For the month of April, I decided to keep most of my blogs autism related in honor of autism awareness month. In keeping with trying to increase awareness of what it is like to live with a child with autism (or any special needs for that matter), I’m going to walk you through a day in our life. I’ve decided to use last Wednesday as my example because it turned out to be one of those days that has a little bit of everything. You will find that some of our experiences are very much what every family is doing or going through, and some of it is pretty crazy and hectic. So here is last Wednesday at our house:
Ashley got up at 2:30 that morning. I told her it was still night, and put her back in her room. I got up on and off to deal with her, and then officially I was up about 5:30 am to get the morning chores done, and get the kids ready for school. Both Ashley and Hailey were going on a field trip with the 5
th grade class to a museum about an hour and half away. Although Ashley is in her own classroom at a different school due to her difficulties earlier this year, she was invited to go on the field trip. We had prearranged for her to ride in a car with her teacher and para, so if any problems arose they could handle it. My husband took Josh to get some blood work done at the local hospital, while I got the girls on their buses to school. Josh and Ashley have to get blood work done every few months due to their medications. The blood work has to be completed before they eat anything for the day. And since we are struggling with Ashley’s sleep right now, we are putting her blood work off for a while. It would be nearly impossible to keep Ashley from eating when she is getting up between 2 and 4 every morning. Lucky for us Josh loves getting his blood drawn (we are not sure why, it is just a Josh quirk). Also, we were able to get tests done for the neurologist and the psychiatrist at the same time, what a stress saver. Although Josh loves the needle, he does not love having to wait to eat. Soon the morning was completed, with everything easily accomplished. The kids were at school. Jason was at work, and I was also doing some work that morning. Although I do try to keep a flexible schedule to be available for the kids, I do work some. While I was working, I took a call from the school psych to discuss issues with Ashley’s PT or lack of it. I worked for 3 hours, came home and did some things around the house – cleaning, calls regarding Josh’s medical insurance, etc. Soon Ashley came home. I spent some time talking to her para and teacher, both of whom are so good for Ashley, and work really well with her. Then Hailey and Josh got home from school. Josh had some friends (3 brothers) come over to play for a couple of hours. Hailey had a softball meeting. Ashley wanted to be left alone; she had quite a bit of people time on the field trip. For a child with severe autism, she handles people pretty well, but does need some time to recuperate. We are blessed that almost all of Hailey and Josh’s friends are very respectful of Ashley. They don’t mess with her talker, and don’t react if she wanders out naked (of course we try to prevent this from happening). I guess most of them have grown up around her, and just consider her oddities normal. When it was time for the extra boys to go home, Josh went into a meltdown because I wouldn’t let them stay. He screamed and cried and said if we didn’t let them stay, he was going to run away. I decided to take the friends home, while Jason dealt with Josh. I didn’t know how out of control he was going to get, but I knew getting rid of the three extra kids was the best plan, regardless. When I came home from dropping them off, Josh was calmly packing to run away from home. The running away wasn’t a new threat; the calm part was different though. He actually packed 3 bags and told us good-bye before he calmly walked out the front door. We decided he wouldn’t get too far carrying all that stuff. Most of the neighborhood knows him, there was a risk someone might unintentionally reward his behavior. Jason asked if he would like to eat dinner before he left. Josh thought that was a good idea. Over dinner, we convinced him that maybe he was overreacting and should stay. We asked some questions about his running away plan. Our hope was to convince him it just wasn’t plausible. We asked if he planned to contact us, after he left. He said he wished he had a phone, but since he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to call. We asked where he would live and what he would eat. He said that he was thinking about staying in the trees near our yard. He was going to steal a lighter from someone, make a fire, and kill a squirrel to eat. He finally agreed to stay. My son is always entertaining! Later that night while I was helping Josh unpack, Ashley decided to try her hand at cooking. Evidently she asked for macaroni on her talker, but no one heard her. She found a pot of vegetable oil – leftover from making French fries- and poured macaroni shells in it. Then she took the pot of oil and macaroni and attempted to pour it into a bowl on the dining room table. She poured it in the bowl and all over the table and floor. There is nothing like trying to clean up vegetable oil. Eventually, we made it through the day – homework, baths, meds, etc. Josh fell asleep at 9, Hailey about 10, and Ashley at midnight. Most days I am so happy when they fall asleep. I love my children, but they are exhausting! Not every day is that chaotic, some are even more exciting than this. It is just a day in the life of special needs children.
