Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Yo Yo ing Moods

Monday morning was kick started with a flight of panic as Boy Wonder realised that it was a school day and he would have to deal with the problem of last week and his subsequent lie. I did my best to reassure him but fighting my way through a panic stricken yet hyper, impulsive presentation was hard work.

Cat Girl as ever was an angel once I had convinced her that she really did have to get up. She does like her bed!

We headed off to school and got out of the car. However once out, Boy Wonder attempted to run off. I grabbed hold of him and he became very anxious. He attempted to bolt several more times before getting to the school gate and also once inside which surprised me as the Head was there and could see him. Her presence would normally stop him. I took the decision to speak to his teacher with him to ensure that the matter was clear and that Boy Wonder had lied because he was scared of his friend being mad with him. The teacher managed the situation well and Boy Wonder seemed more settled afterwards.  I dropped Cat Girl off to her class and left for work.

Today I spoke with the two schools that may have to be considered  for Boy Wonder and meetings have been arranged for both. This is because we have been informed that we need all the information to hand at the tribunal incase they want up instruct a specific provision.

This evening I picked Boy Wonder up from football and Cat Girl up from after school club. Boy Wonder's clothes were very painted on due to art therapy. He seemed a little more settled although he stated that he didn't go to the toilet at all at school because be didn't want to be supported .

Throughout the evening he played on Minecraft with the boy next door and afterwards settled down into bed. He didn't sleep particularly well but got a few hours.

This morning Boy Wonder woke up in his usual hyper state. However after coming out of the shower he started to cry and became very distressed. I asked him what the matter was to which he replied that he was worried about dying. I reassured him but he kept saying that he didn't want to die and he had been bad so he wouldn't go to a nice place.  By this time he was clinging to me and sobbing.  I told him that we do all have to die eventually as our bodies don't last forever ( giving him an example of the elderly man who lived near us.) We also spoke about over population if nobody died. I further reassured Boy Wonder that he wasn't bad but we all make mistakes as this is how we learn.  He seemed to get it but was still clearly distressed. (Death is a reoccurring theme that usually hits when Boy Wonder is highly anxious, possibly about three times a year.)

We got ready and went to school. Cat Girl was again very good and tried to reassure Boy Wonder in her own way, saying that he wasn't bad and she loved him. He practically cried all the way and then started to do some breathing exercises to calm down. Boy Wonder clung to me as we walked into school, not appearing aware or bothered about his friends or others around him.

The teacher and TA both stated that they had already spoken about the lack of toilet visits yesterday and decided to tag them on to his time out if the classroom so he felt less bothered by the support. We  spoke about the upset this morning and they said that they would talk to him about it today.

After school Boy Wonder appeared quiet and subdued. I asked him how he was after this morning and he became quickly angry, saying that he didn't want to talk about it. I left it there in hope that his piano and ju Jitsu would provide a positive distraction and it did.

This evening Boy Wonder again didn't settle too well but eventually he fell to sleep.



Sunday, 11 May 2014

A positive weekend

The weekend has not been relaxed but it has been exciting and fun! Saturday brought dance show rehearsals for Boy Wonder where he worked hard for a few hours and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. He then had a 'pep' talk for the audition by his dance teacher's Gran which was very sweet. Boy Wonder usually struggles with older ladies, especially if they have glasses, however this lady is lovely and although he initially looked unsure, he soon listened in awe as she told him how her advice had always been to her granddaughter ' smile and sing up.' I don't think it every occurred to him that his very talented dance teacher had to learn too!

In the meantime we watched Cat Girl achieve her Ju Jitsu grading. She has come on hugely with her confidence and really got stuck in. She now has another stripe for her belt.

Saturday afternoon was spent  practicing the audition piece and watching the film 'Oliver' so that Boy Wonder had  a good idea of the storyline.  After all the hard work he had some free time on Minecraft.

In the evening we watched Eurovision, however the children became easily bored and went to bed! We stuck it out to the end, it's only on once a year!

This morning Boy Wonder was up quite early for his audition and Cat Girl  for her horse riding.
Superman took Cat Girl and said how well she did. She seems to be a little natural.

I dropped Boy Wonder off and the spent a couple of hours wandering around the shops as we had to stay close. Auditions don't get any easier and I was quite worried about his facial expressions although we had practised these a lot! After what seemed like an age, I went back to the audition.  After a further hour of singing, dancing and script reading we were put out of our misery and told that  Boy Wonder had got a part! A few of his class buddies got in too which was fantastic. He was very pleased and glad that he had put the preparation in as it wasn't an easy one!

We to pick up Superman and Cat Girl and went to meet friends for dinner as it was Boy Genius's Mum's birthday. Boy Wonder ate well, obviously very hungry after his hard morning! We had a lovely time and the children played in the resturant garden afterwards to burn off some energy.

