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I sat down and basically typed out what a school system would call an IEP. I'm not going to call it that...I'm just calling it "John's Goals". I've found he has trouble learning colors, numbers, shapes, and letters. I'm going to keep working on those things, plus work on what could be termed as OT (Occupational Therapy). It will include social skills, fine motor skills, and other issues that can be associated with Aspergers. Can you tell I've done a ton of research?
This has not been an easy journey and I don't think it will get any easier for awhile, but I'm grateful for the support of my husband and daughter. I know we can do this and that my son will be just fine. The thoughts and emotions I've had on this journey have been kind of crazy. When I first realized that we were probably looking at a life with aspergers, I cried...as if I was grieving. But then I realized I couldn't keep crying and went into protective "mother bear" mode.
Then, I went through a short while that all I could see in my son was "special needs". I've not gotten to where I see John as the son he's always been. Knowing what he might have doesn't change who he is, it just helps us to help him. God made him just the way he is and there's no need to try to change him, we just need to adjust how we go about things with him. It was almost like a grieving process to get to where I am with John today.
We haven't gotten much sleep this week, so I'm going to go take a bit of a nap to keep going for the rest of the day. That's something as well....Aspie's don't always get the amount of sleep that other children get and don't seem to need as much sleep either. But more about that another day. Hope you have a great day and a great weekend. Be back with you tomorrow with another post!
Friday, October 21, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Pretty Good Day Overall!
I got cleaning done today!!! This is a huge accomplishment for me. Lately I've been so busy observing John and making notes that I just don't get much cleaning done. Honestly, I had help from my daughter, so it wasn't all just me.
This morning John did wake up crying like usual, but it didn't last long and then he was in a very good mood!! I loved it! Wanna know what's even better?
JOHN SLEPT ALL NIGHT!!
This is huge and I love when he sleeps all night...it doesn't happen very often. It helps my day go so much better. We had to deliver some makeup (I have an internet-based makeup and skincare business) and he did so well with it.
Around 9:00 this morning, John surprised me with a sweet kiss! He doesn't always do physical affection, so when he does I get so excited!!! I got so excited that I reached over to hug him....oops, not a good idea. He screamed his top of the lungs, bloody murder scream that I hear when he's overwhelmed and was so upset he started talking in his high pitched voice. Yeah, physical affection is to be done on Johns terms, not anyone else's.
After he calmed down, my sister called.....and basically I can sum it up in this picture:
Basically, it was very noisy. Lots of boy-made sirens, and transformer noises. My sister and I joke that I have turrets....I will randomly say very strange things. "Please put the butter knife down" "no, we don't pour mommy's black powder eyeshadow all over the drawer". Of course this part fits with most kids my sons age and younger...but its still crazy!
At lunchtime, when my husband was home, we started talking about how we needed new living room carpet (it's so stained and just gross). John overheard this conversation and here's what he said "we not get new carpet, we gotta keep this one. I not want to lose this floor". He doesn't even like for me to move things or rearrange....or even if I leave an item laying somewhere too long, I have trouble moving it because he wants it to stay right there. So I guess we might have to live with stained carpet for a couple more years....lol!
John took a good nap and when he woke up, he had a bloody nose, so the meltdown happened pretty quick and lasted about 30 minutes. I finally had to calm him down by holding him tight and rocking while "shushing" in his ear softly. Once he calmed down, it wasn't a bad afternoon and evening. The hardest part of it was him getting excited and screaming and doing his sirens very loud. Sometimes it's so hard to hear each other or even hear ourselves think. I tune it out better than my husband and daughter, but it can get to me.
We are working on going to sleep right now. I have a picture to share with you to show you what he likes to do with his toys.
Yep! He loves to line things up! It's not always on the back of the couch. Sometimes it's the floor and sometimes it's the windowsill. But basically, we like to line up or toys. Oh, and don't move them at all.....I mean it!!! Unless you like screaming, hitting, kicking, or any other action that can come with a meltdown! Yep, this is our house:
I have one more day of blogging tomorrow and then I will be gone for the weekend. So watch for tomorrow's post and then I'll post for you again on Monday. God Bless!!
