Last weekend was a busy event, with football, dance and meeting friends in the park on the Saturday and a more relaxed day on Sunday to prepare for Monday back at school. This was hindered somewhat by Boy Wonder and Boy Genius falling out on the Saturday and Boy Wonder totally losing control in the park, car park , throwing stones, putting himself to the floor and once in the car, kicking about with great force. This lasted throughout the evening until he finally fell to sleep quite late on. Sunday morning was spent negotiating a truce between the two boys and Boy Genius taking the lead in apologising by text, to which Boy Wonder reciprocated.
We arrived at school a little late on Monday due to high anxiety. Once there however, it was like nothing had happened and that I would just leave. This didn't fill me with confidence so I asked to speak with the Head. I was asked to wait but whilst doing so the behaviour lady that I spoke with last week arrived. We spoke about how things had been and I told her about Boy Wonder disclosing that he was shouted at when he was bad and told that he deserved to cry. I explained that these were Boy Wonder's words and that he could have misinterpreted things, however if this was what he was hearing it would have a negative impact. We both spoke to the Head and she agreed to look into what Boy Wonder had raised. We also spoke about physical intervention should it be required only to be told that if a child left school they would inform parents and police but not stop them physically. Oh dear! I was told to write a letter of consent to restrain Boy Wonder if required but this doesn't sit well as the training isn't there for the people working with him to do it safely. I guess this is a weighing up of risk decision,
Boy Wonder managed a full week at school albeit a very stressful, anxiety rising one. As the week wore on it became more and more difficult to settle him in, taking half an hour on Thursday before he would physically let go of me. Lots of tummy aches, chewing and shirt shredding alongside crying and general unsettled mood. Parents evening basically described keeping him in school and settled was the aim, school work being practically non existent.
More meetings are planned for next week with the Consultant and the local authority to decide the MEP ( multi element plan.) Hopefully we will see some movement, however after more calls this week the statement has still not been released.
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Saturday, 11 October 2014
Escalation
The school week has been a cocktail of events, none of which included any learning except maybe for a growing appreciation for the level of complexity surrounding Boy Wonder. Many a phone call has been made to try and rush the statement through ( when I say rush it has already been two weeks since the finalisation meeting.) After much discussion the statement has been finalised at 15 hrs plus OT provision which is not nearly enough given that he is currently soaking up full 1:1 hours. However, finalising means that the post can be advertised and then emergency funds can be applied for through a Multi Element Plan to top it up. The MEP is the next step up from an IEP and it provides external behavioural management and risk assessment support.
I met with a lady who had been drafted in to provide support for Boy Wonder and the school and we discussed his history and complexity at length. She stated that her observations of which there had been many over the last ten days were that he wasn't coping and the current provision is not suitable to meet his needs. Hallelujah!! Our OT had also come away with the same conclusion although she had been saying this for the past year along with us, but was now expressing concerns over health and safety not just learning needs.
Following the exclusion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly settled except for the battle of getting him through the door. He spent these days away from his class and predominantly on his own with a TA. On Thursday morning the battle to get through the gates was harder still with Boy Wonder voicing that he hated school. We got to the class room where we discovered a supply teacher that he hadn't met before who was Asian. Boy Wonder became highly excitable and voiced loudly that she was Asian over and over. I took him into the room next door to calm him whilst Cat Girl went to find some help. Help arrived, Boy Wonder was told that if he continued to be racist I would be notified. I took a deep breath and then asked him if he knew what 'racist' meant. 'No,' he said with a blank expression. I explained it and also explained that Boy Wonder hadn't been told about there being a different teacher and he was merely commenting on what she looked liked albeit not in an appropriate way.
And then came the almighty crash. A phone call at 3.10pm notifying us of an incident where Boy Wonder had verbally abused his teacher and physically assaulted the TA. We were called in for a meeting, joined by the lady that was supporting Boy Wonder and the school as she was with me at the time of the call. The incident resulted in a fixed term exclusion for one day and the understanding that the risk management needs escalating somewhat.
