First we are talking about a child with sensory issues, ADHD, learning disabilities, a TBI, AND autism. And he has triggers? How about everything in the world having the potential to be a trigger???? What was it this week? I have yet to figure it out.
He had several meltdowns and aggressiveness toward siblings. I have gotten him trained to turn on cartoons in the middle of the night when he can't sleep instead of waking me. However, there have been nights during this past week that he has slept all night without waking. So I don't think I can blame lack of sleep on this. It has been a pretty typical week without there being any chaos, problems with other children, change of routine, etc. He is eating his normal foods. The weather has been beautiful. I honestly can not figure this out. One thing I do notice is that when he is having the meltdowns and behavioral problems he has darker circles under his eyes. I need to make note of this and perhaps do a study. Not sure what this means.
He also had a migraine one or two of these days. That definitely could be the problem. He was given medication for these but once he complains of the pain I can imagine that it is a horrific headache. These often leave him in a stupor and we misidentified them as seizures for a few years. I thought the medication would help but perhaps I am giving it to him too late to stop the domino effect of eventual meltdowns and aggression.
The picture shows him after a day of headaches and meltdowns. He was in the middle of eating popcorn and watching a movie and fell into a deep sleep. This is what he does at school when he gets the headaches. We used to think he was having silent seizures that would leave him exhausted.
I am looking into getting him a dog that can alert us to problem behavior. I do not want an autistic dog as I don't think he needs it or wants it to go everywhere with him. But I would like to get a smart dog as a puppy that can grow with him and bond with him. My hope is that this dog will alert us if he tries to wander, sleep walk or gets aggressive with others. I am not sure what breed to get yet or if we even have the money. I would like to have in professionally trained at some point with Joseph as his master. But again, more study is needed in this area.
School starts in a week and a half. He is very excited about this! (so is mom!!!) He can't wait to be back in his SPED room with his teachers. They mean the world to him! A special thanks to those very special teachers that recently took him (and the others in this SPED room) AND Joe's brother, who is his best friend and pal, on a day of swimming! They had so much fun!
Please don't forget to make a small donation to team Camo Angel . We are going for a family team info day next Sunday. I will have more information on the walk if anyone locally would like to join me on October 9th to walk for autism. Also, this Saturday the Easter Seals is doing a mobile day camp in Lincoln that our family will be attending. And they have a fishing clinic in a few weeks. Busy days ahead!!!
Dark circles under the eyes can be a sign of allergies, called allergic shiners. Maybe its something to check into. There is so much energy that goes into parenting a special needs child. You have my prayers.
ReplyDeleteThank you! And yes, I was looking into the allergy idea. Not of anything airborne but more a food allergy. It seems so many parents with autistic children are positive the food allergies tie in with autism. Someone recommended a book to me today that I plan on reading soon. Thank you for the prayers.
ReplyDelete