This morning John did wake up crying like usual, but it didn't last long and then he was in a very good mood!! I loved it! Wanna know what's even better?
JOHN SLEPT ALL NIGHT!!
This is huge and I love when he sleeps all night...it doesn't happen very often. It helps my day go so much better. We had to deliver some makeup (I have an internet-based makeup and skincare business) and he did so well with it.
Around 9:00 this morning, John surprised me with a sweet kiss! He doesn't always do physical affection, so when he does I get so excited!!! I got so excited that I reached over to hug him....oops, not a good idea. He screamed his top of the lungs, bloody murder scream that I hear when he's overwhelmed and was so upset he started talking in his high pitched voice. Yeah, physical affection is to be done on Johns terms, not anyone else's.
After he calmed down, my sister called.....and basically I can sum it up in this picture:
Basically, it was very noisy. Lots of boy-made sirens, and transformer noises. My sister and I joke that I have turrets....I will randomly say very strange things. "Please put the butter knife down" "no, we don't pour mommy's black powder eyeshadow all over the drawer". Of course this part fits with most kids my sons age and younger...but its still crazy!
At lunchtime, when my husband was home, we started talking about how we needed new living room carpet (it's so stained and just gross). John overheard this conversation and here's what he said "we not get new carpet, we gotta keep this one. I not want to lose this floor". He doesn't even like for me to move things or rearrange....or even if I leave an item laying somewhere too long, I have trouble moving it because he wants it to stay right there. So I guess we might have to live with stained carpet for a couple more years....lol!
John took a good nap and when he woke up, he had a bloody nose, so the meltdown happened pretty quick and lasted about 30 minutes. I finally had to calm him down by holding him tight and rocking while "shushing" in his ear softly. Once he calmed down, it wasn't a bad afternoon and evening. The hardest part of it was him getting excited and screaming and doing his sirens very loud. Sometimes it's so hard to hear each other or even hear ourselves think. I tune it out better than my husband and daughter, but it can get to me.
We are working on going to sleep right now. I have a picture to share with you to show you what he likes to do with his toys.
Yep! He loves to line things up! It's not always on the back of the couch. Sometimes it's the floor and sometimes it's the windowsill. But basically, we like to line up or toys. Oh, and don't move them at all.....I mean it!!! Unless you like screaming, hitting, kicking, or any other action that can come with a meltdown! Yep, this is our house:
I have one more day of blogging tomorrow and then I will be gone for the weekend. So watch for tomorrow's post and then I'll post for you again on Monday. God Bless!!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
An afternoon with a new sitter!
Well, today was better than yesterday. I don't feel like the overwhelmed owl again. There's a reason for that....I had an afternoon ALL to myself! I enjoyed it, but felt guilty all at the same time. But that's another story. Let's get to the rest of our day.
John woke up the same as usual, with crying. But it didn't last as long as I've seen it last. The rest of the morning was pretty good. We didn't have any meltdowns...which was good. It gave me a little bit of time getting ready for the day.
I spent some time this morning putting makeup on, and in the meantime, the house ended up looking like a tornado went through it. Today, John wanted pickle juice with cut up pickles in it. Of course he was very picky about the cup it had to be in, but since the cup was clean, we had no problems...yay!!! After I made John his pickle "cocktail" I went back to my makeup. After a few minutes, John came in with a different cup and had made me a pickle "cocktail"! What a sweetheart!!! Those are the moments that I cherish with him (with both my kids).
I told you that I had time to myself this afternoon. I went and got my hair done. I was so excited to do this and was so excited for the time by myself. But in preparing for this afternoon (yes, more prep went into this day than you think) I was completely nervous about how it would go. Usually Grandma and Grandpa watch John. Why? Because not only do we find that most people don't want to watch him, we also know that not many people understand his behaviors.
Today was an exception and I had a friend in our town watch John. When I asked her, I made a point to let her know that she didn't have to say yes. But I truly believed that out of everyone I could choose to watch John, besides his grandparents, I knew I could trust her with any behaviors John might throw at her.