After the meeting Superman took Cat Girl to Ju Jitsu and I took Boy Wonder home. We spoke about the difficulties during the day and about how he behaved. He understood that his behaviour wasn't acceptable but said that he couldn't help it as he was so angry. I asked him what made him angry and he very clearly stated that his teacher and TA were stopping him from learning by not letting him in the classroom. He couldn't learn when sat in the corridor or in a different classroom as his teacher wasn't there. I explained that he was disruptive in class which was why he is taken out and be said that he knew he was bad but it was too noisy and busy in there. He finished off by saying how much he hated school.
Thursday evening was spent eating like he has never done before ( like he had been starved, which of course he hadn't but he obviously used a lot of energy.) and drinking a lot of cordial.
Friday was spent at home doing project work with a clearly planned timetable to include breaks! Boy Wonder had a fairly settled day, not getting up until 10am. Biker Gramps sat with him for a bit whilst I caught up on some stuff. He had him exercising and practising his piano. Grandparents brought over a massage chair to help Boy Wonder and my hands as I was massaging him for over an hour last night! Many more phone calls and notifications of escalation in procedure and a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the way forward.
I met with a lady who had been drafted in to provide support for Boy Wonder and the school and we discussed his history and complexity at length. She stated that her observations of which there had been many over the last ten days were that he wasn't coping and the current provision is not suitable to meet his needs. Hallelujah!! Our OT had also come away with the same conclusion although she had been saying this for the past year along with us, but was now expressing concerns over health and safety not just learning needs.
Following the exclusion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly settled except for the battle of getting him through the door. He spent these days away from his class and predominantly on his own with a TA. On Thursday morning the battle to get through the gates was harder still with Boy Wonder voicing that he hated school. We got to the class room where we discovered a supply teacher that he hadn't met before who was Asian. Boy Wonder became highly excitable and voiced loudly that she was Asian over and over. I took him into the room next door to calm him whilst Cat Girl went to find some help. Help arrived, Boy Wonder was told that if he continued to be racist I would be notified. I took a deep breath and then asked him if he knew what 'racist' meant. 'No,' he said with a blank expression. I explained it and also explained that Boy Wonder hadn't been told about there being a different teacher and he was merely commenting on what she looked liked albeit not in an appropriate way.
And then came the almighty crash. A phone call at 3.10pm notifying us of an incident where Boy Wonder had verbally abused his teacher and physically assaulted the TA. We were called in for a meeting, joined by the lady that was supporting Boy Wonder and the school as she was with me at the time of the call. The incident resulted in a fixed term exclusion for one day and the understanding that the risk management needs escalating somewhat.
After the meeting Superman took Cat Girl to Ju Jitsu and I took Boy Wonder home. We spoke about the difficulties during the day and about how he behaved. He understood that his behaviour wasn't acceptable but said that he couldn't help it as he was so angry. I asked him what made him angry and he very clearly stated that his teacher and TA were stopping him from learning by not letting him in the classroom. He couldn't learn when sat in the corridor or in a different classroom as his teacher wasn't there. I explained that he was disruptive in class which was why he is taken out and be said that he knew he was bad but it was too noisy and busy in there. He finished off by saying how much he hated school.
Thursday evening was spent eating like he has never done before ( like he had been starved, which of course he hadn't but he obviously used a lot of energy.) and drinking a lot of cordial.
Friday was spent at home doing project work with a clearly planned timetable to include breaks! Boy Wonder had a fairly settled day, not getting up until 10am. Biker Gramps sat with him for a bit whilst I caught up on some stuff. He had him exercising and practising his piano. Grandparents brought over a massage chair to help Boy Wonder and my hands as I was massaging him for over an hour last night! Many more phone calls and notifications of escalation in procedure and a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the way forward.
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
High Risk
Sincere apologies for the lack of 'blog.' It has been a turbulent eight days in a lot of ways. Last week concluded with a grande finale where the behaviour scale hit a 10. Superman picked up Boy Wonder quite literally that day and removed him from school. Boy Wonder has taken to bolting out of the place he is in, into his classroom and running around it at high speed. A game of cat and mouse then ensues before he is either caught or he runs out again. He has also escalated this to bolting out of the school main door. Eeek! He is now wearing an 'Alert me' band!
