The First Week has Come and Gone....

Whew! The first week of school has come and gone and we survived. Both of us. We had a few homework battles but that is to be expected, right? It seems the Star Chart and earning the Mario plush toys has been a huge motivator for him and works wonderfully as a behavior modification plan. It has become one of my greatest ideas! Even his BSC is impressed. She even mentioned it in a meeting with her coworkers and supervisors! Whoo hoo!

Anyway, back off the side road... I've added a couple of things to his "required" items that are school related that I like quite a bit. Not only is homework one (being our biggest battle and I was forewarned he'd have math homework every night) but reading me a book is also one. On nights he doesn't have homework like Fridays and weekends? Well, he can read me another book. That makes two books and he can get his homework star! It's a great way for him to work on his reading fluency. (Can you tell I'm a teacher?)

This has actually worked out well. My fiance and I just love listening to him read. He'll do all the little voices of the characters and uses inflection! It's pretty impressive really. Not to mention how he does love to read. We have more books in this house then I have shelves to put them on! Every time the book fair comes to school this kid gets to go with a surprising amount of money and get several books. The teachers looked at me funny at first, but now they know! He'll spend every last dollar! He even helps the school aides set up the book swap and they'll let him choose a couple books in trade. He keeps bringing out books to read that I've never seen before!

What makes this chart even better right now? Since he has his own chores to do, like feed the cats and empty/fill the dishwasher and my favorite -clean up his toys, it leaves me a little more time to work on my classes for my Masters (Special Education for anyone who isn't aware). So far my house has remained relatively clean and therefore, my sanity is remaining somewhat intact. I HATE clutter. It messes with my mind. I also hate stepping on toys. Especially Legos. What makes those things hurt so much?

Anyways.... His ADHD meds haven't done a whole lot yet so his doctor doubled them. Hopefully we can see some change and we never get to "hell week." That week should be coming up soon. You know, the week where the novelty of new teachers and new classmates wears off and all hell breaks loose? I'm hoping that this year, it never happens.  Guess we'll see.

Another great thing? Sleep. Yep, I said it. He's SLEEPING! Since the melatonin dose was so high and not being effective his doc put him on a sleep aid and by golly.... It works! He's asleep within half an hour and out cold.... ALL NIGHT! Holy cow! No more 4 am eyeballs peeking over the edge of the mattress! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I've gotten comments about how much more rested he seems at school and how he's in a much better mood walking to his class in the morning than he was last year or any other year. Yes!  Since I drop him off in the morning before school starts now he is able to wake up on his own and start his own day before we go. This is a huge plus since it's his natural clock at work here! Dropping him off and picking him up at the end of the day also gives me the face to face time with his AS teacher and aides. They actually told me last week that since they see me every afternoon they weren't going to write in the communication log because it takes too much time and they'd just talk to me when I picked him up. Ok! We still write notes obviously if need be and can contact each other by cell phone.

So far 4th grade is shaping up to be a pretty good year for him. Here's to hoping it continues!

The time had come...

Several years ago I had taken my son to the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh to get a second opinion/evaluation on his diagnosis.  It was a long tedious visit as my mother and I sat through many evaluations, filled out forms, and moved from waiting room to waiting room inbetween.  At the time I was offered medication for him to help combat some of his hyperactivity and because "many Autistics simply benefited from it." I ran.  The psychologist told me that if I ever wanted to consider the medication to let her know and bring him back.

The hell that was going to happen, right?

So here I sit, 4 years later.  He can't focus.  He's bouncing off the walls.  He has major impulse control issues.  He knows something is wrong and wants to be 'fixed'.  It's affecting his every day interactions and his ability to work at school.  Sigh.  The time had come.

So last May I called his pediatrician's office.  They sent me the forms I was already so familiar with.  I filled them out.  So did my mom, my fiance and his AS teachers at the school.  The end result was confirmation of what the psychologist told me 4 years prior, he has ADHD.

Last night I went and picked up the medication.  Let's just say 'mixed feelings' doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.  Four years ago I ran with the argument that he's 5, he's a boy, he need to run and play and be a normal kid.  Watching him over the last year has been extremely difficult.  I can no longer use that argument.  I can handle all the items that got broken.  The bumps, the bruises.  What I can't handle are the meltdowns and requests to be fixed.  The endless energy that sends him literally bouncing from one wall to the next.  Him crying over there being something wrong with him and needing a new brain.

He has been kept up to speed on what the doctor's visits were about and what the medication is for.  He has been anxious to start it.  He is aware that it is supposed to help calm him down and allow him to focus better.  When we got home last night and counted the pudding he wanted to take it right then.  (He can't, he has to take it in the morning before breakfast. Since he can't swallow pills we have capsules that I have to open up and put in something he'll eat.)  I then sat down to look at the information sheets.  Within the first couple words were "sudden death."  I near fainted...  Not what a mom wants to see, you know?  But I sat there and kept repeating that it only happens in people with heart problems and he had a normal EKG.  Something I am still repeating to myself today...

Needless to say this morning the first thing he thought of was the pudding.

It's been a couple hours since he has taken it and he is just fine.  I feel a little better.  But I can't help watching his every move.