Guess what?!?! I was told that John did good! She told me that at one point she asked John a question and he told her "leave me alone." I know this may seem rude, but if you know John, this was a huge step to share with someone besides us that he wanted to be left alone. A lot of the time, he just starts having a meltdown instead of vocalizing his needs. It's a step-by-step process and we celebrate what seems to be little milestones.
Bedtime went into meltdown mode. Since I was gone, my daughter watched John after school. I ended up being later than I expected and then my husband ended up working late as well. We ate pizza for supper and I thought all was well (John ate 3 pieces) until my husband ate the rest of the pizza.....John walked into the kitchen and it was 0-meltdown in 1.5 seconds!! After that I had to try to get him changed into a pull-up and jammies weren't even an option again tonight.....and we were still upset that all the pizza was gone.
I expect that he will ask for pizza for breakfast and we will obviously have pizza for lunch (yes, he will remember that I promised to make more pizza tomorrow). We have officially graduated from our peanut butter sandwiches (we went through a medium-size jar of peanut butter in less than a week) and pickle juice phase to a pizza phase. This means I will be making a bunch of pizza in the next few days.
Like I said, overall it wasn't a really bad day. And hey, maybe I just found someone to help us with John when Grandma and Grandpa might not be available. I'm hoping tomorrow is also a good day. I'll be back to share tomorrow night. Good night and God Bless!!!
John woke up the same as usual, with crying. But it didn't last as long as I've seen it last. The rest of the morning was pretty good. We didn't have any meltdowns...which was good. It gave me a little bit of time getting ready for the day.
I spent some time this morning putting makeup on, and in the meantime, the house ended up looking like a tornado went through it. Today, John wanted pickle juice with cut up pickles in it. Of course he was very picky about the cup it had to be in, but since the cup was clean, we had no problems...yay!!! After I made John his pickle "cocktail" I went back to my makeup. After a few minutes, John came in with a different cup and had made me a pickle "cocktail"! What a sweetheart!!! Those are the moments that I cherish with him (with both my kids).
I told you that I had time to myself this afternoon. I went and got my hair done. I was so excited to do this and was so excited for the time by myself. But in preparing for this afternoon (yes, more prep went into this day than you think) I was completely nervous about how it would go. Usually Grandma and Grandpa watch John. Why? Because not only do we find that most people don't want to watch him, we also know that not many people understand his behaviors.
Today was an exception and I had a friend in our town watch John. When I asked her, I made a point to let her know that she didn't have to say yes. But I truly believed that out of everyone I could choose to watch John, besides his grandparents, I knew I could trust her with any behaviors John might throw at her.
Guess what?!?! I was told that John did good! She told me that at one point she asked John a question and he told her "leave me alone." I know this may seem rude, but if you know John, this was a huge step to share with someone besides us that he wanted to be left alone. A lot of the time, he just starts having a meltdown instead of vocalizing his needs. It's a step-by-step process and we celebrate what seems to be little milestones.
Bedtime went into meltdown mode. Since I was gone, my daughter watched John after school. I ended up being later than I expected and then my husband ended up working late as well. We ate pizza for supper and I thought all was well (John ate 3 pieces) until my husband ate the rest of the pizza.....John walked into the kitchen and it was 0-meltdown in 1.5 seconds!! After that I had to try to get him changed into a pull-up and jammies weren't even an option again tonight.....and we were still upset that all the pizza was gone.
I expect that he will ask for pizza for breakfast and we will obviously have pizza for lunch (yes, he will remember that I promised to make more pizza tomorrow). We have officially graduated from our peanut butter sandwiches (we went through a medium-size jar of peanut butter in less than a week) and pickle juice phase to a pizza phase. This means I will be making a bunch of pizza in the next few days.
Like I said, overall it wasn't a really bad day. And hey, maybe I just found someone to help us with John when Grandma and Grandpa might not be available. I'm hoping tomorrow is also a good day. I'll be back to share tomorrow night. Good night and God Bless!!!