In comparison the weekend was reasonable. Saturday was spent at football where they won again, dance which was non eventful and then onto a super car afternoon. I had bought a high speed passenger lap package for Boy Wonder and a supercar drive for Superman last Christmas and we hadn't got around to booking them until now. Boy Wonder chose a Ferrai and Superman an Aerial Atom. They signed up and Superman was given the insurance spiel. BoyWonder became quite upset that his Daddy was refusing insurance and set to work telling him that he must have it as it is very likely that he will crash. In the end Superman gave into the pressure and bought the insurance, much to Boy Wonder's relief. The super car team asked if Boy Wonder would like to come and work with them as he seemed very well informed about super car safety. That would certainly bump up their insurance sales! Boy Wonder went in the Ferrari for four speed laps reaching 155mph. He came away absolutely buzzing from the experience. He seemed to know an awful lot about the car when he had finished so probably interrogated the driver at high speed! Superman drove the Atom which looked nothing more than a kitted up go kart. It was very fast and he got a score of 87/100 for good control which is apparently very good for that car. He was impressed and wanted it writing on his certificate!
We went on to Pizza Hut for tea which went well until it suddenly became busy. Boy Wonder then retreated to the floor in the corner of the restaurant, behind our table. He put his headphones in and stayed there. The pizzas came out and he rejoined us at the table, his ability to cope quickly deteriorating. We quickened the pace, did the dutiful ice cream machine and whilst Cat Girl finished off, I took Boy Wonder outside to calm. The table next to us with the well behaved child appeared quite bewildered by Boy Wonder's oddity, although I was hoping that even they could see that a child rocking, hiding in corners and bolting at every given opportunity was a little more than just 'bad' behaviour.
On Sunday we went to an autism friendly viewing of Dolphin Tale 2 as Boy Wonder loves dolphins. It was a good job we did this as he would have been thrown out of a standard viewing! He loved the film and talked about all of the facts about dolphins that he knew ( which are many!) whilst rocking, jumping about, climbing and random bear hug grabs at Cat Girl. He did become quite distressed with a girl who was shouting during the performance. She appeared to have little verbal communication so what she verbalised made no sense to him. We spoke about it after and he said that he thought she was stupid for being so noisy. I asked him what others thought about his behaviour and he was unable to make the connection at all, even when I spelt it out. One for another time I think.
In the evening we went to the local theatre where Boy Wonder goes, to watch 'A Night at the Musicals.' He was able to sit through this with plenty of snacks and his friend with him. They both sang along and danced all the way through which gave him an energy outlet, Cat Girl fell to sleep in the second half.
Over the weekend we did some work on behaviours and exploring ideas of what Boy Wonder can do instead of things that he is doing now. We sat together and he engaged for about 25 minutes with some well thought out input. We spoke again about the cinema experience and agreed that he would take the work to school to show his TA.
The school week started badly with an escalation in anxiety induced behaviour. So much so
that on Monday, Boy Wonder was excluded from school for being uncontrollable. It was a temporary exclusion from 1.20pm until the following morning. Superman picked him up as he was closer than me but when he got there he said that he had to physically prise him off of a TA who had put herself between him and another child. There had also been another exit from the school by Boy Wonder. He is now catagorised as high risk.
In comparison the weekend was reasonable. Saturday was spent at football where they won again, dance which was non eventful and then onto a super car afternoon. I had bought a high speed passenger lap package for Boy Wonder and a supercar drive for Superman last Christmas and we hadn't got around to booking them until now. Boy Wonder chose a Ferrai and Superman an Aerial Atom. They signed up and Superman was given the insurance spiel. BoyWonder became quite upset that his Daddy was refusing insurance and set to work telling him that he must have it as it is very likely that he will crash. In the end Superman gave into the pressure and bought the insurance, much to Boy Wonder's relief. The super car team asked if Boy Wonder would like to come and work with them as he seemed very well informed about super car safety. That would certainly bump up their insurance sales! Boy Wonder went in the Ferrari for four speed laps reaching 155mph. He came away absolutely buzzing from the experience. He seemed to know an awful lot about the car when he had finished so probably interrogated the driver at high speed! Superman drove the Atom which looked nothing more than a kitted up go kart. It was very fast and he got a score of 87/100 for good control which is apparently very good for that car. He was impressed and wanted it writing on his certificate!
