Rite of Passage

"A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's transition from one status to another" as quoted from Wikipedia. Jacob has been experiencing many of these and has many more to come. My brother took him to buy his first real suit two weeks ago. Jacob will pick it up next week. Today I met him at Al's Formal Wear to reserve a tuxedo for prom. Prom will be a HUGE rite of passage for Jacob. I am excited that he is going! Graduation will be another rite of passage and then starting college.

 

I can't wait to see Jacob in his tuxedo. He choose a Zootux, which is similar to a zoot suit. It should go well with the 1920's theme for the prom. I can't wait to post pictures. This is a picture of similar to what he will be wearing, but he will also have a vest. The vest and the tie will be navy blue.

 

 

Mischief

The definition for mischief is--playful misbehavior or troublemaking, esp. in children. This definitely describes Elijah these days. He is not misbehaving to be mean or cause trouble, he is just being a kid and accidentally breaking things or driving me crazy. I think it is a mix of his Tourette Syndrome, OCD, ADHD and being  TEENAGER. I hope I can survive these teen years.

This mischief usually occurs when he is bored and doesn't have much to do. I may be busy with house work, grad school work, or just WORK in general. He has too much time on his hands and I am too busy to notice this mischief. After two days home with him on the weekend, I am ready to go back to work.

One day he will finish growing up and move out (I hope at least) and I know I will look back on these days and laugh. I will not want him to move out and have him be my little boy forever. I guess I should enjoy these times now and be glad he isn't out causing mischief, and is just causing it here at home.

What is Tourette Syndrome?

I have blogged a great deal about Elijah having Tourette Syndrome, but I don't think I have ever defined what it actually is. According to this website  the Tourette Fact Sheet, http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tourette/detail_tourette.htm, it is "s a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics."

That seems like an easy definition to understand, but then you have to ask yourself....what does a tic look like? This is not as easy to define, because they can be different for each person. Right now Elijah has a tic that is very LOUD and sounds like "ahhh, AHHHHHHHH". He will do this over and over again, and is also humming a great deal. His other vocal tics include a very loud raspberry noise, clearing his throat and snorting(even though it is not really vocal, it is a sound). His motor tics include licking his hands, rubbing his face, making a mean face(again, this is hard to explain, but it is different from his usual face he makes when he is mad), slamming his leg down when laying on the floor, chewing on his shirt, and slamming his hand down. He sometimes slaps himself in the face, but this is rare.

One reason I wanted to define Tourette Syndrome and explain tics, is because an incident at school this week. Elijah has a new teacher that has replaced one of his other teachers. She had written on his status sheet that he was making RANDOM noises during class. He would not stop when asked. When I saw this note, I emailed his case manager at school and asked if this NEW teacher knew Elijah had Tourette Syndrome. The case manager then sent my email onto the new teacher, who emailed me back later the next day. She said that the noises he was making seemed INTENTIONAL and that he could stop them when he served his Take-5, which is a 5 minute time out. So I emailed her back and tried to explain more about Elijah's tics, and she had even asked me for help understanding Tourettes in her email. However explaining a sound in an email, isn't always easy. I sent her my telephone number and asked her to call me this coming week.

This is a video done back in the summer of 2010. Elijah's tics are much better now, but these are some of his more extreme tics. He is on different medication now.

Here is another video of him with his tics. This was also taken back in 2010.

Parenthood--The Offer 3/20/14

Parenthood once again tugged at my heart strings last night. In this episode, Max, who has Aspergers goes on an overnight field trip with his class. His mother, Kristina, was going to chaperon, but he told her that he didn't want her to. The parents talk about it and decide to let him go. They later get a phone call that they need to come and pick up Max. They drive the 2-3 hours to pick him up and he won't tell them what happened. The teacher who waited with Max, also didn't know what happened.

While they are driving home, Max finally opens up by asking his parents why the other kids hate him. He finally tells them that one of the boys peed in his canteen and called him a freak. You can see the parents reactions during this scene and it is heart wrenching. Both parents are visibly upset, and the father is ready to take on this boy who harassed Max. Max tells his parents that he tries to understand his friends and you can hear how much he wants to belong, but just can't. He knows he is different and that he will never understand why they do what they do. He tells his parents that he is a freak. The mother takes off her seat belt and climbs into the back seat to hug him. Of course, Max tells her this is unsafe and that he doesn't want to be hugged, but she keeps hugging him. The father is on the verge of tears. This is how this storyline in this episode ended, and there were no previews about this storyline for next week.

All I can say is bravo for taking on the topic of bullying, Aspergers, and special needs in general. As a parent of a special needs child, I worry that my son will be bullied. He is in 7th grade right now, and so far things are going well. I worry more about him entering high school in another year. Parenthood is one of the few shows to take a realistic look at the life of a family with a child with special needs and so far they are doing a great job.

A Little Bit of Sugar Goes a Long Way

I took Jacob and Elijah to see The Lego Movie this morning. I was surprised that Jacob decided to join us and we had a good time. We snuck in some candy and of course bought popcorn and some drinks. Sugar has always affected Elijah. It makes him moody and argumentative most of the time. I knew this when I let him have Sprite and M&Ms, but he has the right to be a kid on some days. I knew this going in, but boy did it really affect him today.

At first he was argumentative, which didn't make for an easy hair cut after the movie. We managed to get through that and arrived home. He didn't argue much the rest of the day, but his tics were off the chain. He was constantly making noise and chewing on anything he could put in his mouth. His tics have not been this bad in a while. He was full of energy, from the sugar I am sure, and basically drove me nuts. Well, he drove me nuts after several HOURS of listening to him. At some point, it does wear on my nerves.

He finally calmed down some time after dinner and his tics even seemed to subside a bit. It may be a while before I take him to another movie, but we did have a good time while we were there!

Sometimes the Old Way is the Better Way

As I posted earlier, Jacob has been accepted to the Texas State Technical College in Waco, TX. We completed his FASFA information and then TSTC contacted us yesterday. We need to send in a copy of both of our IRS Income Tax Transcripts for 2013. I called the school to find out exactly how to do this, and the gentleman explained it to me.

Last night, I got on the IRS website and found what I needed. I completed the request online and was able to print a copy of my transcript. I actually was able to save it right onto my computer and then send it by email to TSTC. Before doing this, I wanted to get Jacob's transcript. Well, I completed the form online just as I had done mine, but the webpage said the information didn't match what was on the return. I tried again, thinking I had made a typo and got the same information. Jacob then sat down and did it, and again we got an ERROR message and we were then locked out.

I tried again tonight and the same thing happened. I then searched the web for "irs transcript" problem and found a FORM that you can complete and mail in to get a copy. The form then had a phone number you can call to request a copy. I called the number and it took all of three minutes to complete the request. I was NOT told that the information didn't match what was filed(there was information I had to answer to prove Jacob was Jacob) and we should get a copy in 5-10 business days. I will then scan the form in and send it to TSTC. I still don't know what the original problem was when we tried to request it online, but I am glad I could get it done over the PHONE!

ICED in AGAIN!

School was cancelled again today due to icy roads and unsafe driving conditions. The sleet started yesterday afternoon and didn't let up. Elijah was SO excited to have the day off. He spent the day watching TV and playing with Legos. I did get him to complete a few chores with me that we didn't finish yesterday. Jacob slept in and did his chores late in the morning, but has been on his laptop since then. I even ordered us a PIZZA for lunch to be delivered! I haven't left the house all day.

I walked 10,000 steps while watching the Oscars--OK not all 10,000 at once, but I met 10,000 for the day and will add a few more before bed. I completed one quiz last night and one quiz today in each of my classes. I even watched THE WALKING DEAD today! It was nice to get this extra day off and play catch up with my TV. I am also way ahead in my grad school classes, but I'll keep working. I would prefer to stay ahead then have to start playing catch up.

We are off for Spring Break next week, and then in a few weeks we will take Elijah to a Tourette's camp. He is very excited about that!