B
Bunny
Guest
I have been cautiously optimistic that the Risperdal is helping difficult child. husband and I were talking last night and we both agree that it does seem to be helping.
difficult child is doing this long term project in his English class based on this book that they are reading. Yesterday the mom of one of his friends called me to ask me questions about it and I was asking difficult child what she was asking me. When I got off the phone difficult child asked me to come into the kitchen becasue he needed to talk to me (we had some friends over and he did not want to talk in front of them in the den where we were all sitting). He told me that he was supposed to bring home the work that he had already done for the project because he was supposed to draw pictures to go with what he had written, but forgot the papers and was starting to feel overwhelmed by the fact that he forgot it and now had to do one more written entry (there are 5 all together) and draw a picture for each entry, all by Wednesday. So I sat with him and helped him map out a plan to get it all done and he seemed okay with what we talked about. Later I asked him if he was going to draw the pictures on the pages that he had written on and he said yes. Since I had typed up the work for him (he wrote it, I just typed what he wrote) if he wanted I could re-print out the four entries that he had completed so far so that he could do the artwork on those. This way all he had to do was write one more entry and do one more picture.
First of all, he was stunned that I saved his work when I typed it and kept thanking me that I had thought to do that. I told him that I saved it just in case something like this happened and he needed it printed again. He said that he thought was a great idea and he would start doing the work at 7:30, but he didn't know if he was going to do all the pictures. Maybe he would do two. Okay, I told him. I was not going to argue with him because in the end he would have to get it all done, whether he spread it out over a few days or did it all at once. It was his choice.
He came up to do the work ten minutes earlier than he said he was going to, which for difficult child is almost a small miracle. Usually he pushes things off and does them later than he said that he would. Then he did all of the artwork for the entries that he had done. He's no Picasso by any means, but what he did was neat and told the story of what he had written. Then he thanked me for helping him make a plan to get the work done because he was "really starting to get upset" about it, but after he talked to me, and realized that I could re-print ther work that was already done, he saw that it really was not as bad as he thought it was.
For my difficult child, this is HUGE. We've had nights where I keep reminding him to start his homework because he has alot to do and I know that it will overwhelm him in the end, but he leaves it until the last minute, then has a melt down because he thinks he has too much and then he wants me to do it for him. So, that fact that he was able to come to me because he knew her felt overwhelmed so that we could come up with a plan to get the work done, and not have an hour long melt down where he is screaming at me that it's all my fault is fantastic. Then, there is the fact that he actually did the work. Most of the time he comes up with a plan and lets it fall by the wayside. This time, he actually did it!
I told him last night how proud of him I was and why. Of course he looks at me like I'm nuts, because he said, "Don't I always get my homework done?" I told him yes he does, but this time he got it done without the drama.
Pam
difficult child is doing this long term project in his English class based on this book that they are reading. Yesterday the mom of one of his friends called me to ask me questions about it and I was asking difficult child what she was asking me. When I got off the phone difficult child asked me to come into the kitchen becasue he needed to talk to me (we had some friends over and he did not want to talk in front of them in the den where we were all sitting). He told me that he was supposed to bring home the work that he had already done for the project because he was supposed to draw pictures to go with what he had written, but forgot the papers and was starting to feel overwhelmed by the fact that he forgot it and now had to do one more written entry (there are 5 all together) and draw a picture for each entry, all by Wednesday. So I sat with him and helped him map out a plan to get it all done and he seemed okay with what we talked about. Later I asked him if he was going to draw the pictures on the pages that he had written on and he said yes. Since I had typed up the work for him (he wrote it, I just typed what he wrote) if he wanted I could re-print out the four entries that he had completed so far so that he could do the artwork on those. This way all he had to do was write one more entry and do one more picture.
First of all, he was stunned that I saved his work when I typed it and kept thanking me that I had thought to do that. I told him that I saved it just in case something like this happened and he needed it printed again. He said that he thought was a great idea and he would start doing the work at 7:30, but he didn't know if he was going to do all the pictures. Maybe he would do two. Okay, I told him. I was not going to argue with him because in the end he would have to get it all done, whether he spread it out over a few days or did it all at once. It was his choice.
He came up to do the work ten minutes earlier than he said he was going to, which for difficult child is almost a small miracle. Usually he pushes things off and does them later than he said that he would. Then he did all of the artwork for the entries that he had done. He's no Picasso by any means, but what he did was neat and told the story of what he had written. Then he thanked me for helping him make a plan to get the work done because he was "really starting to get upset" about it, but after he talked to me, and realized that I could re-print ther work that was already done, he saw that it really was not as bad as he thought it was.
For my difficult child, this is HUGE. We've had nights where I keep reminding him to start his homework because he has alot to do and I know that it will overwhelm him in the end, but he leaves it until the last minute, then has a melt down because he thinks he has too much and then he wants me to do it for him. So, that fact that he was able to come to me because he knew her felt overwhelmed so that we could come up with a plan to get the work done, and not have an hour long melt down where he is screaming at me that it's all my fault is fantastic. Then, there is the fact that he actually did the work. Most of the time he comes up with a plan and lets it fall by the wayside. This time, he actually did it!
I told him last night how proud of him I was and why. Of course he looks at me like I'm nuts, because he said, "Don't I always get my homework done?" I told him yes he does, but this time he got it done without the drama.
Pam