We went on to Pizza Hut for tea which went well until it suddenly became busy. Boy Wonder then retreated to the floor in the corner of the restaurant, behind our table. He put his headphones in and stayed there. The pizzas came out and he rejoined us at the table, his ability to cope quickly deteriorating. We quickened the pace, did the dutiful ice cream machine and whilst Cat Girl finished off, I took Boy Wonder outside to calm. The table next to us with the well behaved child appeared quite bewildered by Boy Wonder's oddity, although I was hoping that even they could see that a child rocking, hiding in corners and bolting at every given opportunity was a little more than just 'bad' behaviour.
On Sunday we went to an autism friendly viewing of Dolphin Tale 2 as Boy Wonder loves dolphins. It was a good job we did this as he would have been thrown out of a standard viewing! He loved the film and talked about all of the facts about dolphins that he knew ( which are many!) whilst rocking, jumping about, climbing and random bear hug grabs at Cat Girl. He did become quite distressed with a girl who was shouting during the performance. She appeared to have little verbal communication so what she verbalised made no sense to him. We spoke about it after and he said that he thought she was stupid for being so noisy. I asked him what others thought about his behaviour and he was unable to make the connection at all, even when I spelt it out. One for another time I think.
In the evening we went to the local theatre where Boy Wonder goes, to watch 'A Night at the Musicals.' He was able to sit through this with plenty of snacks and his friend with him. They both sang along and danced all the way through which gave him an energy outlet, Cat Girl fell to sleep in the second half.
Over the weekend we did some work on behaviours and exploring ideas of what Boy Wonder can do instead of things that he is doing now. We sat together and he engaged for about 25 minutes with some well thought out input. We spoke again about the cinema experience and agreed that he would take the work to school to show his TA.
The school week started badly with an escalation in anxiety induced behaviour. So much so
that on Monday, Boy Wonder was excluded from school for being uncontrollable. It was a temporary exclusion from 1.20pm until the following morning. Superman picked him up as he was closer than me but when he got there he said that he had to physically prise him off of a TA who had put herself between him and another child. There had also been another exit from the school by Boy Wonder. He is now catagorised as high risk.
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
A Step in the Right Direction
It would be fair to say that the week continued in the same vein as it started. The 1-5 behaviour scale that school use to describe Boy Wonder's day hit its first 5 and by the beginning of this week rose to 7. For the literal amongst us this isn't technically possible but I guess it is just an illustration of the heightened difficulties,
The weekend was pretty mixed in terms of mood. Boy Wonder had a busy day on Saturday, his team winning 10-0 at football and then going to dance. Sunday was a more stay at home day with Super Gran and Biker Gramps coming for tea. There were a few incidents with the neighbours children and Boy Wonder being too rough and vocal but we managed it by giving time out and refreshing the 'rules of play.' Towards the end of play he cried and said they he would loose all his friends because he is so bad. We reassured him that his friends know that he can sometimes get over excited but using rude words is not acceptable. He appeared to understand.
A fair amount of time had been spent talking to school about behaviour management strategies and they have gone all out to pull in resources from everywhere possible. It is a classic example of reaction and how the 'system' works. The reality is that home life has seen little change except for an improved sleep pattern and appetite. However, the behaviour at school is what we see at home, hence our lengthly battle for support.
Unfortunately communication this week has resulted in a meltdown this morning. Boy Wonder arrived home with a timetable of when he would be in class ( which is hardly ever and not at all on some days!) he angrily told me that the rest of his day is in reception class with a TA. Oh jeez, an angry child in a class of 4 year olds is just an incident waiting to happen! I agreed with Boy Wonder that I would talk to his teacher about it in the morning.
The school journey this morning was a difficult one. Boy Wonder was already very worked up. I asked him to stay with me whilst I spoke with his teacher which distressed him further. He then caught sight of the school photographer and started shouting ' she's Chinese!' over and over. We got into class and was about to speak to the teacher when someone decided to jump ahead of us. Consequently Boy Wonder became more frustrated and I gave up. We went into the playground.
Before leaving school I spoke with the Head about the potential ticking time bomb of Boy Wonder going in to reception and the added issue of him feeling excluded and reinforcing his belief that he is stupid. She got it and explained that they were crisis managing and are working hard to get it right. I explained that we understood this but the reception class is not the solution. We compromised and agreed the same strategy but in a class with older children would be more suitable.
