THE SHADDOX BOYS

Jacob and Elijah Shaddox are brothers. Jacob is 21 years old and just moved into an apartment with his girlfriend. He graduated from a technical college with an Associate's degree in Computer Maintenance. He works for a school district as a computer technician. Elijah is almost 18 years old. He is hearing impaired, has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. He is a junior in high school. Elijah lives with his mom Mary and her wife, his stepmom. Mary has a bachelor's in deaf education and a masters in special education, and is an educational diagnostician. Life is always changing and this blog has chronicled many of these changes and will continue to do so!






Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Doctor's Visit

It seems to never fail, that Elijah has a psychiatrist visit and then the next day has an AWFUL day at school. Yesterday, we visited the PRN for the psychiatrist Elijah sees and discuss his behavior. It has been off and on for a few weeks, but the PRN didn't want to change any of the dosages on his medication. I was not happy, but she is the expert. He just always seems to be "ON THE EDGE". He  tries so hard to make the right choice, but his body and brain won't let him at times.


I got a phone call from his principal today while I was at work, that he was having a ROUGH DAY. He was in the office having a meltdown. I finally got him on the phone and talked him down. I then made a call to the PRN and waited for a call back. When she called she stated that she thinks it is all behavioral, that he can control himself if he will calm down for me. Well, he used to calm down for the principal and teacher. Now it is a phone call to me. She increased one of his morning meds by 0.5 mg and we will go and see her in a month. I have also asked the school to pull the behavior specialist in to do some observation. I also asked for an ARD to discuss counseling and the STAAR-A exam. For those outside of Texas the STAAR is our state assessment and there is a new version...A is for accommodated. It will be on the computer. I want to discuss that with the school as well. Now I'll just have to wait for the diagnostician to give me a call.


I'll let you know how it all goes. Hoping for a better day tomorrow. I just hate to see him struggle with these behaviors.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Camp, Grad School, and Jacob

We have been busy the last few weeks! My honey and I took Elijah down to camp a few weeks ago. This is a camp for children with Tourette Syndrome! We drove down on Friday and arrived in Brenham around 12:30. We made it down in time to tour the Blue Bell Creamery Factory and see how they make their ice cream. I spent about $100 in the gift shop buying some Christmas presents and of course a shirt for me! The tour was awesome and we got to have a HUGE scoop of ice cream at the end. We got to chose from 16 different flavors. Then for another $1.00 we could get another scoop if we wanted. Well, of course, Elijah and I had to sample another flavor, so we each got another scoop!




We checked into the hotel and then took Elijah to camp. He was SO ready to be there and didn't even look back when we left. My honey and I had an awesome dinner that night and then crashed at the hotel. We spent the next day shopping in Brenham and at some other places between Waller and Brenham. We visited our first Buc'ees gas station. We ended up there on two different occasions and dropped some money there! It really was an interesting experience!




We picked Elijah up on Sunday and participated in the closing ceremonies. He had an awesome time and can't wait to go back in March. Jacob had come up to stay at the house that weekend while we were gone, but we didn't get to see him. He had actually come home the weekend before and we enjoyed his visit. He is REALLY liking college and I think he likes being on his own. His financial aid FINALLY came through this week and we were able to figure out how much he will have between now and January. I was able to put some money back into his savings account and pay myself back for the books and other things I had fronted him the money for. I think we were both relieved to finally have the money arrive! He is coming home next weekend. I do think he misses us and I know he misses his girlfriend AND the cats!




Grad school is going well for me. I am staying at least one week ahead if not more! I have even turned in two large projects that aren't due for at least another month. This time next year I should be doing my internship and preparing for graduation! That is really hard to believe. I am ENJOYING being back in the classroom and the kids are awesome. One of kids told me that I am a FUN teacher and he likes learning. That really made my day!