When we got home, Boy Wonder and I did another comic strip about the truthful version of events regarding the toilet incident. We spoke about his difficulties with not realising consequences, problem solving and impulsivity. He accepted that he would need to be supported to the toilet for now.

Boy Genius later came over to play and have tea. They both had a chilled couple of hours playing on Minecraft and eating jam sandwiches.  Cat Girl and I made bracelets, played fuzzy felts and did a jigsaw.

After a weekend of activity, the children settled down well and even Boy Wonder looked a little tired!


Friday, 9 May 2014

Tired!!!

Thursday brought challenges and quite simply was a day from hell.  Boy Wonder was continuing to start the day on the ceiling and my tiredness didn't make managing him very easy. It becomes a long week when every day starts out with an intensive work out!

We arrived at school to be told by the TA that Boy Wonder had been very lively towards the end of yesterday, to the point that he need several prompts to settle him. However none of this was written in his book so unlikely to be acknowledged as anything but a comment.

We received some news today that was good and not so good at the same time. A child in Boy Wonder's class is receiving support to obtain a statement which is great news as their needs are being recognised and the family deserve a break. It's hard work this additional needs parenting lark! However we can't help but feel like we have been kicked in the teeth by the system for their blatant disregard of  Boy Wonder's needs.

On picking the children up from school, Boy Wonder was very lively and jumping at me constantly as his teacher was talking to me. His teacher eventually told him to stop and was a little surprised that he ignored her and carried on. After repeating the same instruction to him a few times he did start to settle. His teacher said that Boy Wonder had asked to change his trousers towards the end of the day but didn't seem concerned or anxious about doing this which was odd.

After clubs we went home and later on I spoke with Boy Wonder about why his trousers had become wet. He initially said that he had caught his trousers whilst going to the toilet but as I said 'okay,' he quickly said ' it wasn't me, a boy wee'd on me in the toilets.' I asked him how it had happened and he said the boy was messing about and he got in the way. I praised him for being honest and then spoke to him about why what had happened was wrong. He became quickly agitated and didn't appear to pick up at all why it was wrong, unhygienic etc. We left it there and he watched the Oliver DVD in preparation for his audition.

This morning we woke Boy Wonder earlier and gave  him his medication and let him play a couple of  games on his tablet before getting up. This did seem to make a difference in the sense that he was a little calmer. Cat Girl was also up early this morning so it was fairly positive all round.

We arrived at school and I spoke with Boy Wonder's teacher and the Head about the toilet incident and the fact this was now the second incident of this nature. As a result we were very concerned about Boy Wonder's vulnerability. In particular because Boy Wonder showed a clear lack of insight to what had happened and was only concerned about getting his friend in trouble. The school appeared to share the concern and we agreed that Boy Wonder would be supported to and from the toilet and they would do some work on toilet behaviour.

Throughout the day we sought further advice just to clarify or not, the level of our concern. We were advised to notify the tribunal of the event as well as write to the school to clarify the actions agreed.

Superman picked the children up from after school club and I met them at home. Boy Wonder came home with a worksheet that he had done with a TA on the toilet incident where he had said that the whole thing was an accident and he had just nudged the other boy. I asked Boy Wonder about this because it was different to what he had said originally. He said that he had lied at school as he didn't want to get his friend in trouble. He then started worrying about getting in trouble for lying. I reassured him and said that we would talk about it tomorrow but as long as he told the truth he wouldn't be in trouble.  The book also said that Boy Wonder was upset about being escorted to and from the toilet and that he would tell his mum and she would stop it. I explained to Boy Wonder that it needed to happen to keep him safe not because he was in trouble. ' oh okay then,' he said!

Cat Girl settled down for bed and Boy Wonder and I did his Match Attax football cards and he practiced his audition piece before starting to settle.

We are looking forward to a stress free weekend!!


Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Consider Yourself ....

Back to school with a bang after the bank holiday! Boy Wonder did not want to go and shouted numerous times how much he hated school, banged his head against the furniture and generally threw himself around . Getting him dressed felt like a major workout and then getting into the car was near on impossible. Cat Girl was also clingy and emotional which I think was heightened by Boy Wonder's difficult presentation.

We arrived at school and let Boy Wonder loose. He was all over the place in every sense. I spoke with Cat Girl's teacher about her being quite emotional and she said that she would keep an eye on her.

They went to after school club and I picked then up from there later on. Boy Wonder appeared very aggressive, shouting at me to stay away and not talk to him. Cat Girl immediately became emotional and asked me to calm him down. 