On leaving school, I heard Boy Wonder shouting me and crying. The next minute he ran at me and clung on for dear life! I sat him down and calmed him. He had run out of the class because he was told he was going to reception. I explained what I had just spoken to the head about and he started to calm. Eventually I left him in the hands of the TA and she took him to the chill out tent.
After a rather long day of worrying and a midday phone call to check Boy Wonder was okay, I collected him from school. He was very high and this resulted in him jumping on the tables and running around them in the classroom. I gathered his belongings and took him out to the car.
This evening was fairly settled due mainly to him being exhausted. Before going to bed he asked if he could take a stress ball to school as he is helping to set up the chill out tent. One little request that demonstrates a huge step in the right direction.
The weekend was pretty mixed in terms of mood. Boy Wonder had a busy day on Saturday, his team winning 10-0 at football and then going to dance. Sunday was a more stay at home day with Super Gran and Biker Gramps coming for tea. There were a few incidents with the neighbours children and Boy Wonder being too rough and vocal but we managed it by giving time out and refreshing the 'rules of play.' Towards the end of play he cried and said they he would loose all his friends because he is so bad. We reassured him that his friends know that he can sometimes get over excited but using rude words is not acceptable. He appeared to understand.
A fair amount of time had been spent talking to school about behaviour management strategies and they have gone all out to pull in resources from everywhere possible. It is a classic example of reaction and how the 'system' works. The reality is that home life has seen little change except for an improved sleep pattern and appetite. However, the behaviour at school is what we see at home, hence our lengthly battle for support.
Unfortunately communication this week has resulted in a meltdown this morning. Boy Wonder arrived home with a timetable of when he would be in class ( which is hardly ever and not at all on some days!) he angrily told me that the rest of his day is in reception class with a TA. Oh jeez, an angry child in a class of 4 year olds is just an incident waiting to happen! I agreed with Boy Wonder that I would talk to his teacher about it in the morning.
The school journey this morning was a difficult one. Boy Wonder was already very worked up. I asked him to stay with me whilst I spoke with his teacher which distressed him further. He then caught sight of the school photographer and started shouting ' she's Chinese!' over and over. We got into class and was about to speak to the teacher when someone decided to jump ahead of us. Consequently Boy Wonder became more frustrated and I gave up. We went into the playground.
Before leaving school I spoke with the Head about the potential ticking time bomb of Boy Wonder going in to reception and the added issue of him feeling excluded and reinforcing his belief that he is stupid. She got it and explained that they were crisis managing and are working hard to get it right. I explained that we understood this but the reception class is not the solution. We compromised and agreed the same strategy but in a class with older children would be more suitable.
On leaving school, I heard Boy Wonder shouting me and crying. The next minute he ran at me and clung on for dear life! I sat him down and calmed him. He had run out of the class because he was told he was going to reception. I explained what I had just spoken to the head about and he started to calm. Eventually I left him in the hands of the TA and she took him to the chill out tent.
After a rather long day of worrying and a midday phone call to check Boy Wonder was okay, I collected him from school. He was very high and this resulted in him jumping on the tables and running around them in the classroom. I gathered his belongings and took him out to the car.
This evening was fairly settled due mainly to him being exhausted. Before going to bed he asked if he could take a stress ball to school as he is helping to set up the chill out tent. One little request that demonstrates a huge step in the right direction.
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
So far .....
The weekend was a stark reminder of life before medication and was consequently hard work! However Boy Wonder managed to hold down a game of football without too much difficulty but dance afterwards proved to be too much and his concentration spam waned significantly.
Saturday afternoon was spent at home, baking and playing on the computer. Grandparents babysat in the evening whilst Superman and I went out with friends for a short while. The brief description of how Boy Wonder behaved 'he's been a bloody bugger!' made us smile but was probably quite accurate!
Superman took Boy Wonder on a long bike ride on Sunday and we implemented the evening exercises. In short Boy Wonder was highly energetic, impulsive yet happy. It was nice to have a change from anxiety and aggression but by Sunday evening we were exhausted.
One significant positive has already arisen in that Boy Wonder is falling to sleep at a reasonable time and sleeping through the night. This has happened for two nights in a row and although its early days, is the first time that he has ever slept for more than a few hours.
The school mornings so far have been easier than anticipated with Boy Wonder not really becoming too excitable until leaving for school. However, school itself has been a whole different ball game. Boy Wonder has struggled from start to finish. Lots of movement breaks, time out and reassurance required on day one, moving to no assembly's or play times on day two due to not being able cope with the other children. Hitting out, jumping all over the other children and generally be over aroused by the environment meant that more time has been spent out of the classroom than in it.
Although Monday evening was fairly settled, this evening was difficult. Boy Wonder fought , shouted and seemed to struggle with any sort of demand. He eventually settled at Ju Jitsu but during training he got kicked in the face and ended up with a bloody nose!
So far it has been a testing time but the one feeling it the most is our boy and we are determined not to lose sight of that. The side effects to the medication have not only instigated weight loss but quite possibly contributed to the heightened agitation. Despite the recent difficulties, Boy Wonder does seem happier and that is worth it's weight in gold. His presentation is also allowing us to pin point the difficulties with greater ease and providing opportunities to put in strategies to help him. And that can only be a positive thing.
Saturday afternoon was spent at home, baking and playing on the computer. Grandparents babysat in the evening whilst Superman and I went out with friends for a short while. The brief description of how Boy Wonder behaved 'he's been a bloody bugger!' made us smile but was probably quite accurate!
Superman took Boy Wonder on a long bike ride on Sunday and we implemented the evening exercises. In short Boy Wonder was highly energetic, impulsive yet happy. It was nice to have a change from anxiety and aggression but by Sunday evening we were exhausted.
One significant positive has already arisen in that Boy Wonder is falling to sleep at a reasonable time and sleeping through the night. This has happened for two nights in a row and although its early days, is the first time that he has ever slept for more than a few hours.
The school mornings so far have been easier than anticipated with Boy Wonder not really becoming too excitable until leaving for school. However, school itself has been a whole different ball game. Boy Wonder has struggled from start to finish. Lots of movement breaks, time out and reassurance required on day one, moving to no assembly's or play times on day two due to not being able cope with the other children. Hitting out, jumping all over the other children and generally be over aroused by the environment meant that more time has been spent out of the classroom than in it.
Although Monday evening was fairly settled, this evening was difficult. Boy Wonder fought , shouted and seemed to struggle with any sort of demand. He eventually settled at Ju Jitsu but during training he got kicked in the face and ended up with a bloody nose!
So far it has been a testing time but the one feeling it the most is our boy and we are determined not to lose sight of that. The side effects to the medication have not only instigated weight loss but quite possibly contributed to the heightened agitation. Despite the recent difficulties, Boy Wonder does seem happier and that is worth it's weight in gold. His presentation is also allowing us to pin point the difficulties with greater ease and providing opportunities to put in strategies to help him. And that can only be a positive thing.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Big Decisions!
On picking the children up from school on Thursday, Boy Wonder came out of the classroom with a shredded T-shirt which was also very chewed. However his teacher and Boy Wonder said that there had been no real problems and it had been a fairly settled day. As we walked outside, he started to hold his tummy and double over, seemingly in pain. Tummy ache is always a difficult call with Boy Wonder as he gets it when anxious but will also use its presence to not go to clubs which often provide a welcome distraction to the anxiety. However, if this is the case, Boy Wonder generally stops mentioning the tummy ache fairly quickly as he has told me once so he doesn't need to tell me again.
We drove to the clubs but Boy Wonder still appeared to be in some pain as intermittently he would hold his stomach and crouch like he was having spasms. This was unusual for him and is only really seen during periods of acute anxiety. Boy Wonder is rarely ill in general terms. We dropped Cat Girl off at Ju Jitsu and I made Boy Wonder an appointment with the GP as 40 minutes on he was still seemingly in quite a bit if discomfort. He didn't protest about going to the Doctors or missing football which convinced me that I had made the right decision.
The appointment ran 40 minutes late which only increased Boy Wonder's anxiety but once in the appointment he was checked over and weighed. The GP said that she was happy that there were no physical indicators to suggest something such as appendicitis but with the symptoms and the state of hisT-shirt, anxiety was the likely cause. She asked for a urine sample to send off and we spoke about his weight ( he has lost another 1kg, making it 2kg lost in a month,) went through his medication and identified the ADHD medication as the only one with appetite suppressant side affects that was likely to be contributing to the weight loss. She also re referred to the dietician for supplement support although was aware that we have been giving Boy Wonder build up shakes daily and this wasn't sufficient to support weight gain. The GP said that she would write to the Consultant and request a medication review and asked me up ring the hospital to request this also.
Boy Wonder rested for the remainder of the evening and the tummy ache subsided eventually.
Yesterday was the day of the meeting with the LocalAuthority and school to agree the Statement of SEN. Before this I rang Boy Wonder's consultant and explained about yesterday and the weight loss. We agreed an immediate medication break from the ADHD medication to allow for recovery and a review in four weeks. She expressed her concern that his health needs outweighing the positives of the treatment so needed to be managed. Superman and I had, had this same conversation last night and drawn the same conclusion.
During the meeting we discussed the areas that Superman and I had raised as inaccuracies in the statement and were relieved to find that all of the points were recognised and added. The teacher contributed by illustrating a typical day and the difficulties they faced. The new Head appeared very proactive and decisive about things and as a result the statement was agreed in principle ( the actual support hours to be agreed at panel, but I was assured that they wouldn't be reduced!) and we then spoke about the medication change. The Head responded by saying ' forewarned is forearmed and therefore we will discuss a management plan to put into place for Monday as required.' The LA stated that the school can call an early review for the statement at any time should they find that the statement is no longer sufficient. In addition the LA confirmed that the OT is experienced in autism and sensory processing disorder and they are happy for her to liaise with our OT for consistency. A speech and language therapy referral was also agreed along with the use of earphones in class to block out some noise and the use of his ( not so healthy ) high calorie snacks at break time. We ended the meeting and for the first time in four years we felt that we actually had Boy Wonder's needs agreed. We are just hoping now that the statement hours allow for the work needed.
So we are now entering a month of raw ADHD. We have spoke to Boy Wonder about it and he seems very happy that he will have more energy! I don't think he quite grasped the point but hey ho. Hold on to your hats!
We drove to the clubs but Boy Wonder still appeared to be in some pain as intermittently he would hold his stomach and crouch like he was having spasms. This was unusual for him and is only really seen during periods of acute anxiety. Boy Wonder is rarely ill in general terms. We dropped Cat Girl off at Ju Jitsu and I made Boy Wonder an appointment with the GP as 40 minutes on he was still seemingly in quite a bit if discomfort. He didn't protest about going to the Doctors or missing football which convinced me that I had made the right decision.
The appointment ran 40 minutes late which only increased Boy Wonder's anxiety but once in the appointment he was checked over and weighed. The GP said that she was happy that there were no physical indicators to suggest something such as appendicitis but with the symptoms and the state of hisT-shirt, anxiety was the likely cause. She asked for a urine sample to send off and we spoke about his weight ( he has lost another 1kg, making it 2kg lost in a month,) went through his medication and identified the ADHD medication as the only one with appetite suppressant side affects that was likely to be contributing to the weight loss. She also re referred to the dietician for supplement support although was aware that we have been giving Boy Wonder build up shakes daily and this wasn't sufficient to support weight gain. The GP said that she would write to the Consultant and request a medication review and asked me up ring the hospital to request this also.
Boy Wonder rested for the remainder of the evening and the tummy ache subsided eventually.
Yesterday was the day of the meeting with the LocalAuthority and school to agree the Statement of SEN. Before this I rang Boy Wonder's consultant and explained about yesterday and the weight loss. We agreed an immediate medication break from the ADHD medication to allow for recovery and a review in four weeks. She expressed her concern that his health needs outweighing the positives of the treatment so needed to be managed. Superman and I had, had this same conversation last night and drawn the same conclusion.
During the meeting we discussed the areas that Superman and I had raised as inaccuracies in the statement and were relieved to find that all of the points were recognised and added. The teacher contributed by illustrating a typical day and the difficulties they faced. The new Head appeared very proactive and decisive about things and as a result the statement was agreed in principle ( the actual support hours to be agreed at panel, but I was assured that they wouldn't be reduced!) and we then spoke about the medication change. The Head responded by saying ' forewarned is forearmed and therefore we will discuss a management plan to put into place for Monday as required.' The LA stated that the school can call an early review for the statement at any time should they find that the statement is no longer sufficient. In addition the LA confirmed that the OT is experienced in autism and sensory processing disorder and they are happy for her to liaise with our OT for consistency. A speech and language therapy referral was also agreed along with the use of earphones in class to block out some noise and the use of his ( not so healthy ) high calorie snacks at break time. We ended the meeting and for the first time in four years we felt that we actually had Boy Wonder's needs agreed. We are just hoping now that the statement hours allow for the work needed.
So we are now entering a month of raw ADHD. We have spoke to Boy Wonder about it and he seems very happy that he will have more energy! I don't think he quite grasped the point but hey ho. Hold on to your hats!
Friday, 19 September 2014
Challenges and Erruptions
The last two days of school involved similar challenges to that of the first day back. Boy Wonder was clearly overstimulated and this resulted in shouting out in class, using bad words and generally struggling to concentrate for any length of time.
On collection from school on Thursday, he became so high in the playground that his teacher again took him inside. After collecting Cat Girl, we collected him and I was helped to get him to the car. There had been a particular incident during the afternoon which erupted once in the car and consequently lasted for a couple of hours. I took him to dance where he managed a short amount of time but then spent some time out with one of the tutors. He rejoined the group for the final ten minutes.
Friday appeared to be a fairly settled day in comparison. Boy Wonder and Cat Girl went to after school club for a short while until Superman finished work and then came home and played outside. All seemed to be going well until Boy Wonder erupted into a shouting and hitting out frenzy. The other children ran off and we didn't see them again all weekend!
The weekend was a bit more settled with football and dance on Saturday and a five mile bike ride on the Sunday. We visited Super Gran and Biker Gramps new house after the bike ride. The house is still empty and was echoey which sent Boy Wonder straight up! We only stayed for half an hour but he remained high but agitated for the remainder of the night.
The second week back at school seemed to be no different to the first. The afternoons brought a loud and distracted yet distracting Boy Wonder. On Tuesday the decision was made to collect Cat Girl and Boy Wonder from the classrooms rather than the playground as Boy Wonder going into the play ground was becoming an impossible task.
Oliver rehearsals increased to twice weekly this week which meant added concentration for Boy Wonder. Luckily the adult cast are now becoming more involved with the children to join the scenes together. Boy Wonder found the sessions really interesting and enjoyable and can now see how it is all working.
Wednesday night was consequently a late night but once settled he slept.
On collection from school on Thursday, he became so high in the playground that his teacher again took him inside. After collecting Cat Girl, we collected him and I was helped to get him to the car. There had been a particular incident during the afternoon which erupted once in the car and consequently lasted for a couple of hours. I took him to dance where he managed a short amount of time but then spent some time out with one of the tutors. He rejoined the group for the final ten minutes.
Friday appeared to be a fairly settled day in comparison. Boy Wonder and Cat Girl went to after school club for a short while until Superman finished work and then came home and played outside. All seemed to be going well until Boy Wonder erupted into a shouting and hitting out frenzy. The other children ran off and we didn't see them again all weekend!
The weekend was a bit more settled with football and dance on Saturday and a five mile bike ride on the Sunday. We visited Super Gran and Biker Gramps new house after the bike ride. The house is still empty and was echoey which sent Boy Wonder straight up! We only stayed for half an hour but he remained high but agitated for the remainder of the night.
The second week back at school seemed to be no different to the first. The afternoons brought a loud and distracted yet distracting Boy Wonder. On Tuesday the decision was made to collect Cat Girl and Boy Wonder from the classrooms rather than the playground as Boy Wonder going into the play ground was becoming an impossible task.
Oliver rehearsals increased to twice weekly this week which meant added concentration for Boy Wonder. Luckily the adult cast are now becoming more involved with the children to join the scenes together. Boy Wonder found the sessions really interesting and enjoyable and can now see how it is all working.
Wednesday night was consequently a late night but once settled he slept.
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