Monday, October 10, 2016
A Day in the Life of John (and Mommy)
This would be me as I sit and type:
We started today the way we usually do.....with cries from John. He cries most mornings when he wakes up. Then he asks for a drink. So we immediately get a drink. Today was no exception. Then we go to the living room for a little snuggle time....well, we snuggle when John feels like it, but we at least sit together. We watch one of John's favorite shows. If I even attempt to change this part of the schedule our day will automatically go downhill fast.
After our show, we get changed into our clothes for the day...
Today clothes were not happening. I got him changed out of his overnight pull-up into his underwear, but he repeated over and over again "I scared of my pants, I scared of my pants..." We've learned that this means he's overwhelmed, overstimulated, or doesn't like whatever we happen to be talking about. So today we were "scared" of our clothes. So the day was spent in underwear....and we didn't go anywhere or plan to have guests over. Of course, today of all days the Avon lady came over, but at this point this is our home...lol!
He spent a lot of the day talking loudly and in his high pitched voice. Trying to tell him to use his indoor voice and to talk in his lower voice does not go over well...so again, we just let that one go.
John would not go to sleep this afternoon for a nap and he needed one really bad....he does not sleep without melatonin. So at 2:45, we had our first meltdown of the day. He got himself so worked up that he kept crying about anything and everything. He and I couldn't pinpoint what caused this meltdown. All I know is he kept repeating his phrase "I scared, I scared, I scared..." So something had him completely overwhelmed and overstimulated.
Today was a great example of how literal John is. Not only with his usual "sound effects"; for example spraying a fire hose goes like this: "spray, spray, spray" and not a water noise. But then there was the part of our afternoon when he decided to climb all over the furniture. So I pulled him into my lap and talked to him about not climbing all over the furniture. I told him the furniture was to sit on, not stand on. So he got off my lap and climbed onto the couch and sat on the back of it. Guys, I couldn't really scold him, he had listened. But he took me very literally and couldn't read between the lines that I meant sitting where we are supposed to sit on the couch. So I had one more talk about where we sit on the couch.
Our day ended with a meltdown of all meltdowns, which then ended in John passing out on the couch in the middle of it.
It first started because supper took too long in the oven for him....not pretty when that happens. Then after daddy came home and ate supper, he decided to help out and get John into his jammies and all HELL broke loose. I saw a picture today of an atomic bomb with a caption about meltdowns. That's the best way that I can explain how todays meltdown was.
After John refused to put his pajamas on (he was "scared" of them), his meltdown continued on when we couldn't find the right show he wanted to watch. Then he wanted his transformers birthday card, then he wanted nobody near him, but them he wanted daddy to sit with him. He wanted a blanket, but then no blanket....he didn't want the pillow and then he wanted the pillow. Then all of a sudden it was quiet and he was asleep.
Today wasn't the worst day we've had with him, but it also wasn't the best day we've had with him. Tomorrow I'm calling a special Autism clinic to try and get an appointment, so we'll see how it goes. I do a lot of research online to find techniques we can try now without having a diagnosis. I've found that quite a few asperger techniques really work well for him. We use magnets to schedule out our day, during a meltdown I will hug him from behind and rock him (works like a charm...usually), and tonight a blanket with a heavier feather pillow, laid on top of his body, helped to calm him down a little.
So now that you've seen one day into our life, you can see why I chose to blog about our journey. I hope you can find it either amusing or helpful. If you're on a similar journey, know that you're not alone.
We started today the way we usually do.....with cries from John. He cries most mornings when he wakes up. Then he asks for a drink. So we immediately get a drink. Today was no exception. Then we go to the living room for a little snuggle time....well, we snuggle when John feels like it, but we at least sit together. We watch one of John's favorite shows. If I even attempt to change this part of the schedule our day will automatically go downhill fast.
After our show, we get changed into our clothes for the day...
Today clothes were not happening. I got him changed out of his overnight pull-up into his underwear, but he repeated over and over again "I scared of my pants, I scared of my pants..." We've learned that this means he's overwhelmed, overstimulated, or doesn't like whatever we happen to be talking about. So today we were "scared" of our clothes. So the day was spent in underwear....and we didn't go anywhere or plan to have guests over. Of course, today of all days the Avon lady came over, but at this point this is our home...lol!