Like Created In His Image on Facebook
Originally posted April 2012
For the month of April, I decided to keep most of my blogs autism related in honor of autism awareness month. In keeping with trying to increase awareness of what it is like to live with a child with autism (or any special needs for that matter), I’m going to walk you through a day in our life. I’ve decided to use last Wednesday as my example because it turned out to be one of those days that has a little bit of everything. You will find that some of our experiences are very much what every family is doing or going through, and some of it is pretty crazy and hectic. So here is last Wednesday at our house:
Ashley got up at 2:30 that morning. I told her it was still night, and put her back in her room. I got up on and off to deal with her, and then officially I was up about 5:30 am to get the morning chores done, and get the kids ready for school. Both Ashley and Hailey were going on a field trip with the 5th grade class to a museum about an hour and half away. Although Ashley is in her own classroom at a different school due to her difficulties earlier this year, she was invited to go on the field trip. We had prearranged for her to ride in a car with her teacher and para, so if any problems arose they could handle it. My husband took Josh to get some blood work done at the local hospital, while I got the girls on their buses to school. Josh and Ashley have to get blood work done every few months due to their medications. The blood work has to be completed before they eat anything for the day. And since we are struggling with Ashley’s sleep right now, we are putting her blood work off for a while. It would be nearly impossible to keep Ashley from eating when she is getting up between 2 and 4 every morning. Lucky for us Josh loves getting his blood drawn (we are not sure why, it is just a Josh quirk). Also, we were able to get tests done for the neurologist and the psychiatrist at the same time, what a stress saver. Although Josh loves the needle, he does not love having to wait to eat. Soon the morning was completed, with everything easily accomplished. The kids were at school. Jason was at work, and I was also doing some work that morning. Although I do try to keep a flexible schedule to be available for the kids, I do work some. While I was working, I took a call from the school psych to discuss issues with Ashley’s PT or lack of it. I worked for 3 hours, came home and did some things around the house – cleaning, calls regarding Josh’s medical insurance, etc. Soon Ashley came home. I spent some time talking to her para and teacher, both of whom are so good for Ashley, and work really well with her. Then Hailey and Josh got home from school. Josh had some friends (3 brothers) come over to play for a couple of hours. Hailey had a softball meeting. Ashley wanted to be left alone; she had quite a bit of people time on the field trip. For a child with severe autism, she handles people pretty well, but does need some time to recuperate. We are blessed that almost all of Hailey and Josh’s friends are very respectful of Ashley. They don’t mess with her talker, and don’t react if she wanders out naked (of course we try to prevent this from happening). I guess most of them have grown up around her, and just consider her oddities normal. When it was time for the extra boys to go home, Josh went into a meltdown because I wouldn’t let them stay. He screamed and cried and said if we didn’t let them stay, he was going to run away. I decided to take the friends home, while Jason dealt with Josh. I didn’t know how out of control he was going to get, but I knew getting rid of the three extra kids was the best plan, regardless. When I came home from dropping them off, Josh was calmly packing to run away from home. The running away wasn’t a new threat; the calm part was different though. He actually packed 3 bags and told us good-bye before he calmly walked out the front door. We decided he wouldn’t get too far carrying all that stuff. Most of the neighborhood knows him, there was a risk someone might unintentionally reward his behavior. Jason asked if he would like to eat dinner before he left. Josh thought that was a good idea. Over dinner, we convinced him that maybe he was overreacting and should stay. We asked some questions about his running away plan. Our hope was to convince him it just wasn’t plausible. We asked if he planned to contact us, after he left. He said he wished he had a phone, but since he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to call. We asked where he would live and what he would eat. He said that he was thinking about staying in the trees near our yard. He was going to steal a lighter from someone, make a fire, and kill a squirrel to eat. He finally agreed to stay. My son is always entertaining! Later that night while I was helping Josh unpack, Ashley decided to try her hand at cooking. Evidently she asked for macaroni on her talker, but no one heard her. She found a pot of vegetable oil – leftover from making French fries- and poured macaroni shells in it. Then she took the pot of oil and macaroni and attempted to pour it into a bowl on the dining room table. She poured it in the bowl and all over the table and floor. There is nothing like trying to clean up vegetable oil. Eventually, we made it through the day – homework, baths, meds, etc. Josh fell asleep at 9, Hailey about 10, and Ashley at midnight. Most days I am so happy when they fall asleep. I love my children, but they are exhausting! Not every day is that chaotic, some are even more exciting than this. It is just a day in the life of special needs children. Like Created In His Image on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment