Meetings on Meetings!

Boy Wonder was difficult to rouse this morning. He had finally got to sleep in the early hours and probably managed two or three hours of restful sleep.  He went into the shower and I then dried and dressed him before breakfast. I had to repeatedly ask him to stay still so that I could dress him. He perceived this as being told off and started hitting his head with his hands.  After much needed diversion techniques, he calmed and we went downstairs.

Boy Wonder sang constantly whilst having breakfast and did so with a very obvious lisp. I asked him not to do this but it didn't seem to be something that he had full control over. 

I spent some of the day sending emails to the local authority and various professionals regarding the pending meeting. 

The school day came and went and Boy Wonder returned with a Gold award although he wasn't overly clear what this was for. We congratulated him anyway! Biker Gramps took him to dance and Cat Girl to Ju Jitsu whilst Superman and I attended a review with Boy Wonder's Psychiatrist and Art Therapist.

The review concluded that it is likely that Boy Wonder is depressed as his recent presentation appears to be self directed anxiety / self harm and low mood rather than the previous anger outbursts directed at others. She asked to see him to assess this more thoroughly in the next week. We agreed that the art therapy would continue on the basis that it is providing a much needed sanctuary but with the updated information, the therapist said he would attempt to probe a little further when anxiety presented itself, albeit in a mild form. 

I went on to evening meeting and Superman picked up the children and went onto football club. When they arrived home it was late, however Boy Wonder was still awake well into the early hours. 

We received a letter today from the old school's solicitor stating that they weren't taking any action after all over perceived outstanding school fees from over two years ago when we had to remove Boy Wonder due to his condition not being accepted and him becoming ill with anxiety. We were so looking forward to a day in court too, to make a point!!

Today also brought the day of the meeting. Boy Wonder started his morning again with a period of self harm which he directed at his punch bag once I stopped him from hitting himself. This wasn't in a controlled manner and he ended up kicking and punching the wall after missing his target. 

Cat Girl was very excited as she was going to her friend's for tea! We were also looking forward to our bedroom furniture being delivered this morning after years of having the most neglected room in the house! It looks fabulous now, our own little sanctuary. 

The meeting was a fairly productive and positive one which is the first time we have actually thought this! The OT is going into school next week to discuss the implementation of the sensory diet. This will be the decider in a lot of ways as if it is agreed, it will take Boy Wonder over his allocated hours. The EP stated that he had requested a second opinion for his own work and to provide clarity and the independent EP provided a graphic description of her observations which really seemed to put matters into perspective. We spoke about Boy Wonder's possible depressed state and the Monday night incident and the medical appointments that are pending. 

This evening, although Boy Wonder appeared to be presenting 'okay,' he was communicating that he was a 'bad boy' in messages to Super Gran. She responded with positive reinforcement but I guess this is the depressive element to his changing presentation that the Psychiatrist wants to explore further. He fell to sleep at just after 11pm. 

A Testing Time

Three days have flown by and not in a good way! The absence from the blog was due to intensive support required to get Boy Wonder through a difficult time. A time where we have had to seriously rethink how we keep him safe. I will stop talking in riddles ......

It started with a visit from the Second Opinion Educational Psychologist. She came to assess Boy Wonder at home to enable her to complete a tribunal report. The day was well planned with short activities and plenty of breaks. However it soon became very clear that Boy Wonder was struggling with the intensity of the activities, processing and general understanding. He became very fidgety, demanding of deep pressure and highly anxious. This resulted in him shouting at the EP, running from the room, self harming and finally finishing off in complete meltdown. She had managed to complete about half of the assessment with him before we agreed to call it a day. This certainly highlighted the areas of change that I discussed in the earlier blog.

The day didn't improve and Superman and I were reluctant to go out to the theatre due to Boy Wonder's low, unpredictable mood. However, we did go and grandparents babysat for him and Cat Girl. I called home after an hour and spoke to Boy Wonder who said that he was feeling a bit better.

We returned home just after 10pm and noticed the light on on the bathroom. When we got inside we enquired about the light to be told that both children were in bed.  I went upstairs to check and found Boy Wonder's bed empty. I went to the bathroom door that was locked. I shouted to Boy Wonder and got no response. I banged on the door, no response. Superman responded to my shouts and broke the lock off of the door. Boy Wonder had put himself in the bath and fallen to sleep. I pulled him out and wrapped him in a towel, he was okay but appeared sedate. Luckily the water had been shallow and his face had remained above the surface. The water was still warm so he hadn't been there long. It could have been such a different story!!

Boy Wonder remembers nothing from this night after putting himself in the bath. He hasn't processed the risk and we haven't wanted to labour this due to his already fragile emotional state.

Since this night we have done nothing but analyse, risk assess and attempt to second guess any further acts of impulse. This has resulted in removing the lock permanently from the bathroom door, hiding the bath plug and installing an audio monitoring system in his bedroom to track movement.

The incident has opened up discussion within the family about the growing complexity of Boy Wonder's condition and raised the bar for supervision to keep him safe when he is not being directly looked after by Superman and I.

Boy Wonder has also gone back to school this week which has brought additional anxiety to the table. Coupled with a pending local authority response deadline and a meeting, the week is a busy one!

On a positive note, the weighted blanket had arrived and we are in the early stages of using it. Hopefully it will work well and aid Boy Wonder's sleep.

Spinning and Swinging

We gave Boy Wonder a lie in this morning to try and give him a proper rest. He woke up at midday and had a shower before we headed off out to the park.

We picked up Super Gran and Biker Gramps and after a brief stop off at a a shop to get some bedding  for our bedroom refurb, we headed to Bakewell for a chippy tea and a play on the park. It was very fresh and breezy but nice to get out and about. We had banned all electronic devises so throughout the car journey Boy Wonder and Cat Girl were reading books, looking at Where's Wally books and then we all played ' spot the car' and 'I Spy.'

We stopped for dinner in a chippy cafe and Boy Wonder insisted on having onion rings. We thought it a bit odd so also ordered chicken nuggets. They came with chips which Cat Girl stated that she didn't ask for. ' it's a chip shop!' Boy Wonder said this he didn't like the onion rings as he wanted the orange type. I explained that they were crisps. He had the nuggets instead! Shortly after dinner, Boy Wonder started to complain of tummy ache and wanted a cuddle.

After the dilemmas of the chippy we headed to the park where Boy Wonder spent a lot of time spinning and swinging. He was clearly craving some sensory input. We took it in turns to spun and swing him, well everyone except me as I was holding daisies that Cat Girl was picking for me.

It was getting dark so we headed home and enroute played a further game of 'I Spy' in the dark, quite a challenge! As we returned home, Cat Girl announced to Boy Wonder that mummy and daddy are sleeping in her bed tonight. We were having a joke with her this morning as we were taking old furniture out of our bedroom for the carpet to be fitted. Boy Wonder became very upset and said that he would be packing as he is no longer part of the family. I reassured him that it was just a joke but he said that it felt like he had been tortured. It took quite a while to console him and then to convince Cat Girl that it was just a bit of fun. Eventually Boy Wonder came round as he saw me making up our bed in our bedroom.

This evening we watched Wallace and Gromit and then Top Gear before Boy Wonder went up to bed to settle down.

Social Understandng

Boy Wonder spent Friday at a football club with his 1:1 worker. Their day was eventful to say the least, due to poor management, children wandering and running off and plain bullying of each other. Luckily Boy Wonder appeared to remain oblivious to this and when told by one boy that he was to do as he said or he would push him over, his 1:1 stepped in and told him to go away. Later on another boy who Boy Wonder called a 'ball hogger' shouted at him for attempting to get the ball from him. I asked him what he said back to him. ' I said, I am tackling you, that is what I am supposed to do durrhh! I had to tell him twice, he obviously doesn't know the rules.'  The worker and I agreed that Boy Wonder's unique view of society obviously protected him from a pretty awful day and I was very grateful that he had been there to keep Boy Wonder safe. We further agreed that it  probably wasn't an experience that we would repeat again in a hurry.

Today we got up and got ready to go to Nerf party. Boy Wonder and Cat Girl were excited and raring to go. Before we left the Educational Psychologist rang to rebook the assessment for Monday and as she was about to put the phone down Boy Wonder came bounding into the room, dripping wet through from the shower, singing at the top of his voice ( which is very loud!) He was oblivious to me being on the phone and even when I told him, he carried on. The EP suggested that she had better let me go as it sounded as if my attention needed to be elsewhere! Either that or she was getting earache!

The party was great. Boy Wonder and his side kick made plans to defeat their apponents, failing to even realise thst there were three other members of their team. Regardless of this it all went really well and was a good oppportunity to expel some energy. Boy Wonder ate little at food time and had to be coaxed but made it up by eating most of his tea later on.

This evening Superman and Boy Wonder watched rugby. There was a lot of shouting at the TV which Cat Girl found very amusing. Whilst they did this for a further hour or so, Cat Girl and I did some baking  and making of aliens with play doe.

After the grandparent visit the children went up to bed. Boy Wonder was still awake when we went up. He kept saying sorry and the hitting himself in the face. After a lot if reassurance he then started asking for kisses to make him go to sleep. He is still awake!

A time to reflect, learn and adapt

There have been a lot of changes lately with Boy Wonder's presentation, so much so that we are feeling that we need to get to know him all over again.

Boy Wonder's usual pattern was one of hyperactivity, giddiness and impulsivity with quick fire anger thrown in when he didn't 'get it,' or felt persecuted. This formed the meltdowns which could be horrific and lengthily. He would get what we called 'head fuzzed,' where he couldn't process and would then flit from one thing to another. This would also lead to impulsive and often dangerous behaviour like climbing high and jumping or running into traffic. Boy Wonder's ability to play with more than one child ( the dreaded group of three!) put us on tenterhooks as it was only a matter of time before it failed, with the younger child being the one he wheedled out.   He would go to sleep eventually but wake up many times in the night and be wide awake from 4-5am onwards!

This was hard work but we knew what to do. We had techniques to manage Boy Wonder's anxiety, impulsivity and behaviour. We knew the triggers and could divert early or at least prepare for the outcome if this wasn't an option. But now things have changed ......

Boy Wonder has a diagnosis of high functioning autism ( Asperger profile) ADHD, anxiety disorder and sensory processing disorder to name a few on his list. Due to the complexity of his condition he is medicated for his sleep, anxiety and for ADHD. He has been on medication for nearly two years now, although it has had to be increased in recent months due to the changes that I will elaborate on. Over the years we have tried the GFCF diet, homeopathy, and massage which either have made no impact, caused distress or highlighted other difficulties due to their process. For example, massage caused Boy Wonder to become uncomfortable with the actual close contact and the sensation of the oil. Therefore the deep pressure therapy was lost.

More recently we have embarked on private assessments from an Occupational Therapist and an Educational Psychologist who have started to highlight things more so, specifically around Boy Wonder's heightened senses and learning style. It is early days but we are hopeful that their intervention will prove helpful and provide him with the much needed intervention.

So, back to the changes. In the last six months there have been some noticeable changes in Boy Wonder's presentation. He is still hyperactive, giddy and impulsive before medication in the morning. This is at a heightened level but goes away until late evening which is the longevity of the ADHD medication. So this change can be explained somewhat and the display of hypermania in the morning is a reassuring proof that this medication is providing a much needed function. However, Boy Wonder's sleep has practically become non existent. We struggle to get him to sleep as he can't switch off and if he does go to sleep he is shouting out and jerking ( body spasms) for the first couple of hours. We are then needing to wake him in the morning for school after only a couple of hours rest. He is also incontinent every night which hasn't improved in the last year.

During the day Boy Wonder will be very fidgety, chew his fingers or clothing and appear panicky.  He panics over the slightest things, usually perceiving that he has done wrong. He then calls himself bad and self harms by hitting himself in the face or banging his head. ( and then panicking over the injury if he has hit his head against a wall,) He complains throughout the day of having tummy ache and feeling sick with occasional headaches. This sometimes prevents him from going to clubs and on one occasion, school as he was exhausted. In the evenings Boy Wonder will take himself off to his room and watch / play Minecraft for hours ( if we let him) or watch football. He explains that Minecraft gives him happy spirits and takes his anger away. The outward displays of anger are less as are the meltdowns. However when they do come, they are more intense and a lot harder to manage.

As with the majority of parents with children who have additional needs, we want to make sure that we are helping him in the right way. He does have an excellent medical team around him that are working with us on this but the growing reality is that Boy Wonder may be presenting with more complex mental health problems than originally thought. Either that or his current diagnosises are strengthing with age and are becoming more substantial.

We are given a lot of books to read by Boy Wonder's Clinical Pyschologist. In one of them it talks about autism and co morbid ADHD and explains that the typical long term routine and structure applied to children with autism falls flat with a co morbid ADHD as the ADHD constantly challenges the routine. Heigtened anxiety also dampens the ADHD presentation in some situations I.e school, as it takes over due to its intensity. Food for thought it seems. We still have a lot to learn.

The Night Monster

Yesterday Boy Wonder spent the day with his 1:1 going swimming and on the tram. He seemed to enjoy his day although he started out being quite apprehensive due to feeling unwell. He was complaining of tummy ache and was panicky. He was telling himself that he was a bad boy and hitting himself in the face and banging his head against the wall.

Cat Girl spent trhe day with grandparents and on her return home her friend came to play. She hadn't seen her friend since nursery so it was nice for them to get back together. Boy Wonder came home and hid himself away in his bedroom away from the noise of girls playing.

In the evening Boy Wonder became restless and went up and down stairs until finally settling in the early hours.

This morning Boy Wonder had to be woken up to go to club Inspire. He appeared very tired and panicky. Whilst getting dressed he complained of a rash on his chest which was a friction burn from the floats used at swimming yesterday. Cat Girl got up and Biker Gramps came to take them to clubs.

I picked Boy Wonder up from dance and we came home. He appeared quiet yet agitated. He refused to go to football and seemed off it in general.

Later on after tea, I spoke with Boy Wonder who said that he was scared of the 'Night Monster' who had sharp teeth and claws that rip you skin. I asked him how he knew about the monster and he said that he could see it and hear it. ( Boy Wonder's main bulb had blown in his bedroom tonight so this may have instigated the monster, as it was darker than usual.) I told him that I would sleep with him tonight and he didn't argue. He has a day at the local football club tomorrow so needs to get some rest.

A Short Day!

I can't tell you how Boy Wonder was this morning as he didn't wake up until 1pm! And that was only because I woke him up! He had, had a very late and unsettled night and when he finally came round he complained of tummy ache and feeling sick.

Boy Wonder went into the shower and fell back to sleep. I got him out and dried and dressed him before we headed out to a play centre to meet friends. Cat Girl was very excited but Boy Wonder didn't seem fussed. When we arrived he played for all of twenty minutes and then sat with me for the rest. He ate very little lunch and didn't engage in conversation a great deal either.

On arrival home Boy Wonder watched tv before going to his room. He stayed there most of the evening. The Barcelona match Was was on which peeked him up, especially when Messi scored!

Superman and I went our to the theatre tonight to watch a production of  Phantom my Boy Wonder's music theatre group. Super Gran and Biker Gramps babysat. Cat Girl was asleep on our return and Boy Wonder was watching the highlights of the match. He settled into bed soon after.

First Day of the Holidays

We did indeed get home in time for Top Gear and all settled down to have some cheese and crackers. Boy Wonder was highly amused as my Uncle looks remarkably like James May which he had told him whilst we were there over the weekend!

Cat Girl fell to sleep quite quickly, Boy Wonder took a lot longer. However he dropped off just after midnight.  This morning he awoke in a anxious, tetchy mood, calling himself naughty and hitting himself in the face.

Today Boy Wonder went to club Inspire with his friend and they made a huge robot and robot drinks. When we picked them up they were playing football and taking charge. They seemed to enjoy it and left happy.

We went on to art therapy and as we were a little early I asked the nurse to weigh and measure Boy Wonder as he hasn't been weighed for about a month. Boy Wonder wasn't at all happy about this as I hadn't prewarned him. Plus he was missing football table time which he made very clear, wasn't acceptable! On a positive note though he has gained 800g which at least is in the right direction.

We went to the appointment and Boy Wonder played with me on the football table. He insisted that we have a full game before he goes in but his therapist arrived as we got to 2-1. Boy Wonder proceeded to make the score 10-1 to him by rolling the ball into the goal a further 8 times. He was then happy that the game was finished.

An hour later and Boy Wonder came out of his appointment, happy and smiling. It's amazing how art therapy dispels the anger / anxiety. Cat Girl and I finished reading a book and then we left for the supermarket. Boy Wonder coped well with this as it was the small one and he went off finding things for me. He came back with a book on planets too that he wanted.  He even helped to carry the shopping into the house when we got home.

This evening Boy Wonder watched Mine Craft whilst I took Cat Girl swimming. He seems a lot more chilled tonight although is complaining of tummy ache and being generally achy. Oh Dear!

Weekend Part 2

We picked another cousin up on the way and experienced a very stop, start journey. Boy Wonder coped well. He and Cat Girl played on tablets and DS's all the way down. Once at the hotel we got ready for the reception. Boy Wonder started to become anxious about his electronic tablet as we said that we didn't want him to take it with him. 

As we waited for the taxi in the hotel bar, Boy Wonder baracaded himself in a corner behind some chairs. Cat Girl and little niece thought he was playing and tried to join in. He became angry and so I encouraged them away to let him have some quiet time. There were a lot of uncertainties for Boy Wonder to deal with. Where was he? What did the place look like? What would happen there? Would there be party games? We tried to reassure him as much as possible but he said that he needed his tablet to help him. We agreed that he could take it if he also joined in and played too. He agreed. 

At the reception Boy Wonder went straight to dance and seemed to be enjoying himself. However it soon became apparent that he was doing this to get his tablet quicker. He was also very hungry as because the journey was longer than we hoped we had no time to have dinner once there. 

Throughout the night Boy Wonder played for a while and then went on his tablet. As the night wore on it was harder to disengage him from the tablet. There was a small incident with a little girl and a balloon early on where Boy Wonder became upset and angry about the perceived injustice of her taking his cousin's balloon. Superman made up some story about finding said balloon under a table and Boy Wonder then went into 'over the top' apology mode. 

As the night went on it was clear that Boy Wonder was starting to lose control of the situation, with snippets here and there of aggression. We booked a taxi to return to the hotel and waited for it outside. He started to get loud, moved away from us to the other side of a large puddle and up a small banking. After a short taxi ride we got to the hotel and a very loud Boy Wonder had to be reminded several times to be quiet as it was late. 

In the room things came to a head quickly as Boy Wonder who looked very tired was demanding that he would be staying awake all night. He couldn't sleep, he needed lights on etc etc. Usually in these situations, if left, Boy Wonder will stay up all night and as a consequence will struggle more the next day. Not something we could take a chance on with a long car journey home ahead of us.  We did a bed shuffle and put Boy Wonder in with me for some firm hold. He reacted badly and screamed and shouted out in distress. At past midnight this was not good and two minutes of this horrendous noise seemed like a lifetime! However as the firm hold kicked in, he started to calm and I told them both a story about 'Naughty Annie.' I used to make these stories up for my sister years ago as kids. Soon after Boy Wonder was fast asleep. He then spent the rest of the night 'cat padding ' me with his feet!

We had a lazy start to the morning. Boy Wonder was last to get ready, being quite appalled that he couldn't lie down in the shower so demanded another one once home. After a mini battle to get him dressed, we left the room and strolled down for breakfast just before the end of service. It was a very nice cooked breakfast which was just what we needed! It was very noticeable that Boy Wonder was after some deep pressure as he was constantly wringing his hands and swinging between chairs in his arms. Superman did some press ups with him when we returned to the room to pack.

Afterwards we went for a walk along the sea front where it was surprisingly warm and sunny. Boy Wonder found some tar that had moulding itself on the rocks and been smoothed by the tide. He commented at how smooth it looked and how he liked the feel of it. We bumped into cousins down there and took photos of it for him and some others along the sea front.

We left to meet with other family for lunch before setting off home. Boy Wonder ate very little and spent most of his time on the tablet, with snippets of interaction with others.

The journey home was just as stop start as the way there. We are hoping to get back in time for Top Gear!

Weekend Part 1

Friday morning consisted of tired children and a good attempt at scrubbing off tattoos from last night's Valentines disco! They both needed a lot of prompts this morning and finally went downstairs for breakfast. After toast, I let them eat valentines cake as a treat.

On arrival at school Boy Wonder fell out of the car and landed on the pavement on his side. A few more bruises to add to his collection! We got into school and had him checked over before thanking the teaching assistant for her support yesterday. She said that she had been thinking about it a lot last night and was really pleased that he was okay.

I attended the special assembly this morning as Boy Wonder was receiving a star award for achieving the 'Grid Method' in maths. You may remember from parents evening we were taught this method and it is quite odd but logical I guess! Boy Wonder stood up in assembly to receive his certificate and explained the grid method process to the school. The rest of assembly was spent picking at the skin on his fingers so afterwards I discreetly asked one of the staff to take a look at his hands and give him his cream.  I further suggested that a twiddle may be a good idea in assembly.

The last day of school seemed to be filled with activities which meant that Boy Wonder was fairly settled when he came home. Superman picked them up from school and said that they had a chilled evening. Both children were asleep when I returned from work at 10pm, which was good going for Boy Wonder!

This morning brought more excitement coupled with anxiety due to Boy Wonder having to leave Jet the kitten over night as we are going to a wedding reception and staying over. I don't think Cat Girl had realised that yet!

We got up, showered, dressed and packed. The packing included all electronic gadgets for the journey and a raft of medication! Boy Wonder remained very excitable throughout the morning until he sunk back into routine with going to dance.

Whilst as Boy Wonder we to dance I got the car cleaned ( a much needed valet!) and then went to buy some snacks for the journey. After dance we came home, got changed and all started our journey south to Cousin's wedding.

To be continued .............

Young Hearts....

Boy Wonder had a restful night after an hour or so of night jerks. He swaddled himself in a fleece blanket which seemed to help him.

This morning I woke Boy Wonder up and he went into the shower.  Afterwards he became very hyper giddy, excited about tonight's valentines disco. They both chose their outfits before getting ready for school.  Boy Wonder also wrote a poem for his girlfriend.

I dropped them off at school and saw the supply teacher who would be in Boy Wonder's class today. She was an older lady with glasses. Although I am sure that she was very nice, she unnerved me as Boy Wonder has history of being overly scared by old looking people, especially those wearing glasses. I tipped the teaching assistant off before leaving.

Football was cancelled today due to the school disco so after school clubs just consisted of dance and Ju Jitsu.  On picking the children up from school, Boy Wonder was reported to be hyper. He stated that he had been in trouble with the supply teacher but the teaching assistant had saved him! Boy Wonder later explained that he had been marked down for singing in class and then again for singing in class. He had started to cry ' on purpose' because he was very upset. I explained that, that didn't mean that he did it on purpose but he cried because he was upset. He said that was what he meant. He had then refused to move himself down and got more upset. The teaching assistant intervened and took him out of the classroom to calm him and then spoke to the teacher to retract the reprimand which she did. It was fairly obvious that Boy Wonder had reacted badly to her and made it clear that he didn't like her as she was mean.  It also begs the question if she had been given sufficent information on Boy Wonder's needs.

We went to dance and Ju Jitsu and booked Cat Girl in for a holiday club session which she is very excited about. After dance, Boy Wonder's teacher asked if she could have an extra session with him in the holidays to practice a dance that he is doing for the show.  Boy Wonder and I then nipped home to get him changed for the disco and then went to set up. Boy Wonder was dressed smartly and even wore aftershave.  He was out to impress! I set Cat Girl's clothes out for when her and Superman got home so that she would be dressed properly! Boy Wonder wrote his card and wrapped the present for his girlfriend and off we went.

The disco went well. Cat Girl received a lovely necklace from an admirer and she gave out white chocolate heart lollies to her three favourite boys! Boy Wonder gave his gift to his girlfriend and she gave him something back which included a cute little teddy. He had also bought her a teddy too. There was a bit of a problem  between the older girl and Boy Wonder but after I intervened it passed. I reminded Boy Wonder to remain polite with her which he did.  The older girl had also brought Boy Wonder a card and gift so he said thank you.

After the excitement of the disco they both came home and settled down. Boy Wonder went to bed with his teddy and listened to music.

Parents Evening

Another reasonable night's sleep from Boy Wonder meant that he was a little more settled today and more like his hyper happy self. The morning routine remained difficult but we got through it and went downstairs for breakfast.

The day seemed to go fairly reasonably and Boy Wonder and Cat Girl were very excited to be going to grandparents after school due to myself and Superman going to parents evening.

Parents evening was interesting. First we saw Cat Girl's teacher who told us how delightful she is to teach, how funny her and her little friend are together to the point that they are joined at the hip and when in imaginary play they go shoe shopping together! We spoke about the occasional emotional support that Cat Girl may need when Boy Wonder is having a stressful morning and agreed to respond to this as required.

Boy Wonder's meeting was next and it made a nice change to talk about his academic progress as this is never an area of concern at the other meetings. He is doing exceptionally well in his core areas, being well above the average for his age. It appears that we could be hindering his progress when it comes to 'helping' with homework as we are not familiar with multiplication grids and chunking! The teacher gave us a brief lesson which provided us all with a well overdue laugh. We spoke about how Boy Wonder would remain challenged in his work and the areas that still need a fair amount of support to bring them up to the same sort of level such as ' imaginative writing.'  The second opinion educational psychologist is going to be doing a academic profile too so this should be interesting and useful.

This evening after they returned from clubs we had the Valentines Day discussion! BoyWonder has a bit of a dilemma as he has a girlfriend ( who is an absolute sweetie) but also has an older girl that has made it clear her intentions! I explained to Boy Wonder that the right thing to do is to pick one girl that he likes and make her a card / gift. If he receives anything from anyone else he is to say thank you. Boy Wonder said that he would choose his girlfriend. It is so complicated at 8 years old! 

Cat Girl stated that she wanted to give her best friend a gift and a couple of the boys. I said that I would get her a few small gifts that she could give to her friends. Happy with this, she picked out her Sooty dress for the Valentines disco and settled down in bed.

Boy Wonder watched football and then made a card for his girlfriend. Afterwards we went to bed to read. 

All Change!

Boy Wonder fell to sleep quickly last night. I had only read two pages of the story. I stayed with him throughout the night and despite a lot of jerking and talking in his sleep, he did seem to get some rest. 

This morning I was expecting a bright and hyper happy child but I couldn't have been more wrong. Boy Wonder hardly spoke for the first fifteen minutes. He went into the shower and stood there for what seemed an age. No lying down like he usually would. I dried and dressed him and we went downstairs. Cat Girl was ready and downstairs chasing get cat around! 

We sorted breakfast and throughout this and getting shoes on ready for school, Boy Wonder started to become very panicky over the slightest request, I.e 'put your shoes on,' and started to hit himself in the face and repeatedly say ' Boy Wonder bad, Boy Wonder naughty.' After a lot of reassurance  He started to settle but it was very apparent that this was bubbling under the surface. 

We arrived at school and went into a temporary class room with a supply teacher, which Boy Wonder had been pre warned about. He seemed okay once he had established his seat. 

After school club was canceled today so we came straight home and Boy Wonder went upstairs on his lap top until it was time for piano. 

As we were due to go, he started to complain of tummy ache and become very panicky about going to Ju Jitsu. We couldn't work out whether he has lost interest or whether it more to do with anxiety. 

Boy Wonder's piano lesson wasn't with his usual teacher today but still with someone he knew. Afterwards, he changed for Ju Jitsu with little fuss and said he would go and see how he got on. 

Superman picked him up later and he seemed really happy and said that he enjoyed it. He played on Minecraft for a short while. Cat Girl watched tv in bed and then I read with Boy Wonder in bed until he fell to sleep. 

No Sleep

It soon became apparent this morning that Boy Wonder had remained awake all night and as a result was very panicky, stressed and tired. He apologised to me over and over for being bad and took a lot of reassurance to calm down. He went into the shower whilst I got Cat Girl up and sorted. She was in a stubborn mood and wouldn't do anything I said!

We went downstairs and after a small amount of breakfast Boy Wonder went to lie on the sofa and fell to sleep. I felt awful having to wake him for school and explained to him that I would collect him if he needed to come home.

I spoke with the teacher at school asked her to contact me if she was at all worried or of he needed to one home. She said she would.

No sooner had I arrived at work and the phone went. It was school. Boy Wonder, they said was fine but the head was ringing to discuss the incident last week at my request. I explained that Boy Wonder  cannot transfer skills not knowing that he had exposed himself in school meant that he could just as likely do it in a public place and make himself very vulnerable. The mistake was realised and an apology given.

I went to a parents group later today and learnt that all local authority educational psychologists are of the same breed in that they react only to the problems highlighted by schools which impact on the class. I learnt nothing else but they werea lovely bunch of people.

BoyWonder had attended art therapy and afterwards at home looked very tired. He spent the evening resting whilst I took Cat Girl swimming. On the way home she told me all about Chinese bamboo dragon flies. Very interesting!She also said that she would like to go to China on holiday. She seems to like China but I don't know why! Although I am sure it is very nice.

I settled down with Boy Wonder this evening and we agreed that I would read to him. He promptly lined the books of his choice up on his bed, all I alphabetical order. There must have been at least 20. A sign that it would be s long night again! However I was wrong, five minutes of reading and he was fast asleep

Believe in Yourself

I fell to sleep well before Boy Wonder last night, waking up suddenly at 5am to check that he had gone to bed! He was asleep in bed with a pillow over his head. On his desk were numerous drawings and lyrics to songs that he had written. The main song was titled ' Believe in Yourself.' It was a very inspirational read and suggested that with support you can do anything. It brought a tear to my eye, just to have a little insight into his head.  I wonder if Boy Wonder truly understands the depth of his lyrics???

It was highly likely that Boy Wonder went to bed in the early hours and as a result woke up at 11.30am.  We thought that he would be revitalised from having some sleep but he looked pale with red around the eyes and his mood was odd. We had a late breakfast/ early lunch and then met friends at a play centre for a couple of hours or so.

During the morning whilst waiting for Boy Wonder to wake, Cat Girl made herself a reward chart for taking her medication for her tummy and eating without fuss. Although the dynamics of this were slightly out in that she had taken full control over it, it did actually prove itself to be successful!

We stayed at the play centre for a while due to the weather being awful and the children all played well. The boys even walked away from a potential fight as they were challenged by two older boys who pushed them by the shoulders. I did wade into that one though and gave the older boys 'The Look.' which worked a treat. It has never worked on Boy Wonder for obvious reasons so any opportunity to use it, I love!

Boy Wonder has been fairly quiet today, staring into space quite a bit with episodes of panic, more so this evening. He did his homework with Superman which was about Space. Boy Wonder made it very clear that he wasn't interested in the topic and therefore took a fair bit of encouragement.

This evening Boy Wonder and Superman watched Top Gear which meant that Boy Wonder asked a lot of questions, especially about the new Maclaran. Afterwardshe went up to his bedroom to settle down.

Lego Movie

A difficult end to the week. Boy Wonder appeared very tired and head jumbled.  Cat Girl was also being a grump so all in all it was hard work. Roll on the weekend!

After speaking with school about the incident last week and not getting very far, I stayed for assembly and watched Cat Girl show her Ju Jitsu grading certificate and do a little demo which consisted of girlie punches, very cute!

CAMHS made an appointment with us today to get together and review Boy Wonder's art therapy and general mental state. The medication increase has helped but he is still showing signs of low mood and is also quite panicky.

In the evening the children settled down after tea and some Minecraft. Cat Girl appeared to be very tired, Boy Wonder appeared distant. He fell to sleep very late and I had to wake him at 10am this morning to go to dance.

Today was a fairly calm day. After dance we went to the cinema and watched The Lego Movie. Boy Wonder became very excited about watching this which was nice to see. Around the shopping centre where the cinema is, it was extremely busy which Boy Wonder responded to by becoming erratic in mood. He was jumping about and unable to take in what I was saying to him.

The film was very good. It started slowly but towards the end it really came into its own. They both enjoyed it. It reminded me somewhat of Boy Wonder and his friend, building Lego as per the instructions rather than imagination .  Afterwards we walked back to the car around the outside of the building to avoid the business of the shopping centre.

We called in at Supergran's and Biker Gramps to drop something off and then headed home. This evening the grandparents visited and the children played downstairs on their tablets. Later on in the evening, Boy Wonder escaped to his bedroom as he had had a little accident. I helped him to change and asked him if he wanted anything? Boy Wonder became quite panicky. After a lot of reassurance he started to settle.

Assessment day

It was hard work this morning after having a 'day off.' Boy Wonder and Cat Girl made everything an effort and as a consequence we didn't get down stairs until 8.15am. We hurried breakfast and left for school.

I spoke briefly with the T.A about the two matters in the diary but she knew little as she wasn't there in the afternoons. She did say that she would speak with the teacher though and request further information.

The second opinion Educational Psychologist visited school this afternoon to start her assessment. I met her after school as she observed Boy Wonder leaving. The teacher spoke to me briefly about the incident that I was concerned about which involved Boy Wonder mimicking exposure behaviour in the toilets. Little concern was shown for this as it was a 'boy' thing but I wasn't happy with that as Boy Wonder doesn't tend to learn from experiences and could potentially be doing this in any toilets! I asked if we could speak more on this tomorrow.

Boy Wonder had two accidents today. A head bump and a fall. Cat Girl has also bumped her head. Must be the day for it! He was also very clingy when he came out of school to the point of bear hugging. We left to go home and once in the car I explained to Boy Wonder about the assessment and that we needed to go straight home to continue it. He got upset and told me that he didn't like change and that he suddenly gets tummy ache when important / scary things happen. This finished by Boy Wonder shouting and getting very upset.

Once at home, the lady joined us and did some further observing and had a discussion about some findings. She noticed a very clear distinction between communication at home and at school in that Boy Wonder spoke differently. She appeared to put it down to him being more relaxed at home. Boy Wonder became very upset when he was asked some direct questions and quite a few doors slammed as a consequence. When we attempted to settle him, he fired straight back up and started lashing out. Firm hold technique wasn't possible due to the extent of his thrashing around but I managed to get him to stay in the room and he went straight for the tablet to play Minecraft. This settled him. I explained to the EP that Minecraft is the new soother that gives Boy Wonder happy spirits. We went through some paperwork before she left and then Boy Wonder went to football with Superman who had just arrived home.

This evening, Boy Wonder and Cat Girl settled upstairs with Superman whilst I had a few friends around showing them my new products that I am distributing. They are Forever Living products and are predominantly Aloe Vera based and some other natural elements such as bee pollen. It was a great evening and lovely to have a ladies get together!

Away from home

Tuesday morning was an odd one. I was going away overnight and returning the next day so anxieties were a little high. I promised them both a little treat if they tried their very best whilst I was away, reassuring Boy Wonder that everything would be fine  and he could ring me if he wanted to.

I took them into school and explained to teachers about pick up and collections over the next two days. I also informed BoyWonder's teacher that he was feeling sick and to still ring me if he needed collecting. 

After work I travelled to pick up a friend and drive to our destination. She is retiring and it was our last real opportunity to get together and talk shop! ( training and consultancy in ASD.). It was nice to have a break and relax. Once at the  hotel we checked in and then went for dinner. We had a little tipple and put the world to rights before parting company for the evening. I then spent the rest of the evening reading a book on autism and mental health as suggested by Boy Wonder's Psychologist. 

Superman reported a fairly settled evening although Boy Wonder was still awake reading but that's pretty normal now. 

The morning routine survived by Superman and the children taken to school by Biker Gramps, I went to my training session that I was observing happy in the knowledge that things were okay. After the course we headed home and after surviving the treacherous rain on the motorway and the lane wandering car that I ended up reporting before an accident was caused, we arrived at friend's house to drop her off. I then did a quick dash around the supermarket and headed home equipped with monkey ice cream for the children's treat. 

Once at home, I caught up with Superman and then sat down with Cat Girl and caught up with her news. She told me that she had been a star! I settled her into bed and then it was Boy Wonder's turn. I read his school diary and it sounded like a different child. We hadn''t seen the book since last Thursday and it came as quite a shock that there had been two incidents, although one had been today. Boy Wonder had been talking whilst the teacher was talking. From what Boy Wonder said it sounded like impulse rather than him blatantly ignoring her. He said that a child spoke and he responded. However his comments being so matter of fact caused the class to laugh at him which didn't go down too well!  The other incident was a lot more problematic and hasn't been discussed with us so further investigation is required. Boy Wonder then told me that he had been feeling sick and had told the teacher but they didn't ring me. I asked him if he thought that he needed to come home and he said that he wasn't sure. 

