Medicine Drama - Update

DEE's been on Zoloft and the clonodine patch for a month now, and he is doing very well on both. Blessedly, we have, as a family, gotten a bit of relief from the fever pitch of DEE's existence. He can now sit down and do things. For more than three seconds at a time.

The "problem" if you will lies in the patch. We put it between his shoulder blades so that he can't reach it. Smiley, however, can. And DEE has taught Smiley to remove the patch before its week life span is up. Which means we're going through patches at a rate of 1 every 4 days. Now, one hand, I'd love to praise DEE's critical thinking abilities and problem solving skills. I'd love to praise my sons for working together in a cooperative manner.

_BUT_

This medicine is freaking expensive. And it makes a HUGE difference in DEE. Within about 4 hours, you can tell a distinct difference. So no praise.

P.S.

(In my room, behind the closed door, I celebrate this step! I promise I do!)

Medicine Drama

I know, I know. I was totally one of those people. One of those, "I'll never put my kids on drugs" people. Thinking that medicine was a cop out to "real parenting" (which is WHAT exactly, I sureashell don't friggin know!).

That Was B.D. As in Before DEE_structor. You see, DEE has a couple of twitches, or "stemms" as we like to say about folks with autism. He really likes flapping his hands; he'll be the first person to make a self-powered flight. He has some serious wrist power. The probelm with this stemm is that he may, albeit unintentionally, knock your friggin-ass out. DEE is not exactly aware of his body's relationship to space, people, cups full of chocolate milk.

And yet, that's not the stemm that makes me lose my holyeverlovin' mind. It's the noises. As in, a honking/grinding sound that reverberates in my hollow skull. As in, a high pitched sustained "whoooo-ooooooo-oooooooooop" that changes between 3 tones at a glass breaking, nerves shattering, dearheavenplease-don't-do-that-while-I'm-driving levels.

We are trying medication. First, we tried Focalin. Massive Fail. DEE is a very loving little boy, not really prone to aggressive behavior. On Focalin, he turned into the Incredible DEE-Hulk. Full of rage and showing it all the time.

So then we tried Tenex. The only effect it had on DEE was that he peed. Uncontrollably. All the time. No Tenex = no wet beds, no accidents at school, no accidents in Grandma's brand new convertible. (Seriously - he loves her car. And when he lost control of his bladder, he made an EPIC Niagra Falls potty break. No extra clothes, no towels = one mostly naked kid wearing this momma's green sweater.)

#3 - Zoloft. We are just now at the end of Week 1. The only effect so far is that DEE's noises are somewhat abated. Whether that's the medicine, or he got tired of watching his momma looseherfreakingmind, I don't know. We'll see.

As a futher side note, DEE is supposed to wear a medicine patch that delivers 1 mg per hour of clonodine. He won't even wear a Mickey Mouse or Thomas the Tank Engine band-aid when bleeding. I don't have a clue how to get him to wear a patch. Put it on him while he's sleeping? Maybe? Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Are You Kidding Me?

I spoke with a woman, Y, yesterday about scheduling an appointment with my company. Y said that things were overwhelming right now, since they had just moved up from Orlando, and her son, who is autistic and has seziures, is having problems at school.

Anyone says "Autisic" to me and I am ready to throw down and talk. So I mentioned that I too have an autistic son in school and what kind of problems is he having?

Y told me that the school he attends considers him a behavior problem and wants her to allow them to send him to jail when he acts out. *Deep breath* Say what? They want you to send your autistic son to jail? Are they out of their minds? Sending any kid to jail is a pretty darned drastic measure, if you ask me (though I will grant that there are some cases where it is totally warranted). An autistic child? Someone who can't speak clearly and always control their actions and you want to send that kid to the pressure cooker of jail.

Then Y said that her son had been off his medication for a month because she did not know who to turn to now that they have relocated. Y got my complete list of people DEE sees on a regular basis and phone numbers to boot! Hopefully, she made a bunch of calls yesterday and is on her way to helping her son have a better school experience.

As for the heifer that wants to send a kid to jail - she best be glad I don't know her name. Or I might be spending a night in jail.