He spent a lot of the day talking loudly and in his high pitched voice. Trying to tell him to use his indoor voice and to talk in his lower voice does not go over well...so again, we just let that one go.
John would not go to sleep this afternoon for a nap and he needed one really bad....he does not sleep without melatonin. So at 2:45, we had our first meltdown of the day. He got himself so worked up that he kept crying about anything and everything. He and I couldn't pinpoint what caused this meltdown. All I know is he kept repeating his phrase "I scared, I scared, I scared..." So something had him completely overwhelmed and overstimulated.
Today was a great example of how literal John is. Not only with his usual "sound effects"; for example spraying a fire hose goes like this: "spray, spray, spray" and not a water noise. But then there was the part of our afternoon when he decided to climb all over the furniture. So I pulled him into my lap and talked to him about not climbing all over the furniture. I told him the furniture was to sit on, not stand on. So he got off my lap and climbed onto the couch and sat on the back of it. Guys, I couldn't really scold him, he had listened. But he took me very literally and couldn't read between the lines that I meant sitting where we are supposed to sit on the couch. So I had one more talk about where we sit on the couch.
Our day ended with a meltdown of all meltdowns, which then ended in John passing out on the couch in the middle of it.
It first started because supper took too long in the oven for him....not pretty when that happens. Then after daddy came home and ate supper, he decided to help out and get John into his jammies and all HELL broke loose. I saw a picture today of an atomic bomb with a caption about meltdowns. That's the best way that I can explain how todays meltdown was.
After John refused to put his pajamas on (he was "scared" of them), his meltdown continued on when we couldn't find the right show he wanted to watch. Then he wanted his transformers birthday card, then he wanted nobody near him, but them he wanted daddy to sit with him. He wanted a blanket, but then no blanket....he didn't want the pillow and then he wanted the pillow. Then all of a sudden it was quiet and he was asleep.
Today wasn't the worst day we've had with him, but it also wasn't the best day we've had with him. Tomorrow I'm calling a special Autism clinic to try and get an appointment, so we'll see how it goes. I do a lot of research online to find techniques we can try now without having a diagnosis. I've found that quite a few asperger techniques really work well for him. We use magnets to schedule out our day, during a meltdown I will hug him from behind and rock him (works like a charm...usually), and tonight a blanket with a heavier feather pillow, laid on top of his body, helped to calm him down a little.
So now that you've seen one day into our life, you can see why I chose to blog about our journey. I hope you can find it either amusing or helpful. If you're on a similar journey, know that you're not alone.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Welcome to our Journey with John
Writing is one of my outlets. The other one is singing, but this journey will need more than singing as an outlet. I hope that besides being an outlet for me, it can help others who may be going through a similar journey. I'm not sure where this journey will take us, I just know we are at the beginning of what will probably be a crazy ride.
We have a son named John. He just turned 4 in September. He is an answer to our prayers just as our older girls were. I love being a mom and I feel like this is what I was created for, but this road of motherhood has been taking a crazy turn. I love my son, but things have not been going like I pictured in my head when I pictured raising a sweet blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy. Let me explain.
Since my son was born he's never been a sleeper. He spent the first six weeks of his life screaming nightly from 11:00pm to about 1:00am. The day he turned six weeks old, it just suddenly stopped. Since then, he does not go to bed earlier than 10:30-11:00 and is up promptly at 7:30 each morning. He will occasionally sleep until 8:00, but its very rare. In the afternoons, he usually needs some kind of a nap, but if I allow him to nap we are usually awake past midnight. The poor kid just doesn't get the sleep he needs.
In the past year or so, we've seen his behaviors get significantly worse and it's been tough to figure out ways to deal with them. My husband and I are exhausted and when we go in public we are embarrassed by what we deal with. Even going to church is tough....and I'm the worship leader!!!!
We started praying that God would reveal to us what we need to know about our son. Not necessarily to change him, but to learn how to deal with the behaviors in the correct way and teach him how to cope with them himself. It was just mere days after this that the word aspergers came to me. I was researching ADHD and then found a site explaining how the two can have similar symptoms, but then pointed out what made them different. Suddenly I felt like I was reading about my son! Did they have cameras in our house recording his evert move? Or is it that my son truly has something going on that is more than just behaviors?