He got into the car, shouted a bit more and then settled with his phone. When we arrived at piano he went in quietly, almost dismissive of us. However after his lesson where he was said to engage well, he became overly clingy wanting cuddles and reassurances that we loved him. 

Boy Wonder went on to Ju Jitsu and again engaged well. On returning home he became very lively again and as a result was very late to settle. 

This morning there was a further escalation in Boy Wonder's off the wall presentation. He crawled around mimicking his cat and was total disengaged from what I was instructing him to do. It finally took me to physically hold him to dress him which is no easy task with a wriggly and strong eight year old!

On arrival at school, Boy Wonder dived head first over the car seat and trapped his already injured foot. He shouted out continuously whilst doing a rather dramatic staged limp in to school. The TA commented on how lively he was and how exhausted I looked! She said she would pin him down and put an ice pack on his foot. 

I went again to speak to Cat Girl's teacher as she had said last night that she was worried that Boy Wonder might hurt her in the playground by grabbing her neck. She said that he hadn't actually done anything but he might. The teacher said that she would keep an eye on things.

The tribunal documents all went off today so we can 'relax' now until the big day. Although the poor souls having to wade through them won't be thinking that!

On picking the children up from school, Boy Wonder became quite aggressive, pushing his way through and saying that he wanted space. He was clearly volatile and had to be held on to whilst walking to the car. 

Once in the car he disengaged and went to play on his phone. We travelled to music theatre and I gave him tea and his additional medication on the way. As we arrived he seemed a bit more settled and went in to his session.

Cat Girl went to ju Jitsu and I then left for an evening meeting. Super man picked them up and I met them at home later.

Boy Wonder rang me on my way home to see where I was and I reassured him that I wouldn't be long. I arrived home five minutes later. He was excited about a music theatre audition for the coming weekend and we spoke about how this would work. 
Cat Girl had a cuddle and went to sleep.

He settled down with the words for the audition piece and for the first time today he seemed content. 

Monday, 5 May 2014

Altered Pain Threshold

In true British style we had a BBQ in the overcast and cool bank holiday weather. Before attempting this however we had Cat girl at horse riding and Boy Wonder at his dance show dress rehearsal. Due to lots of morning activity it went quickly. As we all returned home at lunch time, Superman made lunch and I did some baking before the guests arrived.

Just before the family arrived, Boy Wonder went over on his foot whilst playing football. He cried a lot and had to be carried into the house. An ice pack, stretchy bandage and pain relief later he hobbled back outside and within an hour seemed to have forgotten all about it.

Family arrived, the children played and we turned slowly blue from sitting outside. We moved into the conservatory which was nicely warm!

Later in the day Boy Wonder insisted on a game of football but couldn't play without full kit. Superman played with him and his cousin. Boy Wonder ran around without any real problems but later in the evening he started complaining of pain in his foot again. We settled him into bed after removing the bandage, hoping that be would forget about it in the morning.

I probably need to explain that Boy Wonder has an altered pain threshold which basically means that he feels little in the way of pain but there are occasions where things can appear to be worse than they actually are due to a huge overreaction. This comes from him having hyper and hypo sensitivities which distort what's really going on.  Therefore it makes it very difficult to ascertain the seriousness of an injury because his reaction isn't a true indication and his ability to describe and locate pain is practically nil.

This morning Boy Wonder woke and got out of bed with a hugely exaggerated limp. This didn't go away so he had more pain relief and his foot re bandaged. We had breakfast and went off to the local castle for a battle type event. We met friends there and after a picnic went around the battle camps and watched the battles in the arena. Boy Wonder's limp remained and Cat Girl was being very emotional. Eventually though they started to get into it and listened to the interactive story.

The sun didn't come out today either and it became a little cold at times. Boy Wonder said that his foot hurt so I took advantage of them having an ambulance on site and asked them for their advice. They were happy that it was nothing more than a sprain and even with altered pain threshold the physical signs of a break were not present, I.e swelling and bone grinding. Nice! As it got to 3pm, Boy Wonder's mood altered and he became very agitated and lively. Superman and I both said that it is like a switch is flicked around this time of day. We refrained from giving him his optional tea time back up medication and instead opted to deal with it as we were in the open space and he could let off steam without disturbing too  many people.

After half an hour on the park we headed off home via the chip shop and then watched Lego Batman the movie whilst eating tea. Boy Wonder became fixed to the screen and this started to settle him down. Hopefully we can keep the calm going until bedtime!

Saturday, 3 May 2014

On the Ceiling!

Boy Wonder seemed better this morning, saying that his head only hurt a bit. I gave him some paracetamol and he then went into the shower. Cat Girl was up early and got herself ready with little fuss. Boy Wonder on the other hand was his what's becoming, usual self.