Boy Wonder settled down with me but didn't fall to sleep. He later went upstairs to read. Another late night. 

Happy Spirits

Boy Wonder awoke on a mission this morning! He had decided that he needs to go to London to have a little wart on his hand removed. This is the only place that can do it properly apparently! He explained that the Doctor there would freeze it and it would then fall off. However whilst he is waiting for this to happen he will need to name it to become friends with it so that he isn't tempted to pick it! It all then became very confusing as Cat Girl then thought that we were off to London immediately. I reassured her that this wasn't the case!

It later transpired that Boy Wonder had seen this on a CBBC programme. I told him that I would ring the local Doctor to get it sorted. We have used the over the counter stuff for warts but he picks at them and they bleed so we have to wait for it to heal and start a again. A vicious circle.

After a lengthily shower I got Boy Wonder dressed and Cat Girl sorted and we went down for breakfast. Boy Wonder started to complain about feeling sick and went very quiet.

We arrived at school and I spoke to his teacher about him feeling unwell and that he had been complaining on and off about feeling sick or having tummy ache throughout the weekend. I asked her to call me if she thought he needed to come home and reassured him of the same.

I didn't receive a call and picked them both up after school football and club for Cat Girl. Boy Wonder had been to Art Therapy and said that he didn't feel sick whilst there but he did before at school and when he came back. Cat Girl said that she had a sore throat and then quickly retracted it when she thought that I would give her some medicine! I checked her anyway and she seemed fine.

At home they both had tea and Boy Wonder went to his room to play Minecraft. Superman came home and spent some time with him whilst I took Cat Girl swimming. After further road rage in the car park due to no parking spaces and silly driving ( not from me of course!) we arrived at Cat Girl's lesson. She did very well and seemed to actually swim today. Progress!!

Once home I discussed with Boy Wonder that I would be away tomorrow night with work and went through what would happen. He became very upset and said that he didn't know what he would do without me. I asked him to come downstairs and we could settle down together. 'Oh no it's okay,' he said ' Minecraft gives me happy spirits so I will be fine !' In a strange sort of way I was reassured by that. If any other child had said it, it would have been mortifying, however with Boy Wonder it seemed very different! Cat Girl was a little upset when I told her but was okay because she has her  Daddy.   Looks like its a guilt free night off for me then!

Cat Girl settled down in bed and Boy Wonder watched a bit more Minecraft before going to bed to read. He still looks very tired and was complaining of tummy ache before bed. Hopefully he will get some rest tonight.

A Minecraft kinda day

A bit of a slow news day as after a very late night (again!) Boy Wonder woke fairly early but happily stayed in bed watching Minecraft. Eventually he got into the shower which livening him right up and he came out singing and bounding about! 

Superman took him swimming today whilst I took Cat Girl to a party. The first swimming pool was closed due to an 'incident' so they had to go to another one. This didn't seem to cause too many problems, mainly because Boy Wonder had longer to play on his DS between swimming baths I presume! Once there, Superman said that he swam well and spent quite a bit of time playing ball games together which was nice. 

Once we had finished at the party we all went to KFC where Boy Wonder ate quite well (except for the fries as he will only ever eat a small amount of these after being told at school once that they were bad for him!) He then complained of tummy ache which seemed to last for the rest of the day,

We went over to Super Gran's and Biker Gramps to visit. My sister and family were also there so the children played Minecraft together. Cat Girl and smallest cousin played dolls. Uncle Geek helped Boy Wonder to update Minecraft on his laptop which he was very excited about! 

Later this evening we watched the new Top Gear which increased Boy Wonder's excitement levels and he became very loud and chatty though out the programme. Afterwards he took himself to bed to listen to music and read his Minecraft book.   Super man and I then spent the evening completing questionnaires for the educational psychology assessment that is taking place this week. 

A Late Night for Cat Girl

After very little sleep until the early hours, we all ended up overlaying until 7.30am which meant lots of rushing about. This was further hindered by Boy Wonder's lack of comprehension about the matter. Cat Girl also decided to stamp her feet which meant that we were very nearly late for school!

Superman picked them up from school and they had tea before a visit from Grandparents and slightly older cousin. They were babysitting tonight as we were going out for my sister's birthday. We had been very concerned about going out due to Boy Wonder's emotional state but he did seem to because little brighter so we took a chance.

We enjoyed our evening of adult company and nice food accompanied by live music. Boy Wonder spent all of his time on Minecraft with Cat Girl and cousin. They were all still at it when we returned. Cat Girl was very tired!

Saturday brought Cat Girl's Ju Jitsu grading first thing. She was still tired and very emotional. Lots if tears and yawning. Luckily she pulled herself together for the grading and did very well. She is now a two stripe! Boy Wonder went to dance afterwards and then out with his sessional worker. They went to the cinema with another child and worker which he seemed to enjoy.

I took Cat Girl to a party at a play centre. She really enjoyed it but looked very tired. We left with a lovely party bag and a heart balloon with a light in it.  The weather was incredibly windy and when we got home,, the wind whipped it out if her hands and it blew away. Cat Girl was very upset  and more emotional than ever.

Boy Wonder returned and agreed to let Cat Girl watch Minecraft with him to cheer her up! After an hour, Cat Girl went to bed and Boy Wonder did some reading and writing.