I still don't have any official answers. This all just came up within the past month and we are working on getting some second opinions (don't get me started on the first opinion). But that's where this blog will come in handy to track our journey and maybe even help those who might be on this journey as well.
Whether it might be ADHD, Aspergers, or something else going on, I plan to follow my "mommy gut" and keep going until we have the answers that we need.
As I sit here typing this, it's almost midnight, and John is still not sleeping. He's had his nightly melatonin to get him to relax and hopefully sleep, but he had a nap this afternoon.....so here I sit trying to get him to relax. I could try to go to bed, but since he is not able to fall asleep alone, I sit here with him waiting.
Believe me, we've tried all sorts of techniques to get him to sleep on his own....or even in his own bedroom (he sleeps on the couch in the living room) but nothing works. Even as a baby, we could never do the crying it out method with John. We've had all sorts of advice thrown or way and still nothing works. So for now, our living room turns into a bedroom at 10:00 at night and I'm awake until John falls asleep.
I think I'll wrap it up for tonight, but I plan to post often as a way to journal the behaviors as well as to give you an insight to our daily life with a child who has behavior issues. Thanks for reading and we'll "blog" at you later!!!
God Bless!!
-John's Mommy
We have a son named John. He just turned 4 in September. He is an answer to our prayers just as our older girls were. I love being a mom and I feel like this is what I was created for, but this road of motherhood has been taking a crazy turn. I love my son, but things have not been going like I pictured in my head when I pictured raising a sweet blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy. Let me explain.
Since my son was born he's never been a sleeper. He spent the first six weeks of his life screaming nightly from 11:00pm to about 1:00am. The day he turned six weeks old, it just suddenly stopped. Since then, he does not go to bed earlier than 10:30-11:00 and is up promptly at 7:30 each morning. He will occasionally sleep until 8:00, but its very rare. In the afternoons, he usually needs some kind of a nap, but if I allow him to nap we are usually awake past midnight. The poor kid just doesn't get the sleep he needs.
In the past year or so, we've seen his behaviors get significantly worse and it's been tough to figure out ways to deal with them. My husband and I are exhausted and when we go in public we are embarrassed by what we deal with. Even going to church is tough....and I'm the worship leader!!!!
We started praying that God would reveal to us what we need to know about our son. Not necessarily to change him, but to learn how to deal with the behaviors in the correct way and teach him how to cope with them himself. It was just mere days after this that the word aspergers came to me. I was researching ADHD and then found a site explaining how the two can have similar symptoms, but then pointed out what made them different. Suddenly I felt like I was reading about my son! Did they have cameras in our house recording his evert move? Or is it that my son truly has something going on that is more than just behaviors?
I still don't have any official answers. This all just came up within the past month and we are working on getting some second opinions (don't get me started on the first opinion). But that's where this blog will come in handy to track our journey and maybe even help those who might be on this journey as well.
Whether it might be ADHD, Aspergers, or something else going on, I plan to follow my "mommy gut" and keep going until we have the answers that we need.
As I sit here typing this, it's almost midnight, and John is still not sleeping. He's had his nightly melatonin to get him to relax and hopefully sleep, but he had a nap this afternoon.....so here I sit trying to get him to relax. I could try to go to bed, but since he is not able to fall asleep alone, I sit here with him waiting.
Believe me, we've tried all sorts of techniques to get him to sleep on his own....or even in his own bedroom (he sleeps on the couch in the living room) but nothing works. Even as a baby, we could never do the crying it out method with John. We've had all sorts of advice thrown or way and still nothing works. So for now, our living room turns into a bedroom at 10:00 at night and I'm awake until John falls asleep.
I think I'll wrap it up for tonight, but I plan to post often as a way to journal the behaviors as well as to give you an insight to our daily life with a child who has behavior issues. Thanks for reading and we'll "blog" at you later!!!
God Bless!!
-John's Mommy
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