On arrival at school I spoke to his teacher about how he was last night and that he said he was feeling better this morning, but this wasn't necessarily an accurate description. Boy Wonder has an altered pain threshold which means that an obvious injury where he has seen it happen and there may be blood, is a major disaster, yet illness and injuries that he can't see, he doesn't seem to feel or to lesser extent ( and with a delay.)

In the afternoon we were having a review, the last one before the tribunal hearing. It was a difficult meeting to say the least as there was a clear lack of communication on the apposing side and some very solid statements being made on ours. Anyway needless to say that no real outcomes were agreed .
We picked the children up from after school club and came home to have tea and play before bed.

Saturday brought a very exciting day which started with the big rehearsal for the dance show. He seemed to manage this fairly well and loved his costumes! Superman picked him up from dance and they went to watch the local team play in the last game of the season. If they won, they would win the league. They did win indeed which made for a very excitable Boy Wonder. He had taken his flag with him and they held it up every time they scored and then came home draped in it.

Cat Girl and I had been shopping for new bags and to have our nails done. A proper girlie day! We picked Boy Wonder some Match Attax ( football cards) up whilst out and gave them to him in the evening. He opened them and got his favourite player of all time, Lionel Messi! He was more excited than ever now and was just running around showing off his card and singing Messi football chant songs over and over.

Boy Wonder finally fell to sleep very late and was up again at 6am and firmly positioned himself back on the ceiling!

Thursday, 1 May 2014

Communication Fail

This morning was the typical madness of attempting to get Boy Wonder up, showered and dressed. This was further complicated by Cat Girl getting upset as she didn't want to go to school. We got through it, collected our bags and headed off.

It was a short day at school for Boy Wonder as I was collecting him for a hospital appointment in the afternoon. I agreed to pick him up from swimming rather than leave him at school with the older junior class. The teacher being the one that has upset him quite badly on two occasions. They couldn't understand why I insisted on this?!

I arrived at the swimming baths a little early and went inside to wait for them to arrive. They left the bus in an orderly fashion with Boy Wonder  attached to a teaching assistant. I wasn't sure if this was for my benefit as Boy Wonder had said to them that he had spotted my car. I met them on reception and we left for the hospital.

Boy Wonder was a little quiet on the way to the hospital and wasn't too happy when I told him that he would need to engage a little with the Doctor. However we agreed that be could play on the wii first so he accepted my request. When we arrived he was weighed and measured. He has grown a little but his weight has remained static. Not great news but at least he hasn't lost any.

We waited to see the Doctor and Boy Wonder started to liven up. It was just after 3pm which is the usual time that the medication starts to wear off. I went into the room first and Boy Wonder agreed to join us as soon as he finished his wii game of tennis. At approximately five minutes there was a knock on the door and a nurse came in saying that Boy Wonder was ready to join us. He then crawled through the door pushing a young child fire truck toy, followed by an ambulance and a lorry. I asked him to say hello but he was more focused on the toys. As we talked his play became more elaborate and then he started to climb on the chairs and attempted up sit on my shoulders. When I talked to the Doctor about his morning routine he started to crawl around the room pretending to be his cat. The Doctor said that there was a noticeable difference in him and whilst he seems happier, he certainly isn't stable. She requested to increase his ADHD medication again. Whilst she was writing the prescription, Boy Wonder noticed a dead fly on the floor and started to shout and squeal in panic. I reassured him and moved it quickly.

We left the hospital and went to music theatre where I read the report that they had written for the tribunal. It was well written, concise and modest but said what it needed to say. I collected Cat Girl from ju Jitsu where Grandad had dropped her off earlier and then went back got Boy Wonder.

We returned home and the children played before bed. Boy Wonder settled late again.

In the morning we introduced the medication increase and it did actually feel that he was a little calmer throughout his morning routine. After a rather sad email from the OT saying that due to family illness she couldn't attend the pre meet or the TAC,  we went to school. I spoke to the TA about the OT not coming into school as I didn't want them waiting for her. She said that she would pass it on to the teacher.

After a few hours of number crunching at work ( the dreaded payroll!) I returned to pick the children up from school. I asked the teacher if she had received the message about the OT, she hadn't. I told her. Boy Wonder then complained of a sharp, stabbing headache in the front of his head, saying that he had, had it for two days. I asked his teacher if he had said anything and she said no. I asked Boy Wonder if he had told anyone  and he said the TA. The teacher said that she wasn't aware. I asked her if she had noticed a difference in him during the day and she said no. Today has certainly been a major fail as far as communication is concerned but unfortunately isn't unique.

Boy Wonder did appear off it and had a raised temperature. I gave him some paracetamol and asked him to rest and he did with no protest. After about an hour he started to look a bit better but we agreed that he would spend the evening resting. However, it did take him until 2am to fall to sleep!