What about that new medication?

So Elijah has been on this new medication for almost two weeks now. I do think it has made a difference in his aggression level. I haven't heard much from the school and I haven't asked. We have his IEP meeting on Monday and I figure I will ask then. I have been emailing the principal and diagnostician about his current FIE(Full Individual Evaluation) that I received from them. For whatever reason, Tourettes was left off of his OHI(other health impaired) form and I noticed that and want them to get that fixed. That means they have to resubmit a form to the doctor.

I really don't want to be a real pain in the rear, but I have to advocate for my child. I want him out of the behavior unit. Thankfully, I have my friends at work who have given me lots of great advice on what to ask for at this next IEP meeting. Next year Elijah will move to a new campus and this will be a huge transition for him. I want things to go as smoothly as possible.

I'll let you all know how it goes!!

Medication again!

So I get a phone call from Elijah's teacher on Thursday that he had, in her words, a "horrific" day. He has been "off" for two weeks in his behavior. Now this is the first I am hearing of it. He has a checklist that comes home daily and there has been nothing on there about him being "off" like this. He has gotten check marks in the good, fair and poor categories, but no notes about anything specific. We then got into a discussion about next school year.

One of my concerns about him being in a behavior class is that it really isn't appropriate for a kid with tourettes. He has a neurological condition that causes some of his issues. Some days he will just be "off" and it isn't really his fault. NOW can he learn to try to control himself...YES he can, but he is only ten(going on eleven by the end of the month). Now I have OCD and I know how hard it is to turn off that voice in my head that tells me to freak out about things, so I can only imagine how hard it is for Elijah who has to deal with tics, OCD and ADHD.

I called the psychiatrist office and got him an appointment for the next day, which was yesterday. We didn't get to see his usual person there, because she is on maternity leave but we did see someone else who was very nice. We discussed things and Elijah did a good job of talking to her. We are adding a new medication to his already long list of meds. It is one that hopefully will help control his impulsivity during the day that seems to be his issue. He is yelling out in class and being off task. He will start with 1 mg and then in a week go to 2mg and then we go back in to discuss how it is going.

I hate him having to be on medications, but I truly believe he is a child who has to have them in order to function. His IEP meeting is in about three weeks. I did send a book to school for his teacher calling, "Teaching the Tiger" that is specifically about kids with Tourettes and other co morbid disorders. I really want them to see that HE will have OFF days and there is no amount of rewards or consequences that will truly control those days when he is REALLY OFF...when the chemical imbalance is just too much. I tell him to wipe away his worries and rub his forehead. That seems to help when I see him spiraling a bit out of control. I need to share that with his teacher. He is so remorseful after having what I call a "fit". He knows he messed up, but when he is IN IT he can't pull back and stop himself. That is a skill he will need to learn and one that hopefully meds can help some with.

Growing Up!

Elijah is finally beginning to show some signs of maturity, meaning he is beginning to show signs of acting more his age. I have assigned him a few more chores like filling up the cat bowl with cat food and unloading the dishwasher. The dishwasher started with doing the utensils and Jacob doing the rest of the dishwasher. Elijah has finally grown a bit taller and can do the whole dishwasher with very little help. There are a few things that he cannot reach and he does need help with those but overall he is doing an awesome job with the dishwasher. Once he is done, Jacob comes in behind him and loads the dishwasher. Jacob was HAPPY to give over the chore of unloading the dishwasher.

I am also working on Elijah learning to use a key to unlock the doors to the house. I need to work on his telephone skills next.

Elijah seems quite proud of himself when he accomplishes a task. He earns tickets for doing his chores which he can trade in for Wii or computer time.

Another Milestone for Jacob!

For serveral months Jacob has had some HAIR on his chin, but not quite enough to shave. He got an electric razor for Christmas, but had not used it yet. He recently started getting beard hair on the side of his face. He has not wanted to shave it, and I really was not sure why. Well today he came in from school, in his ROTC uniform and said, "FEEL my face!" I took one look and realized he had shaved. He had done it all on his own this morning after I left for work. As far as I can tell, he did a good job! Where does the time go? I still remember his first hair cut and the first time he walked. Now he is shaving!

It's Not Easy!

It's not easy living with a child with Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. I group them together because for Elijah they all go hand in hand. Now tics are the most obvious thing about Tourette Syndrome. For the most part, Elijah's tics are not too bad. However the last few days they have been, and we have been home for Spring Break so I never get a break. I know he can't help it, but at some point the noises can drive you insane. He has also been a bit more arguementative and not good about following directions. All of this leads to my patience thinning over time.

Today we went to the pulmanologist. He was just all over the place on the drive there. I had errands to run and those took about 90 minutes after the two hour doctor's appointment. It was for both boys so that is one reason it took so long. Elijah was better during the errands. We then get home and are home for about two hours when he spills something on his shirt. Ok no problem, we will just change his shirt. Well he goes to take off his processors and mentions that ONE of them has a missing battery cage. Now I ask him WHEN did he notice it not working and he of course, doesn't answer. We look all over the house and then I call the doctor's office and they find it in the examining room and will mail it to me. This means from at least NOON to 4:00 he was walking around NOT hearing out of that one ear and NOT telling me that he couldn't hear. ARGHHHHHHH! I totally thinks this goes to immaturity and anxiety of knowing losing it means he gets in trouble, but if he would tell me right away we could find it. I am still amazed they found it at the doctor's office.

Lost "ear" again!

Ok, so the "ear" was only lost for about five minutes, but still IT WAS LOST. Bye "ear" I mean Elijah's cochlear implant processor. I awoke to him turning on the Wii and getting ready to play. He looks at me and says, "where is my ear?" I notice that ONE processor is on but not the other. I ask and sign WHERE and we head to his room. We find it right there on his floor! I then start talking to him about being careful with his EARS when I realize HE hasn't turned them on. I then sign to him to TURN THE DARN THINGS ON and he does. I unplug the Wii and we have a chat that when he PUTS his ears on HE needs to TURN them on! ARGH! He does this a lot. He puts them on but doesn't turn them on. Well, from now on if I catch him with them ON but not turned on the Wii goes away for a few hours. He will even call me from another room with them turned off and I answer him back thinking he can hear me! UGH! That really drives me crazy.

He loves being able to hear and I don't mind that he has times where he wants to be deaf. If he is going to do that then, he needs to COME and find me and talk to me so I sign to him AND not lose them!

Ghosts Don't Need Candles!

Elijah has been watching a lot of Scooby Doo lately on ON DEMAND on our cable television. He just LOVES Scooby Doo! For some reason he has locked onto a line from one of the episodes that he just loves to say and he think is SO funny. It is, "Ghosts don't need candles." The whole gang sees the ghost and believes it is a real ghost until one of them says, "ghosts don't need candles." The ghost was carrying a candle, so I guess that was that person's way of showing the ghost wasn't real! He will say it to me and just laugh out loud. I think it is pretty funny myself!